Madfriars.com reports that San Diego will purchase the contract of Will Venable and call him up to the major leagues. Venable will replace the injured Scott Hairston on the Padres' roster.
Venable and Chris Young could both be in the same line-up on Sunday, as Young is expected to return to the rotation then.
The Princeton Packet speaks with MCCC head coach Howie Levy.
November 2008
Fri. 11/14 Central Michigan (184/185) - 7:00 pm ET - 55-53 L (0-1 / 0-0 Ivy)
Wed. 11/19 Maine (327/322) - 7:00 pm ET - 58-55 OT L (0-2 / 0-0 Ivy)
Sun. 11/23 at Army (212/268) - 2:30 pm ET - 55-43 W (1-2 / 0-0 Ivy)
Wed. 11/26 at Fordham (167/140) - 7:00 pm ET - 73-61 W (2-2 / 0-0 Ivy)
January 2009
Sat. 1/03 UNC Greensboro (125/115) - 12:00 pm ET - 65-55 W (3-8 / 0-0 Ivy)
Wed. 1/07 Lehigh (245/242) - 7:00 pm ET - 73-64 W (4-8 / 0-0 Ivy)
Sun. 01/25 Concordia (NY) - 5:00 pm ET - 64-44 W (5-8 / 0-0 Ivy)
Fri. 01/30 at Dartmouth (300/312) - 7:00 pm ET - 59-54 W (6-8 / 1-0 Ivy)
Sat. 01/31 at Harvard (307/284) - 7:00 pm ET - 77-71 W (7-8 / 2-0 Ivy)
February 2009
Fri. 02/06 Cornell (65/135) - 7:00 pm ET - 61-41 W (8-8 / 3-0 Ivy)
Sat. 02/07 Columbia (220/267) - 6:00 pm ET - 63-35 W (9-8 / 4-0 Ivy)
Fri. 02/13 at Yale (183/236) - 7:00 pm ET - 60-48 L (9-9 / 4-1 Ivy)
Sat. 02/14 at Brown (106/151) - 7:00 pm ET - 61-43 L (9-10 / 4-2 Ivy)
Tue. 02/17 Penn (261/278) - 7:00 pm ET - 62-55 OT L (9-11 / 4-3 Ivy)
Fri. 02/20 Harvard (307/284) - 7:00 pm ET - 58-55 W (10-11 / 5-3 Ivy)
Sat. 02/21 Dartmouth (300/312) - 6:00 pm ET - 66-63 L (10-12 / 5-4 Ivy)
Fri. 02/27 Brown (106/151) - 7:00 pm ET - 56-48 W (11-12 / 6-4 Ivy)
Sat. 02/28 Yale (183/236) - 6:00 pm ET - 62-54 W (12-12 / 7-4 Ivy)
March 2009
Fri. 03/06 at Columbia (220/267) - 7:00 pm ET- 58-44 L (12-13 / 7-5 Ivy)
Sat. 03/07 at Cornell (65/135) - 7:00 pm ET - 60-51 L (12-14 / 7-6 Ivy)
Tue. 03/10 at Penn (261/278) - 8:00 pm ET - 59-56 W (13-14 / 8-6 Ivy)
Princeton hosts Central Michigan on Friday, November 14th. We have now pinpointed dates for nine 2008-09 non-conference games, with home games against South Carolina and Rutgers still to be added to the calendar. The complete schedule must be almost ready!
An excerpt of Craig Robinson introducing his sister, Michelle Obama, at last night's Democratic National Convention. While I continue to look for video of the full speech, you can read a transcript here.
Robinson was also interviewed by Katie Couric for the CBS Evening News.
Chris Young will throw a simulated game in Arizona today and could "easily slide back into the rotation if no problems arise."
A 6'3" local guard made an unofficial visit to Princeton and his head coach spoke highly of the job Tigers coach Sydney Johnson is doing recruiting him.
I had a chance to speak with new Mercer County Community College head coach Howie Levy earlier today. A transcript of our conversation follows. - JS
Congratulations!
Thanks. Should be fun.
Was a head coaching position something that was on your radar since you stopped coaching at Princeton, or did this job kind of find you?
A little bit of both. Last spring I actually tried to get the Princeton High School job, which I didn't get. I think that it is ok that I didn't get it. I knew I wanted my next coaching job to be some sort of head coaching job and I was thinking over the last year - "what would be a good job for me?" I wanted to find somewhere where I was not moving my family and I said Mercer would be a good job. I liked the idea of helping kids that need some help and might not necessarily be in the educational system.
The AD at Mercer is a guy named John Simone, who was a long-time high school coach in the area. I think he called me during last season. I can't remember how it started but I want to say I was thinking about them and he happened to call me. He had a pretty good inkling that Kelly Williams, who was the head coach last year, was going to have a real good shot at the College of New Jersey job and asked if I would be interested. I said yes and from there we stayed in contact for a while. When Kelly got the job he called me and we talked and it worked out.
The Trenton Times reports that former Princeton assistant Howie Levy will be named the men's basketball coach at Mercer County Community College. Congratulations, Coach Levy!
For the first time in almost 30 years, Princeton and Army will face off in men's basketball. The game takes place on Sunday, November 23rd and will be played at West Point.
We have a date for the first confirmed non-conference home game of the upcoming season! Princeton and UNC Greensboro will face off for the first time on Saturday, January 3rd at 2:00 pm ET.
I wrote a piece for this week's Town Topics on Judson Wallace. Enjoy! - JS
Photo: Suns.com
After Success in NBA Summer League, PU Alum Wallace on a 5-Year Pro Plan Jon Solomon
For Judson Wallace, the "three-year plan" has become "the five-year plan."
Despite enduring a disappointing senior season for the Princeton University men’s basketball team in 2004-05, Wallace immediately set his sights on playing in the NBA by 2008.
The 6’10” Wallace, who has been playing pro ball in Italy since graduating from PU, took a step closer towards achieving his goal with a successful five-game campaign playing for the Phoenix Suns in the 2008 NBA Summer League.
Starting at forward for the Suns in a slate of games played on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas, Wallace averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game as Phoenix posted a 2-3 record.
“I’m pretty happy,” said Wallace, reflecting from his parents’ home in Atlanta, where he was enjoying his very brief off-season among family and friends.
Wallace’s experience with Phoenix was more productive than his time as a Houston Rocket in the 2006 Summer League, where he was scoreless in 22 total minutes of play as the Rockets’ starters monopolized the available playing time.
“I think game-by-game [with Phoenix], as I got more experience I got better and better, and then in the last game I thought I played pretty well,” said Wallace, who scored 1,090 points in his Tiger career, the 16th-best total in program history
In Phoenix’s final game, against the Washington Wizards, Wallace connected on his first three three-point shots, scoring 15 points, snatching nine rebounds, and swiping four steals in a 88-69 victory.
With first round draft pick Robin Lopez away from the Suns for the afternoon, working out against Team USA, Wallace had space to move inside and more plays were called for him.
“Everybody knows going in that Summer League is about developing draft picks, so if you’re not one of the guys who was drafted, you’re not going to get a lot of shots,” said Wallace.
“Early on, I wasn’t even taking my open shots. I was trying to make the extra pass, stuff like that. I was a little tentative. I’ve never thought of myself as a selfish player, so I have no problem passing up shots and getting those guys the ball. D.J. [Strawberry], Alando [Tucker], and Robin, I knew they were going to get all the shots. That’s who we ran all the plays for. I just tried to go out there and play real good defense and rebound and score when I could.”
Wallace left Las Vegas with a better idea of what he needs to do between now and next summer to put himself in a position to join an NBA roster.
“[Suns assistant coach] Igor Kokoskov said I need to get to the point where my three pointer is just dead-eye and I need to work on closing out a little,” added Wallace. “Other than that he loved the way I play and my chemistry.[Assistant coach] Dan Majerle said I impressed him. He did not have many expectations for me and I showed him a lot.”
Wallace’s success this past season with Pierrel Capo d’Orlando of Italy’s Lega A caught the Suns’ attention. Wallace was the leading rebounder in top Italian league, averaging 10.7 boards to go along with 14.4 points per game.
“[The Suns] reached out to my agents during the season,” said Wallace. Towards the end of the season they said ‘’We’d like to take a look at Jud’ to my agent.”
Despite averaging just 4.8 rebounds a game during his Princeton career, Wallace had confidence in his ability to go to the glass.
“I think I’ve always been a good rebounder,” Wallace asserted. “In the Princeton system, offensive rebounds were tough to come by. A lot of times as center I was out at the top of the key.”
In Italy, Wallace has made the most out of the more freewheeling style of play.
“I think I have a pretty good motor,” said Wallace. “Rebounding is all about creating opportunities. I try to go after every rebound, which is creating the most opportunities for me. I’m not the most athletic guy. I am not the strongest guy. I think I just have a pretty good nose for the ball and I never stop. I won’t compare myself to Dennis Rodman, but it is a similar mentality.”
This season, Wallace will suit up in Italy for Benetton Treviso, where he has signed a two-year contract. Wallace will be joined by two fellow Americans - former Towson University guard Gary Neal and Wright State guard DaShaun Wood.
“[Benetton] has a whole new team this season. I think the town is going to be really excited. My expectations are to win. I think we’re going to have a good year,” Wallace said.
Wallace will line up against another Princeton product in Lega A, center Mason Rocca ‘00, who is in his eighth season playing professionally in Italy. Rocca is making his debut with Armani Jeans Milano this year.
“Mason is a warrior,” said Wallace. “Thankfully [as a forward], I don’t really have to guard him, but I always tell the people that guard him, ‘you have to box that dude out’ because he’s got an unbelievable motor and he goes so hard. He’s given me a couple little pointers here and there.”
Next year at this time, Wallace hopes to still be building off his professional successes, setting his plan for its fifth and final stage.
“It started out as a three-year plan,” admitted Wallace. “I went to Vegas because I wanted to open some eyes and show some people that I could play on any level, just to set it up for next year. I am going to put some money in my pocket, try and get as good as I can possibly be for next summer and that’s my summer to make it in the NBA. Now it is a five-year plan, but as long as I get to the NBA, the plan is successful. We’ll see how it goes.”
Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer profiles Russian national team head coach David Blatt. Russia will not advance to the medal round, finishing pool play in Group A with a 1-4 record following a 91-79 loss to Argentina.
Konrad Wysocki also saw his Olympic experience end with a 106-57 defeat against the United States. Wysocki had five points and five rebounds in defeat. Germany ended with a 1-4 record in Group B.
Will Venable was honored by Baseball America for having the "Best Strike Zone Judgment" in the Pacific Coast League in the magazine's annual "Best Tools" survey.
CBS Sportsline interviews Craig Robinson about his brother-in-law.
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
