Quinnipiac

NEC Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:29:53 -0500

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Conference Rank: 27th

10 year average: 28th

All-NEC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Jeremy Goode	Mt St. Mary's	Jr
G	Sean Baptiste	FDU	Jr
G	Jeremy Chappell	Robert Morris	Sr
F	Ryan Wittman	Cornell	Jr
F	Devin Sweetney	St Francis (PA)	Jr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Jeremy Goode		Points: Sean Baptist 18.5 Rebounds: Devin Sweetney 7.7 Assists: Jeremy Goode 5.5

Northeast Conference Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

135	Mount St. Mary's* **	NEC	1	NCAA
174	Robert Morris	NEC	2
189	Central Conn St	NEC	3
212	Long Island	NEC	4
229	Sacred Heart	NEC	5
244	Quinnipiac	NEC	6
284	Wagner	NEC	7
299	Fair Dickinson	NEC	9
300	Monmouth	NEC	8
315	St. Francis (PA)	NEC	10
335	St. Francis (NY)	NEC	11

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the NEC?

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Rise & Fall: NEC

State of 08: New York

State of '08: Connecticut

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:44:40 -0400

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Connecticut. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

CONNECTICUT

UCONN - Not much thought involved in making this pick. Outside of a dismal 2007 campaign, Jim Calhoun's Huskies have always hovered around the Top 25, and this year's crew has Elite Eight potential. UCONN blows away their in-state competition.

CENTRAL CONNECITCUT STATE - Despite coming off a down year (208 RPI), CCSU is consistently one of the best teams in the NEC. The other Blue Devils have made three NCAA Tournaments under Howie Dickenman, including 2000, 2002, and 2007.

FAIRFIELD - With the exception of a weak 2006 campaign, Fairfield is almost always competitive in the MAAC. In fact, except for '06, the Stags have won 10+ league games every season since 2003 and should once again reach that mark in 2009 (CHN projects they'll finish 4th in the league). But despite this consistency, the program hasn't made the big dance since 1997.

YALE - After taking over in 1999, James Jones has done a good job giving Yale basketball some needed respect. While the 2002 NIT trip (Yale won their only postseason game in 107 years that season) seems like a bit of an aberration, at least the Bulldogs are now consistently mediocre. Yale has gone .500 or better in the Ivy League in every season since 2001.

SACRED HEART - After joining D1 in 1999, Sacred Heart was one of the worst teams in the country (3 wins in 2000 with a 308 RPI for example), but long-time head coach Dave Bike has finally found some success at the top level. The Pioneers have won 18 games each of the last two years, and won 2 NEC Tournament games each season as well

6. HARTFORD - Since a horrible 2005 campaign (300 in the RPI), Hartford has improved each season. Now under the guise of Dan Leibovitz, the Hawks are coming off an 18-win season in which they finished 2nd in the America East (their best ever AE finish) and are our preseason pick to win the league in 08-09.

7. QUINNIPIAC - The Bulldogs are coming off of one of their bests seasons in years, winning 15 games and going 11-7 in the NEC. But that's not saying much considering from 2004 to 2006, they were one of the worst programs on the East Coast..

Last: Colorado - Next: Washington, D.C.

State of '08: The Introduction

NEC Weekly Honors

Press Release — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:57:57 -0500

Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week

Victor Akinyanju, Quinnipiac
Sr., C, 6-7, 245 lbs., Ardmore, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt (Cecil CC)

Akinyanju has been a force in the middle as of late for Quinnipiac, which has won three games in a row, including a pair of victories last week. The 6’7” center averaged a double-double with 12.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest, while shooting at a 50.0 percent clip from the floor. In an 80-72 win at Wagner on Thursday, Akinyanju scored a season-high 16 points and snared a career-best 17 rebounds in his second double-double performance of the season. The 17 boards also matched the most by an NEC player in 2006-07. He sank 6-11 shots from the field, 4-6 from the line and rejected two shots. On Saturday, Akinyanju tallied eight points, seven boards and a pair of steals as the Bobcats rolled to a 71-51 win over visiting Monmouth. Over his last four outings, the Ardmore, MD native has averaged 10.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 2.3 bpg. He currently ranks fourth in the NEC in blocks (1.1 bpg) and stands seventh in rebounding (6.9 rpg) and field goal percentage (.535).

Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week

Jeremy Goode, Mount St. Mary’s
Fr., G, 5-9, 170 lbs., Charlotte, NC/Providence Day

With the Mount off to a 4-2 start in league play, it is the freshman Goode who has served as one of the catalysts. In helping Mount St. Mary’s to a 2-1 record last week, he averaged 16.7 points, 2.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.3 steals to earn his second Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week award of the season. Goode also shot 50.0 percent from the floor - including 5-10 from three-point range - and 78.6 percent from the line. He began his week on Monday by tallying 19 points and a career-high nine assists in a 91-80 win over Sacred Heart. Goode followed with 11 points, eight assists and five steals as the Mount cruised to a 72-54 win over St. Francis (NY) on Thursday. Two days later, the Charlotte, NC product notched a career-high 20 points (7-11 FG, 3-5 3PFG) and dished for three assists in a 71-63 setback to Central Connecticut State. For the season, Goode is averaging 10.5 ppg and ranks third in the conference in both assists (5.0 apg) and steals (1.8 spg). His 85 assists are already the sixth-most in a single-season by a Mount freshman.