Pos	Player	ATH	SP	REB	DEF	BLK	LP	PER	BH	P	WE	ST	DUR	Overall	Projected
SG	Johnny Hale	66	55	11	72	1	25	86	56	70	73	55	68	638	780+
SF	John Benner	80	46	28	64	22	57	27	35	35	59	71	22	546	760

Cornell "The Big Red"  (Season 62 Preview)

Coach:  hughesjr
Offense:  Triangle
Defense:  Zone

Starters:
PG:  James Robinson (Jr.)
SG:  Aaron Surette (Jr.)
SF:  Jackie Slaughter (Sr.)
PF:  Daniel Harney (Jr.)
C:    Fred Swiney (So.)

Bench:
Ralph Wood (Sr.)  PG/SG/SF
Gordon Liao (Sr.) PG/SG/SF
Arthur Espey (So.) PG/SG/SF
Justin Sawyer (So.) PF/C
Clifford Young (Fr.) PF/C
Richard James (Fr.) PF/C

Red Shirt:
Steve London (Fr.) PG/SG



Team Outlook:

This is the last season for the inherited players for coach hughesjr.  Of the three seniors left from coach lsumedici and the old regime, one, Jackie Slaughter, will begin the season as a starter at the Small Forward position.  Joining Slaughter in the starting lineup are 3 starters returning from last season: PG James Robinson, SG Aaron Surette, and PF Daniel Harney.  Rounding out the starting five is Center Fred Swiney, who was the number one big man off the bench last season.

All the starters except Slaughter are excellent defenders and the overall Defense of the Red should be much better this season.  The bench will include 2 seniors, guards Ralph Wood and Gordon Liao ... both excellent on offense and so-so on defense.  Two sophomores, PG Arthur Espey and PF Justin Sawyer, and two freshmen, C Clifford Young and C Richard James, round out the bench this season for Cornell.  James is a Red Shirt from last season and freshman PG Steve London will Red Shirt this season.

Non-Conference:

All ten non conference games are from non Big6 conferences for the Red this season.  Three opponents from the Summit League and one each from Metro Atlantic, MEAC, WCC, Sun Belt, Patriot, Southern and Southland conferences.  All ten games are winnable and the Red should finish non conference at 9-1.

Conference Play:

The Red look to be a middle of the pack team again this season in the Ivy League.    Looking to finish again at 8-8 in conference this season.  Also would like one win in the Conference Tourney.

Overall:

That would make the overall record for Cornell be 18-10 (8-8). That looks almost exactly like the 17-10(8-8) finish for the Red last season and might be enough for a PIT bid.

It wouldn't be the Ivy League without an All-Academic Team ... our nerds need recognition!!

I think that we should do at least 1st and 2nd team all conference if not a third team depending on participation by coaches. I would include Defensive player of the year and possibly a sharpshooter award.

Fordham Rams - Season 63

Coach: Chapelhillne
Offense: Motion
Defense: Full Court Press

STARTING 5:
PG - Kendall Price - Jr. - 5'11" - Brooklyn, NY
SG - Barney Morgan - Jr. - 6'4" - Jay, ME
SF - Dale Mireles - Sr - 6'4" - Georgetown, KY
PF - Edmond Busby - Sr - 6'11" - New Rochelle, NY
C - Salvatore Esposito - Jr* - 6'7" - Benedetto, Italy

RESERVES RETURNING:
PG - James Jaco - Jr. - 5'11" - Sidney, NY
SG - Jake Leech - So* - 5'9" - Washington, DC
SG - John Korth - So - 6'3" - Pine Bush, NY
SG - Richard Perkins - Fr* - 6'2" - New Britain, CT
SF/PF - Dustin Rienedeau - So - 6'6" - Parish, NY
SF - Ricky Wiggins - So - 6'6" - Reading, PA

NEW ADDITIONS: 
C - John Maker - 6/'10" - Al Noor High School, Brooklyn, NY. #25 Ranked Center, #99 Overall, 2 Star.
John Maker finally realized his childhood dream of donning the Rams jersey. A fan of the team, ever since he could remember, he was thrilled when Coach Chapelhillne offered him a scholarship early in the recruiting period. He should be a strong presence in the low post, although his 55 athleticism will be a bit of a detriment. However, by his senior year, he should approach 100 in rebounding, shot blocking, and low post skills, so he should be a solid contributor. Coach chapelhillne has stated privately that he intends to redshirt his new player, since the team is so deep this year.

SEASON 63 PRE-SEASON OUTLOOK:
The Fordham campus is really fired up about this season's Rams squad, as all but one player are returning from last years PI Final 4 squad. The team worked hard in the of-season, and enters this year as one of the teams to beat in the Ivy League. If the Rams do not make the National Tournament this year it will be a huge disappointment.

The team will be led by Senior Dale Mireles, who starts the year at 833, but there are so many scoring threats on this well balanced team.  The team is finally comfortable with the press now, and should be able to wreak havoc on inexperienced players or poor ball handlers. The team is extremely well conditioned as well, and will play 40 minutes of fast pace up and down the court basketball to go along with the swarming defense. 

The non-conference schedule features three Big 6 schools - on the road at West Virginia, and at home against both Alabama and Pittsburgh. This team can hold its own with those teams, with the possible exception of Alabama. The staff hopes to go at least 8-2 in non-conference, but if they could go 10-0, they may be ranked by the time that conference play rolls around. Even though the Ivy League is much tougher this year, the staff's prediction for conference play is a 13-3 record and a conference championship. So, the overall prediction is a 21-5 record, and the first ever Conference Tournament Championship for Fordham, putting the team at 24-5 going into the NT with a #6 seed, and making it to the second round of the NT to finish with a 25-6 record. This would really get the program on the map. The future looks very bright at Fordham.

MID SEASON REPORT: The Rams looked dominant in the non-conference schedule and finished with a record of 9-1 and a #17 ranking. They outscored their opponents by 20.3 points per game in the non-conference. Highlights included a 99-69 win at West Virginia, a 100-77 win at home against Pitt, a 90-75 win at Long Beach State, and an 80-52 win at 8-1 Lipscomb. The Rams were rated # 3 n points scored in Division 1 at 91.4 and hit 100 or more points in 3 games. James Jaco has stepped up and become a team leader and the leading scorer at 11.2 PPG, to go with 5.2 assists per game, as the backup PG.  The attack is very balanced with 9 players averaging 7 or more points per game. If the Rams can keep this up, they will make the NT for only the second time in team history, and the first time in 48 years.

SEASON 63 WRAP UP: Season 63 has been the best season in the history of the Fordham program. After going 9-1 in non-conference, the Rams went 16-0 in conference play, with 13 of the 16 games being won by double digits. Columbia took the team to OT, but Fiordham dominated the extra period. At the end of the regular season, Fordham was 25-1 with a #8 ranking and an RPI of 22, and rose during the NT to a high of #4 in the country and a 16 RPI. It was the first time a Fordham team had ever finished the year nationally ranked.

In the Conference Tournament, after a first round bye, The Rams started the tournament trailing by 9 points at halftime to a scrappy Duquesne team, but came back to win by a final score of 74 to 63. In the semi-finals, the team took it to the next level with a dominating performance over Bucknell and a 100-63 win.  The championship featured another solid performance by Fordham as they went on to defeat Princeton by a score of 84-72, and earn the first CT Championship in the program's history. The team ended the regular season and tournament ranked #6 in the country.

In Fordham's second trip in school history to the NT, Fordham continued its domination in the first round by beating a poorly coached (SIM) Texas San-Antonio team by a 25 point margin, 98-73. Butler, the 12 seed, was their next opponent after they pulled the OT upset against Wisconsin. Butler looked to be ripe for the picking after losing one of their better players to poor grades just before the end of the season. And the Rams were again dominant, winning 86-63. This raised the team's ranking to #4 in the country. In the second round, Maryland pulled the big upset over the #1 seed, and #3 team in the nation LSU by 1 point in OT. So, it was Fordham and Maryland in the sweet 16. Maryland's overall rating was 759, and the Rams was 728, but Fordham was still an 8 point favorite. After leading by 4 points at the half, the team could not hold on and fell by a score of 74-69, breaking the team's 26 game winning streak, and ending the season ranked at #7.

The players and coaching staff of the Rams pulled in a number of Ivy League awards, including seven all conference members. Barney Morgan was first team All Conference at SG and won the Ivy League defensive player of the year. Newcomer John Maker won Freshman of the Year.  Coach Chapelhillne won Coach of the Year. Three layers were First Team All Conference - James Jaco at PG, Morgan at SG and Dale Mireles at SF. Dustin Riendeau was Second Team All-Conference at SF. Kenneth Price, Jake Leech, Edmond Busby, and Freshman John Maker were honorable mentions.

With only Edmond Busby and Dale Mireles leaving this year, the Rams look to be the team to beat again in season 64.

Posted by skinzfan36 on 7/28/2013 4:53:00 PM (view original):
Postseason Awards 
In: skinz, dac, hughes, julius, chap, ixo, psu

Rules:

• Cannot vote for yourself or any of your players
• Will be voted upon once all teams have been eliminated from postseason play
• Voting ends once the new job hiring is done
• Any other stipulations???

Awards:
MVP
6th Man
Most Improved
Coach of Year
Best Newcomer (can be any of freshman, rs freshman, ineligible, transfer)
Game of the Year (has to be a conference game: regular season or CT)
We could do 1st and 2nd team (whatever, not sure how this would work really)
Any other suggestions...we could have some funny awards to if you guys can come up with some cool ones

Post anything in the league page area that you come up with and I can add it here. Thanks!

**** - I forgot all about this... we'll have to do it for next season!

Duquesne Dukes (Season 63 Preview)     

Coach: skinzfan36 (Record at Duquesne: 87-81; 1 NT, 1 PIT appearance; 1 west conf. championship)
Offense: Motion
Defense: Man

Projected Starters (* = returning starter):
PG - William Chidester Jr.*: we don't really have any true PG this year and the pickings are slim. Chidester will play here as he still has nice potential left in BH and Pass. The beginning of the season could be shaky, but he will finally be counted on to play a big role this year. Has loads of potential remaining.
SG - Trevor Tran Sr. (2 yrs left): could easily interchange him and Chidester really. Will man the other guard spot but will play all over the court. Both Tran and Chidester provide alot of versatility and have great rebounding skills for guards.
SF - Calvin Baine Jr.*: will slide to the SF spot this year, a position he is capable to play. Could be a matchup problem for some smaller SF.
PF - Raymond Eaddy Jr. (started 7 games last yr; all FR. yr): slides to his natural PF position after manning the C spot for the majority of his first 2 seasons. Back in the starting lineup after mostly being a 6th man last year.
C - Earl Moore So.*: Moore took over the starting C spot 5 games into last season to help him develop quicker. Should play a much bigger role on this year's squad.

Returning Players:
PF - Tim Louis FR. (RS): Louis was not too pleased about having to RS last season and didn't develop as much as the coaches would have hoped. He will probably see very limited minutes this year as he is not really ready for much game action. Could be good by his junior season. Time will tell.

New Dukes:
Adolfo Romano - Benedetto, Italy PG: this guy will help right away. He was more of a take for now to help out, as his potential isn't as good as some guys in this class. His only high-high is Perimeter so that end number could determine how good Dolf ends up. He is average in alot of other categories.
Vincent Mederos - Nort Port, FL #138 PG: out of the Sunshine state this kid is somewhat of a wildcard. Being far away and wanting to conserve cash the coaches didn't get accurate scouting reports on "Big Vin", a 6'4" 200 lb PG. He has highs in reb, def, lp, per, and pass, along with average everywhere except ath. If some of those are high-highs he could be real special. Either way he should be a solid player.
Michael Ruley - Plainfield, WI #40 SG #208 Overall: the coaches actually have Ruley pegged as the PG of the future rather than a SG. He is high-high in spd, bh, and pass. His BH and Pass could both reach the 90's. The only thing holding him back is his defense which will likely not improve much, but will be fine due to his great PG skills. His perimeter and reb highs are unknown.
Russell Wright - Murfreesboro, TN SG #83: one of the coaches top targets from the get-go. Had to battle a feisty SIM Charlotte school for him, but he wanted to be a Duke in the end. His highs are unknown, but even if only a few are high-high (or even none) he will still be a special player.
Peter Finnegan - Battle Creek, MI SF #115: vastly underrated. Finnegan looks like the gem of the class. He was identified later in the process as the coaches were focused on securing guards in the beginning, but the staff had an eye on him from the start. With only one scholarship offer from SIM Fairfield and having scouted him the coaches pounced on this impressive young man. He already possesses incredible defensive skills and should approach 100 DEF. All of his other highs are high-high variety (ATH, SPD, LP, PER). The coaches believe he will be special. Could be a candidate for this season's RS but we will see.
Neil Williams - Fredonia, NY Jr. C (Cinci transfer): Williams was giddy about the possibility of attending Duquesne after leaving Cinncinnati. The coaches did not think they would be taking him but needed a JUCO as they already had 6 FR. on the roster. He's nothing special. Will be a big body off the bench who plays limited minutes. This was mainly a strategic move for the staff.
Overall: Recruiting was a pretty big success this time around. We were able to fill all the open spots. Doing so will see everyone return next season. The carryover from this year and next will give us a pretty large budget for 5 open spots two seasons from now. Ruley, Wright, and Finnegan will be a very nice trio in a few years and are definitely the biggest gets of the class.

Season Outlook:

This could be real interesting for Duquesne this season. The returning players, who make up the starters, are all really solid and I would be willing to put them up against any starting 5 in the conference. The trio of bigs playing SF-C will be heavily relied upon and how well they play will determine alot. The starting guards don't have much experience at their positions and things could get interesting there. 

Coming off the bench will be entire group of new players, so until some of them develop things could be rough. It is tough to say what our final record this season will be, since alot will depend on how well this group of recruits plays. I think by the end of the season we will be a pretty nice team, but early on their could be trouble and this conference will only make things harder.

The positive is this whole team returns the following season and I imagine we will be one of the betting favorites for the conference championship then.

Predictions: 5-5 OOC, best case 6-4. Conference schedule anywhere from 6-10 to 8-8. I think this team will reach the CT semis (2 wins to get there) though as we improve throughout the year. That would give us a record of anywhere from 13-16 to 16-13. Either way, I don't see any chance this team makes a postseason appearance this year. The wait is on for next season!

Coach: Julius Suchy (130-100 record @ BU with 2 NT appearances, 1 PIT appearance, 2 east conference crowns) 

Projected Starters:

Center: R. Whitbeck - he will see his first starting action since joining Boston U. The SR will be expected to step up and make sure the front court is one of BU's strengths this season. 

Power Forward: E. Provencal - The junior star is coming off a career year when he averaged over 15 ppg, 8 rebounds and 1 blk per game. Provencal should surpass those numbers as he continues to improve. The coaching staff is hoping that he doesn't get too much interest from scouts and leaves after his JR season.
 
Small Forward: R. Spencer - He only played in 11 games last season before his season was cut short. The staff is hoping he can provide solid scoring and overall play to help compliment the rest of the starting 5. Spencer still has a lot of potential and hopefully starting him will help him develop. 

Shooting Guard: A. Waller - Last year's starting SF has slid over a spot as the team is short on guards that can play. Waller averaged 13.5 ppg and should out rebound other guards. He is athletic but a little slow for the SG position so hopefully he can keep up. 

Point Guard: T. Merida - This SR finally has a chance to start and he will be expected to fill big shoes after E. Wingo graduated last season. Merida will not be expected to do much other than manage the offense and hopefully the rest of the team can help carry him. 

New Additions: 

James Sanders PG (#33 recruit) - Sanders was a true need as BU doesn't have many guards on the roster that are able to play quickly. In the end he could end up playing SG as he has high potential in outside shooting and he has good athleticism and speed. 

Melvin McFarland C (#58 recruit) - The Terriers knocked off Pittsburgh to land this big man. He has lots of room to grow and the stay is excited at the prospect of RS'ing him to let him develop even more. 

James Harshberger PG (transfer from Indiana) - The coaching staff took a flyer on Harshberger, Indiana saw enough promise in him to RS him this past season but they cut him prior to recruiting signings. There are rumors that he got cut by Indiana after bakerbarnett (coach of Indiana) caught him in bed with the team mascot. The staff doesn't know his potential but his is pretty athletic and time will tell whether this was a mistake or not. 


Season Outlook: 

The non-conference schedule includes St. Johns, Marquette and Pittsburgh so the Terriers will have their hands full before the start of conference play. The Terriers lose the excellent guard play of Wingo but they still have their star in Provencal. The coaching staff is optimistic this will be the 3rd straight year for the Terriers to reach the NT. A 8-2 non-conference schedule would be nice as well as a 13-3 conference schedule to end up at 21-5. The team expects to repeat for the 3rd year as East division champions. 

The conference tourney will be a jungle and the staff expects the team to not have to win the CT to make the NT. 

UNDEFEATED IN CONFERENCE PLAY:
Penn - 4 times
Columbia - 3 times
Bucknell - 3 times
Princeton - 1 time
Harvard - 1 time
Fordham - 1 time