Brown

Saint Mary's Makes History: Monday's Quick Hitters

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:52:35 -0800

VCU jumped out to a big lead in the first half, holding on to beat Drexel for the CAA title.

1. Saint Mary's rebounds from a Gonzaga rally to force overtime, beating the Zags to win the WCC crown.
Both late title games featured wild comebacks to force overtime, but ultimately the team that could have been too crushed to rebound ended up winning. Elias Harris scored the final five points of regulation for Gonzaga, including a three-pointer in the final seconds to send the WCC title game into overtime, but his efforts wouldn't be enough as Saint Mary's won 78-74. Randy Bennett's team made history with the win, as it marks the first time in school history that the Gaels have won the regular season title outright and won the conference tournament in the same season.

Matthew Dellavedova scored 22 points and dished out four assists to lead the Gaels and Rob Jones added 18 and nine boards, but Jorden Page was just as important. Page scored 16 points on a night that saw Gonzaga's guards, most notably Kevin Pangos (3-for-18 FG), struggle while their big men played well. Harris finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and both Robert Sacre' (17 points) and Sam Dower (14 points) reached double figures. Saint Mary's out-rebounded the Bulldogs by four and outscored them by five at the foul line, but ultimately it was Gonzaga's three-point shooting (5-for-22) that caught up with them. Both teams will dance, and Saint Mary's likely improved their seeding with the result as they can now claim two wins over the Bulldogs this season.

2. Davidson finds away to survive Western Carolina despite some poor late-game execution.
Saint Mary's issues late in regulation had nothing on Davidson's, as the Wildcats looked nothing like the team that ran through the SoCon during the regular season. There were turnovers as well as silly fouls of jump shooters, but thanks to the efforts of De'Mon Brooks, Jake Cohen and JP Kulhman the Wildcats survived 93-91 in double overtime. Brooks and Kuhlman scored 19 points apiece while Cohen and Nik Cochran added 17 and 16 respectively, and Clint Mann added ten points off the bench. WCU, who entered the game having won seven straight games, had three players score 20 points or more but it wouldn't be enough to get them into the NCAA tournament.

Keaton Cole led the Catamounts with 21 points, and Tawaski King (ten rebounds) and Harouna Mutombo (seven rebounds, four assists and three steals) scored 20 apiece. Davidson shot 52.9% from the field but got themselves in trouble with the turnovers (15 total) and 5-for-21 night from beyond the arc. But it would be wise to not write off the Wildcats due to this performance, as Bob McKillop's team plays under control in most instances. Just so happened that they ran into a team that could speed up their thought process and force things to happen, and it very nearly got Davidson beat.

3. Loyola (MD) completes a long journey, going from 1-27 to an NCAA tournament berth.
In Scott Hicks' final season in charge the Loyola Greyhounds went an embarrassing 1-27, a clear indication that change is needed. Jimmy Patsos was hired and from there he began to rebuild the program, and the goal of getting to the NCAA tournament was final achieved on Monday night. Loyola ramped things up defensively in the second half, pressuring full-court on made basket, which negated the Stags' advantage inside. The Greyhounds went on to win 48-44 due to both their defense and the versatility of tournament MVP Erik Etherly, who finished with ten points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.

Ryan Olander and Rakim Sanders both reached double figures but they combined to shoot just 6-for-25 from the field, and point guard Desmond Wade wasn't a whole lot better as he shot 1-for-5. Loyola limited the Stags to just 28.8% shooting for the game and 14 second-half points. While Patsos tends to be the center of attention from a media standpoint when the Greyhounds are playing, it's also important to recognize that there's a good team at Patsos' disposal as well. If Loyola can get the right matchup with a 14 or 15-seed, they've got the ability to throw a scare into someone.

Quick Hitters

1. The top four seeds in the Sun Belt are all gone before the final, with three-seed Denver being the last to go. Western Kentucky knocked off the Pioneers 67-63 in the second semifinal in Hot Springs, setting up a date with North Texas for the title. The Mean Green beat Arkansas State in the first semifinal.

2. There was also an upset in the Summit League semis as top-seed Oral Roberts lost to Western Illinois 54-53. Dominique Morrison led the Golden Eagles with 23 points, but his teammates shot just 11-for-36 from the field. Terell Parks led the Leathernecks with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Ceola Clark III added 11 points. WIU will take on two-seed South Dakota State in Tuesday's title game, as the Jackrabbits beat Southern Utah 63-47.

3. Two of the four road teams in the first round of the MAC tournament found a way to win, with Northern Illinois knocking off Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan upsetting Bowling Green. The first half between NIU and EMU featured just 29 points (18-11 NIU) and 17 combined turnovers. As for CMU, a Derek Jackson three with 1:40 remaining put the Chippewas up for good and Austin McBroom scored a team-high 20 points.

4. It was a busy day on the coaching carousel as Winthrop decided not the bring back Randy Peele, and Miami (OH) head coach Charlie Coles retired following the Redhawks' 60-53 loss at Toledo in a MAC tournament first round game. One name that has already been mentioned in regards to the Miami (OH) job is Arizona associate head coach James Whitford, as he spent 11 years on Coles' staff with eight of those being as the top assistant.

5. Two other coaching moves that didn't surprise many were Brown deciding not to renew Jesse Agel's contract, and UNCG removed Wes Miller's interim tag. Miller's the youngest head coach in college basketball, but his promotion sparked the Spartans run to the North Division title in the SoCon.

Ivy League Notes and Quotes

Jon Teitel — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:30:37 -0800

With Ivy League become fully joined so to speak this weekend it's a good opportunity to take a look at the league to this point in the season. CHN writer Jon Teitel compiled some quotes from the coaches' midseason media teleconference a couple weeks ago, and those will be combined with notes and evaluations of each of the Ancient Eight. This weekend's schedule:

Friday, January 28th
7:00 PM Brown at Princeton
7:00 PM Cornell at Dartmouth
7:00 PM Columbia at Harvard
7:00 PM Yale at Penn

Saturday, January 29th
6:00 PM Cornell at Harvard
6:00 PM Yale at Princeton
7:00 PM Brown at Penn
7:00 PM Columbia at Dartmouth

Harvard (13-3, 2-0)
It's been a good season thus far for Tommy Amaker's Crimson, who boast wins over Boston College and Colorado not to mention a three-point loss at Michigan. Expected to be one of the contenders to win the league, Harvard has lived up to that status despite Kyle Casey missing four games due to injury. Freshman guard Laurent Rivard has been one of the reasons as to why, averaging 12.6 points per game. Forward Keith Wright leads Harvard in both scoring (14.3) and rebounding (8.3), and with four players in double figures Harvard is a difficult team to slow down offensively. Harvard leads the Ivy League in assists per game as well.

Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson on Harvard: "Harvard and Penn are the most talented teams from top to bottom, but everyone is playing good basketball."

Dartmouth head coach Paul Cormier on Harvard: "I hope Harvard is the most talented team we face all year, because they are really, really good."

Columbia (11-5, 2-0)
The Lions have also gotten off to a good start, winning both meetings with Cornell to begin league play with a 2-0 record. As expected Norwua Agho has been the lead option offensively, averaging 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Kyle Smith's squad is the best rebounding team in the Ivy League, boasting a margin of plus-6.8 rebounds per game. Columbia's best non-conference victory may be a 74-71 win over Maine, who currently leads America East. Next up for the Lions is that trip to Harvard on Friday night, a significant step up in competition despite Cornell's status as three-time defending league champions.

Head coach Kyle Smith: "Noruwa Agho has been playing great. I have been really impressed with how he passes the ball, as he has changed from a scorer to a playmaker. It is hard to rebound when you are hurt and playing on back-to-back nights, but we have been emphasizing it in practice."

Yale (9-7, 2-0)
James Jones' team has won four straight, most recently sweeping a pair of games from Brown over the last two weeks. Center Greg Magnano has already won or shared three Player of the Week awards while Austin Morgan has one to his credit as well. Freshman Jeremiah Kreisberg has started six games, even winning the Rookie of the Week award for his play last week. Three Bulldogs average double figures, and just like their bitter rival they also own a victory over Boston College this season. Yale visits Penn and Princeton this weekend.

Head coach James Jones on Magnano: "Greg Mangano has been real important for us on both offense and defense: drawing double-teams, making good decisions, etc. It is kind of hard to say whether Greg is best big-man in conference, but if he is not the best then he is one of the best. "

Princeton (12-4, 0-0)
The Tigers have yet to enter league play but they've done a solid job of navigating their non-conference schedule. Forwards Ian Hummer and Kareem Maddox have both played well, each showing off the talent to earn postseason honors in the form of one of the All-Ivy teams. Four Tigers average from 13.1 to 13.8 points per game with Hummer and Maddox being two; the others are guards Dan Mavraides and Douglas Davis and the two forwards are also in the top five in the league in rebounding. Tops in the Ivy League in field goal percentage, Princeton also ranks well in the league with regards to both field goal and three point percentage defense. They get Brown and Yale this weekend, with the latter possibly being a big one if the Bulldogs arrive at Jadwin Gym 3-0 in league play.

Head coach Sydney Johnson on Ian Hummer: "Ian Hummer has gotten more comfortable this season, and has always had the enthusiasm."

Penn (6-8, 0-0)
Penn may have taken on the most ambition non-conference schedule, playing the likes of Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Big 5 rival Villanova, and while they didn't win any of those contests the experience of playing such competition could help them in league play. Zack Rosen and Jack Eggleston lead the way offensively and freshman guard Miles Cartwright has been a good addition to the rotation. But the Quakers will need to improve defensively if they're to contend as they're last in the Ivy in field goal percentage defense (47.3%) and sixth in three-point percentage defense (35.7%). Penn is also sixth in rebounding margin, meaning that they'll need to help out Eggleston (8.1 rpg) in this area as well. Conference play opens with a tough battle tonight as they host Penn at the Palestra.

Head coach Jerome Allen on Rosen: "Zack Rosen does everything for us, and is a great leader both on and off the floor. He wants to be coached and wants to get better."

Allen on Cartwright: "Miles Cartwright has done a tremendous job of blending in with the group on both ends of the court."

Allen on their early-season scheduling: "We do not schedule games to learn lessons. We schedule them to win. We are just trying to establish our identity on the defensive end, regardless of who we are playing. Our three games against Top 10 teams taught us that every possession counts."

Brown (7-9, 0-2)
Brown opened up league play with two games against Yale, dropping both by a combined 13 points, most recently falling 59-51 in New Haven last weekend. Four players average at least 9.4 points per game with senior Peter Sullivan's 13.6 leading the way. Sophomore Tucker Halpern has raised his scoring average three points this season and is shooting higher percentages from both the field and three. Brown's been a middle of the pack team in many of the major statistical categories, which could be an explanation for their current record. But they're also the worst three-point shooting team in the league, and they'll need to become more proficient in that department if they're to finish league play with a solid record. They'll visit Princeton and Penn this weekend, with the latter possibly being the better choice in regards to which game the Bears can win to earn a split.

Head coach Jesse Agel on his rotation: "It takes a village for us to be good. We do not have one specific guy who will carry us. When we win, we usually have 5-7 guys who play very well. It excites me that we still have not hit our peak yet, as we are getting better in every practice."

Agel on Sullivan's change in role: "Peter Sullivan has become more of a facilitator during the season, which is why his free throw attempts have gone down. He is still getting into the lane, but is just kicking it out to an open man once he gets there."

Cornell (4-12, 0-2)
The reigning three-time defending Ivy champs dropped a pair of tough games to Columbia in the beginning of their quest for a fourth crown, and their non-conference slate may have been a bit ambitious given the coach and roster turnover. First-year head coach Bill Courtney has a team that's finally approaching good health and in Chris Wroblewski one of the better guards in the Ivy League. Cornell is second in the league in three-point percentage but just seventh in overall field goal percentage (just 41.5% of their points come on two-point shots). Cornell visits Dartmouth tonight in a matchup of two 0-2 teams in league play and with Harvard on Saturday night the game against the Big Green becomes that much bigger.

Head coach Bill Courtney on Wroblewski: "It has been an adjustment for Chris Wroblewski, as he hurt his ankle early on and was a role player last year, but as of late he has been terrific."

Courtney on the season to date: "We have had some ups and downs, which were expected after losing so many seniors from last season, but we are as healthy as we have been since the start of the season. We have learned a lot about our strengths and weaknesses, both as players and coaches."

Dartmouth (4-12, 0-2)
In their first season under Paul Cormier the Big Green have struggled offensively, ranking at or near the bottom of the Ivy League in many of the major statistical categories. R.J. Griffin, David Rufful and Jabari Trotter all average nine points per game to lead the way but it's tough to win games consistently when as a team you average less than 59 points per game. It also didn't help matters that senior point guard Ronnie Dixon has missed the last six games with a broken hand, and the date of a possible return remains to be seen. Dartmouth's two league games came against Harvard, most recently losing by nine at Harvard last weekend. Just like Cornell the Big Green could have Friday's contest circled as an opportunity to get into the win column conference-wise.

Head coach Paul Cormier on Dixon: "Ronnie Dixon is an important asset to our team. He was starting to have a real good season before breaking his hand last month. One of our biggest weaknesses is shooting, as we seem to be rushing some of our shots. If we are not risking any further injury to Ronnie, we will put him back in there. He is a senior who deserves all the minutes he can get, but he will be out for the bulk of the season. He is only going to be able to play for 1/3 of the season, so it is a real shame."

Player of the Week History

11/15 F Keith Wright (Harvard)
11/22 G Christian Webster (Harvard) and G Austin Morgan (Yale)
11/29 Wright
12/6 F Ian Hummer (Princeton)
12/13 G Norwua Agho (Columbia) and F Kareem Maddox (Princeton)
12/20 Maddox
12/27 G Zack Rosen (Penn)
1/3 G Chris Wroblewski (Cornell)
1/10 Agho and C Greg Magnano (Yale)
1/17 Agho and Magnano
1/24 Magnano

Rookie of the Week History

11/15 G Miles Cartwright (Penn)
11/22 G Sean McGonagill (Brown)
11/29 Cartwright
12/6 G Laurent Rivard (Harvard)
12/13 G Steve Frankoski (Columbia)
12/20 F Gediminias Bertasius (Dartmouth)
12/27 Cartwright
1/3 Rivard
1/10 F Dockery Walker (Brown)
1/17 Rivard
1/24 F Jeremiah Kreisberg (Yale)

Ivy League Coaches Media Conference Quotes

Jon Teitel — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:01:13 -0700

Last Wednesday the eight Ivy League head coaches took part in the Ancient Eight's preseason media teleconference, and along with their thoughts the preseason poll results and preseason All-Ivy candidates were unveiled. CHN writer Jon Teitel compiled the thoughts of each coach below, and the preseason poll can be seen there as well.

Brown's Jesse Agel (11-20, 5-9)
"Hopefully we are going to progress from being competitive to winning games. I feel we are pretty good offensively, but a work in progress defensively. I am hoping that our freshmen will grow up during the season to become "February sophomores". The Sullivan brothers (Matt/Peter) are a couple of years apart, and Pete shoulders a lot of the load for us. The biggest part for Garrett Leffelman last year was trying to stay healthy for more than one month at a time. He really burst onto the scene in the second half of the season. With Pete Sullivan being down, we want Garrett to take more shots, and if he can make 55% of his shots again, he is going to have a great season. We want the stars to be stars and let our four freshmen just fill in by playing their roles, while adjusting to college life both on and off the court. They are very coachable and learning extremely quickly. We do not have any juniors in our program, so we have to garner some experience for our young guys."

Columbia's Kyle Smith (11-17, 5-9)
"We have a mostly new coaching staff and several returning players. Noruwa Agho wants to be a good all-around player: I thought he might be just a shooter, but he is willing to pass the ball and make his teammates better. The talent level in this league is excellent. I would not put 7-foot center Max Craig in the same category as Omar Samhan (who was the star of the Sweet 16 squad at St. Mary's last year when Smith was an associate coach), but he has a physical presence and plays hard. Zack Crimmins is another 7-footer we have who is skillful. We do not want to put a lot of pressure on ourselves with wins/losses: we just want to get better every day. Having success on the road is a key for any winning program."

Cornell's Bill Courtney (29-5, 13-1)
"We are a team full of unknowns, so even our returning players will have to step into new roles. I love the work ethic of my players. Losing 3 of the best players in school history means that a guy like Chris Wroblewski will have to take on a lot of leadership, and he has excelled in that role. I definitely can recall the night I scored 31 points as a senior in a two-point win against Cornell; you always remember the games when you scored 30! I always knew I wanted to be a college basketball coach. It is a tremendous honor to be at Cornell with its great reputation in both academics and athletics. My family and I have been embraced by the community. The trickiest part is figuring out the whole process of recruiting without scholarships."

Harvard's Tommy Amaker (21-8, 10-4)
"We feel like we have a good nucleus of returning players, but Jeremy Lin was incredible for us last year, so we will have our work cut out for us this year. Injuries have set us back, but if we can remain healthy and consistent, then I think we can be a very competitive team this year. A lot of on-court success is determined about how things are going for our guys off the court, particularly our younger players. Coach K has not called me to chat about Princeton: he does not have to ask me for any advice related to basketball, as it is the other way around all the time! It has been a neat environment on campus ever since we made the postseason last year (the school's first postseason appearance since 1946), and it has been wonderful to see the growth and excitement take place. We had a lot of sellouts and overflow crowds last year, and I think both our fans and our recruits enjoy our entertaining style of play. We have played MI before, which was part of the contract from before I got here because we had some kids from Boston on our roster at Michigan (Amaker previously was the MI head coach). We would love to continue to play BC since they are a local rival, and BC (and former Cornell) head coach Steve Donahue also wants to see that happen."

Penn's Jerome Allen (6-22, 5-9)
"This will be an interesting year throughout the league due to the good balance, now more than ever. I think our staff has the opportunity to bring back the brand of basketball success we are used to at Penn. They say that you never know how she is until you marry her: we are only a couple of weeks into our relationship, and still have to figure out who are going to be our constant contributors. All of our guys who were injured (such as Tyler Bernardini/Andreas Schreiber) have done a great job in rehab of getting back towards 100%. We have to compete and really respect the game. Whichever team makes the fewest mistakes and plays defense will probably be on top. Nothing has changed from a coaching standpoint in terms of starting the season as coach vs. becoming coach during the season. We just embrace the process of going from point A to point B, and after mastering that first step we will just try to keep playing the right type of basketball."

Princeton's Sydney Johnson (22-9, 11-3)
"Trying to size up our league, I think that Penn will be a very strong team and right the ship immediately. I agree with the talk that it is a wide-open league, and our task is to practice hard and be very hungry. We have told our three seniors (Bobby Foley/Kareem Maddox/Dan Mavraides) the same thing for the past four years, so now they can turn around and tell the younger guys what to do. It is always different going from individual workouts to having the whole gang out there. Marcus Schroeder was the heart and soul of our team, but we have some guys who can fill that void. We want all of our guys to be able to handle the ball, which was a major point of emphasis last spring. Rutgers and Duke will just start our season with a bang. Coach K will more than likely go down as one of the greatest coaches of all-time. Harvard head coach (and former Duke captain) Tommy Amaker has not given me any tips, but I think the Duke basketball family is pretty tight, and they should keep it that way. As we all go out and play different teams, we all represent the Ivy League. It is an interesting dynamic: you want the other seven teams to get some good non-conference wins, but you have to have tunnel vision during conference play."

Yale's James Jones (12-19, 6-8)
"We have a Good mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen, but not a lot of experience outside of Michael Sands/Porter Braswell. We certainly have to take care of home court, but also have to play consistently down the stretch. We don't need a high-scoring point guard; we just need someone to not turn the ball over and be smart with his decision-making. Expectations have been raised so high in our league due to Cornell's convincing run in the tourney. The Connecticut 6 Classic is a tremendous idea. It will not be the first game played at the Mohegan Sun Arena, and I do not think our guys will be anywhere near the casino. I think it is great for fans of all 6 teams to get to see them play there, and hope we can do it for years to come. The only thing I am worried about for the game at BC on November 18th is that my 5-year old son will come with us on the bus, and I just hope he does not burn the house down when playing with my brother Joe's (assistant coach at BC) kid. I suspect the game itself will be a dogfight, as Steve Donahue (former Cornell head coach) is a great coach."

Dartmouth's Paul Cormier (5-23, 1-13)
"I have never seen these kids play before this year and did not recruit them. We started with 20 players and are now down to 14. We have about seven who were on the team last year and the rest are new. This year is about changing the culture a bit and focusing on defense, as we know we will be recruiting some players to fit our offensive style. Some of my fondest memories were coaching in Philly (as an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova): it is a tremendous college basketball environment. In the early 1980s the Big 5 games were absolutely the best. Those games were bloodbaths, as the teams left everything out on the floor. Most teams had at least a few kids from Philly and it was neighbor against neighbor, so you could just throw out any records/predictions. I enjoyed my first go-round at Dartmouth, but I got into the scouting side of the NBA game and stayed there too long. I have been trying to get back into the college game for a few years, and when the Dartmouth position opened up I jumped at the chance. There is nothing better than being back in northern New England at the school that gave me my first chance to be a head coach. I am as excited as hell about being here, and think we will be competitive in the near-future. This is the first time I have ever gone after a job without really needing it. You cannot rebuild from scratch without the commitment from the school. The admissions and financial aid process is much more transparent now."

Preseason Poll
1. Princeton (12 first-place votes) 128 points
2. Harvard (4) 120
3. Cornell (1) 96
4. Pennsylvania 89
5. Yale 57
6. Brown 55
7. Columbia 48
8. Dartmouth 19

Jon Teitel's Coaching Legends Series: Brown's Glen Miller

Jon Teitel — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:09:54 -0700

In his latest coaches interview, CHN writer Jon Teitel caught up with former Brown and Penn head coach Glen Miller, who is now the Director of Men's Basketball Administration at Connecticut under his college coach (Jim Calhoun). Miller won 93 games at Brown and led the Bears to the NIT in 2003, eventually taking over for Fran Dunphy at Penn and leading the Quakers to the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

Jon Teitel: You played for Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun at Northeastern. Why did you decide to go to Northeastern, and what was it like to play for Coach Calhoun?
Glen Miller: I actually started my playing career at Connecticut but wanted to go to a place where I could get more playing time. I was looking to transfer to a good program that had a chance to compete in the NCAA tourney, and it was a great experience to play for Calhoun.

1984 NCAA Tournament

JT: Freshman Reggie Lewis scored 21 points in a three-point win over LIU, blocking Robert Brown's shot to seal the outcome. How was Lewis able to play so well as freshman, and could you tell at the time that he was going to become a star?
GM: In the preseason workouts Reggie was just a skinny, unassuming kid, even though we could see that he had talent. He could play multiple positions and was a great teammate, and he got better as his confidence got higher. We had a pretty talented team around him as well.

JT: Lewis scored 31 points (15-17 FG), but Rolando Lamb hit a game-winning 20-foot jumper at the buzzer to give VCU the one-point victory. How on earth did you lose after your team shot 75 FG%, and what was your reaction after Lamb's shot went in?
GM: I had battled some injuries during my 1st year at Northeastern, so I felt that my career was over just as it started to get going. I made the front end of a 1-and-1 to give us the lead, then missed the 2nd free throw and after a ball went out of bounds that we thought should have gone our way, Lamb hit a tough turnaround to win it. Ironically, his son Jeremy is a freshman for us this year at Connecticut!

1990 NCAA Tournament (as an assitant at UConn)

JT: Your team had 19 steals in a win over Boston University at the Hartford Civic Center. How big of a home-court advantage did you feel like you had, and did BU's offense ever stand a chance?
GM: That team had great size and versatility. Our staple was a 2-2-1 defense, which produced a lot of offense for us.

JT: You beat California with a press that produced a 17-0 run in the first five minutes. Did you think that your team had a good chance of going all the way?
GM: The best teams I was involved with always had good chemistry. We were an unselfish team that shared the ball, and those kind of teams always have a chance to win.

JT: Scott Burrell threw a full-court pass to Tate George who hit "The Shot" on a baseline turnaround jumper at the buzzer for a one-point win over Clemson. Did you think it was going to work, and what was the reaction like after he made it?
GM: That was something we would practice periodically. In the huddle, Calhoun was confident that we had worked on it before and that it could work for us now. We assumed the defense did not want to foul us, and the players were able to execute it.

JT: Christian Laettner inbounded the ball with 2.6 seconds left, got it back, and made a jumper at the buzzer to give Duke the one-point win in overtime. Did you think that Laettner was going to take it, and how did your team deal with the roller coaster of buzzer-beaters in consecutive games?
GM: It is always tough for your season to come to an end when you are one second away from going to the Final Four. We switched back to defending Laettner pretty quickly; he just hit a tough shot, which is what great players do.

JT: You spent six years as head coach of D-III Connecticut College. Why did you take the job, and what was the biggest difference between D-I and D-III?
GM: Our staff at Connecticut was great and we accomplished a lot together, but nobody was leaving and the restricted earnings rule was coming into effect back then which impacted a lot of coaches throughout the country. There is no difference in my mind between D-I and D-III in terms of the time/effort involved and the demands you place on your players, as we recruited kids who would work year round to improve their strength/game. The level of athleticism is a little different, but we had a few guys who might have been able to compete at the D-I level.

JT: What are your memories of the magical 1999 season (your team went undefeated in the regular season and made it to the D-III Final 4 before losing)?
GM: We made it to the Sweet 16 the previous season, so we expected to be good again in 1999. After we won our first five or six games, one of my daughters gave me a "lucky rock", and when we kept on winning it became a team ritual where we would pass it around the locker room before every game. We were #1 in the country by the end of the year, so we all started to believe in that rock!

JT: What are your memories of the 2003 NIT, the first NIT in Brown history (Travis Watson had 29 points and 12 rebounds in a Virginia victory)?
GM: It was great to get to the NIT but we were disappointed after we lost. The players were proud of starting to build a tradition at Brown.

JT: You became coach at Penn in 2006 and won the conference title in your very first season. How were you able to come in and have so much success so quickly, and what was it like to try and replace a legend like Fran Dunphy?
GM: I looked at it as a great opportunity because of Penn's affiliation with the Big 5 and its national schedule. Fran was a tough act to follow, but the players accepted a new philosophy. We had lost a few starters from the previous year, and had another starter dismissed from school for academic reasons, but it was rewarding to overcome those obstacles and have some success.

JT: What are your memories of the 2007 NCAA Tournament (Joseph Jones had 14 points and 11 rebounds in a Texas A&M victory)?
GM: We were a little nervous to start, but once we made some adjustments at halftime and calmed our nerves we made a nice run in the 2nd half. We were only down by five points with five minutes to go, but just ran out of gas a little bit. Teams that make key plays at the end win games, which is what Texas A&M was able to do.

JT: In July you were hired to work at Connecticut for Coach Calhoun as Director of Men's Basketball Administration. Why did you decide to go back to Connecticut, and what will your new job entail?
GM: I would like to get back to being a D-I head coach at some point, as I feel like I have a lot left. In the meantime, I get to go back to work with a Hall of Fame coach who I am very close with, and hopefully we can help Connecticut win another national title.

JT: When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most?
GM: I just want to be remembered as a hard-working coach who was a gym rat. The most important people in the program are the players, and I was committed to developing them as students, athletes, and people. My track record shows that I have recruited players who were Academic All-Conference who were also able to put up great numbers on the court.

Miller is also on Jon's list of best coaches in Ivy history

Brown: Glen Miller (1999-2006) 93-99
Columbia: Harry Fisher (1906-1916) 101-39, three conference titles, one Helms title
Cornell: Steve Donahue (2000-2010) 146-138, three NCAA Tournament appearances, three conference titles
Dartmouth: Ozzie Cowles (1936-1943, 1944-1946) 147-47, three NCAA Tournament appearances, six conference titles
Harvard: Edward Wachter (1920-1933) 121-81
Pennsylvania: Fran Dunphy (1989-2006) 310-163, nine NCAA Tournament appearances, seven conference titles
Princeton: Pete Carril (1967-1996) 514-261, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, 13 conference titles, one NIT title
Yale: Joseph Vancisin (1956-1975) 206-242, two NCAA Tournament appearances, three conference titles

College Basketball Saturday Preview: Top 5 Worst Games

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:19:00 -0800

February is a great time for college basketball, but with 149 D1 games scheduled on Saturday, there's sure to be some duds. The games below are hideous, either due to the wide disparity in opponents or the utter lack of quality between the sides.

#25 Cornell vs Brown - 7:00
-- Brown is 5-14 against D1 competition. Meanwhile, Cornell's won their last 3 Ivy games by 36, 34, and 26. This will get ugly, real ugly.

Jackson St vs Alcorn St - 6:30
-- JSU leads the SWAC with an 8-1 record, and has won 10 of 11 games. On the flip-side, Alcorn St is a shocking 0-22 right now and 2nd to last out of 346 teams in the RPI. When first hosts worst, good things never happen.

NC Central vs Savannah St - 7:00
-- NCCU is winless against D1 teams, but have a chance to finally win one against a a Savannah St squad that's just 1-9 away from home. I'm calling a win for the Eagles here to get of the schnide..

Tennessee-Martin vs Tennessee St - 7:00
-- UTM is 0-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while Tennessee St is 1-11. If UTM doesn't win this one, they might not win a game the rest of the season (5 of their last 7 are on the road.) If they go winless the rest of the way, their lone win the entire season against a D1 team would have come against independent SIUE.

UC Irvine vs Cal State Bakersfield - 10:35
-- Irvine is 9-14 and towards the bottom of the Big West standings at 3-7. Their season, simply put, is going nowhere. Making things more meaningless is that CSB is an independent, so this game has no implications. The lone intrigue is that CSB did beat UCI at home on Wednesday, so the Anteaters may be out for revenge. But even if they win, only the most die-hard of die-hards will notice.

Others
NJIT vs Longwood
CCSU vs Bryant
UIC vs Illinois-Chicago

Poll: Who Will Win the Ivy League

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:10:43 -0700

Ivy League: Coach Ranking

Jon Teitel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:16:43 -0800

Ranking the 8 Ivy League coaches is no easy task: One of them has never been a head coach before, two others coached their 1^st Ivy games last year, and none have served a full decade as an Ivy head coach. As we get ready for another college basketball season, here is a look at who is doing the best job of keeping up with the Joneses...literally.

1. Glen Miller - Penn

(223-184 record in 17 years as head coach at Connecticut College/Brown/Penn)

Career highlights: Went 13-1 in conference play during his 1^st year at Penn en route to winning the school's 3^rd straight Ivy title. As coach at Brown for 9 years, had most consecutive wins in school history since the 1930s, in addition to 1 NIT bid. As coach at Connecticut College for 6 years, he went 24-0 in regular season in 1998-1999. As assistant at Connecticut for 7 years, worked for team that won 1988 NIT title.

Prediction for 2008-09: Having lost only 1 starter from last year, he will have a decent chance to unseat Cornell from the top of the standings.

2. Steve Donahue - Cornell

(96-123 record in 8 years as head coach)

Career highlights: Went 14-0 in conference play last year en route to winning the school's 2^nd Ivy title ever and being named NABC district Coach of the Year. As assistant at Penn for 10 years, he helped recruit 5 of the top 20 scorers in school history for teams that won 6 conference titles in 8 years.

Prediction for 2008-09: With most of last year's NCAA Tournament team back, a repeat of last year's success will put him further down the long path towards Dunphy/Carril territory.

3. James Jones - Yale

(117-134 record in 9 years as head coach)

Career highlights: During his 9 years at Yale, he has become the longest-tenured coach in the league and given the school its only postseason tournament win in over a century of basketball. During his 9 years as an assistant at Albany, Yale, and Ohio, he worked for teams that made the postseason twice.

Prediction for 2008-09: He has a great track record, but not sure if he will ever get over the hump to get a career winning record.

4. Joe Jones - Columbia

(63-75 record in 5 years as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at Villanova for 6 years, he worked for teams that went to the postseason 5 times. During his 5 years at Columbia, he has won more games than any Columbia coach in almost 3 decades.

Prediction for 2008-09: His young team will have to grow up fast to avoid its 5^th losing season in 6 years.

5. Tommy Amaker - Harvard

(184-57 record in 11 years as head coach at Seton Hall/Michigan/Harvard)

Career highlights: As head coach at Seton Hall/Michigan, for 10 years, he only had a losing record twice, and won 2004 NIT title. He was also an assistant for 9 years at Duke, getting to the Final Four 5 times in 6 years, including back-to-back NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992. During his 1^st year at Harvard, his team went 8-22.

Prediction for 2008-09: After an investigation cleared him of any improper recruiting violations earlier this year, his 4 returning double-digit scorers will try to put the media's focus back on wins and losses.

6. Terry Dunn - Dartmouth

(34-71 record in 4 years as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at several schools for 15 years, he worked for teams that went to the postseason 6 times. During his 4 years at Dartmouth, his team has not won more than 10 games in any season.

Prediction for 2008-09: If he cannot turn the program around soon, he will probably not be around for long.

7. Sydney Johnson - Princeton

(6-23 record in 1 year as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at Georgetown for 3 years, he worked for team that reached the Final Four in 2007. During his 1^st year at Princeton, his team had 1 of the worst seasons in the school's storied history.

Prediction for 2008-09: As the only 3-time captain in school history from his playing days in the 90s, the administration will probably cut him some slack as he tries to return to the glory days, but it will take awhile to do so.

8. Jesse Agel - Brown

(1^st year as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at Vermont for 17 years, he helped recruit Taylor Coppenrath and won several conference titles. During his 2 years as an assistant at Brown, his team set a school record for most wins in a season.

Prediction for 2008-09: A rebuilding year, but if he can recruit anyone half as good as Coppenrath, he might get the Bears their 1^st 20-win season ever at some point in the near future.

Ivy Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:21:12 -0800

Conference Rank: 22nd

10 year average: 24th

Conference Page

All-IVY Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Louis Dale	Cornell	Jr
G	Jeremy Lin	Harvard	Jr
G/F	Tyler Bernardini	Penn	So
F	Ryan Wittman	Cornell	Jr
F	Alex Barnett	Dartmouth	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Louis Dale Ryan Wittman		Points: Alex Barnett 15.6 Rebounds: Alex Barnett 7.3 Assists: Chris Skelja (Brown) 4.4

IVY LEAGUE Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

87	Cornell* **	Ivy	1	NCAA
153	Penn	Ivy	2
171	Brown	Ivy	3
195	Harvard	Ivy	4
233	Princeton	Ivy	5
263	Yale	Ivy	6
290	Dartmouth	Ivy	7
329	Columbia	Ivy	8

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the Ivy League?

Other Ivy League Content

Conference Media Poll

Other

Rise & Fall: Ivy

State of 08: New York

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the Ivy League?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:30:46 -0700

TJ Sorrentine Named Brown Assistant

Press Release — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:59:08 -0700

Providence, RI - TJ Sorrentine, a Pawtucket, Rhode Island native and the leader of the Vermont basketball team that upset Syracuse in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Championship, has been named an assistant basketball coach at Brown in an announcement made by Bears' head coach Jesse Agel.

Sorrentine will be reunited with Agel, who guided him as an associate head coach at Vermont and recruited Sorrentine to the Catamounts' basketball program.

"I've known TJ as a great player, a tremendous competitor and a leader that players gravitate towards and hoped to emulate," said Agel. "Now Brown basketball will be able to utilize all of TJ's championship attributes to help us achieve the successes he has attained."

A 2005 graduate of Vermont with a B.A. in sociology, Sorrentine was a two-year captain, America East Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, a three-time First Team All-conference player and an Honorable Mention All-American. He was also named to the America East Academic Honor Roll in 2002 and 2003.

"It's always been a dream of mine to coach, and having an opportunity to coach at Brown and in my home state is a dream come true," said Sorrentine. I've been coming to the Pizzitola Sports Center for the last 10 years, so it's a home away from home. Coach Agel and I have a great relationship and I've always respected him as a coach and person. This is a tremendous opportunity to learn from him as a coach."

The point guard led Vermont to two NCAA Tournament appearances, in 2004 and 2005, and hit the game winning three-point basket that crushed the Syracuse Orangemen in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Sorrentine played professionally from 2005-2008, playing with Kk Krka in Slovenia, FC Porto in Portugal, Branca Nouvo Trappani in Italy, and the Florida Flame of the NBA Developmental League. He also played in the NBA Summer League with the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks.

He also has extensive camp experience, and was a special guest speaker at the New England Top 90 Invitational, while working as a clinician at the Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp, the University of Vermont Basketball Camp, the University of Pennsylvania Basketball Camp, and the University of Rhode Island Basketball Camp.

Sorrentine's roots run deep through Rhode Island where he was a standout at St. Raphael's Academy in Pawtucket, earning All-State honors, while playing for his father, Thomas. He was the Rhode Island Player of the Year (USA Today, Gatorade) in 2000 after leading St. Ray's to back-to-back state titles. He was also guided by Steve MacDonald, WHJJ Sportscaster, in his early years, playing CYO basketball.