News and Notes: Monday Edition

Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's game vs. Radford, Monday, November 25, 2013 with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center.  Below, news and notes for Monday...

• The Ivy League announced its weekly awards and placed Nolan Cressler on the honor roll.  The Ivy notes:

Nolan Cressler, Cornell (So., G - Pittsburgh)  
19 points, 4 rebounds at Colgate
25 points, 3 rebounds vs. Siena

IVY LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS 2013-2014

 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Wk 1 Nov 11-Tony Hicks, Penn/Justin Sears, Yale
Wk 2 Nov 18-Sean McGonagill, Brown/Javier Duren, Yale
Wk 3 Nov 25-Maodo Lo, Columbia

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK

Wk 1 Nov11-Robert Hatter, Cornell
Wk 2 Nov 18-Norman Hobbie, Brown
Wk 3 Nov 25-Leland King, Brown

• The Ithaca Journal and Cornell Daily Sun published late recaps of Friday's defeat to Siena.

• NYC Buckets published an Ivy League power ranking and writes:

8) Cornell (0-6) – The Big Red are struggling. That much is obvious. They’re 0-6 and have found a myriad of ways to lose games. When Shonn Miller was lost for the season though we knew this season had the potential to spiral. Cornell’s defense has been the worst in Division I this season! Part of that has to do with playing Louisville, but Binghamton, Colgate and Siena have all scored more than 1.20 points per possession against Cornell too. The plus side is that the offense hasn’t been awful. Nolan Cressler isn’t shooting great, but considering he’s taking 38% of Cornell’s shots when he’s on the court (eighth in the country) it’s impressive that he’s got an offensive rating over 100. Also, freshman Robert Hatter has struggled lately, but he showed some bright spots early in the season. Having both of them develop can only help Bill Courtney’s team build for the future. Now they just need to find a way to get a win.

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) played his NBA D-League season opener on November 22.  See the Springfield Republican and Nets Daily for recaps.

• Errick Peck (Cornell '13) is still getting rave reviews for his early season play at Purdue.  See SB Nation.  

• Jumbo Heroes writes, "Siena defeated Errick Peck’s Cornell Fighting Andy Bernard’s by the score of 71-70.  So they are currently trending updward."

• The Houston Chronicle notes that Westside H.S. is rebuilding with the loss of Robert Hatter to Cornell.

• ESPN writes, "Oh, also: Louisville: It would be a shame to allow the ongoing North Carolina psychodrama to blot out Russ Smith and the Cardinals. Sure, Saturday represents Louisville's first test against quality competition -- besides Fairfield, the Cardinals have treated College of Charleston, Hofstra, Cornell and Hartford like a bored housecat with a mouse."

• The Louisville Courier Journal described Bill Courtney as visibly "shaken" after Louisville's win over Cornell on November 15.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer discusses the retirement of Penn athletic director, Steve Bilsky and  writes:

Some Penn fans – especially former players - wanted Cornell's Steve Donahue [as Penn's next head basketball coach instead of Brown's Glen Miller]. Others wanted Bilsky to match the salary [Fran] Dunphy had been offered to succeed John Chaney on North Broad Street.
Bilsky's case was built on Miller's considerable track record of success in Providence. As this statistical analysis notes, Miller had the better numbers when the hire was made.
As is well known by now, MIller proved to be a disaster. Although he won the Ivy League in his first season, he did so mainly with Dunphy's players. And although Miller recruited Zack Rosen and Tyler Bernardini to Penn, the team unequivocally crashed.
After winning the Ivy League in his first season (mainly with Dunphy's players), Miller finished fifth in the conference in 2008 and sixth in 2009. The Quakers also failed to win a Big 5 game in each of those seasons.
Off the court, Miller's prickly personality did not sit well with Penn boosters and power brokers behind the scenes. I have heard many stories over the years of well-known Quakers fans and alumni who felt slighted by Miller's manner. He also was, at least initially, not as keen to embrace the Big 5's traditions and familial culture as other coaches in the city. That later changed, but too late for some.
Meanwhile, up in Ithaca, Donahue built a powerhouse. Cornell won three straight Ivy titles from 2008 to 2010. Donahue's era of dominance culminated with a Cinderella ride to the Sweet 16 in the last of those seasons, including a win over Dunphy's Owls in the round of 64.
After Donahue left for Boston College, Harvard rose to prominence under Tommy Amaker. Sydney Johnson then brought Princeton back to the top of the heap, and Mitch Henderson has kept them there.
The Quakers have shown signs of recovery under Jerome Allen, but seem to still be a long ways from winning a 27th Ancient Eight crown.

• The Boston Globe writes:

[Steve] Donahue laid out three objectives for his [Boston College] team; meet them and the Eagles would win. They were: hit 10 or more 3-pointers (BC finished 11 of 25), hold Washington to 10 or fewer offensive rebounds (the Huskies had 10), and commit 10 or fewer turnovers (BC had nine, three in the second half).  “Back to my Cornell days, we had a streak of about 38-0,’’ Donahue said, referring to that game metric. “That’s how we’re built, that’s how we recruit. We’ve got to be gritty enough to keep them off the glass. We’ve got to be tough enough to not turn the ball over, and then we’ve got to step up and make shots.

• Division I teams with players or coaches with connections to Cornell include- Boston College (2-4), Army (1-4) and Purdue (5-0).  Boston College's coaching staff includes former Cornell coaches, Steve Donahue, Nat Graham, Izzi Metz and Woody Kampmann and former Cornell player, Ryan Wittman (Cornell '10).  Army is coached by former Cornell coaches, Zach Spiker and Kevin App (who also played for the Big Red) (Cornell '07).  Purdue's roster includes Cornell graduate, Errick Peck (Cornell '13).

• Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or        not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team     winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of November 25, 2013 is No. 306 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 325 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 334. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's Season Preview Index for 2013-2014.

• The Cornell Basketball Blog updated its Ivy League 2013-2014 Roster Report and Recruiting Commitments List.  The Recruiting Commitment List includes bios of Cornell's incoming recruits.     

 Adam Gore (Cornell '09).

• Cornell Basketball will host Alumni and Friends Weekend from December 6-8. Included will be a Friday evening reception, Saturday's game against Saint Francis (Pa.) and a postgame reception, then Sunday's annual alumni game.  During halftime of the St. Francis game, Cornell will honor its championship teams from 1953-1954 and 2008-2009. 

• Cornell's games against Syracuse (ACC Sports Network, ESPN3 and RSN), Louisville (WHAS/ESPN3), Notre Dame (ESPN3), Brown (NBC Sports Network) and St. Bonaventure (NBC Sports Network) are all televised games.  

• Cornell's 2014-2015 Schedule will include Cornell's participation in ESPN's Charleston Classic.

• Below, a look at the "Cornell Coaching Plantations"  -- the men's college basketball coaches with ties to Cornell University.

  Jon Jaques (Cornell Class of '10)-Assistant coach at at Cornell. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue. 

  Ryan Wittman (Cornell Class of '10)-Graduate student  assistant coach at Boston College.  Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue.

  Kevin App (Cornell Class of '07)-Assistant coach at Army. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue.

  Yanni Hufnagel (Cornell Class of '06)-Assistant coach at Vanderbilt. Served as student-manager at Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Steve Donahue-Head coach of Boston College. Served as head coach at Cornell between 2000-2010.
  
  Zach Spiker-Head coach of Army. He served as an assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue from 2004-2009.
  
  Joe Burke-Head coach of Skidmore College (Division III). He was an assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue between 2001-2004.

  Ricky Yahn-Head coach, Concordia College of Michigan. He was an assistant coach at Cornell during 2010-2011 under Bill Courtney.

  Arlen Galloway-Head coach, Wentworth Institute of Technology.  He was an assistant coach at Cornell between 2011-2013 under Bill Courtney.

  Izzi Metz-Former Head coach Hobart College (Division III). He served as a Cornell assistant coach for five seasons between 2001-2006 under Steve Donahue and is currently an assistant coach at Boston College under Donahue.
  
  Nat Graham-Associate Head Coach (assistant) at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2005-2010.
  
  Woody Kampmann-Assistant coach/diurector of basketball operations at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2007-2010.
  
  Ryan Woerner-Former student intern coach under Steve Donahue during the 2009-2010 season and assistant coach for Cornell's women's team during 2010-2011. Currently director of basketball operations at St. Peter's.
  
  Steve Robinson-Assistant coach at North Carolina under Roy Williams. He was an assistant coach for Mike Dement at Cornell for two seasons, including on the 1988 Ivy League Championship team.
  
  Paul Fortier-Assistant coach at Cal Poly. He served as an assistant coach at Cornell during 2003-2005 under Steve Donahue.

  Desmond Oliver-Assistant coach at Charlotte. He was an assistant coach at Cornell between 1998-2000 under Scott Thompson.

  
  
  
  
• Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni currently playing professionally. Below, some updates: 

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Indios de Mayaguez, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-A 6'11" center, Aubry splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. A well traveled pro player, Aubry spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all NBA D League in 2002. Aubry joins Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) (Springfield Armor), Ryan Wittman (Cornell '10) (Ft. Wayne Mad Ants) and Cody Toppert (Cornell '05) (Albuquerque Thunderbirds) as Cornell veterans of the NBA D-League.  (Cornell's four NBA D-League veterans is the most in Ivy League.)  During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry also played professionally in  the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad  in Puerto Rico (Mayaguez, Arecibo Capitanes, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LNBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Alex Tyler ('10) (Rockville Victors, Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League)-Tyler finished his rookie season during 2012-2013 with the Victors.

-Louis Dale ('10) (KAOD Dramas, Greece A1 premier league)-Dale spent his  first two professional seasons both in Germany's BBK Bundesliga, the country's premier league with Goettingen.  His third pro season during 2012-2013 was in Greece in the A1, country's premier league, with KAOD Dramas.                                         

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Springfield Armor, NBA D-League)-Foote is playing the 2013-2014 season with the Springfield Armor of the NBA D-League.  Foote spent the 2012-2013 season with Zalgiris of Lithuania, one of Europe's top 10 teams and was named an All Star in the domestic LKL league, the country's premier league.  He also participated with the team in the EuroLeague.  Prior to the start of the 2012-2013 season, Foote played with the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA Summer League and participated in the team's free agent mini-camp.  During 2011-2012, Foote averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in the NBA D-League for the Springfield Armor (the Brooklyn Nets' affiliate) after being named a starter at the D-League's All-Star Game during February and was named Second Team All NBA D-League. Foote finished the D-League season ranked 4th in double-doubles and also 4th in rebounds. Foote averaged 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 4 games for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets during a 10-day contract between March 9 and March 19. Foote was ranked by the D-League as its #6 overall NBA prospect.  During April 2012 he was profiled in a video on NBA.com.  He participated in the Portland Trailblazers' 2011-2012 preseason training camp and played the 2011-2012 preseason with with Zastal of       the PLK Poland premier league and the full 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel's premier league.    

Drew Ferry ('12) (Albacete, Spain EBA)-The 2013-2014 season is Ferry's rookie year in the Spanish league.

• Visit our growing directory of Cornell Basketball Linkedin profiles.

• Below is a directory listing of some Twitter feeds associated with the Cornell basketball program.

-Josh Wexler ('88)
-Rich Medina ('92)
-Bo Buttenback ('98)
-Dan Wendt ('98)
-Brian Williamson ('03)
-Jacques Vigneault ('03)
-Cody Toppert ('05)
-Steve Cobb ('05)
-Ryan Rourke ('06)
-Andrew Naeve ('07)
-Jason Canady ('08)
-Khaliq Gant ('09)
-Conor Mullen ('09)
-Brian Kreefer ('09)
-Ryan Wittman ('10)
-Pete Reynolds ('10)
-Louis Dale ('10)
-Alex Tyler ('10)
-Geoff Reeves ('10)
-Jeff Foote ('10)
-Andre Wilkins ('10) (inactive)
-Aaron Osgood ('11)
-Adam Wire ('11)
-Max Groebe ('12)
-Chris Wroblewski ('12)
-Andrew Ferry ('12)
-Jonathan Gray ('13)
-Miles Asafo Adjei ('13)
-Peter McMillan ('13)
-Errick Peck ('13)
-Errick Peck ('13)
-Josh Figini ('13)
-Manny Sahota (former player)
-Galal Cancer (former player)
-Holt Harmon (former player)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club

-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler ()
-Braxston Bunce ()
-Robert Mischler ()
-David Onuorah ()
-Robert Hatter ()
-Desmond Fleming ()
-Darryl Smith ()
-Riley Glassmann (recruit)
-Jordan Abdur Ra-oof (recruit)
-Pat Smith (recruit)
-William Bathurst (recruit)
-Jeremy Hartigan, Cornell SID ()
-Assistant Coach Jon Jaques ('10)
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Brian Delaney, ESPN Radio Ithaca ()
-Barry Leonard, Cornell Redcast/Play-By-Play Annnouncer
-Ed Boulat, Ithaca Journal
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga
-Former assistant coach, Ricky Yahn ()
-Former head coach, Steve Donahue ()
-Former intern assistant Ryan Woerner ()
-Former assistant coach, Zach Spiker ()
-Former assistant coach, Nat Graham ()
-Former assistant coach, Woody Kampmann ()
-Former assistant coach, Izzi Metz ()
-Former assistant coach, Paul Fortier ()
-Former assistant coach Arlen Galloway ()

Blueprint for Success, the yearbook commemorating Cornell's memorable 2009-2010 season is on sale. Visit the Cornell Athletics website to order your copy today! Or pick up a copy sold in the Cornell Store on campus.

Fans of the basketball program in the Ithaca area should not miss the opportunity to join the Cornell Rebounders Club.