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Ivy Basketball Twitter Directory WVBR interviews Cornell coach Bill Courtney. Topics discussed include players he expects to emerge next year and Ivy teams he expects to be strong (Harvard, Penn, Princeton). Listen to the interview here.
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GoPrincetonTigers.com reports that Martin Bahar has been promoted from director of basketball operations to an assistant coach for the Princeton team.
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Cornell’s Ryan Wittman will work out with the Sacramento Kings on Monday.
Harvard’s Jeremy Lin will work out with the Knicks on Monday.
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Great story today by ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil about Bill Courtney, the new head honcho at Cornell, and his boundless optimism. He definitely seems like the kind of guy for whom it would not just be fun to play, but maybe play hoops with, as O’Neil references in the article. It’s tough taking over a program that just had one of its best seasons and just lost its key players, but it sounds like Courtney will enjoy and smile right through any weighty expectations.
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“Every job has its challenges, but I don’t look at what Cornell has done as a challenge,” he said. “To me that says, ‘It’s possible. It can be done at an Ivy League school and more, at Cornell in particular.’ I’m sure some people’s perceptions have changed but not mine. I’ve always been a dreamer.”
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After an improbable Sweet Sixteen run in the NCAA tournament to end his collegiate career, the younger Wittman is taking his sharp-shooting show on the road to try to gain some more exposure before the June 24 draft.
Knoxville News Sentinel — Johnson, Tarwater in spotlight at Webb
… Many of the same audience shuffled into the lobby of the Lee Athletic Center to watch Webb’s 6-foot-6 senior forward Dwight Tarwater reaffirm his basketball commitment to Cornell.
… Steve Donahue, who coached the Big Red to a Sweet 16 appearance this past season, resigned in early April to take the head coaching job at Boston College.
Tarwater waited to see who Cornell would hire. Mid-majors came calling, but Tarwater never wavered.
Cornell introduced Virginia Tech assistant Bill Courtney as head coach Friday, and Tarwater was on board.
“I talked with (Coach Courtney) actually on Sunday,” said Tarwater. “The thing I liked the most about him is he likes to win. He’ll do anything it takes to win.
“He said everyone’s going to have an equal opportunity to play from day one. I’m really excited to get to know him and play under him.”
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Radio station 106.7 The Fan had an interview with new Cornell head coach Bill Courtney last night (click “segment 2″).
Excerpt: Ithaca Journal’s Brian Delaney — More on Bill Courtney
Well, as you all know by now, it’s done. Bill Courtney is the guy that will either keep Cornell as an upper-tier, Ivy Title challenger for the years to come, or he won’t. You know why it’s that simple? Because Courtney is walking into a situation with enough pieces to win a championship next year and in 2011-12. People may not believe me, but I’ve seen enough practices, talked to enough people, to be convinced. And I’d say earlier in the season, I was far from it. (Sidenote: That’s not to say Cornell can duplicate its non-league success of the last 3 years next year. That portion of the schedule is going to have more ups and downs as young players grow; as chemistry builds, and is challenged; and as Courtney’s system is digested and put to work. But come the Ivy League schedule, the guess here is that Newman Arena will remain a formidable place for opponents, and that Cornell can win enough games on the road to be in the thick of the league race.)
Anything less than a top-four finish in the league will be a considerable disappointment. It should be. This is new territory for Cornell, but it doesn’t mean the expectations should return to 04-05 because Wittman, Dale and Foote are gone. It’s not like Donahue didn’t have a plan in place to sustain this puppy. He did. And Courtney may not know yet that he’s walking into a better situation then he realizes, but he’ll find out soon enough.
It wasn’t just the players that endorsed [Courtney], either. It was guys like Jay Andrews, the strength and conditioning coach that I believe will make or break Cornell in 2010-11 (more on that another time). It was other administrators; people in the financial aid office, etc. (Read more.)
Ithaca Journal — Cornell players warm to affable basketball coach
Five Cornell men’s basketball players huddled around a roundtable to meet one of three finalists for the vacant head coaching position in a dark room in Lynah Rink on April 14.
Fresh off the most successful season in school history the five –Louis Dale, Errick Peck, Aaron Osgood, Chris Wroblewski and Miles Asafo-Adjei — thought they were there for a business-like interview with Virginia Tech assistant Bill Courtney.
But at some point the meet-and-greet turned to conversation about practical jokes on freshmen, long-lasting friendships Courtney developed while living with teammates during his college days and the desire to take the program’s success a step further.
Sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski described Courtney’s personality as “outgoing,” “energetic” and even “a little bubbly.” What also stood out to Wroblewski was that Courtney didn’t see a reason why the Big Red can’t make it to the Sweet 16 again, or even the Elite Eight — like George Mason did en route to the Final Four in 2006.
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Ithaca Journal — Courtney answers Cornell’s basketball needs
Bill Courtney was on a recruiting trip Thursday, riding one of those shuttle trains between gates the Atlanta airport is famous for, when the call came.
The phone call, from Cornell athletics director Andy Noel, initially got cut off. No signal. When Noel finally got through, Courtney received the news he’d waited 15 years to hear.
He was a Division I men’s basketball head coach.
“Ecstasy,” he said.
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Cornell Athletics will hold a press conference at 3 pm today at the Hall of Fame Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall to announce Virginia Tech’s Bill Courtney as the new men’s basketball head coach.
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Richmond Times-Dispatch — Bill Courtney to Cornell, Virginia Tech loses skilled recruiter
Despite his lack of head coaching experience, Courtney has a strong resume. He was the recruiting architect of George Mason’s 2006 Final Four team. He worked at Mason from 1997-2005 and signed the core of that squad before spending the 2005-06 season as an assistant at Providence.
“He’s like a one-man wrecking crew,” George Mason coach Jim Larranaga told David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press last summer. “He’s like the Michael Jordan of recruiting. He’s relentless, competitive, a great personality.”
… Courtney said he felt encouraged about the future while talking with Cornell’s returning players.
“They’ve tasted that success,” he said. “They’re pretty committed to experience that kind of success again.”
While Cornell had to like Courtney’s recruiting ability – “I think I just sold the person who I was and how hard I would work for them,” he said – Courtney was attracted to the job in part because of the patience Andy Noel showed with Donahue.
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Daily Pennsylvanian — Concerned Quakers get the ball rolling
Sophomore point guard Zack Rosen is partnering with UA President Matt Amalfitano to lead a student group that aims to revive interest in Penn sports.
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Columbia Spectator — A look back at Columbia athletics
Columbia now has the chance to re-energize its basketball program. Early indications, however, suggest an unambitious approach to their coaching search. Particularly disheartening is the buzz surrounding NJIT head coach and former Columbia assistant, Jim Engles. I understand that Engles is a former Columbia coach, and I have nothing against the guy, but what does he know about winning a conference championship in Division 1 basketball? Engles has won 11 games in two years as the Highlanders coach, showing neither winning karma nor the amazing recruiting skill necessary to quickly turn a program around. Also, Engles has not had enough time to truly gain head coaching experience at NJIT to warrant a jump to the Ivy League.
In the long run, I’m actually confident Engles will be able to make NJIT respectable. But the Lions should be looking for an impact coach who can win now. They will have one of the league’s three best players next year, shooting guard Noruwa Agho, as well as the athleticism needed to compete at the top of the Ancient Eight.
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Other articles –
Intro by Bill Bradley.