May 23, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Filed under Georgetown, Northwestern, Today's News, Will Venable
Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green will hold a press conference this afternoon at 1:00 pm ET to announce their intentions for the 2007 NBA draft. Both players declared for the draft in April but neither signed with an agent. The Washington Post is reporting and WTTM is confirming that Hibbert will return to Georgetown for his senior season. Jeff Green will enter the NBA draft. No word on if he has signed with an agent.
Wake Forest center/forward Casey Crawford is looking to transfer. Northwestern and Colorado are his two finalists. Crawford visited Evanston on Tuesday.
Will Venable was 1-3 on Tuesday as San Antonio scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to beat Springfield 3-2. Venable also swiped his fourth base of the season.
May 18, 2007 at 10:31 am
Filed under Chris Young, Denver, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News, Will Venable
Chris Young and the San Diego Padres kick off interleague play at Seattle tonight. 10:05 pm ET first pitch versus the Mariners.
The San Antonio Missions went 2-2 over their last four games. On Monday Will Venable picked up his first triple of the season, going 1-4 with two runs scored in a 8-0 victory over Corpus Christi. Tuesday saw Venable go 1-4 with a double in a 4-3 loss against the Hooks. The next day Venable was again 1-4 with a double, but this time San Antonio came away with a 4-1 win. Finally, last night Venable's eight game hitting streak came to an end in a 6-5 loss that started a series with Frisco.
The Mad Friars web site had the following to say about Venable earlier this week:
Will Venable went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI, extending his hitting streak to six games after scuffling through a 2-for-32 stretch. Just seven of his 41 hits this year have gone for extra bases but he has collected one in successive days for the first time this year. Six of his seven extra base hits have come at home. Venable also has an RBI in four of his last five games. He is hitting .387 at home this year but just .218 on the road.
Joe Scott has landed his first recruit at Denver, 6'7" forward Rob Lewis from Colorado Springs.
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review is reporting that Georgetown head coach John Thompson III will hire Pittsburgh Director of Basketball Operations David Cox and Xavier assistant coach Kenya Hunter as his new assistant coaches.
May 10, 2007 at 10:11 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News, Will Venable
Princeton Alumni Weekly brings us a feature on David Blatt '81, head coach of Benetton Treviso.
The Towson Times, once the hometown paper for Sydney Johnson, writes about his recent hire.
Georgetown has issued a press release stating that sophomore forward Octavius Spann intends to tranfer to an as-yet-unnamed school.
San Antonio is going through a bit of a power outage. Last night Will Venable was 0-4 in a 5-2 loss. On Tuesday the Missions dropped a 1-0 duel to Corpus Christi. Venable was 0-1 as a pinch hitter.
May 4, 2007 at 9:58 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News, Will Venable
The NCAA men's basketball rules committee has elected to move the three point line back one foot to a distance of 20' 9" starting in the 2008-09 season. This decision still needs to be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Committee on May 25th.
The Washington Times writes about John Thompson III's lack of a new contract with Georgetown.
San Antonio drops two games in two days, Will Venable going 0-7 in the process.
May 1, 2007 at 10:11 am
Filed under Basketball, Chris Young, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News, Will Venable
Stephen Goldsmith/princetonbasketball.com
Two different Q&As to read today, one with Princeton coach Sydney Johnson conducted by the Daily Princetonian and one with members of Georgetown's Final Four team from The Hoya.
Chris Young is throwing for San Diego tonight as the Padres host the Washington Nationals at 10:05 pm ET.
Will Venable picks up two more hits in four plate appearances as San Antonio wins their series with Midland. Venable is batting .341 on the season, good for seventh-best in the Texas League.
April 26, 2007 at 10:06 am
Filed under Basketball, Chris Young, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News, Will Venable
Georgetown head coach John Thompson III was named 2007 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Coach of the Year by the NABC.
The Town Topics writes following Monday afternoon's Sydney Johnson press conference.
Chris Young heads to the hill for San Diego against the Diamondbacks in a NL West clash tonight. 9:40 pm ET first pitch.
Will Venable was 1-5 with his fifth double of the season, San Antonio wins 8-5 over Frisco to pull within 1.5 games of first place.
April 23, 2007 at 9:31 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News, Will Venable
Former Princeton basketball player Chris Thomforde was officially inducted as Moravian College's 15th president on Saturday.
The only apparent glitch in the ceremony was during the official induction. He had to kneel and stoop over so the chairman of the board of trustees could place the presidential medallion around his neck. Priscilla Payne Hurd barely cleared the top of the podium during her speech, whereas Thomforde is taller than Michael Jordan.
The Daily Princetonian expands their original article on the hiring of Sydney Johnson, adding quotes from several current Tigers players.
"I think I speak for the whole team when I say that I am very excited about the hiring of Coach Johnson," freshman center Zach Finley said. "He seems to bring the type of leadership our team needs to keep getting better, and I think everyone in the program is excited to get a fresh start and begin working for next year."
Will Venable was 1-5 in the San Antonio Missions' 9-8 slugfest over Midland.
April 21, 2007 at 11:00 am
Filed under Basketball, Chris Young, Georgetown, Princeton, Sean Gregory, Today's News, Will Venable
Jack Dempsey/AP
C. Young (2-1) - 7.0 IP 4 H 1 ER 0 BB 7 K 3.32 ERA. 101 pitches, 72 strikes. 1-3, RBI.
An aggressive, commanding performance by Chris Young in an 11-1 Padres victory.
"I had to get my confidence back" said Young. "I was out of sync in L.A. and their hitters made me pay for it. In L.A. I wasn't able to throw strikes. Tonight, I was."
Yesterday's news about the hiring of Sydney Johnson produced a number of articles, most of which used only the quotes and facts provided in the Princeton Athletic Department press release. Exceptions include the Daily Princetonian, who talked to former Tiger Sean Gregory '98 about Johnson, the Trenton Times and the Washington Post, who each provide brief quotes from Georgetown coach John Thompson III.
"It's going to be an unbelievable boon to the program," Gregory said. "When Sydney Johnson walks into your home and you're an 18-year old kid, it's going to make an impression."
"I'm ecstatic," said Thompson, who was an assistant at Princeton when Johnson played there. "As John Thompson, Princeton class of '88, this is a really exciting time."
Other articles: The Trentonian, Princeton Packet, Associated Press.
Finally, we head to Texas, where San Antonio dropped a 2-1 decision to Midland. Will Venable was 1-4 in the game.
April 20, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Princeton
The speculation is over.
A press release was just sent to me from the Princeton Athletic Department...
--------------------------------------------------------
PRINCETON--Sydney Johnson ’97, who as a player was named Ivy League Player of the Year and as a coach helped lead a team to the NCAA Final Four, has been named the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green ’40 Head Coach of Men’s Basketball at Princeton.
Johnson, 32, will be formally introduced as head coach at a press conference on Mon., April 23, at noon in the Class of 1956 Lounge at Princeton Stadium. A free live video stream of the press conference will be available at GoPrincetonTigers.com.
“As a player at Princeton, Sydney Johnson was the embodiment of heart, passion, class and dignity,” says Gary Walters ’67, Princeton’s Director of Athletics. “We are delighted that he will bring those same qualities back to Princeton as our head men’s basketball coach.”
“I had a lot of excitement and nervous energy when I accepted the position,” says Johnson, “but that has quickly turned into a feeling of relaxation of knowing that this is the right place to be. It’s great to be here, and the challenge now will be to move forward.”
Johnson, the only three-time captain in Princeton history, was the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year and a 1996 and 1997 first-team All-Ivy League selection. He has most recently been an assistant coach at Georgetown, where he helped lead the Hoyas to the 2007 Final Four.
Johnson played professional basketball for seven seasons in both Italy and Spain before joining John Thompson III’s coaching staff at Georgetown in 2004. In his three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgetown, the Hoyas had a 72-30 overall record and advanced to postseason play each season.
The Hoyas won both the BIG EAST tournament and regular-season championships in 2007 before reaching the program’s first NCAA Final Four since the 1984-85 season. Georgetown finished 30-7 overall and won 19 of its last 21 games before falling to Ohio State in the national semifinals.
Georgetown reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2006, defeating Northern Iowa and Ohio State before falling to eventual national champion Florida 57-53 in the third round. In Johnson’s first season as an assistant coach, 2004-05, the Hoyas won 19 games and reached the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
“Sydney is a star as a person and as a basketball coach,” says Thompson, who also was an assistant coach at Princeton during Johnson’s junior and senior seasons.
“I’m not sure I have enough words to describe how much I learned in three years at Georgetown from Coach Thompson,” said Johnson. “He’s not only a mentor and a role model both on and off the court but a great example of the kind of person I hope to emulate and the kind of person that makes Princeton proud.”
At Princeton, Johnson was a four-year starter who is considered one of the finest all-around players in team history. He ranks in the top five at Princeton all-time in steals, assists and three-point shots and is also one of 26 1,000-point scorers in team history.
Johnson was the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year after leading the Tigers to an undefeated Ivy League season and a 24-4 overall record. Johnson, who averaged 9.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a senior, is the only player to ever win the award while averaging fewer than 10 points per game.
In 1996, Johnson led the Tigers to an Ivy League championship and was a key part of Princeton’s 43-41 upset win over defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament, hitting three second-half three-pointers in that game and leading the team with 11 points. In the Ivy League playoff game against Penn five days earlier, his three-point shot with 51 seconds left in overtime put the Tigers ahead for good.
The program’s all-time leader in steals with 169, Johnson was a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. He finished his Princeton career with 1,044 points, now 24th on the team’s all-time list, though he was perhaps better known for his defensive ability than for his offensive prowess.
“Sydney was the best defensive player I ever coached at Princeton,” said Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody, who was an assistant coach at Princeton for 14 seasons and then Johnson’s head coach in 1996-97. “He was a tremendous player and a great leader, and he worked as hard every day as any player I’ve been around.”
“I always thought from the very beginning when I recruited him that he had excellent leadership qualities,” says Naismith Hall of Fame coach Pete Carril, Johnson’s head coach at Princeton for three seasons and a member of the advisory committee that helped select Johnson as head coach. “As a coach, you apply all of those qualities and your experiences. He will do a fine job for Princeton.”
Johnson, who also ranks fifth all-time at Princeton in both three-point shots (162) and assists (280), was also a two-time Academic All-Ivy selection and the winner of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 1997.
He also holds the school record with 11 consecutive three-point shots, which included a team record 6-for-6 performance from behind the arc against Columbia on Feb. 28, 1997.
Professionally, Johnson had a fine career in Europe after graduating from Princeton with a degree in history in 1997. In 1998, he was a starter for Gorizia Pallacanestro in Italy and helped his team capture the Italian Second Division championship. The following year, he won another league title while playing for Reggio Calabria, and he concluded his playing career in 2004 by winning a league title with Siena.
A native of Towson, Md., outside Baltimore, Johnson attended Towson Catholic High School before spending a postgraduate year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia in 1992-93. At Towson Catholic, he was the MVP of the Baltimore Catholic League tournament in 1992.
Johnson’s older brother Stephen also played Division I basketball for the University of California at Berkeley.
He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, a two-year old son Jalen and an infant daughter Julia, who was born in February.
Johnson will begin his duties at Princeton immediately. He replaces Joe Scott ’87, who resigned March 20 to become the head coach at the University of Denver.
——————————————————–
The Sydney Johnson File
Name: Sydney A. Johnson
Age: 32 (born April 26, 1974)
Hometown: Towson, Md.
College: Four-year starter at Princeton, graduating in 1997 with an A.B. degree in history.
Coaching Experience:
2004-07: Assistant Coach, Georgetown University
Playing Experience:
Seven professional seasons in Italy and Spain; teams won three league championships
Notable: The only three-time captain in Princeton men’s basketball history … the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year … a two-time first-team All-Ivy selection … the program’s all-time leader in steals (169) … fifth all-time at Princeton in both three-pointers (162) and assists (280) … ranks 24th all-time at Princeton with 1,044 points.
Family: Wife Jennifer, son Jalen (2), daughter Julia (two months)
——————————————————–
April 20, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Princeton
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
This just in: Jeff Goodman at Fox Sports is reporting that Sydney Johnson (right) will accept the job of Princeton men's basketball coach "according to multiple sources close to the situation."
The article gets Johnson's age wrong (he turns 33 next week), says Johnson worked for John Thompson III at Princeton (he didn't) and lists Johnson as Princeton's only three-time STARTER, not the only three-time captain in the program's history.
Hopefully the rest of the facts are correct!
Update: CBS Sportsline is now posting similar news, writing that "a formal announcement is expected shortly."
April 20, 2007 at 11:46 am
Filed under Basketball, Chris Young, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News
Around the newswire today...
Chris Young pitches for the Padres tonight at Colorado. 9:05 pm ET first pitch.
The Associated Press and The Hoya have both picked up the Daily Princetonian's report about Sydney Johnson. Update: ESPN now has the AP story up on the front page of their web site, but provides no additional information.
The Princeton Packet writes about the lack of information as of 5:00 pm ET on Thursday, but knows that this selection will set a tone for the future of the Tigers.
The Star Ledger's M.A. Mehta builds off yesterday's blog posts with this morning's article about the Princeton coaching search.
San Antonio is back in action, with the Missions falling 10-4 at Midland. Will Venable was 0-3.
Check this post's timestamp to see if there are news updates throughout the day.
April 19, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Georgetown, Princeton, Today's News
Around the newswire today...
Denver Post/Hyoung Chang
The Denver Post has a q&a with new head coach Joe Scott.
Princeton athletic director Gary Walters has released the following statement:
"As of now, the Princeton men's basketball coaching search remains ongoing."
Following the lead of the Daily Princetonian, M.A. Mehta from The Star Ledger tracked down Coach Pete Carril earlier today for a quote about Sydney Johnson. Carril had the following to say:
"I always thought from the very beginning when I recruited him out of Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia that he had leadership qualities," Carril told The Star-Ledger this morning. "As a coach, you apply all of those qualities and your experiences.
"He was a very good defensive player, captain of the team. He was very unselfish and just a good all-around player. He'll be fine. He'll do a nice job. If he's the choice and he accepts, it'll be a fine choice."
Update: In a amendment to their first post on the subject The Star Ledger is now quoting a source who calls the Daily Princetonian's initial report about Sydney Johnson "premature."
The Georgetown Hoyas were honored at halftime of the Magic/Wizards game on Tuesday night.
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