Impressed by NYC Buckets' "Five Nights" series, finished with this year's epic data entry of schedules for the eight "Carril Cradle" teams and suffering from an mild early bout of snow madness, I opted to write a piece highlighting one non-conference game in the first three weeks of the season for each of the teams we cover.
My only rule was not picking match-ups that share the same date. Read on for sequential suggestions of contests to pay close(r) attention to as 2011-12 gets underway.
Former Princeton center Steve Goodrich is interviewed by the magazine connected to the camp he attended as a boy.
Oregon State expects a breakthrough season in 2011-12. Here's video of Craig Robinson at Pac-12 media day. The Beavers were picked eighth in the conference's preseason media poll.
CBS' Matt Norlander says Fairfield is loaded and ready for a huge year.
Georgetown has relaunched their DC Is Our Playground web site for the upcoming season. Hoyas head coach John Thompson III spoke yesterday as part of a panel series called "Think About It: An Afternoon of Ideas."
John Thompson III was one of five Big East coaches to tell the New York Times about what it takes to make the Final Four.
Here's today's Ivy League preview, courtesy the Arena Pulse.
Princeton at Harvard makes a list of this season's 68 must-see games.
Northwestern again hopes this is the year they make the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Wildcats Drew Crawford and Luka Mirkovic both need to take a step forward for that to transpire.
A NCAA panel has approved some major rules changes you should familiarize yourself with.
Since his playing career at Princeton concluded, I've caught up with former Tiger guard Marcus Schroeder on a pair of occasions - once after a tryout for the D-League's Reno Bighorns and a second time following a trip with the U.S. Basketball Academy for nine games in China.
Knowing that Schroeder had been actively looking to get into coaching since a conversation early this year, I'm glad to be able to share that Marcus Schroeder is now a graduate member of the staff at St. Mary's College.
Finally able to talk publicly about his role with the Gaels, Schroeder spoke to me on the phone tonight while driving from school back to Concord and a transcript of our discussion follows the jump.
The annual ordeal of tedious data entry finally behind me, I've completed color coded 2011-12 electronic calendars for each of the "Carril Cradle" teams. You can download any or all of the following to sync with your computer/PDA.
Each basketball schedule will be updated whenever a tip time changes or new TV information is revealed. These links will work best with iCal but are importable into Google Calendar.
If you notice any errors with games/dates/times/locations, please let me know.
There's a full page piece on Harvard basketball's recruiting efforts in the new ESPN The Magazine. While the complete article is only available for those with ESPN Insider, I did find the following excerpt about the Crimson's recruiting strategy compared to other schools worth sharing:
"Historically, Ivy coaches have waited to make contact with a prospect until the summer before his senior year, when they have a clear read on his ability to qualify in the academically rigorous conference. But by that point in the cycle, most four- and five-star players have already decided or have chopped down their list of finalists. Amaker, on the other hand, has started identifying smart kids with big-time talent as early as the summer after their sophomore years and has gotten their attention."
I was deeply saddened to read about the sudden passing of Judson Wallace's father Charlie on Thursday at the age of 69. I got to know Mr. Wallace and his family better and better each season during the four years Judson was at Princeton and the friendship between the Wallaces and my parents developed independently to the point where they even came to my folks' home a couple times for brunch during Ivy basketball weekends.
Thinking about Charlie last night as this news sunk in I immediately recalled five unrelated memories:
1. The way he used to remind Judson "fingertips!" from the stands when #30 was at the free throw line. I fully admit I still mutter that word to myself when certain Tigers step up to the stripe in crucial situations.
2. Even in the cold Northeast winters there was something endearing about his insistence on wearing loafers with no socks wherever he went.
3. When I traveled to Atlanta to cover Georgetown in the 2007 Final Four, the Wallaces were adamant that Nicole and I stay at their home with them (despite the fact they were already hosting three of Judson's former teammates) or at least go out for a meal. While I felt uncomfortable accepting their first invitation and the subsequent onset of Passover made the latter offer impossible, I knew that their hospitality was genuine and that by being unable to swing either I had let them down. I was glad that we could reconnect at the Georgia Dome's open shoot-around like old times in Jadwin and beyond.
4. The Wallace family remains the only Princeton basketball parents to add me unsolicited to their annual Christmas card list. Each December it has been sweet to receive a new color picture of the four of them and put it with the other cards on our mantle.
5. A former Army officer, Charlie was convinced from the moment I became engaged that he had the authority to officiate a wedding ceremony between Nicole and I on a boat in the middle of Lake Carnegie. We were eventually married (on dry land) a year after the Wallaces' older son graduated from Princeton.
He was the good kind of character and he will be missed. My condolences to Beth, Stewart and Judson.
As mentioned in the article I linked above, a Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday in the main sanctuary of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.
In lieu of flowers, a contribution to the Citadel School of Business Administration / Center for Financial Services Education has been requested by the family c/o Ron Green, The Citadel School of Business, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29409.
In other news the 14-Game Tournament offers a 2011-12 preseason primer and the Pottstown Mercury has more on Saturday night's Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony that Pete Carril attended.
Pawel Buczak had a team high 16 points and five rebounds in Slask Wroclaw's most recent game.
Rush The Court's Ivy League preview is the first I've seen picking Princeton to finish in fourth place.
The Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll is out with Georgetown seen as the conference's 10th place team this season.
Pete Carril, who was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night, makes Bleacher Report's list of the 100 Greatest Coaches in College Basketball History.
As practice gets underway at Northwestern so does "life after Juice."
Here's the 2011-12 Mercer Vikings schedule, including games against both the Columbia and Princeton JV teams.
There's a Groupon that NC State is offering which includes the Wolfpack's game against Princeton. If you're thinking about heading to Raleigh, perhaps go in on this deal with a friend from the Research Triangle?
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
