MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jdubyadubya]

NNASID - Great! That should be a good tournament. Might just have to show up for that one.

NOVA - That's a lot on Tom's plate. VWC's AD position is open too.

[Jacketlawyer]

Amazing news out of VWC! Long time soccer coach and AD Sonny Travis is headed for Emory University. His asst. takes over soccer but AD position is wide open.

Sorry to see this development, but what a great gig he's going to at Coca-Cola U.  The DIII facilities at Emory are amazing.

[jdubyadubya]

By the way, it's nice to see Nova, Jacketlawyer and NNASID checking in. That must mean only one thing....we are getting closer to another exciting season of DIII basketball! 

[algernon]

The Hampden-Sydney Tigers will have some tough 2007-08 out-of-conference matchups:
  Averett (20-7) - away
  Averett (20-7) - home
  SUNY-Old Westbury (18-11) - Holiday Hoops Tournament at HSC
  Greensboro (20-7) or #8 Mississippi College (27-3) - Holiday Hoops Tournament at HSC
  Mary Washington (16-10) - Captains Classic at CNU
  New Jersey City (19-10) - Captains Classic at CNU

This will probably be the toughest schedule the Tigers have ever taken on, as the Tigers will play 6 or 7 games against 2007 NCAA Tournament participants:
  - 2 against #2 Virginia Wesleyan (28-5)
  - 2 against #7 Guilford (24-5)
  - 1 in the championship game of the Holiday Hoops Tournament (probably) against #8 Mississippi (27-3)
  - 2 early-season contests against Averett (20-7)

It's worth noting that Guilford, Mississippi, Averett, and Hampden-Sydney were all knocked out of the 2007 NCAA Tournament by the National Runnerup, Virginia Wesleyan.

Of the 24 scheduled games, 16 of them are against teams that had a winning record in 2006-07.

For the full schedule, see http://www2.hsc.edu/athletics/basketball/2007_08/schedule.html

[Hampton U SID]

Speaking as a former CNU Ass't SID...that January classic there has the makings of a heck of a tournament.

JWW: I believe Rutgers-Camden is the 4th team in that tournament..at least when we got the contract it was.

[tigerfanalso]

Algernon

Thanks for the info. Looks like the Tigers better come to play each night.

What do you know about the recruiting class ?

Any word on Kasse's knee ?

[hasanova]

NNASID - Great! That should be a good tournament. Might just have to show up for that one.

NOVA - That's a lot on Tom's plate. VWC's AD position is open too.

I agree, JWW.  The press release did use the word "interim," so maybe there's a search for a full-time AD.  I have a feeling Tom will need to be very focused on every basketball game this season.

[sludge]

Guilford AD (and former Greensboro College football HC) Marion Kirby is retiring effective August 31.  Looks like Basketball HC Tom Palombo is taking over interim AD duties:

http://www.guilford.edu/about_guilford/news_and_publications/releases/Kirby_retirement.html

Nice respect shown for Tim Palumbo, but I  he still has time to coach the team!

[mybleedinghands]

so hes going to be a head coach, an interim AD, a professor (does he still teach some classes), and head of the quaker club? palombo might have to move his family to the gym lol

[sdbrum]

RE: Ben Strong from Guilford-
Hello all-I'm from San Diego and I'm a Pac-10/Moutain West hoops fan, so I feel my comments will be most objective. I just returned from the Pete Newell's Big Man camp in Vegas and I have to admit I was blown away by Ben Strong's performance. In fact, he was the talk of all the coaches! We all kept asking ourselves: Who is this kid? Where the hell is Guilford? (Nothing personal!) Is it D-1? D-2?
None of us knew! How did he slip thru the cracks? After I googled him I got a lot more info(D-3 player of the year!) regarding his hoops history. His skill level is awesome-yes, he needs more bulk and strength but the NBA is not a pipe dream for this kid. He did hold his own with some of the much bulkier players in the camp in regards to banging in the low post, but I see him as a shooting forward who can create a lot of match-up problems for people his size. And if he gets a smaller player on him, Mr. Strong should feast on him on the inside. And he's a good passer too! If he gets a little more range on his shot-look out! He's incredibly nimble and agile and a great finisher. Too bad I'll probably never get a chance to see him play live.
Yes, I think he'll probably develop his game in Europe first, and then migrate over to the NBA. It's a shame the NBA draft has only 2 rounds, and that lame players like Joachim Noah get a first round draft pick. Believe me folks, Noah is NOT that good-he's merely riding the media hype-and, his footwork is TERRIBLE! Just review his game agaimst UCLA-he stumbles over his own feet and if it's not a dunk, he has no game. If anyone needs to go to Pete Newell's Big man camp, it's this stiff!
But, back to Ben Strong-he has TERRIFFIC footwork! I'll keep an eye on him via internet updates. And to all you Guilford fans-you've got a great one here! Enjoy the upcoming season! BTW- teammate Tyler Sanborn did well at the camp too.
Regards!

[jdubyadubya]

sdbrum - great stuff! We aren't surprised in ODAC land! After all, we are one of the most competitive conferences in the world of NCAA basketball. We are all looking forward to watching Ben Strong this year.

[ODACfan4life]

Great news for Ben Strong.  Many of these kids just need an opportunity to shine and they will!!  This should be a most competitive year in the ODAC.

[hasanova]

Hey sdbrum - thanks for the good report on Ben and Tyler.  I know Ben's family and have watched him play at Guilford for 3 years and I've also watched Tyler for his freshman season.  Ben is the real deal and Tyler is coming on strong (sorry, the puns just flow with Ben's last name).  lol  What an amazing coup that both are on the same DIII team!  I fully expect Guilford to begin the year in a Top 10 slot and I expect them to be the preseason favorite in the ODAC.  As far as I know, this is at least three or four times Ben has been to Pete Newell's camp and it's probably the first for Tyler.  I'm glad both were impressive.   It should be a great season for the Quakers!  I'm a Guilford alumnus, so I'd like to see a deep playoff run again!  Thanks

[sludge]

Thanks, sdbrum, for the report on Ben Strong and Tyler Sanborn.  Yeah, I think Ben is something special too.  He's a late-developing player, didn't play AAU until spring of senior year in high school, so he didn't get many looks.  The neat thing about him is that his top potential is still well ahead of him.  He's got a good head, too.

I wonder about you, sdbrum.  How did you come to be at camp?  You seem to be a keen observer of footwork; not everyone is.

Thanks again for the report on the Guilford big guys.

[GoQuakers]

I have seen Ben play in the summer league games played in Winston Salem this July and agree that he looked good.  He needs to improve though.  For anyone to be talking about Ben and the NBA in the same sentence better look at his ability to defend.  He has a long way to go.  Glad to hear he did well in Newell's camp even though I think sdbrum is actually Ben Strong himself