- ESPN ranks Boston College, Steve Donahue's former destination, as one of the worst coaching jobs in the country and BC Interruption reacts negatively as follows:
It's the offseason and there isn't much in the way of actual Boston College athletics news these days. To fill the dead period of college athletics, all sorts of rankings and discussion topics crop up from time to time. Today's thought exercise: "bad" college basketball jobs. Now I don't know about you, but when I think "bad jobs" I think of programs in the Great West Conference (R.I.P.), a bad Ivy League program (Cornell?), a transitional Division I program like Lowell, Rutgers or DePaul...I wouldn't rank any Atlantic Coast Conference job among the bottom eight in the nation. Then again, no one would read an article ragging on Cornell, N.J.I.T., Maryland Eastern Shore and something called "Incarnate World" either. But if you were to include a program from the ACC, wouldn't your first stop be the program that's finished DFL in each of the last two seasons? One that's made all of two NCAA Tournaments over the last 25+ years? At least Medcalf got the Rutgers part right.
- Check out the individual player pages for Cornell's Sweet Sixteen Team in The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
- Sports Edge (Slam Online) writes on the TBT:
March Madness for everyone.
That’s the idea behind The Basketball Tournament, a 32-team, open event coming to Philly next week and featuring a ton of current and former players like former UConn stars Josh Boone and Ater Majok, Hakim Warrick, Josh Selby, Josh Boone, Rashad McCants, Aquille Carr and Marshall Henderson.
Winner takes home $500,000.
Organizer Jonathan Mugar said The Tournament, which is open to any U.S. citizen over the age of 18, was born out of a simple idea: What if you took everything great about March Madness and opened it up to everyone?
He pictured an everyman’s March Madness, but the response from elite players was even greater than he expected.
Around 150 teams registered, and in addition to the names mentioned above, a group of players from the 2009 Villanova Final Four squad formed a team. So did a group of former players from the legendary St. Anthony’s High School in New Jersey, and a group from the 2010 Cornell team that crashed the Sweet 16.
The Cornell squad had particular significance to Mugar, because they were exactly the type of team that had inspired him to create The Tournament.
Mugar read an article in the New York Times in 2011 about how several players from that Big Red squad, which upset Temple and Wisconsin before falling to top-seeded Kentucky in the Sweet 16, had stayed together, balling at the New York Athletic Club in the city.
“We talked about wanting to go back and seeing how far we’d make it,” 2010 Ivy League Player of the Year Ryan Wittman told the Times. “I think you are always going to miss it when you watch the NCAA tournament. It brought back a lot of good memories.”
The article sparked Mugar’s interest.
“That was a huge shot in the arm,” he said. “I always had that team in the back of my mind, and when they said they wanted another shot in the tournament, I thought, this could be it.”
So he pitched his idea to a Boston investment firm, which put up the $500,000 prize money. His buddy Dan Friel, who works as an attorney in New Orleans, took a few months off to help administer the event.
The duo set off to alert ballers everywhere with just a $1,000 advertising budget.
“The entire process took about three years,” Mugar said. Now, the event is set to go on June 6–as 32 teams will play down to the final two over the course of three days at the Gallagher Center on the campus of Philadelphia University.
The finals will be contested on June 28, and fans will vote on which team gets to host. In fact, the social media component is a huge part of this tournament–24 of the 32 teams in the field were selected based on their total number of “fans,” which are recruited by teams through the TBT website. The other 8 were chosen by the TBT itself.
Entry for players is free, but even though 150 teams registered, only the 24 with the highest following make the cut. It’s a strategy Mugar is hoping will bring more attention to the event.
So far, it’s worked–as the tournament has seen pub on SI.com, Grantland, NBCSports.com. Mugar said he envisions the tournament being streamed live in the future, and said the business model is like that of any other professional sporting event.
“We want to create a massive summer event, something that people can look forward to,” Mugar said.
So far, it’s a success.
- The Syracuse Post Standard reports that Hakim Warrick will participate in The Basketball Tournament and that he and "his teammates could run into a team featuring several former Cornell players in the second round. Cornell Sweet 16's roster includes several members of Cornell's 2010 Sweet 16 team, including Ryan Wittman, Jeff Foote and Louis Dale."
- Nat Graham is interviewed by Penn Athletics and talks about his experience at Cornell.
- As we previously reported, Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) will be an instructor at The Cornell Basketball Prospect Camp. The Prospect Camp will run from June 28-29. This program often yields some of Cornell's top recruits.
- Cornell's 2014-2015 roster of returning players is now available on the team's official website
If you missed it....Check out Cornell's 2013-2014 Season Highlight Video.
- Check out the now updated profiles, including senior year honors and accolades, of Cornell's five incoming recruits for next season. The class consists of 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, Pat Smith (Archbishop Wood HS) Warminster, PA, 6-5, F, and Kyle Brown (Newport HS) Bellevue, Washington, 6-3, G. Wil Bathurst won numerous honors this past season in New York State, among which he was named First Team All Western New York by the Centercourt Blog. See discussion of Bathurst in connection with the Western New York Player of the Year and First Team selections with the Buffalo News and the Centercourt Blog. The Centercourt Blog writes on Bathurst:
Wil Bathurst - Olean, Senior
19.8 PPG / 7.0 RPG / 4.0 APG / 1.7 SPG / 1.0 BPG
One of the very best all-around players in WNY this season. A fan favorite and high-riser who can do everything on the court. Helped the Huskies capture a third straight Section VI Class B title and a 20-win season against a grueling independent schedule. Scored over 30 points in a game three times this season, including a 36 point & 12 rebound effort against Greece Athena. Selected to the NYSPHAA Class B All-Tournament Team. Named MVP of the Section VI Class B1 Tournament. Was MVP of the Olean Tip-Off Tournament. Will play Division I basketball at Cornell next season.
- Cornell's 2014-2015 Schedule will be highlighted by Cornell's participation in ESPN's Charleston Classic. Visit the Cornell team page at the Charleston Classic for more information. In this ESPN-produced event, Cornell is guaranteed three (3) games against the field of eight (8) participants and all games are broadcast on the ESPN family network. Potential opponents in Charleston include: Miami, South Carolina, USC, Penn State, Akron, Charlotte, and Drexel. Cornell's thirty (30) games for the 2014-2015 schedule is rumored to include the following:
1. Loyola, MD (away)
2. UMass-Lowell (home)
3. Binghamton (home)
4. Colgate (home)
5. Siena (away)
6. St. Peter's (home)
7. Howard (home)
8. Radford (away)
9. Canisius (home)
10. Buffalo (away) (Guarantee Game)
11. George Mason (away) (Guarantee Game)
12. Syracuse (away) (Guarantee Game)
13. Alfred State
14. Charleston Classic Game (U.Miami, South Carolina, USC, Penn State, Akron, Charlotte, Drexel)
15. Charleston Classic Game
16. Charleston Classic Game
17-30. Fourteen Ivy League Games
Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter. Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by just visiting our Twitter Timeline. The Cornell Basketball Blog received mention on NBC Sports' social media Must Follow College Hoops Directory.
- 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.
- 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 Cal. Served as student-manager at Cornell under Steve Donahue.
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-Head coach, Wilkes University. Former head coach Hobart College (Division III). He served as a Cornell assistant coach for five seasons between 2001-2006 under Steve Donahue and served as an assistant coach at Boston College under Donahue.
Nat Graham-Currently an assistant coach at Penn. Former associate head coach (assistant) at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2005-2010.
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.
- 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). 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 played 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 was 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.
-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 ()
-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.
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