MBB: Landmark Conference

[CardsFan]

At least one new coach next season: http://catholicathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/releases/20190319mjxuwc

Guess I haven't been paying attention. Just saw this today. Maybe someone with inside knowledge would have had an inkling this was coming, but I'm really surprised. I wish Coach Howes good luck in all future endeavors. He was an excellent ambassador for the university. He always struck me as someone who really wanted to be the men's basketball coach at CUA. I believe he leaves as the all-time leader in wins. Over 15 years he won 2 of every 3 games he coached at Catholic.

Press release says a national search will begin shortly. I know D-mac knocked down some rumors on Twitter, but I would hope Aaron Kelly is on any list of candidates. He's an alum, his four years bridging Mike Lonergan and Steve Howes. He has Divison 1 experience as an assistant and he's already in the area as an assistant at George Mason. No idea if he would even be interested in the job. I'm excited to see how this plays out.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Personally, I think Aaron Kelly will be considered to some degree. How much is to be determined. However, I think CUA would be crazy not to look at all candidates versus the continued "rumors" that they already have a front runner in Kelly. This will be a highly sought after position and they will get resumes from a lot of very good head and assistant coaches. They need to seriously consider them all and find the right fit.

I don't think schools always do that.

[ronk]

Mike Lonergan? 

[Pat Coleman]

Mike Lonergan? 

Maggie Lonergan?

[ronk]

      Maggie would be a very interesting gender-reversing choice and a big news item for D3hoops in general. I remember her Catholic women's team defeating a veteran Mike Strong Scranton team in an early-season encounter. That was the last previous Scranton team to make the Final 4 and was its only loss that season before losing to Hope by 3 in the semifinal, arguably the real championship game that year.
      Maggie ran an effective pick-and-roll offense that Scranton had trouble defending; I got the impression that Mike didn't care to make any adjustment, preferring instead to use it as a teaching moment by letting his players try to work through it.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I saw Mike use a lot of tools with his teams depending on who he had for players. I saw him make adjustments and some good ones and I've seen him let them figure it out.

Maggie ... was a heck of a coach. Dare I say ... better than Mike? Mike might even agree with that thought.

[ronk]

I saw Mike use a lot of tools with his teams depending on who he had for players. I saw him make adjustments and some good ones and I've seen him let them figure it out.

Maggie ... was a heck of a coach. Dare I say ... better than Mike? Mike might even agree with that thought.

In my previous post concerning Maggie, I was referring to Mike Strong and his women's team, not Mike Lonergan. Sorry for the mixup.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I thought I followed that thinking for sure, ronk.

[NEPAFAN]

Personally, I think Aaron Kelly will be considered to some degree. How much is to be determined. However, I think CUA would be crazy not to look at all candidates versus the continued "rumors" that they already have a front runner in Kelly. This will be a highly sought after position and they will get resumes from a lot of very good head and assistant coaches. They need to seriously consider them all and find the right fit.

I don't think schools always do that.

Well Aaron Kelly it is. His recruiting background has me nervous as a Royal fan.

[ronk]

 I don't remember him, but that was in the pre-Landmark days when Scranton played at Catholic only every other year.

[CardsFan]

I don't remember him, but that was in the pre-Landmark days when Scranton played at Catholic only every other year.

13 years does go by quickly. His final game was a 2-point loss to Widener in the first round of the NCAAs. I am genuinely excited by this hire.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Scranton picked up a commitment today from 6'2" guard Jack Lambert, NYS Class C player of the year from Cooperstown.

https://athletics.scranton.edu/sports/wbkb/2018-19/releases/20190425mbpjhr

[NEPAFAN]

He capped his high school basketball experience by recently announcing that his basketball career will continue at the University of Scranton.

"I really felt at home when I visited campus and the coaches are just great guys. They really appreciated my game during the recruiting process and made me feel so welcome when I was there," he said.

https://www.thedailystar.com/sports/cooperstown-lamberts-sweep-the-daily-star-awards/article_e036fe63-a2ea-5964-ab6b-8323b66ee6fa.html

[NEPAFAN]

FYI the university is doing a weekend of giving culminating with the day of giving on 5/06...https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/GOROYALS/team/MensBasketball

[saratoga]

Love looking at the crowd size in slides 3 & 5 from the Mickey Banas/Billy Bessoir years.

That was when the Royals averaged about 2,800 per home contest.

Scroll to the bottom & catch a glimpse of the 2018/19 "crowd" size.

Obviously a serious disconnect these days.