Canisius
Short and sweet on this program's incoming players.
Not much was needed. The Golden Griffins have their top nine players returning, so if they are to get better than a .500 record in conference play for the first time since an 11-7 mark in the 1998-99 season ... well, this is the year.
That said, it appears that some decent newcomers have come aboard which might help some this year and contribute more in future years.
Incoming freshmen
- Rob Gagliardi, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard from Pickering High School in Ajax, Ontario. Althought the Griffs appear set at the position with returnees, sources indicate that Gagliardi will contend for time in the playing group. He has been a member of Team Canada's age-level teams for several years and has played against strong international competition. He has also excelled in AAU events where, according to one report, showed the ability to shoot out to the 23-foot range. Said to be a legitimate scorer.
- Alshwan Hymes, a 6-2, 180-pound guard from Jamesville-DeWitt High School (Syracuse area), who helped lead his team to the New York State's tournament's Class A championship in each of the past two seasons. Hymes, said to be a hard-nosed competitor with an above-average long-range shot, averaged 17.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.2 rebounds as a high school senior.
Hymes and Gagliardi will likely ensure that the Griffs' backcourt is in good hands beyond the coming season, as will another newcomer, Gabby Belardo, another 6-2 guard. Belardo, a native of Puerto Rico, is a transfer from South Florida and will not be eligible until the 2010-11 season. He will then have three years of eligibility.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Saint Peter's: Belin Should Make Impact
Saint Peter’s
Incoming freshmen:
- Steven Samuels, 6-4 guard from Windsor (Ct. H.S.), averaged 16 points, 7.5 assists per game as a senior, and was named the Hartford Courant’s Player of the Year in that area.
- Yvon Raymond, 6-3 guard, NiaPrep of Newark, N.J., averaged 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals.
- Jeron Belin, 6-6 forward from Monroe Community College. Averaged 14.3 points, 6.1 rebounds. Two years of eligibility. Sources indicate he will be an “impact” player in the MAAC and likely move into the Peacocks’ starting lineup, replacing Hakeem Gooding, who graduated in May and opted not to complete his final year of athletic eligibility. This blogger believes the combination of ability and team needs could mean he will make the biggest contribution of any incoming MAAC player this season.
Eligible Redshirts
- Darius Conley, RS-Fr., F, 6-7, 235, Newport News, VA/Warwick. Four years of eligibility after sitting out as a freshman last season. Body size indicates he could be a bruiser inside, but also has ability to hit a mid-range jumper. Strength, though, is his ability to play with his back to the basket. Could contend for playing time right away.
- Jamin Shumate, 6-7, 230pound forward. Also sat out as a freshman last season. Another low-post player with a soft touch around the basket but with toughness and rebounding ability, according to St. Peter’s sources who have seen him practice. Should also contend for playing time. He and Conley should provide some depth inside that the program lacked last season.
With Shumate, Conley, Belin joining Bacon, Saint Peter's should be able to compete better in the paint this season.
Incoming freshmen:
- Steven Samuels, 6-4 guard from Windsor (Ct. H.S.), averaged 16 points, 7.5 assists per game as a senior, and was named the Hartford Courant’s Player of the Year in that area.
- Yvon Raymond, 6-3 guard, NiaPrep of Newark, N.J., averaged 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals.
- Jeron Belin, 6-6 forward from Monroe Community College. Averaged 14.3 points, 6.1 rebounds. Two years of eligibility. Sources indicate he will be an “impact” player in the MAAC and likely move into the Peacocks’ starting lineup, replacing Hakeem Gooding, who graduated in May and opted not to complete his final year of athletic eligibility. This blogger believes the combination of ability and team needs could mean he will make the biggest contribution of any incoming MAAC player this season.
Eligible Redshirts
- Darius Conley, RS-Fr., F, 6-7, 235, Newport News, VA/Warwick. Four years of eligibility after sitting out as a freshman last season. Body size indicates he could be a bruiser inside, but also has ability to hit a mid-range jumper. Strength, though, is his ability to play with his back to the basket. Could contend for playing time right away.
- Jamin Shumate, 6-7, 230pound forward. Also sat out as a freshman last season. Another low-post player with a soft touch around the basket but with toughness and rebounding ability, according to St. Peter’s sources who have seen him practice. Should also contend for playing time. He and Conley should provide some depth inside that the program lacked last season.
With Shumate, Conley, Belin joining Bacon, Saint Peter's should be able to compete better in the paint this season.
Iona's Big Group: 4 Frosh, 2 Redshirts
College basketball’s season is still three weeks away, but that doesn’t mean we can’t begin anticipating how a favored team might fall into place for 2009-10.
This blogger has compiled a list of players joining MAAC programs, whether they be freshmen, red-shirted players becoming eligible this season, and transfers from other programs who are eligible now or will be in the second semester. In some cases, this blogger either has seen the players in question or has elicited some opinion/expertise from other sources and will pass along those insights.
I’ll be posting a team-by-team look at newcomers, in no particular order. If your team’s list isn’t up when you read this, check back soon. I’ll list the players’ pertinent stats, if they’re available. And, as always, thanks for reading.
First up ... Iona
Incoming freshmen
- Mike McFadden, 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Technology High School of Newark, N.J. He averaged 19 points, 12.5 rebounds last season. Sources indicate he might be ready to be in the playing group almost from the start of the season.
- Chris Pelcher, 6-10 center from Albany (N.Y.) Academy. This blogger has seen Pelcher play multiple times. He has a college-ready physique, can bang inside yet hit mid-range jumpers. Fairly mobile for his size. He could also be in the playing group early, and be a solid contributor throughout his time with the Gaels.
- Rashard McGill, 6-5 small forward, Massanutten Military Academy, a prep school in Woodstock, Va. There he averaged 17.8 points and had a one-game high of 46. As a senior at East Gadsden High School in Havana, Fla., in the 2007-08 season he averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds.
- Ben Mockford, a 6-2 guard from England who played prep school in the U.S. last year at Oak Hill Academy. Mockford played for England’s Under-20 team in this summer’s European Men’s Championship tournament. He saw action in five games, averaging 12.6 points per outing and hit 13-of-36 shots from three-point range.
Eligible Redshirts:
- Keon Williams, a 6-6, 220-pound forward who sat out last season with an Achilles injury. As a senior at Hackensack, N.J., H.S. he averaged 22 points and 14.1 rebounds in the 2007-08 season.
- Kyle Smith, a 6-4 guard who played one game last year, scoring six points in 17 minutes. After that, an ankle injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. As a high school senior at Don Bosco H.S., he averaged 13.6 points and 4.3 assists.
This blogger has compiled a list of players joining MAAC programs, whether they be freshmen, red-shirted players becoming eligible this season, and transfers from other programs who are eligible now or will be in the second semester. In some cases, this blogger either has seen the players in question or has elicited some opinion/expertise from other sources and will pass along those insights.
I’ll be posting a team-by-team look at newcomers, in no particular order. If your team’s list isn’t up when you read this, check back soon. I’ll list the players’ pertinent stats, if they’re available. And, as always, thanks for reading.
First up ... Iona
Incoming freshmen
- Mike McFadden, 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Technology High School of Newark, N.J. He averaged 19 points, 12.5 rebounds last season. Sources indicate he might be ready to be in the playing group almost from the start of the season.
- Chris Pelcher, 6-10 center from Albany (N.Y.) Academy. This blogger has seen Pelcher play multiple times. He has a college-ready physique, can bang inside yet hit mid-range jumpers. Fairly mobile for his size. He could also be in the playing group early, and be a solid contributor throughout his time with the Gaels.
- Rashard McGill, 6-5 small forward, Massanutten Military Academy, a prep school in Woodstock, Va. There he averaged 17.8 points and had a one-game high of 46. As a senior at East Gadsden High School in Havana, Fla., in the 2007-08 season he averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds.
- Ben Mockford, a 6-2 guard from England who played prep school in the U.S. last year at Oak Hill Academy. Mockford played for England’s Under-20 team in this summer’s European Men’s Championship tournament. He saw action in five games, averaging 12.6 points per outing and hit 13-of-36 shots from three-point range.
Eligible Redshirts:
- Keon Williams, a 6-6, 220-pound forward who sat out last season with an Achilles injury. As a senior at Hackensack, N.J., H.S. he averaged 22 points and 14.1 rebounds in the 2007-08 season.
- Kyle Smith, a 6-4 guard who played one game last year, scoring six points in 17 minutes. After that, an ankle injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. As a high school senior at Don Bosco H.S., he averaged 13.6 points and 4.3 assists.
Coming Up ... Who's New in the MAAC
Over the next few days we'll feature newcomers, whether they be incoming freshmen eligible transfors or redshirts, joining MAAC men's programs for the coming season.
But first, some words of caution, kind of like the advisory on your car's rear-view that says "objects are closer than they appear."
Same with incoming players ... the view now isn't always accurate. Some might be closer to being ready to contribute than would appear based on statistics and reputations. Or, they might not be as ready to play yet as past performances might indicate.
Bottom line ... you don't know until everything shakes out through preseason workouts, practices and, even, some early games. So, great high school/prep school stats don't necessarily translate to college results. The fact that a player might be transferring in from a major-college program doesn't automatically ensure the individual's success either. And, sometimes, recruits who aren't highly rated emerge as standouts in college.
As a newspaper "beat" reporter covering Siena basketball for more than two decades, I'll relate two quick illustrative stories.
1) In the 1986-87 season Siena was recruiting a slender, 5-foot-10 point guard from New Jersey. For most of the season Siena was the only Division I program recruiting the player, and much of that interest came because then-coach Mike Deane had playground battles in his younger days against the recruit's father, and had an insider's knowledge of the recruit.
By late in the recruiting season, only a handful of other D-I programs got involved and the player ultimately came to Siena without much outside fanfare.
Early in his first season Siena was preparing for a game at Syracuse, a program featuring future NBA players Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly and Sherman Douglas.
The Siena player, then a freshman, was asked what it would be like to match up with Douglas, a point guard who would play in the NBA for more than a decade.
His response: "You should be asking Sherman Douglas if he's worried about matching up with me."
That comment was more fact than brag.
The Siena player was Marc Brown, who scored 20 points in that meeting with Douglas and quite clearly was not out of his element in that evironment. It was a sign of things to come.
Brown went on to score 2,284 career points and accumulate 786 career assists. Eighteen years after his college career ended he remains Siena's leader in those two statistics.
2) During the 1989-90 season, Siena was recruiting another slender, small point guard.
Siena's coach Deane envisioned the player as Brown's replacement at point guard. Not many others held the player in such high regard. Only a handful of small Division I programs were interested.
Only one other MAAC school, Canisius, was interested but it wanted the player to redshirt for a season. The player opted to join Siena, which wanted him to play as soon as he arrived.
The player, Doremus Bennerman, not only became Brown's understudy during his first season but the two were often on the court together.
Bennerman took over at the point full time as a sophomore and finished with 2,109 career points (second all-time at Siena behind Brown) and 577 career assists (third all-time at Siena).
Stories like those abound throughout the MAAC, not just at Siena.
The point is that while the reports written here on incoming players at MAAC programs will include some insights/background/opinions ... all of that probably doesn't mean much and it certainly won't be definitive.
Predicting how incoming players will contribute to their new programs is an inexact science, at best. So, the "reports" to come are mostly for entertainment purposes only.
Feel free to draw your own conclusions. Just don't count on them being accurate.
And, as always, thanks for reading.
But first, some words of caution, kind of like the advisory on your car's rear-view that says "objects are closer than they appear."
Same with incoming players ... the view now isn't always accurate. Some might be closer to being ready to contribute than would appear based on statistics and reputations. Or, they might not be as ready to play yet as past performances might indicate.
Bottom line ... you don't know until everything shakes out through preseason workouts, practices and, even, some early games. So, great high school/prep school stats don't necessarily translate to college results. The fact that a player might be transferring in from a major-college program doesn't automatically ensure the individual's success either. And, sometimes, recruits who aren't highly rated emerge as standouts in college.
As a newspaper "beat" reporter covering Siena basketball for more than two decades, I'll relate two quick illustrative stories.
1) In the 1986-87 season Siena was recruiting a slender, 5-foot-10 point guard from New Jersey. For most of the season Siena was the only Division I program recruiting the player, and much of that interest came because then-coach Mike Deane had playground battles in his younger days against the recruit's father, and had an insider's knowledge of the recruit.
By late in the recruiting season, only a handful of other D-I programs got involved and the player ultimately came to Siena without much outside fanfare.
Early in his first season Siena was preparing for a game at Syracuse, a program featuring future NBA players Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly and Sherman Douglas.
The Siena player, then a freshman, was asked what it would be like to match up with Douglas, a point guard who would play in the NBA for more than a decade.
His response: "You should be asking Sherman Douglas if he's worried about matching up with me."
That comment was more fact than brag.
The Siena player was Marc Brown, who scored 20 points in that meeting with Douglas and quite clearly was not out of his element in that evironment. It was a sign of things to come.
Brown went on to score 2,284 career points and accumulate 786 career assists. Eighteen years after his college career ended he remains Siena's leader in those two statistics.
2) During the 1989-90 season, Siena was recruiting another slender, small point guard.
Siena's coach Deane envisioned the player as Brown's replacement at point guard. Not many others held the player in such high regard. Only a handful of small Division I programs were interested.
Only one other MAAC school, Canisius, was interested but it wanted the player to redshirt for a season. The player opted to join Siena, which wanted him to play as soon as he arrived.
The player, Doremus Bennerman, not only became Brown's understudy during his first season but the two were often on the court together.
Bennerman took over at the point full time as a sophomore and finished with 2,109 career points (second all-time at Siena behind Brown) and 577 career assists (third all-time at Siena).
Stories like those abound throughout the MAAC, not just at Siena.
The point is that while the reports written here on incoming players at MAAC programs will include some insights/background/opinions ... all of that probably doesn't mean much and it certainly won't be definitive.
Predicting how incoming players will contribute to their new programs is an inexact science, at best. So, the "reports" to come are mostly for entertainment purposes only.
Feel free to draw your own conclusions. Just don't count on them being accurate.
And, as always, thanks for reading.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
At Siena ... The Rich Get Richer
Siena, earlier this week, received its first verbal commitment from a player who will join the program for the 2010-11 season.
From extensive personal observation, this is a case of the proverbial rich getting richer.
Siena, the MAAC champion in the past two seasons, will lose an outstanding senior group after the coming season. But the first verbal commitment, from 6-foot-6 swingman Trenity Burdine, appears to be a strong first step in replacing the current seniors.
Burdine is entering his senior year at Reading (Pa.) High School, and is a close friend of current Siena standout Alex Franklin (who also calls Reading, Pa., home). Franklin, according to sources, strongly extolled Siena's virtues to Burdine in recent weeks.
Burdine plays for the York (Pa.) Ballers on the spring/summer AAU circuit, and his team made a Memorial Day Weekend stop in the area appearing in the GymRat Challenge Tournament at Siena.
This blogger got to watch Burdine play several games, and helped compile the "report" for members of that event's all-star team. Here it is:
"Trenity Burdine (6-6 SF/SG) York Ballers: Very skilled player with good handle and passing ability in half court and transition. Great range on jumper and showed ability to shoot off the bounce. His length disrupts defenses and be a factor on the glass. Interest from Siena among several other mid-major D-I programs."
Observers (this one included) compare Burdine to another current Siena player, senior Edwin Ubiles. The body size and skill set is similar. Burdine isn't quite the player Ubiles is, but Ubiles, is also four years older. It's not hard to envision that Burdine could make contributions at Siena similar to Ubiles'.
Of course, that's a very tall order. But Burdine's skills and style of play create the impression that he's capable of that.
"I just love Siena basketball," Burdine told Pete Iorizzo of the Albany Times Union. "Coach Fran (McCaffery) told me I was one of his main guys."
This blogger had heard that Burdine was one of Siena's two primary targets among players appearing at the GymRat Challenge event. The other is 6-foot-7, 250-pound power forward Dominic Morris, who played for The RAIDERS, a Philadelphia-based AAU team.
In the next few days, I'll submit a list of players, along with some insight, who will join conference programs for the coming season ... either as a freshman or as a transfer. But, this commitment came up, and with considerable first-hand viewing of Burdine ... just thought I'd pass along some thoughts.
From extensive personal observation, this is a case of the proverbial rich getting richer.
Siena, the MAAC champion in the past two seasons, will lose an outstanding senior group after the coming season. But the first verbal commitment, from 6-foot-6 swingman Trenity Burdine, appears to be a strong first step in replacing the current seniors.
Burdine is entering his senior year at Reading (Pa.) High School, and is a close friend of current Siena standout Alex Franklin (who also calls Reading, Pa., home). Franklin, according to sources, strongly extolled Siena's virtues to Burdine in recent weeks.
Burdine plays for the York (Pa.) Ballers on the spring/summer AAU circuit, and his team made a Memorial Day Weekend stop in the area appearing in the GymRat Challenge Tournament at Siena.
This blogger got to watch Burdine play several games, and helped compile the "report" for members of that event's all-star team. Here it is:
"Trenity Burdine (6-6 SF/SG) York Ballers: Very skilled player with good handle and passing ability in half court and transition. Great range on jumper and showed ability to shoot off the bounce. His length disrupts defenses and be a factor on the glass. Interest from Siena among several other mid-major D-I programs."
Observers (this one included) compare Burdine to another current Siena player, senior Edwin Ubiles. The body size and skill set is similar. Burdine isn't quite the player Ubiles is, but Ubiles, is also four years older. It's not hard to envision that Burdine could make contributions at Siena similar to Ubiles'.
Of course, that's a very tall order. But Burdine's skills and style of play create the impression that he's capable of that.
"I just love Siena basketball," Burdine told Pete Iorizzo of the Albany Times Union. "Coach Fran (McCaffery) told me I was one of his main guys."
This blogger had heard that Burdine was one of Siena's two primary targets among players appearing at the GymRat Challenge event. The other is 6-foot-7, 250-pound power forward Dominic Morris, who played for The RAIDERS, a Philadelphia-based AAU team.
In the next few days, I'll submit a list of players, along with some insight, who will join conference programs for the coming season ... either as a freshman or as a transfer. But, this commitment came up, and with considerable first-hand viewing of Burdine ... just thought I'd pass along some thoughts.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A Very Brief Look To the 2009-10 Season
OK, a brief bit of cross-advertising here.
This blogger, for the past decade, has also produced the MAAC men's basketball preview for what is now The Sporting News' College Basketball Annual issue. I had been writing the preview for Street & Smith, but that publication merged with The Sporting News a couple of years ago.
Anyway, as much as I would like to publish that preview in this forum ... The Sporting News doesn't allow that.
Still, that agreement doesn't prohibit me from making some observations.
My predicted order of finish, with some comments ...
1) Siena. Four starters back, joined by last season's Sixth Man of the Year award winner. Big surprise, right?
2) Niagara. Four starters back from a team that beat Siena by 15 points in a game during the final weekend of regular-season play.
3) Rider. Four starters back, too, including arguably the conference's best player in Ryan Thompson.
4) Saint Peter's. Probably a little bit of a surprise here. But, yours truly rates John Dunne very high as a coach. Ryan Bacon is emerging as one of the league's best big men and Jaron Belin, a 6-6 forward coming in from Monroe Community College, will be an impact newcomer.
5) Fairfield. I love how hard the Stags play under Ed Cooley. Only lingering injuries will keep the Stags from being competitive.
6) Iona. Five returnees who all saw some time in last season's starting lineups, two solid red-shirt freshmen become eligible and four touted freshmen ... if it all comes together, Gaels could be better than this.
7) Loyola. Standout perimeter players joined by 6-10 Maryland transfer Shane Walker. And, no Jimmy Patsos team will ever be anything less than competitive.
8) Canisius. All five starters back, along with a touted freshman (Rob Gagliardi). The Golden Griffins could easily do better than this.
9) Manhattan. Only one double-figure scorer (Darryl Crawford) is back. But, the Jaspars always seem to overachieve under Barry Rohrssen.
10) Marist. Its best two players have graduated. But, a Villanova transfer (6-10 Casiem Drummond) who is eligible after the first semester; an ACC transfer (guard Daye Kaba, formerly at Boston College) who is eligible immediately, and some promising freshmen create optimism.
In talking to coaches around the league this offseason, the universal theme is that there won't be any easy nights on this year's schedule, and that's my perspective, too.
Any of the bottom five teams could easily finisher higher than predicted here, and that's rarely the case. In most seasons, there has almost always been a program or two that could be counted on to struggle. But, that doesn't seem to be the case this year.
For an expanded MAAC preview ... I hope you'll rush to your local newsstand to purchase The Sporting News College Basketball Annual. It's not there yet, but will be at some point in early to mid September.
AND, NOW THAT WE'VE GOT YOUR ATTENTION (hopefully) ...
Yours truly will be taking a brief hiatus to visit an old friend in central New York's wine country.
Bully Hill, anyone?
The MAAC blog will resume by Aug. 7.
NEXT UP: I'll be taking a look at incoming players, transfers and recruits.
Again, thanks for reading.
This blogger, for the past decade, has also produced the MAAC men's basketball preview for what is now The Sporting News' College Basketball Annual issue. I had been writing the preview for Street & Smith, but that publication merged with The Sporting News a couple of years ago.
Anyway, as much as I would like to publish that preview in this forum ... The Sporting News doesn't allow that.
Still, that agreement doesn't prohibit me from making some observations.
My predicted order of finish, with some comments ...
1) Siena. Four starters back, joined by last season's Sixth Man of the Year award winner. Big surprise, right?
2) Niagara. Four starters back from a team that beat Siena by 15 points in a game during the final weekend of regular-season play.
3) Rider. Four starters back, too, including arguably the conference's best player in Ryan Thompson.
4) Saint Peter's. Probably a little bit of a surprise here. But, yours truly rates John Dunne very high as a coach. Ryan Bacon is emerging as one of the league's best big men and Jaron Belin, a 6-6 forward coming in from Monroe Community College, will be an impact newcomer.
5) Fairfield. I love how hard the Stags play under Ed Cooley. Only lingering injuries will keep the Stags from being competitive.
6) Iona. Five returnees who all saw some time in last season's starting lineups, two solid red-shirt freshmen become eligible and four touted freshmen ... if it all comes together, Gaels could be better than this.
7) Loyola. Standout perimeter players joined by 6-10 Maryland transfer Shane Walker. And, no Jimmy Patsos team will ever be anything less than competitive.
8) Canisius. All five starters back, along with a touted freshman (Rob Gagliardi). The Golden Griffins could easily do better than this.
9) Manhattan. Only one double-figure scorer (Darryl Crawford) is back. But, the Jaspars always seem to overachieve under Barry Rohrssen.
10) Marist. Its best two players have graduated. But, a Villanova transfer (6-10 Casiem Drummond) who is eligible after the first semester; an ACC transfer (guard Daye Kaba, formerly at Boston College) who is eligible immediately, and some promising freshmen create optimism.
In talking to coaches around the league this offseason, the universal theme is that there won't be any easy nights on this year's schedule, and that's my perspective, too.
Any of the bottom five teams could easily finisher higher than predicted here, and that's rarely the case. In most seasons, there has almost always been a program or two that could be counted on to struggle. But, that doesn't seem to be the case this year.
For an expanded MAAC preview ... I hope you'll rush to your local newsstand to purchase The Sporting News College Basketball Annual. It's not there yet, but will be at some point in early to mid September.
AND, NOW THAT WE'VE GOT YOUR ATTENTION (hopefully) ...
Yours truly will be taking a brief hiatus to visit an old friend in central New York's wine country.
Bully Hill, anyone?
The MAAC blog will resume by Aug. 7.
NEXT UP: I'll be taking a look at incoming players, transfers and recruits.
Again, thanks for reading.
An Early, and Welcomed, Return to Hoops
Welcome back to "Keepin' Track of the MAAC."
This is an early, unexpected but much-welcomed return to blogging about MAAC basketball happenings.
The MAAC has graciously offered the opportunity to blog about hoops year round. And, considering that yours truly is a year-round hoops junkie ... the chance to do that is just too good to pass up.
What goes on in the off-season?
Plenty, from recruiting, to scheduling, to comings and goings (players and coaches) ... just about everything and anything. It's also a good chance to opine, reminisce, whatever.
So, hopefully, this will be an internet destination for all you Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball fans. And, I know, there are plenty of you out there.
This begins my 21st season of being connected with the MAAC, first as a newspaper "beat reporter" and, now, as a blogger. My experience has taught me there is a a large audience for MAAC-related content, an audience that far surpasses that of almost any other mid-major basketball conference.
Why is that? My educated guesses are that the conference programs are well-established and have fan bases that have developed over long periods of time, that the league brings in a high-level of athletes, that the league schedule is always competitive, that fans can get greater access to players and coaches at this level than at the higher levels, that MAAC athletes are students first ... in essence that the league epitomizes what college sports is meant to be.
And, as fans, we are the beneficiaries. We appreciate it.
Now, I hope, the faithful readers of this space will be the year-round beneficiaries of opinions, insights, news and anything else this blogger can find of interest to write about concerning both men's and women's basketball.
Thanks for reading.
This is an early, unexpected but much-welcomed return to blogging about MAAC basketball happenings.
The MAAC has graciously offered the opportunity to blog about hoops year round. And, considering that yours truly is a year-round hoops junkie ... the chance to do that is just too good to pass up.
What goes on in the off-season?
Plenty, from recruiting, to scheduling, to comings and goings (players and coaches) ... just about everything and anything. It's also a good chance to opine, reminisce, whatever.
So, hopefully, this will be an internet destination for all you Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball fans. And, I know, there are plenty of you out there.
This begins my 21st season of being connected with the MAAC, first as a newspaper "beat reporter" and, now, as a blogger. My experience has taught me there is a a large audience for MAAC-related content, an audience that far surpasses that of almost any other mid-major basketball conference.
Why is that? My educated guesses are that the conference programs are well-established and have fan bases that have developed over long periods of time, that the league brings in a high-level of athletes, that the league schedule is always competitive, that fans can get greater access to players and coaches at this level than at the higher levels, that MAAC athletes are students first ... in essence that the league epitomizes what college sports is meant to be.
And, as fans, we are the beneficiaries. We appreciate it.
Now, I hope, the faithful readers of this space will be the year-round beneficiaries of opinions, insights, news and anything else this blogger can find of interest to write about concerning both men's and women's basketball.
Thanks for reading.
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