News and Notes: Saturday Edition

Above, the Cornell Men's Basketball 1933 squad.  Below, news and notes for Saturday...

• Discussion activity is starting to pick up again as the season approaches.  Share your thoughts on the upcoming season on The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board.  Membership is free, just create a user profile.

• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's Season Preview Index for 2013-2014. 

• 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.    

• Ryan Wittman (Cornell '10) is now officially a part of the Boston College staff.

• Fox Sports/Yardbarker profiles Shonn Miller and writes:

Player To Watch: Shonn Miller, Cornell
Aside from the 2010 season, which resulted in a Sweet 16 appearance, Cornell basketball has not been on most basketball fans’ radars. This season, while the Big Red may not compete for an Ivy League title, they have one of the league’s best all-around players in Shonn Miller.
Miller, a 6-7 junior forward, averaged 11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.9 steals last season, all of which were among the top ten in the Ivy League. Not surprisingly, Miller ended up on the All-Ivy League First Team, and got the attention of the conference’s coaches.
In an article for Midmajormindset.com last month, I asked Ivy League coaches which players in the league would be on their ideal team. Miller showed up in nearly every coach’s ballot and received great praise from coaches. One assistant coach said that Miller “affects the game on both ends of the floor with his athleticism like not many can”, and another called him “the most athletic player in the league by far”.
Cornell lost starters Jonathan Gray, Miles Asafo-Adjei and Eitan Chemerinski, as well as key bench player Errick Peck, to graduation. Gray and Peck were Cornell’s second and third leading scorers, respectively (behind only Miller). Their loss means that Miller and shooting guard Nolan Cressler need to take on more of the scoring load, something that the two of them are capable of accomplishing. However, if more players do not step up, this could be a long season in Ithaca.
A lot would need to go right for Cornell to make the NCAA Tournament- the Ivy League is usually a one-bid conference, and it is Harvard’s conference to lose. However, while Harvard’s Siyani Chambers and Wesley Saunders will be the Ivy League players in the national spotlight (and deservedly so), expect Miller to challenge the two of them for Ivy League Player of the Year. He may be relatively anonymous at the moment, but Miller’s first game this season is against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, which will give him the chance to introduce himself to college basketball fans everywhere.

• The Syracuse Post Standard writes, " SU will likely practice five times per week until it opens with Cornell on Nov. 8."

• Errick Peck (Cornell '13) gets mention in NBC Sports, the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, the Ft. Wayne Journal and Courier, Hammer and Rails, Gold and Black, and the Purdue Exponent.

• New Cornell recruiting commitment, Will Bathurst, scored a touchdown on Friday evening.

• Cornell Basketball's "Junior Day"-- a recruiting event for high schoolers in the class of 2015-- will take place on October 19 in conjunction with Cornell's Red-White Game, the annual intersquad scrimmage which is open to the public.  The Red-White Game tips off at 11:30 am.

• Cornell Basketball will host Alumni and Friends Weekend from December 6-8. Included will be a Friday evening reception, Saturday's game against Saint Francis (Pa.) and a postgame reception, then Sunday's annual alumni game. 

• Cornell's games against Syracuse (ACC Sports Network), Louisville (WHAS), Notre Dame (ESPN3) and St. Bonaventure (NBC Sports Network) will all be televised.  The games against Louisville and Syracuse will also likely be carried on ESPN3 or another ESPN channel.  Time Warner Sports will also likely pick-up the Syracuse game as well.  Games vs Binghamton, vs Siena and at St. Peter's and at Stony Brook, might also be televised on MSG (St. Peter's), Time Warner Cable Sports (Binghamton and Siena) and Cablevision Sports (Stony Brook).

News and Notes: Friday Edition

Above, a Date in Cornell Basketball History.  Cornell assistant coach and former player, Jon Jaques (Cornell '10) graces the main page of ESPN.com during 2010.  Below, news and notes for Friday...

• Cornell will likely make more than a half dozen television appearances during the 2013-2014 nonconference season in addition to the Ivy League televised games on NBC Sports.  Cornell's game at Louisville on  November 15 will be televised on WHAS.  Just as throughout the 2012-2013 Louisville basketball season, the WHAS broadcast is expected to be simultaneously televised on ESPN3.   Also announced as a televised game is Cornell's visit to St. Bonaventure on January 4 which will be broadcast on NBC Sports.  Cornell will likely also make television appearances on ESPN3 on November 8 at Syracuse and December 1 at Notre Dame.  Both Syracuse and Notre Dame had virtually all of their home games televised a year ago on an ESPN channel.  Games vs Binghamton on November 13, vs Siena on November 22 and at Stony Brook on December 22, might also be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports (Binghamton and Siena) and Cablevision Sports (Stony Brook).

• Cornell Athletics announced:

Jaques, Metzendorf Join Big Red Men's Basketball Staff

 ITHACA, N.Y. – Former Big Red captain Jon Jaques and former student assistant coach Dave Metzendorf have joined the Big Red men's basketball staff it was announced today by Bill Courtney, the Robert J. Gallagher Head Coach of Men's Basketball. Jaques will serve as an assistant coach, while Metzendorf will serve as a special assistant to the head coach.

Jaques returns to the Big Red sidelines after spending one season apiece as a graduate manager at Columbia (2012-13) and as an assistant coach at Stevens Institute (2011-12). After graduation from Cornell, Jaques spent one year playing with Ironi Ashkelon in the Israeli Premier League.

Jaques was a four-year member of the Big Red basketball team, including emerging as a starter as a senior in 2009-10. He exploded for at least 11 points six times, including 20 points in wins over both St. John's and Brown. The all-tournament pick in the Legends Classic started 23 contests and averaged 6.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.8 assists while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 45 percent from 3-point range and 81 percent from the free-throw line. He led the Ivy League in 3-point shooting overall (.472) in league games. In Jaques' four seasons, Cornell went 88-33, including 47-9 in Ivy League play, and won three outright Ivy League titles.

Metzendorf served as a student manager for the Big Red for one season and as a student assistant coach for two more. He was instrumental in assisting with gameday setup, statistics and player workouts. He is a 2013 graduate of Ithaca College with a degree in sport management and earned the department's Professional Excellence Award and the Dean's Award. 

Televised Cornell Basketball 2012-2013

With still more games potentially to be added, Cornell now has seven (7) confirmed televised games during 2012-2013, including vs. Columbia (NBC Sports Network), at Harvard (NBC Sports Network),  at Vanderbilt (ESPNU), at Wisconsin (ESPN3), at Duke (ESPNU), at Arizona State (Pac 12 Sports Network) and at at Binghamton (Time Warner Cable Sports).

The following was released from the Ivy League:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 10, 2012

2012-13 IVY LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL TELEVISION SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

To view online, go to:

http://ivyleague.prestosports.com/x/dp47d

Portions courtesy of the NBC Sports Group

NEW YORK and PRINCETON, N.J. -- Ivy League men's basketball jumps onto the national stage for the 2012-13 season with an 11-game television package that includes 10 games on the NBC Sports Network and one on the CBS Sports Network and features all eight schools.

NBC Sports Network's Ivy League men's basketball schedule begins with Penn hosting Big 5 rival Villanova on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m and also includes Florida at Yale on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m., Penn at Princeton on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m., Princeton at defending Ivy champion Harvard on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and Cornell at Harvard on Saturday, March 9 at 5:30 p.m.

This year, NBC Sports Network will televise more than 50 college basketball games, the most in the network's history.

The League will also have a presence on the CBS Sports Network with Harvard at Yale on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. CBS Sports Network returns to the court for its 10th season of college basketball programming, airing 172 contests, its most extensive slate of games ever.

The 11-game package comes on the heels of the Ivy League and the NBC Sports Group announcing a two-year renewal of their national television rights agreement for football, men's basketball and men's lacrosse games in June. For the 2012 football season, the League boasts eight nationally-televised games with seven on the NBC Sports Network and one on the CBS Sports Network.

2012-13 IVY LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL TELEVISION SCHEDULE

All times ET

Date	Game, Time	Network
Saturday, Dec. 8	Villanova at Penn, 8 pm	NBC Sports Network
Friday, Dec. 28	Providence at Brown, 7 pm	NBC Sports Network
Sunday, Jan. 6	Florida at Yale, 5:30 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Jan. 12	Penn at Princeton, 6 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Jan. 19	Columbia at Cornell, 3 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Jan. 26	Dartmouth at Harvard, 2 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Feb. 2	Columbia at Princeton, 6 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Feb. 16	Princeton at Harvard, 7 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Feb. 23	Harvard at Yale, 8 pm	CBS Sports Network
Saturday, March 2	Harvard at Penn, 6 pm	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, March 9	Cornell at Harvard, 5:30 pm	NBC Sports Network

News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Jeff Foote (Cornell class of 2010).  Below, some news and notes for Tuesday...

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) may have hinted over Twitter that he is planning on returning to Europe. The Brooklyn Nets have been silent as to whether they intend on inviting Foote to training camp which starts on October 1.

• Cornell's 2012-2013 roster has been updated with the freshmen receiving their jersey numbers.

• It is confirmed that Cornell's November 20 Las Vegas Invitational game at Arizona State will be televised on the Pac 12 Sports Network.  Cornell will have several other televised games this season.

• Above, Bronco Blitz, a Western Michigan fan site hosted by Rivals.com and Yahoosports.com, previews the Broncs' 2012-2013 schedule, including its season opener at Cornell and notes a slight factual error about the Ivy League hosting a conference tournament.