The Full-Court Press

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2010-04-06T15:25:00.001-04:00

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Why Fairfield fans can breathe a sigh of relief

2010-04-06T12:02:00.003-04:00

Fairfield will enter next season with expectations the highest in more than a decade.

That remains true today, since with Boston College's decision to hire Cornell's Steve Donahue, Ed Cooley is almost certain to return for a fifth season.

Cooley had been one of three reported finalists for the job -- vacated when Al Skinner was fired last week -- along with Donahue and Northeastern coach Bill Coen, who, along with Cooley, was a long-time assistant under Skinner.

If Fairfield lives up to expectations next year -- especially if the Stags make it to the NCAA tournament -- the odds Cooley will be back in 2011-12 are slim.

But great as the BC job would have been for Cooley, his departure would have come at the least opportune time for Fairfield.

The Stags' program is the healthiest its been since the mid-90s, when it won MAAC regular season and tournament titles in back-to-back years. That's almost entirely because of Cooley, and even if Gene Doris hit it out of the park again on Cooley's replacement, there's no guarantee the new coach would have been able to pick up where Cooley left off.

Worst of all, though, would have been the impact on Fairfield's roster. Had Cooley left it's entirely possible Derek Needham would have left as well, depriving the Stags of arguably the best player in the MAAC at a time when his presence makes Fairfield the team to beat in the league.

Boston College wanted someone who could energize a dormant fan base and quickly restore a program that has slipped in the ACC pecking order over the past several years. Cooley fits that description almost perfectly. From that standpoint, Fairfield fans may actually be lucky that Colin Nickerson's 15-footer at the buzzer didn't fall in the MAAC title game.

Donahue's credentials -- taking a bottom-tier Ivy League program and eventually leading it to the Sweet 16 -- are hard to match, but if Cooley had added an NCAA tournament experience to his resume, he may have landed the BC job or been in the mix for several other jobs at power conferences.

There's enough balance in the top half of the MAAC to make the races for the MAAC's one or two NCAA tournament spots (assuming the tournament expands to 96 teams) extremely competitive.

Fairfield, though, has the best shot of any school. If the Stags make it back to the Big Dance, their program will be in infinitely better shape than it was on April 11, 2006, when they introduced Cooley as their new coach.

And if that's the case, Cooley can leave for greener pastures knowing he left a significant mark on the program.

Why NCAA tournament expansion would be a bad business move

2010-04-01T19:23:00.002-04:00

Many have argued against NCAA tournament expansion because it’s a shameless money grab. That argument is flimsy. This move is more blatantly about money than most, but everything in sports is a money grab, and for the most part, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Expansion isn’t wrong because it’s greedy. It’s wrong because it’s an awful long-term business decision — one that, over the course of time, will land the NCAA and its member institutions less money instead of more.

The notion that expansion would hurt the game is common almost to the point of becoming accepted doctrine. The NCAA, though, will address the issue at its April 29 board meeting anyway, because adding 16 more games would draw a more lucrative TV deal. (The NCAA can opt out of the final three years of its $6 billion deal with CBS at the end of this year).

The argument that an expanded tournament would be severely watered down sounds good but also isn’t true. With 347 Division 1 teams, adding another 32 will actually do very little — if anything — to dilute the field. And the dilution argument ignores the reality that the current field doesn’t contain the best 65 teams in the country anyway because of all the automatic bids to mid- and low-majors.

But the tournament will lose a lot of its appeal if it gives 32 teams a bye while the other 64 have to play on the first day. One of the charming things about the tournament as its presently constituted is that Kansas needs to play the same number of games to win the tournament as Robert Morris — that on the first day, upsets like Ohio over Georgetown are possible. This is corny but entirely true: Those upsets give the tournament charm, and that charm is the reason casual sports fans — or better yet, people not even interested in sports — become college basketball fans in March.

Expanding the tournament has the potential to turn away those fans in droves, yielding the NCAA’s TV partner — whether its CBS, ESPN or someone else — lower ratings. That could easily mean that by the time it’s time to negotiate the next tournament TV deal, the value of the deal will be less than it would have with a 65-team field.

But expansion would hurt the tournament itself significantly less than it would hurt the regular season and conference tournaments.

College basketball’s regular season is already under siege from critics for having little significance. If a team like North Carolina can have its most disappointing season in decades and STILL make the NCAA tournament, critics will rightly argue that at least as it pertains to successful teams from power conferences, what goes on between November and February will be a string of exhibition games.

It’s easy to envision a scenario in which regular-season TV ratings go down and conferences are eventually forced to settle for less lucrative contracts as a result.

Then there are conference tournaments. Those held by the power conferences already have little meaning, but those held by mid-majors have both meaning and financial value. A league like the MAAC, for instance makes a comparative killing on its tournament.

Yet under some of the proposed expansion plans, automatic NCAA bids would be awarded to both regular season and tournament champions.

While the value of mid-major regular seasons -- contrary to high-major regular seasons — would increase, such a plan would cripple conference tournaments and potentially deprive conferences of revenue. Imagine how much less meaningful last moth’s Fairfield-Siena game would have been if Siena had already clinched a tournament berth. That’s exactly how a potential MAAC title game could play out next year if the tournament is expanded.

It’s very easy, then, to envision a scenario in which high-major regular seasons and mid-major conference tournaments are so devalued that interest in the sport drops significantly over the next decade. If that happens, TV deals will be less lucrative, attendance will dip, and disinterested donors will stop forking over the loads of cash that pay coaches’ salaries.

That’s why when the NCAA board meets later this month, it should keep the tournament -- and the structure of the sport — how it is.

Rohrssen staying at Manhattan

2010-03-30T17:46:00.003-04:00

When Steve Lavin puts together his coaching staff at St. John's, Barry Rohrssen won't be one of the candidates.

Multiple outlets are reporting that Rohrssen, contrary to what some had speculated, will stay at Manhattan for a fifth year.

The New York Post posted a story on Rohrssen on its Web site.

Rohrssen's job status was the subject of speculation over the last two months of the 2009-10 season, but the Jaspers finished strong, winning at Iona and beating Loyola in the MAAC tournament play-in round before losing to Siena in the quarterfinals.

Jeff Ruland trashes Iona on WFAN

2010-03-30T15:50:00.009-04:00

This is a must-listen.

Coaching dominoes

2010-03-28T18:19:00.005-04:00

FRAN McCAFFERY: Headed to Iowa

KEVIN WILLARD: Headed to Seton Hall

BARRY ROHRSSEN: Could join Steve Lavin at Saint John's

A day that started with news that Fran McCaffery was headed to Iowa now has taken a couple more interesting turns.

Once Seton Hall learned McCaffery was unavailable, the Pirates quickly moved to hire Iona's Kevin Willard, who Adam Zagoria reports will make an astonishing $1 million per year -- more than double what the Hall paid Bobby Gonzalez.

If that wasn't enough, the Boston Globe is reporting Steve Lavin could be on his way to Saint John's -- with Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen as one of his assistants.

The Rohrssen part of the equation may be the most surprising, but it makes sense. Rohrssen is on a short leash at Manhattan, with significant improvement next year likely needed for him to keep his job. Getting out now -- and joining a good staff that will inherit an experienced team in Jamaica -- might be smart.

If Rohrssen does leave -- and that looks far from a certainty right now -- the MAAC could have three coaching vacancies -- the most it's had since 2006, when Iona, Manhattan, Fairfield, Saint Peter's and Canisius all had openings.

McCaffery to Iowa; Who should replace him at Siena?

2010-03-28T12:18:00.004-04:00

Pete Iorizzo reports today that Fran McCaffery has accepted an offer to coach at Iowa. McCaffery was reportedly the leading candidate for the job at Seton Hall, and was also drawing interest from St. John's.

Instead, he'll head to Iowa City, where he'll try to rebuild a proud but dormant program. The Hawkeyes fired Todd Likliter after three straight losing seasons.

Pete reports that McCaffery will be introduced at a news conference tomorrow.

Siena has signed letters of intent from two highly regarded high school seniors forwards -- Melsahn Basabe and Trenity Burdine -- but both can be released from their letters.

With Ryan Rossiter and Clarence Jackson back and the MAAC's best freshmen class coming in, I thought the Saints would be a top-tier team in 2010-11. This has the potential to change that, though it's possible McCaffery's successor could keep the recruiting class intact.

So here's the question, Siena fans: Who would you like to see as McCaffery's replacement?

Trenton native Jeff Robinson to enter NBA draft

2010-03-25T20:51:00.002-04:00

Seton Hall forward Jeff Robinson, a Trenton native, is planning to enter the NBA draft, his father told The Trentonian.

Jeff Robinbson Sr. said his son, a former standout at St. Patrick High School, is entering the draft with one season of eligibility remaining at Seton Hall. The Pirates are likely to undergo significant roster changes in the wake of coach Bobby Gonzalez's firing.

Robinson averaged 12.2 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Pirates, who lost to Texas Tech in the first round of the NIT. Prior to arriving at Seton Hall, Robinson played two seasons at Memphis. He transferred mid-way through the 2008-09 season after averaging 1.8 points in 9.4 minutes.

Seton Hall fired Gonzalez March 17 after four seaons and is conducting a search for his replacement. Gonzalez's tenure was marred by off-court distractions. Two former players -- Robert Mitchell and Kelly Whitney -- were charged with several crimes involving an armed robbery in Newark.

Live chat: Princeton-Saint Louis

2010-03-24T18:41:00.001-04:00

CBI semifinal: Princeton at Saint Louis

My outrageously early 2010-11 rankings

2010-03-23T13:28:00.005-04:00

Fairfield's loss to Creighton last night in the CIT quarterfinals officially brought an end to the MAAC 2009-10 MAAC season, meaning it's time to look toward next year.

By the time September rolls around, the MAAC landscape could look quite a bit different. But for now, we'll run with the flawed assumption that things will stay as they appear now, and go through a quick rundown of what the league pecking order should look like.

With that, the blog's admittedly premature 2010-11 rankings.

1. Fairfield: Won 23 games -- and came within a 15-foot jumper of the MAAC title -- with a freshman as its most dominant player. Losing Anthony Johnson and Mike Evanovich will hurt, but those losses could be offset by the returns of Warren Edney and Yorel Hawkins.

2. Siena: Those arguing the Saints will finish fifth or sixth are either insincere or delusional. They'll lose the best three-player class in recent history, meaning they're no longer the favorites. But I'll take my chances with Ryan Rossiter, Clarence Jackson, and the league's best recruiting class and coaching staff. That is, of course, if Fran McCaffery returns.

3. Iona: Won 21 games with one of the MAAC's youngest lineups. The Gaels return five starters from a team that finished third, and everyone on the roster should improve. But Kevin Willard's teams are 0-for-the-MAAC-tournament over the last three years -- a stat that can't be ignored.

4. Saint Peter's: Like Iona, the Peacocks return virtually everyone from a team that got a lot better over the past year. But like the Gaels, the Peacocks have shown an inability to win big games. Until that changes, I don't think they're title contenders.

5. Rider: Replacing Ryan Thompson -- unquestionably one of the five best players in school history -- won't be easy. So how will the Broncs replicate their fifth-place finish? Easy: Their two heralded freshmen are ready to contribute right away and, more importantly, the bottom half of the league will be far weaker than it was last year.

6. Manhattan: The Jaspers were wise to bring back Barry Rohrssen for at least one more year. Manhattan showed resolve in the face of adversity down the stretch, and with weaker competition throughout the league, Rico Pickett is poised for a dominant year.

7. Canisius: If the Golden Griffs finish seventh again, there's almost no way Tom Parrotta will be back in 2011-12. With that in mind, Parrotta needs to hope the four starters he has back will somehow play better without Frank Turner -- a scenario that's possible albeit unlikely.

8. Niagara: I trust Joe Mihalich enough to think that the Eagles won't be horrible, but it's hard to imagine them being a major factor without Tyrone Lewis, Bilal Benn or Rob Garrison -- players that have carried them over the past three seasons.

9. Loyola: The Hounds badly underachieved this past year and are staring at an uncertain future without Brett Harvey.

10. Marist: Chuck Martin's second year was so big a disaster that, between the astoundingly bad performance and the academic issues, the Red Foxes would have been justified in firing him. That's exactly what will happen a year from now if the Foxes don't show significant improvement.

Live chat: Fairfield-Creighton

2010-03-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

Fairfield vs. Creighton Live Glog

"It's good!"

2010-03-18T09:42:00.003-04:00

It may not be "George hit the shot!", but Bob Heussler's call on Mike Evanovich's game-tying 3 Tuesday night is still a good listen.

... Harvard's blowout loss to App State last night took away Fairfield's chance of hosting its second-round game, so the Stags will play at Creighton Monday night. The Bluejays, you may recall, lost earlier this year to Iona.

... Pete Iorizzo reports from Spokane that Clarence Jackson is making progress and the Saints are all smiles.

... Princeton is moving on in the CBI. The Tigers will play IUPUI -- a winner yesterday at Hofstra -- in the quarterfinals.

... Fred Hill has his eyes on a .500 record in the Big East and an NCAA tournament bid next year.

Busy day

2010-03-17T17:50:00.007-04:00

Hard to beat this day for college basketball news:

* Within an hour this morning, Seton Hall had fired Bobby Gonzalez and Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti had issued a statement announcing that Fred Hill would be back next year in Piscataway. If the situation at Seton Hall wasn't already a colossal mess, this report surfaced about Robert Mitchell being arrested for, among other offenses, duct-taping eight people in an attempted burglary.

I'm still trying to figure out why Seton Hall hired Gonzo in the first place and why they're surprised that his tenure unfolded the way it did.

* Fairfield is getting as much publicity as you can get for a CIT win. The Stags' 27-point comeback last night at George Mason is the biggest in postseason history and the biggest in Fairfield history. It's the Stags' first postseason victory since the 1973 NIT, and the first postsesaon win for a MAAC team not named Siena since Marist beat Oklahoma State in the NIT and Niagara beat Florida A&M in the NCAA tournament play-in game on March 13, 2007.

The Stags made Sportscenter -- not exactly a common occurence -- and Ed Cooley appeared on Mike Francesa's show on WFAN.

* The news on the Rider front is partly expected and partly surprising. Jermaine Jackson had long looked like a likely transfer, and his exit was all but assured after the infamous Facebook incident last month. The news that Carl Johnson is leaving is hardly earth-shattering, but wasn't a sure thing either.

All things considered, though, Rider has a chance to replace low-impact players with recruits with potential. The Broncs need someone capable of playing some minutes at point guard and wouldn't turn down a good big man. Their main focus will be on high school players, but don't be surprised if they take a transfer -- something they did two years ago (Jhamar Youngblood) and last year (DeShawn Mitchell).

* Princeton hosts Duquesne tonight in the CBI. It's the Tigers first postseason game since 2004. Ryan Feldman will be there covering for The Trentonian. The Dukes will be without their second leading scorer, forward Bill Clark, who coach Ron Everhart suspended for "conduct deemed unacceptable to the team."

Jackson, Johnson leaving Rider

2010-03-17T14:39:00.004-04:00

Two Rider players -- sophomore forward Jermaine Jackson and freshman point guard Carl Johnson -- have decided to leave the program, coach Tommy Dempsey said Wednesday. Dempsey said both players wanted to move to schools where they could get more playing time.

Jackson, highly regarded as a high school prospect in Reading, Pa., had a disappointing and at times troubling career at Rider. In 50 games, he averaged 1.8 points and 11.8 minutes, going from an occasional starter to a seldom-used reserve. In Rider's last six games, he played only once -- for two minutes in a blowout loss to Siena on Feb. 26.

After the game, Jackson criticized Rider's coaches on his Facebook page. A day later, backup center Robbie Myers was also critical of Dempsey, but Jackson and Myers dressed for the Broncs' MAAC tournament games against Saint Peter's and Siena.

Johnson, from Philadelphia via St. Thomas Moore Prep in Connecticut, signed with Rider after Matt Griffin opted to transfer to Boston University. He played in 22 games, averaging 1.3 points.

The departures leave Rider with two additional scholarships to fill. The Broncs have signed 6-foot-7 forward Danny Stewart to a letter of intent and secured a verbal commitment from 6-4 shooting guard Anthony Myles. DeShawn Mitchell, a 6-5 guard who sat out this season after transferring from UNLV, will also be eligible next year.

Live chat: Fairfield-George Mason

2010-03-16T19:03:00.000-04:00

CIT Chat: Men's Basketball v. George Mason

Programming notes

2010-03-16T15:09:00.002-04:00

A couple things on the agenda:

*I'll be joining Tom Cleary, Ketih Connors and Chris Simmons again for a live chat during tonight's Fairfield-George Mason game. Unfortunately, none of us were able to make the trip to Virginia, but we'll have the webcast on and a chat both here and on The Mirror's sports blog.

*I'm at work putting together a 12-page NCAA tournament special section. If you're in greater Trenton, be sure to stop by and pick one up tomorrow.

Selection Sunday: Open post

2010-03-14T18:01:00.017-04:00

Greetings from the Trentonian news room, where like living rooms and bars across the country, the TV is tuned into the Selection Show on CBS.

I'm juggling the blog with page duty, so the best way to make this work is going to be to update this post throughout the night with postseason information, especially if it pertains to MAAC teams.

UPDATE, 6:03: No. 1 seeds, as expected, are Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke. Seemed to be broad consensus on Syracuse over West Virginia in spite of the Orange having lost two straight. Seth Davis says the Orange as the No. 4 overall seed -- behind Duke -- is a mistake. Tough call, but hard to have too much sympathy for Cuse on this one.

UPDATE, 6:10: Lehigh -- which got blown out in November by Rider -- will get fed to Kansas as a 16 seed. ... Northern Iowa, which routed Siena, is a No. 9 seed in the same region.

UPDATE, 6:12: Thought Georgetown might have played its way on to the 2 line with run in the Big East tournament. These guys did, afterall, beat Syracuse and come within 5 seconds of taking West Virginia. Shows, though, that ALMOST winning games doesn't do you a whole lot of good.

UPDATE, 6:21: How about the Cuse-UVM rematch in the 1-16 game? ... A couple of bubbles burst when Florida and Minnesota got bids.

UPDATE, 6:26: So Temple wins the A-10 title and has to play Cornell in the first round? That's a very rough draw.

UPDATE, 6:35: Tough draw seed-wise for Siena. Saints get a 13, which is a spot lower than most thought they'd get. I thought they had an outside shot at an 11. The good news, though, is they get a banged-up Purdue team in a winnable first-round game.

UPDATE, 6:38: Seth Davis has been on the Siena bandwagon all year, ranking the Saints in his preseason top 20, then being the lone AP voter to rank them late in the year before the Niagara loss. So it's no surprise that he now has them going to the Sweet 16. ... Sure would be great for the MAAC if he's right.

UPDATE, 6:41: Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury was adamant earlier today that his team had played its way into the field by taking Kentucky to overtime. ... Rick, next time you want a tournament bid, don't lose by 14 to Rider in your opener. ... That was a great win for Rider, but the fact remains Lehigh is the only team in this field that lost to Rider, and the Mountain Hawks are a 16 seed.

UPDATE, 6:47: John Templeton of chicagonow.com is tracking CIT and CBI bids. Seems like most teams accepting CIT bids aren't waiting to hear from the CBI. The CBI field probably won't be done till much later tonight, since they'll have to wait till after the NIT selection show to start building the field. ... When Rider was in it two years ago, the bracket wasn't completed until after 2 a.m.

UPDATE, 9:42: It's on to CBI/CIT watch for Fairfield, which wasn't included in the NIT field. There are a few intriguing NIT first-round matchups, including one between Jim Calhoun's former team (Northeastern) and his current team.

UPDATE, 10:50: Chris Elsberry reports that Fairfield will play George Mason in the opening round of the CIT. Not exactly what the Stags had been hoping for, but given the number of No. 1 seeds that lost in conference tournaments, not a big surprise either. And hey, when you haven't been to the postseason since 2003, you're happy to be playing in mid-March.

UPDATE, 12:16: Central New Jersey will have postseason basketball. Princeton has accepted a bid to the CBI and will lost Duquesne Tuesday.

Pandemonium on Pearl Street

2010-03-09T04:19:00.000-05:00

Title-game thriller: Siena 72, Fairfield 65

2010-03-08T21:30:00.007-05:00

This was a classic the likes of which the MAAC has rarely seen in its 30-year history.

Top-seeded Siena and second-seeded Fairfield went back and forth Monday night at the Times Union Center, exchanging blows and responding with improbable plays at improbable times.

Against a team that has dominated the MAAC over the past three seasons, Fairfield was nearly flawless in the first half and resilient over the last 10 minutes of regulation.

In the end, though, Siena was too much.

Edwin Ubiles scored 27 points, Player of the Year Alex Franklin had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Siena beat the underdog Stags 72-65 in just the third overtime title game in league history. The other two overtime title games came in 1982 and 1995.

Derek Needham scored 16 points and Anthony Johnson had 14 for the Stags, who have played themselves on to the NIT bubble.

The Stags (22-10) had the ball with a chance to win it in regulation, but after a series of Siena fouls, Colin Nickerson's baseline fadeaway rimmed out as time expired.

Franklin, named the tournament MVP, and Ubiles, proved too much to handle in the extra session, in which Siena (27-6) outscored the Stags 12-5.

Franklin, Ubiles, Ryan Rossiter, Ronald Moore, Needham and Johnson were named to the all-tournament team.

Both teams will find out their fates -- Siena its NCAA Tournament seeding and Fairfield its postseason destination -- on Sunday.

Live from Albany: Men's title game

2010-03-08T18:19:00.001-05:00

MAAC Championship: Fairfield vs. Siena Live Blog from Albany

Video: Ed Cooley on Championship Monday

2010-03-08T17:41:00.000-05:00

Video: Derek Needham on Championship Monday

2010-03-08T17:04:00.001-05:00

Video: Fran McCaffery on Championship Monday

2010-03-08T14:55:00.002-05:00

Championship Monday

2010-03-08T12:19:00.003-05:00

Forger Super Bowl Sunday. The biggest day of the sports year is today.

OK, maybe that's a bit much, but people around Albany and the MAAC are fired up for Siena-Fairfield.

To get the day started, a rundown of what people are writing about:

* Rider was good yesterday, but not good enough.

* Mike Ringgold turned in one of his best performances in a losing effort.

* Clarence Jackson was one of several Saints who woke up in the second half.

* It's next to impossible to beat Siena when Ronald Moore is hitting shots.

* Fairfield is in the title game for the first time in seven years.

* Niagara's offense disappeared when it mattered most.

* Ryan Rossiter is a monster in a good way.

* Folks at Manhattan think Gonzo is a monster in a bad way.

* Surprise, surprise. The Marist women are back in the Big Dance.

* Fairfield ran out of gas in the second half.

Siena-Fairfield

2010-03-07T21:45:00.006-05:00

A few tidbits on Monday night's title game between the Saints and the Stags:

* Siena is the third team in MAAC history to play in four straight title games. The others: Iona from 1982-85 and Manhattan from 1992-95.

* Fairfield is in the title game for the first time since 2002-03, when the Stags lost to Manhattan. That season also featured the Stags' last postseason appearance -- a loss to Boston College in the NIT.

* The Stags are 3-2 in MAAC title games, having won in 1986, 1987 and 1997. Their coach in the first two? Mitch Buonaguro, who's now Fran McCaffery's top assistant.

* The MAAC tournament attendance record is easily within reach. Sunday's semifinal session drew a crowd of 8,250, bringing the total for the tournament to 42,890. The record, set last year, is 50,806, meaning Monday's game needs to draw only 7,917 to set the record.

* So much for upsets. For the third straight year, the top two seeds will meet in the final.