News and Notes: Thursday Edition

(Photo Cornell Daily Sun)

Below, news and notes for Thursday...

Ivy Hoops Online has its latest Ivy Power Poll and writes with respect to Cornell:

8. Cornell (1-9) (8 points)
Say what you want about the ongoing campaign, but the type of fight we’ve seen from a 2-22 basketball team should not go unnoticed. This team has fought back from double digit deficits with just minutes to play instead of throwing in the towel, something that’s not quite easy for a 20 loss team. This team has fought under the pressure of being without a D-I win since February 2012, and has finally gotten over the hump. Now, Cornell has fought not only without Shonn Miller, but without Robert Hatter and Deion Giddens.
Taking a contending Brown team to overtime in a game that was truly one bounce from going the Red’s way in this kind of season is admirable. Don’t confuse my admiration with being content, because I’m definitely not. Yeah, Cornell is dead last again in our power poll–anyone could have anticipated that–but instead of using this space to hammer the team, I wanted to take a minute to admire the way the group hasn’t quit. I don’t think every team would be able to say the same in Cornell’s shoes. In amateur athletics, that’s got to stand for something. -Jake Mastbaum

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Paul Zeise tweets, "Boston College is a lot like Steve Donahue's last Cornell team - only not nearly as good...."

The Columbia Spectator advocates a conference tournament and writes, "Over the last half-decade, Ivy League basketball has grown quite a bit. Cornell made a Sweet Sixteen run in 2010, Harvard has recently emerged as a marquee name, and, this year, the league launched the Ivy League Digital Network. Three games were even on national TV this weekend."

Although Brandyn Curry has been in college for five years, he tells the Boston Globe that his senior day against Cornell has come too soon.

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. The Chicago Tribune named Riley Glassmann MVP of the Mid Suburban Conference title game after he scored 24 points. See also the Daily Herald. Will Bathurst is one of six finalists for Mr. Basketball in New York State awarded by the New York Sports Writers. Bathurst had 12 points earlier this week. See the Olean Times Herald.

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 February 27, 2014 is No. 330 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. 337 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 332. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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