News and Notes: Monday Edition

Below, news and notes for Monday...

• Cornell's 2014-2015 roster has been updated to include photos of the freshmen.

• College Sports Madness is counting down the Top 144 teams in the nation.  Cornell opponents ranked thus far included, #66 Charlotte, #88 Columbia, #92 South Carolina, #112 Yale, #121 Siena, #124 Akron,  #126 Princeton, #129 Drexel, and #133 Radford.  George Washinton is #63 and is among the schools which offered Cornell freshman, Jordan Abdur Ra'oof.  Cal is #68 and CSM writes, "Dwight Tarwater spent four years at Cornell and started all 28 games in 2013-2014, averaging 7.1 points and 5.5 rebounds. With his experience, the 6-6 forward could step right into a starting spot."

•  Here is an updated look at the Ivy League's 2015 recruits:

CLASS OF 2015 IVY LEAGUE COMMITMENTS

Corey Daugherty (Barrington HS) Barrington, RI, 6-1, G, Brown
Obi Okolie (Dennis O'Connor HS) Ajax, Ontario, Canada, 6-5, F, Brown
Chris Sullivan (Northfield Mt. Hermon) Wilmette, IL, 6-3, G, Brown
Peter Barba (Western Reserve HS) Cleveland, OH, 6-5, G, Columbia
John Sica (Bethlehem HS) Delmar, NY, 6-7, F, Columbia
Matt Morgan (Cox Mill HS) Concord, NC, 6-2 G, Cornell
Troy Whiteside (Webb School) Knoxville, TN, 6-4, G, Cornell
Joel Davis (Wayne Country Day School) Goldsboro, NC, 6-3, G, Cornell
Donovan Wright (Blair Academy) Blairstown, NJ, 6-6, F, Cornell
Michael Stones (Windermere Prep), Orlando, F, 6-1, G, Dartmouth
Quinten Payne (Ball State University) St. Charles, IL, 6-5, G, Dartmouth
Guilien Smith (Catholic Memorial HS), West Roxbury, MA, 6-1, G, Dartmouth
Jake Silpe (Cherry Hill East HS) Cherry Hill, NJ, 6-0, G, Penn
Collin McManus (Northfield Mt. Hermon HS) Northfield, MA, 6-10, C, Penn
Sam Donahue (Northfield Mt. Hermon HS) Northfield, MA, 6-0, G, Penn
Jule Brown (Lower Merion HS) Merion, PA, 6-6, F, Penn
Morris Esformes (Hebrew Academy) Miami, FL, 5-10, G, Penn
Noah Bramlage (Ottawa-Glandorf HS) Ottawa, OH, 6-7, F, Princeton
Myles Stephens (St. Andrews) Middletown, DE, 6-4, G, Princeton
Devin Cannady (Marian HS), Mishawaka, IN, 6-3, G, Princeton
Trey Phills (Charlotte Christian HS) Charlotte, NC, 6-2, G, Yale
Matt Greene (Hotchkiss School) New York, NY, 6-6, F, Yale
Alex Copeland (Harvard-Westlake HS) Hollywood, CA, 6-3, G, Yale
Eli Lininger (South Eugene HS) South Eugene, OR, 6-6, F, Yale

The Knoxville News Sentinel published this piece on Cornell commit, Troy Whiteside:

Two players do not a pipeline make.
Nevertheless, Cornell University — located in Ithaca, N.Y. — is getting its second men's basketball player from Webb School of Knoxville in the last five years.
Senior combo guard Troy Whiteside verbally committed to Cornell on Monday. White said he also considered American, Arkansas, California and Davidson. Arkansas had yet to offer.
Dwight Tarwater, who won a Division II-A Mr. Basketball at Webb as a senior in 2010, played for Cornell from 2010-14.
Webb coach Ricky Norris called it strictly coincidence that the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Whiteside ended up at the same place as Tarwater. Receiving an Ivy League education was paramount in the decision.
He is eyeing a start in pre-med with a goal of being an orthopedic surgeon.
"I thought it was a good situation for me basketball-wise, as well," Whiteside said. "But academics were definitely first for me in my decision."
Whiteside schools on the court, too. He averaged 14.7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game as a junior, tied for the team high in made 3-pointers (45) and led the Spartans in free-throw percentage (76.3).
Work ethic on and off the court plus a level of focus rarely found in high school student-athletes helped Whiteside reach the Division I level, Norris said.
"Both his focus in the classroom as a student, No. 1, and then his focus to develop himself individually as a player are as good as I've ever seen," Norris asid. "I think from Day 1, education was always driving him in his decision making. To play in the Ivy League was something he couldn't turn down.
"He looks at this like a 50-year decision that will continue to pay dividends when he's older."

•  Cornell freshman, Wil Bathurst was featured in a video Time Warner Cable Sports Buffalo:

OLEAN, N.Y. — "You don't get a Wil Bathurst every year, you don't get him every five years, you don't get him every ten years. That is what makes him so special, what he was able to bring to the table for us," said Olean head coach Jeff Anastasia.

Bathurst helped bring Olean basketball a pair of appearances in the state finals, three straight Section Six crowns, and he's a two-time first-team All-State selection, but if you ask the Mr. Basketball finalist what means the most to him, the answer is obvious.

"I just like to make everybody around me better, to be the guy that everybody looks at and says 'he might not have scored the most points or grabbed the most rebounds, but he brought his best effort every time.' At the end of the day I just want to be a teammate that everyone wants on their team," said Cornell freshman Wil Bathurst

Division-One Cornell wants him on their team, but as much as Bathurst brings to the Big Red, he plans to get more out of the Ivy League school.

"I know what it takes to be successful in the world and without a college education you're just not going to be able to go to the places that I want to go," said Bathurst.

Those places could lead to us referring to Wil as "Attorney Bathurst at Law," as he'd like to eventfully attend Law School, but first there are four years of college hoops to play. Games where Wil hopes to continue a family tradition.

"My mom has never missed a game and that really means a lot to me that she takes the time to come to my games and support me in everything that I do and my grandparents are the same way too. It is just really nice to have a support system behind you too," said Bathurst.

A proud family and coach watching a boy turn into a man around the game he loves.

"It's just incredible, when I first started playing basketball I never dreamt of what it could actually do for me. As I've gotten better throughout the years it made me think 'wow, basketball has opened so many doors for me and really just guided me through life. It is an incredible feeling to know a game can take you this far," said Bathurst.

Bathurst takes the next step in his basketball journey when he takes the court with his Big Red teammates for the first time November 14th at George Mason.

 

Above, Steve Donahue will speak at the VCU Coaching Clinic.