News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Tuesday...

The Valley News likes the idea of a conference tournament for the Ivy League and argues, "Can you imagine what the following weekend’s home games with Columbia and Cornell would be like? Leede Arena could be a basketball gym again. Crowds, the band, cheerleaders, a packed house. They do it everywhere else in America; why not here? Being different is special; being out of step is embarrassing."

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

Nolan Cressler, Cornell (So., G - Pittsburgh)
17 points, 5 rebounds vs. Dartmouth
17 points, 3 rebounds vs. Harvard

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
Wk13 Feb 3-John Golden, Dartmouth/Justin Sears, Yale
Wk 14 Feb 10-Justin Sears, Yale/Fran Dougherty, Penn
Wk 15 Feb 17-Justin Sears, Yale/Alex Rosenberg, 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
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
Wk 13 Feb 3-Steven Spieth, Brown
Wk 14 Feb 10-Steven Spieth, Brown
Wk 15 Feb 17-Leland King, Brown

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.

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 18, 2014 is No. 333 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. 339 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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