With the end of post-season play for MAAC teams, please permit your Hoopscribe to make a "commercial" reminder.
The MAAC Blog, "Keepin' Track of the MAAC," is a year-round destination site for news, features, history, insight, opinion and just about anything with a tie to basketball within our favorite conference.
In coming days, weeks and months we'll have plenty to write about.
Right now the coaching carousel continues to spin with openings for men's coaches at Marist and Siena and women's coaches at Iona and Saint Peter's. We'll keep you as up to date as possible on those searches and, eventually, how things turn out at those schools.
And, there might even be more to come. A couple of MAAC coaches are being rumored as potential replacements for openings elsewhere. So, stay tuned. It's going to be a busy off-season for coaching movement.
Coming up shortly we'll do year-end "team reports" on every program, men's and women's, in which we'll take a look back and try to see what's ahead for conference teams.
After that, we'll take on recruiting with a look at who's coming in to help conference programs in the future.
And, through all of that there always seems to be additional news filtering out from within the MAAC and this is your one-stop shopping center for all of that.
Finally, another piece of welcome news.
The Sporting News, a terrific publication, recently announced it will resume publishing its preseason College Basketball Preview Magazine after a one-year hiatus.
Your blogger will once again be doing the MAAC preview for that publication. It should be good reading.
But you can find much, much more about the MAAC almost every day right here.
So keep reading ... early and often.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Loyola, Canisius Losses End MAAC Teams' Season
A very good season of MAAC basketball came to its conclusion earlier this week as the men's teams from Loyola and Canisius suffered quarterfinal-round losses in the CollegeInsider.com (CIT) event.
Both squads had won two games in the event before their respective season-ending losses.
Loyola lost, 70-58, to East Carolina in a game that was tied with 10:49 remaining.
Canisius dropped an 84-83 decision to Evansville as the winners' Colt Evans scored 39 points, including 30 in the second half. Evansville held the lead for much of the second half, and Canisius never had a possession on which it had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds.
The Loyola game was the last for the Greyhounds' program as a member of the MAAC. Loyola will compete in the Patriot League beginning with the upcoming academic year. But, its men's coach Jimmy Patsos continues to be prominently mentioned as a finalist for the Siena position.
His Loyola team's senior class finished their careers as the senior class with the most wins (75) in the program's Division I history. Loyola has won 47 games over the past two seasons (24 last year, 23 this year), and has been to national post-season tournaments (it went to the NCAA's last year) the past two seasons.
The last two years marked the first back-to-back 20-victory seasons for the program since the early 1940's.
Canisius finishes with a 20-14 record, an improvement of 15 victories from a year ago, one of the best turnarounds at the Division I level.
"I told the guys that I was really proud of their effort, not only tonight but all season long," coach Jim Baron said in a release issued by Canisius. "To go from five wins last year to 20 this year, and from one league win to 11 ... that's something special. I've never been part of something like this before ... it was a heck of a run."
Junior guard Billy Baron finished the season with 584 points, the highest single-season total since Ray Hall scored 628 points in the 1984-85 season.
In all, six MAAC men's teams played in national post-season tournaments. Iona went to the NCAA's, Niagara participated in the NIT and the CIT field included Canisius, Loyola, Fairfield and Rider.
On the women's side Marist was part of the NCAA field, while Iona played in the WNIT and Fairfield was in the CBI event's field.
Both squads had won two games in the event before their respective season-ending losses.
Loyola lost, 70-58, to East Carolina in a game that was tied with 10:49 remaining.
Canisius dropped an 84-83 decision to Evansville as the winners' Colt Evans scored 39 points, including 30 in the second half. Evansville held the lead for much of the second half, and Canisius never had a possession on which it had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds.
The Loyola game was the last for the Greyhounds' program as a member of the MAAC. Loyola will compete in the Patriot League beginning with the upcoming academic year. But, its men's coach Jimmy Patsos continues to be prominently mentioned as a finalist for the Siena position.
His Loyola team's senior class finished their careers as the senior class with the most wins (75) in the program's Division I history. Loyola has won 47 games over the past two seasons (24 last year, 23 this year), and has been to national post-season tournaments (it went to the NCAA's last year) the past two seasons.
The last two years marked the first back-to-back 20-victory seasons for the program since the early 1940's.
Canisius finishes with a 20-14 record, an improvement of 15 victories from a year ago, one of the best turnarounds at the Division I level.
"I told the guys that I was really proud of their effort, not only tonight but all season long," coach Jim Baron said in a release issued by Canisius. "To go from five wins last year to 20 this year, and from one league win to 11 ... that's something special. I've never been part of something like this before ... it was a heck of a run."
Junior guard Billy Baron finished the season with 584 points, the highest single-season total since Ray Hall scored 628 points in the 1984-85 season.
In all, six MAAC men's teams played in national post-season tournaments. Iona went to the NCAA's, Niagara participated in the NIT and the CIT field included Canisius, Loyola, Fairfield and Rider.
On the women's side Marist was part of the NCAA field, while Iona played in the WNIT and Fairfield was in the CBI event's field.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
DeWolfe Leaves Saint Peter's Women's Program
Iona isn't the only program with an opening for a women's basketball coach. Add Saint Peter's to that list, after the school issued a release indicating that Stephanie DeWolfe has resigned after nine years as the Peacocks' head coach.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the administration and university community for all of their support throughout the last nine years as head coach," DeWolfe said, in a release issued by the school. "Though this was an extremely difficult decision, I realize that the growing demands of my family (she missed time during this past season while on maternity leave) will not allow me to devote the time the program deserves to achieve maximum success."
DeWolfe finished with an overall record of 92-175 over her nine seasons. This past season's team was 2-28 overall.
A 1997 grad of the school, DeWolfe was one of the program's best players. She graduated as the program's all-time leader in assists (399) and 3-pointers made (112). She also scored 1,028 career points.
While a player her teams finished 80-33 overall. Her senior season's team posted a 25-4 overall record and its 14-0 record in MAAC play (1996-97) marked the first unbeaten season by a conference women's team.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the administration and university community for all of their support throughout the last nine years as head coach," DeWolfe said, in a release issued by the school. "Though this was an extremely difficult decision, I realize that the growing demands of my family (she missed time during this past season while on maternity leave) will not allow me to devote the time the program deserves to achieve maximum success."
DeWolfe finished with an overall record of 92-175 over her nine seasons. This past season's team was 2-28 overall.
A 1997 grad of the school, DeWolfe was one of the program's best players. She graduated as the program's all-time leader in assists (399) and 3-pointers made (112). She also scored 1,028 career points.
While a player her teams finished 80-33 overall. Her senior season's team posted a 25-4 overall record and its 14-0 record in MAAC play (1996-97) marked the first unbeaten season by a conference women's team.
Good Guy Bozzella Takes Over Seton Hall Program
A little over two weeks ago, after his Iona women's team lost in the MAAC tournament's championship game to Marist, your Hoopscribe pulled Gaels' coach Tony Bozzella aside very briefly to whisper "I hope we (the conference) keep you."
That was because Bozzella is such a terrific person, and has become a good friend in recent years.
In truth, one always roots for good guys to advance, although that happens a lot less, for whatever reason, for mid-major level women's coaches than their counterparts on the men's side.
But, Bozzella's opportunity to move on was already a strong rumor back then that made perfect sense. Seton Hall had a need, after its former coach Anne Donovan, announced she was leaving to take a position in the WNBA. Bozzella is a Seton Hall grad. And, the school's athletic director, Pat Lyons, used to be Bozzella's boss at Iona.
All of that fell into place, and Bozzella was introduced as the new Seton Hall coach earlier today.
"It is an honor to have the opportunity to come home and coach at this great university," Bozzella said, in remarks released by the school. "Seton Hall has always been a special place to me. This is where I grew up, met my wife and now I have a beautiful family that I look forward to sharing this wonderful experience with. ... this is a school where we havce a great opportunity to be very successful."
Seton Hall is one of seven Catholic schools that will be part of the "new" Big East beginning next season. Its team, this past season, finished 11-20 this season, but four of its top seven players return.
And, Bozzella is no stranger to revitalizing a program.
There was no MAAC program more downtrodden than the Iona women before Bozzella's arrival. The Gaels had just one winning season (14-13 in 1981-82) in its first 21 MAAC seasons. Over that time its overall record was 152-404.
Bozzella turned things around quickly, and he had a 138-116 record there over the past eight seasons, including a 20-13 mark this season, his third 20-victory season with the Gaels.
"We are excited to welcome Tony back to the Seton Hall family to lead our women's basketball program," Lyons said, in a release issued by the school. "He brings a wealth of experience to his alma mater after enjoying a plethora of success at his previous stops. Tony emerged as the unanimous selection by the committee in a thorough search process. We believe his track record mentoring student-athlete success both on and off the court will continue at Seton Hall."
We have no doubt about that. Bozzella is a proven winner, a terrific basketball coach. And, an even better person.
That was because Bozzella is such a terrific person, and has become a good friend in recent years.
In truth, one always roots for good guys to advance, although that happens a lot less, for whatever reason, for mid-major level women's coaches than their counterparts on the men's side.
But, Bozzella's opportunity to move on was already a strong rumor back then that made perfect sense. Seton Hall had a need, after its former coach Anne Donovan, announced she was leaving to take a position in the WNBA. Bozzella is a Seton Hall grad. And, the school's athletic director, Pat Lyons, used to be Bozzella's boss at Iona.
All of that fell into place, and Bozzella was introduced as the new Seton Hall coach earlier today.
"It is an honor to have the opportunity to come home and coach at this great university," Bozzella said, in remarks released by the school. "Seton Hall has always been a special place to me. This is where I grew up, met my wife and now I have a beautiful family that I look forward to sharing this wonderful experience with. ... this is a school where we havce a great opportunity to be very successful."
Seton Hall is one of seven Catholic schools that will be part of the "new" Big East beginning next season. Its team, this past season, finished 11-20 this season, but four of its top seven players return.
And, Bozzella is no stranger to revitalizing a program.
There was no MAAC program more downtrodden than the Iona women before Bozzella's arrival. The Gaels had just one winning season (14-13 in 1981-82) in its first 21 MAAC seasons. Over that time its overall record was 152-404.
Bozzella turned things around quickly, and he had a 138-116 record there over the past eight seasons, including a 20-13 mark this season, his third 20-victory season with the Gaels.
"We are excited to welcome Tony back to the Seton Hall family to lead our women's basketball program," Lyons said, in a release issued by the school. "He brings a wealth of experience to his alma mater after enjoying a plethora of success at his previous stops. Tony emerged as the unanimous selection by the committee in a thorough search process. We believe his track record mentoring student-athlete success both on and off the court will continue at Seton Hall."
We have no doubt about that. Bozzella is a proven winner, a terrific basketball coach. And, an even better person.
Siena's Search For Men's Coach Nearing Final Stages
Things have been relatively quiet on the search for a coach at Siena, we have learned a few things in recent days.
The Albany Times-Union newspaper, in today's edition, reports that Siena's athletic director John D'Argenio recently went to off campus/out-of-area sites to meet recently with Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole and Virginia Commonwealth associate head coach Mike Rhoades. The newspaper quoted a single source familiar with the process.
We'll go one better on that report. This scribe has two sources that confirmed that D'Argenio had earlier conducted off-campus interviews with Loyola head coach Jimmy Patsos and Florida International head coach Richard Pitino.
Those sources indicated that both Patsos and Pitino will be brought to the Siena campus for the next round of interviews later this week.
In every process D'Argenio has conducted, the off-campus interview has been the preliminary meeting, and individuals brought on campus for a second talk, as well as the opportunity to tour the campus and meet with other school administrators, have been finalists for the job.
To read the proverbial tea leaves, then, it would appear that Patsos and Pitino are the early front-runners for the Siena position.
That's not to say that Toole and/or Rhoades won't also be afforded on-campus interviews and get into the mix as "finalists."
But, the past indicates that Siena won't bring four finalists on to its campus. In most other processes, the maximum number of finalists brought to campus had been three.
The current candidates mentioned (Patsos, Pitino, Rhoades and Toole) appear to be the entire "pool." Expect the next Siena coach to come from that group, a variety of sources believe.
In case the Siena administration wants some advice, it says here that the top choice should be Patsos.
The Loyola coach is no stranger to revitalizing a program, and no program needed it more than his own when he took over in 2004-05. The year before his arrival Loyola was 1-27 overall, ranked dead-last in the RPI's, and high school players from the fertile recruiting areas of Baltimore and the D.C. area perceived themselves as failures if they had to accept a scholarship offer from the program.
Patsos quickly changed that perception to where, now, he regularly bring in the best mid-major level talents from his area. And, in his second year the Greyhounds were back over .500.
In his last two seasons, his teams have won 24 and 23 games (first back-to-back 20-victory seasons since the early 1940's at Loyola), and have won 18 or more four of the last seven.
Clearly, Patsos can coach. But, he's more than an on-court mentor. He's also concerned with his players' education, and uses road trips for both team bonding and to enhance his players' cultural boundaries by scheduling trips to historical sites, museums and landmarks.
Pitino has told confidants that he is very interested in the Siena job. His father, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, owns a Saratoga Springs home (the elder Pitino enjoys thoroughbred racing).
Pitino, at 30, is also the youngest candidate by far. He just finished his first season at FIU with an 18-14 record, 10 victories more than the program's 8-21 record the previous year.
Makes one wonder, though, if Pitino's relative youth will work against him, as might his inclination to leave FIU (and a reported $250,000 annual base salary) after just one season.
Rhoades has also been a head coach, albeit at the Division III level. After three seasons as an assistant at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., he took over that program and had a 197-76 record in 10 years.
Rhoades then moved to VCU, where he has been an assistant for the past 10 years.
Toole just finished up his third season as head coach at Robert Morris with a 24-11 record and a trip to the NIT where his team got a first-round victory over Kentucky, before a second-loss to Providence.
Prior to his promotion, he had been an assistant in the program for three seasons.
Toole, like former Siena coach Fran McCaffery, is a graduate of Penn.
The Albany Times-Union newspaper, in today's edition, reports that Siena's athletic director John D'Argenio recently went to off campus/out-of-area sites to meet recently with Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole and Virginia Commonwealth associate head coach Mike Rhoades. The newspaper quoted a single source familiar with the process.
We'll go one better on that report. This scribe has two sources that confirmed that D'Argenio had earlier conducted off-campus interviews with Loyola head coach Jimmy Patsos and Florida International head coach Richard Pitino.
Those sources indicated that both Patsos and Pitino will be brought to the Siena campus for the next round of interviews later this week.
In every process D'Argenio has conducted, the off-campus interview has been the preliminary meeting, and individuals brought on campus for a second talk, as well as the opportunity to tour the campus and meet with other school administrators, have been finalists for the job.
To read the proverbial tea leaves, then, it would appear that Patsos and Pitino are the early front-runners for the Siena position.
That's not to say that Toole and/or Rhoades won't also be afforded on-campus interviews and get into the mix as "finalists."
But, the past indicates that Siena won't bring four finalists on to its campus. In most other processes, the maximum number of finalists brought to campus had been three.
The current candidates mentioned (Patsos, Pitino, Rhoades and Toole) appear to be the entire "pool." Expect the next Siena coach to come from that group, a variety of sources believe.
In case the Siena administration wants some advice, it says here that the top choice should be Patsos.
The Loyola coach is no stranger to revitalizing a program, and no program needed it more than his own when he took over in 2004-05. The year before his arrival Loyola was 1-27 overall, ranked dead-last in the RPI's, and high school players from the fertile recruiting areas of Baltimore and the D.C. area perceived themselves as failures if they had to accept a scholarship offer from the program.
Patsos quickly changed that perception to where, now, he regularly bring in the best mid-major level talents from his area. And, in his second year the Greyhounds were back over .500.
In his last two seasons, his teams have won 24 and 23 games (first back-to-back 20-victory seasons since the early 1940's at Loyola), and have won 18 or more four of the last seven.
Clearly, Patsos can coach. But, he's more than an on-court mentor. He's also concerned with his players' education, and uses road trips for both team bonding and to enhance his players' cultural boundaries by scheduling trips to historical sites, museums and landmarks.
Pitino has told confidants that he is very interested in the Siena job. His father, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, owns a Saratoga Springs home (the elder Pitino enjoys thoroughbred racing).
Pitino, at 30, is also the youngest candidate by far. He just finished his first season at FIU with an 18-14 record, 10 victories more than the program's 8-21 record the previous year.
Makes one wonder, though, if Pitino's relative youth will work against him, as might his inclination to leave FIU (and a reported $250,000 annual base salary) after just one season.
Rhoades has also been a head coach, albeit at the Division III level. After three seasons as an assistant at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., he took over that program and had a 197-76 record in 10 years.
Rhoades then moved to VCU, where he has been an assistant for the past 10 years.
Toole just finished up his third season as head coach at Robert Morris with a 24-11 record and a trip to the NIT where his team got a first-round victory over Kentucky, before a second-loss to Providence.
Prior to his promotion, he had been an assistant in the program for three seasons.
Toole, like former Siena coach Fran McCaffery, is a graduate of Penn.
Monday, March 25, 2013
ESPN's "Survive And Advance" Show Is Must-Viewing
Not having been bludgeoned to viewing submission by NCAA tournament games late Sunday night, your Hoopscribe sought out one last dose of the sport via the magic of the "On Demand" feature of my cable network.
It was there, around the midnight hour of late Sunday/early Monday that I got my first look at ESPN's 30-for-30's production of "Survive And Advance," the documentary of North Carolina State's improbable run to the national championship of the 1982-83 season.
There is even an almost-connection to the MAAC. Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano coached five seasons at Iona, the last in 1979-80. But, he had moved on to Raleigh, N.C., two years before the MAAC's formation (1981).
At Iona, his best player was Jeff Ruland and, together, they took Iona to a 28-4 finish in 1979-80 and to the NCAA tournament's second round. Ruland, who was also gone from Iona before the MAAC was formed, did come back to serve as an assistant with the Gaels under Tim Welch and, then, as the program's head coach for six seasons.
"Survive And Advance," a well-worn phrase about tournament play that might well have originated with the loquacious Valvano, brings together the entire North Carolina team for a 30th-year reunion at an otherwise unoccupied pub.
Their reminisces, along with game highlights, interviews with others from both around the program and competitors (particularly Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski), provide the material to weave together a wonderful story about a storied team.
There was also considerable archival material from Valvano, including snippets from a motivational speech he once gave, from his return to N.C. State for a 10th-year reunion in 1993 when he was already well into his life-ending battle with cancer, and, of course, from his famous speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards, not long before his passing.
The only absentees from the 30-year reunion were Valvano, and Lorenzo Charles, whose mid-air grab of teammate Dereck Whittenburg's 35-foot last-second shot and subsequent dunk provided the game-winning points in the championship game against highly touted Houston and its "Phi Slamma Jamma" persona. Charles died in a 2011 bus accident.
A good portion of the show is seen through the eyes of Whittenburg, a confident 6-foot-0 senior guard for North Carolina State that magical season. Whittenburg, who went on to a lengthy coaching career (including work as a head coach at Wagner and Fordham) is now on ESPN's staff and produced the documentary.
The result is funny, witty, touching and tear-inducing, and I will admit to more than a few tears shed while watching.
It was certainly a well-spent 90, or so, minutes of viewing ... a glimpse at basketball history.
Sports Illustrated ranked the Wolfpack's improbable 1983 national championship run as the top story of the 20th century in college basketball.
There's no disagreement here. And, the documentary's quality matches the achievement.
It is must-see viewing for any fan of college basketball.
It was there, around the midnight hour of late Sunday/early Monday that I got my first look at ESPN's 30-for-30's production of "Survive And Advance," the documentary of North Carolina State's improbable run to the national championship of the 1982-83 season.
There is even an almost-connection to the MAAC. Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano coached five seasons at Iona, the last in 1979-80. But, he had moved on to Raleigh, N.C., two years before the MAAC's formation (1981).
At Iona, his best player was Jeff Ruland and, together, they took Iona to a 28-4 finish in 1979-80 and to the NCAA tournament's second round. Ruland, who was also gone from Iona before the MAAC was formed, did come back to serve as an assistant with the Gaels under Tim Welch and, then, as the program's head coach for six seasons.
"Survive And Advance," a well-worn phrase about tournament play that might well have originated with the loquacious Valvano, brings together the entire North Carolina team for a 30th-year reunion at an otherwise unoccupied pub.
Their reminisces, along with game highlights, interviews with others from both around the program and competitors (particularly Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski), provide the material to weave together a wonderful story about a storied team.
There was also considerable archival material from Valvano, including snippets from a motivational speech he once gave, from his return to N.C. State for a 10th-year reunion in 1993 when he was already well into his life-ending battle with cancer, and, of course, from his famous speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards, not long before his passing.
The only absentees from the 30-year reunion were Valvano, and Lorenzo Charles, whose mid-air grab of teammate Dereck Whittenburg's 35-foot last-second shot and subsequent dunk provided the game-winning points in the championship game against highly touted Houston and its "Phi Slamma Jamma" persona. Charles died in a 2011 bus accident.
A good portion of the show is seen through the eyes of Whittenburg, a confident 6-foot-0 senior guard for North Carolina State that magical season. Whittenburg, who went on to a lengthy coaching career (including work as a head coach at Wagner and Fordham) is now on ESPN's staff and produced the documentary.
The result is funny, witty, touching and tear-inducing, and I will admit to more than a few tears shed while watching.
It was certainly a well-spent 90, or so, minutes of viewing ... a glimpse at basketball history.
Sports Illustrated ranked the Wolfpack's improbable 1983 national championship run as the top story of the 20th century in college basketball.
There's no disagreement here. And, the documentary's quality matches the achievement.
It is must-see viewing for any fan of college basketball.
Loyola Joins Canisius In CIT Eevent's Quarterfinals
Eight teams remain active in the Collegeinsiders.com Tournament (CIT), and two are from the MAAC.
Canisius earned its way to the quarterfinals with a Saturday night victory over Youngstown State and, now, Loyola also got there with a 73-59 decision over Kent State on Sunday afternoon.
The Greyhounds will play next on Tuesday at East Carolina at 7 p.m. in Greenville, N.C. ECU already has a tournament victory over a MAAC opponent, having ended Fairfield's season in the event's second round.
Loyola surely hopes ECU will play a defensive strategy similar to Kent State's.
On Sunday, Loyola's 6-foot-7 senior forward Erik Etherly saw single coverage and exploded for 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Etherly got 17 of his points from the foul line (17-of-19), the most by a Loyola player since Jamal Barney had a school record 18 against NJIT in 2009.
"Getting to the line has always been his game," Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos told reporters afterwards. "I think not being scouted so much helped Erik. They weren't ready to double-team him every time. It was like, `OK, it's Etherly,' whereas Fairfield and Iona were just running people at him. So, he had got some room and he did some damage."
"It's a lot easier when you don't have to try to score over four people at times," Etherly told reporters after the game.
Canisius earned its way to the quarterfinals with a Saturday night victory over Youngstown State and, now, Loyola also got there with a 73-59 decision over Kent State on Sunday afternoon.
The Greyhounds will play next on Tuesday at East Carolina at 7 p.m. in Greenville, N.C. ECU already has a tournament victory over a MAAC opponent, having ended Fairfield's season in the event's second round.
Loyola surely hopes ECU will play a defensive strategy similar to Kent State's.
On Sunday, Loyola's 6-foot-7 senior forward Erik Etherly saw single coverage and exploded for 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Etherly got 17 of his points from the foul line (17-of-19), the most by a Loyola player since Jamal Barney had a school record 18 against NJIT in 2009.
"Getting to the line has always been his game," Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos told reporters afterwards. "I think not being scouted so much helped Erik. They weren't ready to double-team him every time. It was like, `OK, it's Etherly,' whereas Fairfield and Iona were just running people at him. So, he had got some room and he did some damage."
"It's a lot easier when you don't have to try to score over four people at times," Etherly told reporters after the game.
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