News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Tuesday...

Pat Forde of YahooSports writes:

ONE SHINING MOMENT … THEN A LOT OF MISERY

Bill Courtney has had this expression a lot this season.
In retrospect, it is the most stunning score of the entire season: Cornell (31) led Syracuse by 14 at one point in the season opener, led by six at halftime, and led for almost the entire first 24 minutes of the game. The Big Red eventually capitulated to the Orange, 82-60, but what happened thereafter made those first 24 minutes very hard to believe.
Cornell is 1-15 and ranked No. 337 in the RPI, No. 339 by Sagarin and No. 345 out of 351 teams by Pomeroy. The Big Red’s only victory was over Oberlin, which is a Division III school. Cornell has lost at home by 10 to Binghamton (4-16) and at home by 10 to St. Francis, Pa. (4-15). The Big Red is absolutely putrid, and a fourth straight losing season should cost coach Bill Courtney his job after taking over a program that went to the NCAA tournament in 2010. But if this year is the end, at least Courtney can say his team had Syracuse – undefeated, No. 2 Syracuse – on the ropes for a while in the Carrier Dome.
Somehow.

Cornell alumni that have played professional basketball since 1995 include the following (with NBA or NBA D-League experience noted): Zeke Marshall ('95), Alex Compton ('97), John McCord ('97), Brent Fisher ('98), Jeff Aubry ('99) (NBA D-League), Ray Mercedes ('01), Jaques Vigneault ('03), Karon Barnes ('04), Stevan Marcetic ('04), Cody Toppert ('05) (NBA D-League), Eric Taylor ('05), Andrew Naeve ('07), Ryan Rourke ('07), Jason Hartford ('08), Louis Dale ('10), Jeff Foote ('10) (NBA and NBA D-League), Ryan Wittman ('10) (NBA D-League), Jon Jaques ('10), Alex Tyler ('10), Aaron Osgood ('11), Adam Wire ('11), Andrew Ferry ('12).

Devin Cherry was named to the Ivy League's weekly honor roll. The Ivy Office notes:

Devin Cherry, Cornell (Jr., G - Meridian, Miss.)
12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Columbia

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
Wk 4 Dec 2- T.J. Bray, Princeton/Wes Saunders, Harvard
Wk 5 Dec 9-Wes Saunders, Harvard
Wk 6 Dec 16-T.J. Bray, Princeton (Cornell no games)
Wk 7 Dec 23-Siyani Chambers, Harvard
Wk 8 Dec 30-Siyani Chambers, Harvard
Wk 9 Jan 6-Wes Saunders, Harvard/Alex Rosenberg, Columbia
Wk 10 Jan 13- Fran Dougherty, Penn
Wk 11 Jan 20-Alex Rosenberg, Columbia/Justin Sears, Yale
Wk 12 Jan 27-Sean McGonagill, Brown

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Wk 1 Nov11-Robert Hatter, Cornell
Wk 2 Nov 18-Norman Hobbie, Brown
Wk 3 Nov 25-Leland King, Brown
Wk 4 Dec 2- Robert Hatter, Cornell
Wk 5 Dec 9-Spencer Weisz, Princeton
Wk 6 Dec 16- Spencer Weisz, Princeton (Cornell no games)
Wk 7 Dec 23-Luke Petrasek, Columbia
Wk 8 Dec 30-Luke Petrasek, Columbia/Steven Spieth, Brown
Wk 9 Jan 6-Norman Hobbie, Brown
Wk 10 Jan 13-Norman Hobbie, Brown
Wk 11 Jan 20-Darryl Smith, Cornell
Wk 12 Jan 27-Spencer Weisz, Princeton

Cornell's incoming recruiting class next season includes four members: Riley Glassmann (Fremd HS) Palatine, IL, 6-5, G, William "Will" Bathurst (Olean HS) Olean, NY, 6-3, G, Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof (Gonzaga HS) Washington, D.C., 6-7, F, and Pat Smith (Archbishop Wood HS) Warminster, PA, 6-5, F. See a highlight alley-oop dunk from Jordan Abdur Ra'oof via the Washington Post. Pat Smith had 10 points on Monday night per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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 January 28, 2014 is No. 336 out of 351 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. 345 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 340. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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