News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Below, news and notes for Thursday...

• A Wyoming high school prep player is hoping Cody Toppert (Cornell '05) can take him to a higher level during a postgrad season.  The Casper Star Tribune writes:

Dissatisfied with the collegiate basketball offers extended his way, recent Gillette graduate Cody Kelley will attend the Ganon Baker Elev8 Institute next fall with hopes of proving himself on a platform that will ultimately place him within a Division-I program.

Wyoming’s only two-time Gatorade player of the year in boys basketball chose Elev8, a preparatory school located an hour north of Miami in Delray Beach, Florida, for the opportunity to develop his game without surrendering a year of eligibility.

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Playing under the tutelage of Baker, a renowned trainer who has worked with the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and, in 2008, was hired as Amare Stoudemire’s personal skill development coach, and head coach Cody Toppert, regarded as one of the top trainers in the nation, figures to bring Kelley the necessary exposure required to get a fair shake.

Like Kelley, Toppert too was an unheralded recruit out of a less-populated area -- Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was one of the most decorated high school athletes in New Mexico before signing with Cornell in the Ivy League from 2001-05. Spending a year under his guidance, Toppert said, will help Kelley become a better all-around player on a stage that will allow more colleges to see him.

• 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 (away) 11/29/14 
  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) 1/3/15 
   11. George Mason (away) (Guarantee Game) 11/14/14
  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