| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
email John Stansberry |
| |
AROUND THE NATION
Nov. 30, 2009
A November to forget...and remember
The only kind of off the court activities a hoops
program wants highlighted are a bunch of players
volunteering for Habitat for Humanity or the head
coach pulling some nuns off of a burning bus. You
know, feel good stories like that, stuff the AD can
use to show boosters that their money is helping to
shape men of character.
But if the off the court activity generates
newspaper stories that include the words "NCAA,"
"violations," and "penalties," then the AD begins a
Pepcid addiction and not even a bus full of praying
nuns can save the entire coaching staff. That's the
situation Richmond hoops was in just before the
start of the season.
In early November, the NCAA put the program on
probation because of impermissable text messages and
phone calls made back in 2007. If you'll recall, the
NCAA made communication with recruits via text
message a no-no back in August of 2007. Richmond
discovered the infractions during a routine internal
check of phone records during November of 2007.
As a result, assistant coach Carlin Hartman resigned
and the school imposed its own penatlies, limiting
official visits and communication with recruits the
last two years. The NCAA agreed that those penalties
were appropriate punishment, but because the
infractions were deemed as major, the school faces
two more years of greater scrutiny of electronic and
telephonic communication with recruits.
Hey, it's not exactly the death penalty, but it's a
black eye for the program nonetheless. But more
embarassment came about once the season was
underway. On November 19, the Spiders dropped a
78-71 decision to rival William & Mary, a team
pegged by most pundits as a Colonial bottom feeder
(but I gotta give the Tribe credit, they're not half
bad to this point).
Since the loss to William & Mary, it's been all
lollipops and trips to Six Flags for Chris Mooney's
team. Richmond won the South Padre Island
Invitational with a 59-52 win over Missouri that
came right on the heels of a last minute 63-62 win
over Mississippi State. In winning the title,
Richmond held both those opponents to a combined 33%
shooting effort.
The Spiders now face a fascinating stretch of games
that could really set them up well in terms of an
RPI boost. A home date with Colonial heavyweight Old
Dominion will be followed by a tussel with another
Colonial power, VCU. Road trips to South Carolina
and Florida are next on the docket. With a game
against Wake Forest also on the slate (December 31),
Richmond has a legitimate shot at recording wins
over the ACC, Big 12 and the SEC.
Exiled in the Sunshine State
In case you forgot, FIU coach Isiah Thomas isn't the
only former high profile coach of a New York City
basketball team to land at a Sun Belt Conference
school in the state of Florida. To refresh your
memory, former St. John's coach Mike Jarvis took the
reins at Florida Atlantic prior to the 2008-09
season.
But coaching in the Big Apple and then migrating to
the land of Disney and hurricanes isn't where the
similarities stop. Both coaches saw their previous
NYC tenures end under clouds of controversy, with
Thomas leaving the New York Knicks in a whirlwind of
sexual harassment suits and horrible roster moves
and Jarvis leaving St. John's stripped of 43 wins
and mired in probation.
That's why FAU's road game at Manhattan last week
was interesting, it was Jarvis's first trip back to
New York City as a head coach. Coming into the
contest, the Owls were a respectable 3-1 and
averaging 81.3 points a contest, an improvement in
scoring of over 15 a game from last season.
Jarvis has what amounts to one of the youngest teams
in all of college basketball, with no seniors on the
current roster and only two juniors. And as young
teams often do, they don't play well on the road.
Manhattan suffocated FAU in the first half, forcing
the Owls to miss 16 of their first 20 shots en route
to a 73-66 victory.
There were no reports of bitter St. John's fans
picketing outside of Draddy Gym and attacking the
FAU team bus after the game. Hey, things ended
badly, but Jarvis and his former school have both
moved on. However, I don't see a Christmas card
exchange happening in the near future, especially
since Hallmark probably doesn't have a "Happy
Holidays, Sorry I got you on probation!" line of
cards coming out this year.
So going forward, what's in store for Jarvis as he
sets out to establish a basketball tradition where
none has existed before? Chalk this season up as a
learning experience for the youngsters, and I think
ANY road win by the Owls should be viewed as a nice
achievement and a building block for the future.
In terms of talent, there are some gems on the FAU
roster, most notably freshman point guard Raymond
Taylor. Five games into his college career he's
averaging 17.0 ppg and showing the potential to be a
lethal 3-point shooter. Forward Brett Royster is
averaging over three blocked shots a game after
leading the Sun Belt in that category a season ago.
Oh, in case you're wondering, Jarvis and Thomas
don't face off head-to-head until January 30, when
FIU visits FAU (they play again on February 18).
Could be a nice rivalry in the making...
This and that
Anthony Grant notched his first win over a ranked
team since taking over at Alabama, a last second
68-66 victory over Michigan in the Old Spice
Classic. He gets a chance for number two when Purdue
visits Tuscaloosa on December 12...The newest prep
sensation with barely enough facial hair to shave?
That's Menomonee Falls, WI sophomore J.P. Tokoto,
whose grandfather once captained Cameroon's national
soccer team in the World Cup. Roy Williams has
already come to watch him, and interestingly, the
6-6, 190-pound youngster will make trips to both
North Carolina-Duke games this season. Hmmmmm...We'll
find out all we need to know about Marquette's
chances in the Big East a little over a week into
2010. In the span of 11 days, the 6-1 Eagles will
travel to West Virginia, get Georgetown at home and
play Villanova twice...My vote for quietest 6-0
start to the 2009-10 season? That would be newly
crowned Rainbow Classic champion Northern Colorado
out of the Big Sky. In a curious quirk of
scheduling, though, this team travels to Montana
State this Friday and then over to Montana the next
day. Who'd they piss off in the Big Sky office to
get conference road games scheduled on consecutive
days BEFORE Christmas?
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com.
EMAIL JOHN |
|
|
|
|
|