Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Navy Set for November 27

The US Naval Academy released its basketball schedule for the 2011-12 season yesterday and as expected the Mount is a part of it.

The Fan Blog had speculated that the inter-state rivalry would continue on the Thanksgiving weekend, and that is exactly where it falls. However, to be honest, we probably wouldn't have guessed it would land on a Sunday evening.

The road team has controlled this series in the recent past. The Mount has won its last two trips to Annapolis, while the Middies have won in Knott Arena on two straight ocassions.

Navy brings a new coach to the rivalry this year as Ed DeChellis stepped down at Penn State to take this job. He should be relatively familiar with the Mount though as the Nittany Lions have been a consistent spot on the Mount schedule.

That leaves us with one open spot on the schedule, and still searching for a date with Loyola.

The open spot could come from anywhere. However, I expect it to precede the Penn State game on either the 18th or 19th of December and most likely to start on the road. Because as of now, the only out of conference home game on the schedule for next year is Navy. However, there will be some flexibility with that  as several home and homes (Albany & Siena) come to an end this year.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Albany will return game on December 31

Sometimes I need to think before I post. Excited to get the news about Maryland out there - I didn't check the Albany website for its schedule until after hitting the publish post button.

But upon further examination, there it is, Albany has released its schedule since the last time I checked. And there it was on the date I had just only minutes before thought it must be. December 31 at Knott Arena at a time to be determined.

That gives the Mount two home games between Christmas and New Year's against two teams they could beat, but beat them last year and probably will be improved this year.

It also confirms that the strong home schedule - strong in terms of Knott history - will in fact be in line this year.

Still looking for that last game. Again, I'm betting it's on the road, just before the Penn State game.

And of course confimation of Loyola and Navy.

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Mount will play at Maryland this season

The ACC released all of its college basketball schedules yesterday. So I went hunting.

Virginia Tech. Nope.

NC State. Nope.

Virginia. Nope.

Maryland. Check.

There it was on the Maryland schedule. Mt. St. Mary's at Maryland - December 7 at 8pm.

So I think that leaves us with one unconfirmed game. Ok two really, but I've got Navy as a lock. Jimmy Patsos confirmed the Loyola game in a Baltimore Sun interview so I think that is a done deal. And also assuming Albany is coming back. Maybe that is the New Year's eve game.

The only question remains that one game that needs to be scheduled. Again I think it will be a like team. Anyone have any thoughts or at least suggestions of who they'd like to see the Mount play in a home and home. I've thrown Princeton out there. How bout one more in Lehigh?




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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Gregory Graves also has Mount offer

According to vivaloudon.blogspot.com 6-7 forward Gregory Graves from Potomac Falls Virginia holds a basketball scholarship offer from the Mount as well as three other schools. Graves high school team in Potomac Falls has won back to back Division 4 Virginia State Titles.

But it's been on the AAU circuit this summer where Graves has really been drawing attention. He has played in the post with his high school team but played on the wing with the Richmond based AAU team Team Loaded this summer.

He currently holds offers from Manhattan, Northeastern and Longwood in addition to the Mount, but he's been drawing attention from schools such as St. Bonaventure, Appalachian State, Radford, Oregon State, Old Dominion and UTEP among others.

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Pat Summitt, Tennessee women’s basketball coach, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease - The Washington Post

Pat Summitt, Tennessee women’s basketball coach, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease - The Washington Post:

Here is the best story I've seen on the whole Pat Summitt situation.

My best to Pat and her son Tyler in her fight against this horrible disease.

Former Women's Basketball Standout Mary Dunn Signs Professional Contract With The Mets de Guaynabo - Mount St. Mary's

Former Women's Basketball Standout Mary Dunn Signs Professional Contract With The Mets de Guaynabo - Mount St. Mary's:

We often follow the men's basketball players and what they do after their careers end here at the Mount on TheFanBlog but here is a nice story about Mary Dunn continuing her career in Puerto Rico. Good Luck to her.

'via Blog this'

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Golladay and Cleveland not to return

We knew that the numbers didn't add up. The Mount had 5 incoming scholarship players and only 3 departing seniors. On Wednesday, Coach Robert Burke announced that David Golladay and Evan Cleveland will not be returning to school.

Golladay arrived at the Mount for Coach Milan Brown's final season but redshirted that year. He spent most of last season in the lineup for the new Coach Robert Burke averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. He became the father of a beautiful baby girl last season and we wish he and his family well. We'll try to keep you posted if he plays elsewhere.

Cleveland played in 10 games and scored 10 points during his freshman season after being a late signee after Burke was hired.

The full class of Chad Holley, Taylor Danaher, Xavier Owens, transfers Rashad Whack and Sam Prescott along with walk-on Kelvin Parker was announced on the Mount site as we expected.

 For more information check out the Mount Athletics website


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Wagner College basketball's Milan Rikic came and conquered | SILive.com

Wagner College basketball's Milan Rikic came and conquered | SILive.com

Thursday, August 18, 2011

PRE-SEASON FAVORITE  Monmouth men No. 1 in the NEC in Soccer

PRE-SEASON FAVORITE Monmouth men No. 1 in the NEC

Monmouth the pick in preseason NEC soccer poll. No surprise whatsoever. The Mount comes in tied for fifth with Long Island. I think there is a good chance they finish fourth or higher.

Mount searching for new assistant

Niagara announced on Thursday that it has hired former Mt. St. Mary's assistant coach Mike Farrelly as an assistant basketball coach. Farrelly will join Joe Mihalich who has had great success at the upstate New York school coming out of the Philadelphia area. Farrelly who played his college ball at St. Joseph's also has Philadelphia ties. Niagara defeated the Mount each of the last two seasons.

Farrelly is the second of three Robert Burke assistant coaches to leave in the offseason. Ahmed Dorsett went to High Point earlier in the offseason and the Mount hired Daryl Bruce to replace him. You can assume the search for Farrelly's (who is still on the Mount website as an assistant) replacement will begin immediately.

I liked Farrelly's enthusiasm and the experience he brought from other aspects of both the basketball arena and the business world. I see him as being a head coach some day and I think this is probably a step in the right direction. I wish him well in his career.

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Kayel Locke has Mount offer

Recruiting Report: Bmorehoops.com event set for Saturday - Terps, basketball, football and college recruiting news in the Baltimore area from Matt Bracken - baltimoresun.com

According to this article about the upcoming bmorehoops.com All-Star event this weekend, the 6-5 Kayel Locke has an offer from the Mount and a handful of others. Per Maxpreps.com, the McDonough star averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds per game as a junior. Locke has played well on the AAU circuit this summer and has gotten lots of attention from Towson and UNC-Greensboro. He is definitely thinking about staying close to home though. As an undersized forward his frame would fit extremely well in the NEC.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Mount gets late addition from Florida

Per a report out of Tampa Bay the Mount has added 6-5 forward Xavier Owens to the incoming recruiting class.

Owens played his high school ball at Wharton High in Tampa Florida where he averaged 16.3 points per game as a senior, after averaging 16.4 as a junior. He scored a season high 32 versus Spoto during his senior year. He was a Class 5A, all-Florida selection picked by the state basketball coaches. He was named to the All Western Conference National Division First team as a senior.

This is the second year in a row the Mount has dipped into Florida for a late recruit. Last season, the Mount brought in point guard Josh Castellanos who averaged 4.3 points and played in all 32 games in his freshman season.

However, it sounds like new Mountaineer assistant coach Daryl Bruce had something to do with this. Owens was ticketed to attend Faith Baptist but Bruce knew of Owens from his days at Jacksonville and the switch was made.


This You-Tube video from his junior year shows he has some athletic ability.

According to reports, the Mount has now added 5 players to next years roster. Taylor Danaher was previously reported by the Mount as a November signee, Chad Holley was reported as a 2011 incoming freshman and now Owens. In addition, the Mount also picked up two recruits Sam Prescott from Marist and Rashad Whack from George Mason. The Mount had only 3 seniors who played out their eligibility last year, Shawn Atupem, Jean Cajou and Tayvon Jackson. So it would appear that something is going to change with the Mount roster before we see it next season. Maybe some of the above names won't be on campus - or possibly some of the roster we were expecting to return has departed.



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Mount men also get someone between pipes

Men’s recruit: Ridley rising senior goalie McCarthy commits to Mount St. Mary’s | PhillyLacrosse.com

Friday, August 12, 2011

Some quotes from new Mountaineer Rashad Whack

The Sentinel

Here's a story in The Sentinel that gives us some info on new Mountie Rashad Whack. The story doesn't really tell us anything we didn't know but does get some quotes from Whack, which shows what he was thinking a little bit on the move.

I'm glad to have him on board.

What the rest of the schedule might look like?

Believe it or not - there are still college basketball programs looking for games for the upcoming season. Not all the schedules are complete. And since it seems that the only way to find out who the Mount is playing and when this year is from announcements around the country, it's easy to understand why we're still unconfirmed on at least four opponents, and waiting for a date on the annual clash with Loyola.

The last time I took a guess at a few things all sorts of information came out so let's take a guess at a few more things, now that the picture is a bit clearer.

I'm penciling the Catholic War with Loyola in for Saturday December 10. It seems to routinely fall on this weekend, so I'm going with that.

I still think the Navy game is going to happen in Annapolis. Thanksgiving time has been the most common time for that in the past. I wouldn't be shocked to see this happen on the Monday night after Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Saturday.

I have a feeling that the return trip for Albany could be opposite of that Navy game. But that is more a hunch than anything.

I know the Mount was looking for a game on December 18th or 19th. I expect this to be against a like opponent and based on the number of games already on the schedule at the ARCC, I would expect this to start on the road and return to the Mount in 2012. It won't be Rider, the Broncs announced their schedule this morning and the Mount wasn't part of it. Princeton anyone?

I'm guessing that the final game will be a New Year's Eve Affair. The opponent my guess will be a name opponent on their floor. Virginia Tech hasn't released its schedule yet and would be a possibility I suppose. But I'm hoping the Mount goes in a different direction. I keep having this vision of NC State, but I have no idea why. Or maybe it's some sort of 2 for 1 arrangement like we used to see with LaSalle. Maybe a squad like Marshall or something.

That's about the best I can do right now. I'll keep my eyes open and let you know as soon as anything becomes available.

Please note - a lot of this is based on some personal guesses and hunches. The confirmed info is to the left. This is well just some fun.

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Lacrosse team picks up commitment

HS Boys' Lacrosse: Trinity's Julian Elia gives verbal commitment to Mount St. Mary's - PennLive.com

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Atupem is headed to Ireland

Crack open the Guinness, Shawn Atupem has signed a contract to play with Cork City in Ireland.

Atupem averaged 10.8 points and 5 rebounds a game during his senior season and will begin his professional career in the Irish SuperLeague. Cork City finished 13-6 in the Irish South Division last year and advanced to the Semifinals of the League Playoffs before falling to league champion Killester.

The 6-7 forward from Newport News, Virginia reached the 1,000 point plateau in his career at the Mount. His bucket with eight seconds left during his junior year broke a 61-all tie against Robert Morris and gave the Mount an improbable come from behind win. That may well be his most memorable bucket of his Mount career. Or possibly it was the rebound dunk during the NCAA Tournament win over Coppin State during his freshman year. He scored 10 points in that win and had 12 in the Mount's NEC Championship game win over Sacred Heart.

Twice scored 23 points to earn a career high - in one game versus Long Island and in the aforementioned victory over Robert Morris when he went 8-for-8 from the field.

He should fare very well in the Irish League where his combination of size and athleticism should be quite the asset. Each SuperLeague team is limited to one American. Cork's American import Van Marcus from Central Michigan averaged 22.7 points for the Demons last year.

Cork is the second largest city in Ireland and is built on the River Lee. The City is located to the Southern tip of the nation and is city of about 120,000 while the Greater Cork area is home to 380,000.

We wish Atupem well in his journey overseas. He'll be missed at the Mount but we'll be sure to follow his career at The Fan Blog and keep you updated.
     
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Former FDU Coach resurfaces at CCNY

Tom Green, former Syracuse basketball player, becomes head coach at CCNY | syracuse.com

Always liked Green, maybe partly because he was an SU graduate, but mainly because he got the most out of his players. It was an odd situation when he was dropped at FDU, especially in the timing of the move. But we're glad to see that he has landed somewhere and we wish him the best of luck.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

LadySwish with some love for the Mount transfer

ladyswish: Ex-VCU guard Brewer now at Mt. St. Mary's

Always good to see the Mount getting recognition elsewhere. Sounds like Coach Whitten got a good one from VCU on the transfer. You like when a coach gives the "plain and simple she can score" quote.

Women's Basketball Announces 2011-12 Recruiting Class - Mount St. Mary's

Women's Basketball Announces 2011-12 Recruiting Class - Mount St. Mary's

Here is the women's class. Looks like Bryan Whitten has brought in a full class. Hopefully, they can start to take the Mount back to the top of the NEC.

Manley signs with Kent State

Devereaux Manley apparently never visited the Mount and opted to sign on with Kent State early this week. The 6-4 guard out of Castlemont High near Oakland California had been rumored to be visiting the Mount later this month. Kent was also always on the list and Manley chose the Flashes.

Recordpub.com - Flashes ink late recruit for 2011-12 basketball

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Beidler signs on in Finland

Former Mountaineer Kelly Beidler's professional career will continue in Finland next year when he joins Karhu Kauhajoki for play in the Finnish Korisliga.

Beidler tweeted last week that he had sent his contract back to his agent - and later tweeted that his mother was saving her money to come watch him play in Finland. Upon further examination, Beidler confirmed to The Fan Blog that he had signed with Karhu.

Beidler spent his rookie pro season in Iceland, so he'll stay within the Scandanavian countries. But it sounds like the move is a step up for him. Beidler had a huge year with IR finishing in the top 5 in three statistical categories while also finishing sixth in steals. He averaged 21.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2 blocks a game to earn all-star honors. IR finished sixth in the league at 10-12.

Karhu finished seventh in the Korisliga with a 22-22 record and was bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Kauhajoki is a town of 14,284 and is located in the Western province of Finland.

We will try to track Beidler's progress as well as other Mountaineers in the pros as the season continues. Mychal Kearse recently signed to play with CSU Sibiu in Romania, Jeremy Goode and Will Holland both had successful debut seasons in Portugal, Markus Mitchell has found a home in Puerto Rico, while last year's seniors are looking at their options. Expect Shawn Atupem and Jean Cajou to find a home somewhere.

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Thursday, August 04, 2011

Second Big Ten Team on Schedule

The University of Minnesota announced its 2011-12 basketball schedule and the Mount was a part of it. The Mountaineers will travel to Williams Arena to face the Golden Gophers on November 21. The game will precede Minnesota's only road trip of the non-conference season - a three game neutral trip to Disney World. The Mount will play Siena on November 18 before heading to Minneapolis.

The Mount played at Minnesota back when Clem Haskins was the coach there but hasn't been back since. Tubby Smith, who grew up in Eastern Maryland, is now the Gopher coach.

The Mount also plays at Penn State this season. Hopefully, one if not both will be picked up by the Big Ten Network. The Mount played two Big Ten teams last year, playing Penn State and also facing Northwestern.

The Mount's most memorable game against a Big 10 team came in the 1999 NCAA Tournament versus Mateen Cleaves and the Michigan State Spartans

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