MBB: Landmark Conference

[saratoga]

Absolutely.
He played a fantastic game.
Just wish the Royal brain-trust fouled him at about the 2 second mark on his dribble to negate the last second heroics.
The future of this program is in a very precarious position.
Two straight poor recruiting classes & arguably their most talented & exciting player moving on.
Danzig was handed a full cupboard from Bess when he arrived, now those very same shelves are pretty barren.

[jmcozenlaw]

Also congrats to Drew's tournament MVP Lybrant Robinson. He hit the tying three at the end of regulation and then scored 10 of his 31 points in OT.

He was an exciting player at Del Val. High energy, unafraid to shoot or defend anyone.

Glad he's found success.

Gordon...................Imagine the DelVal team with Robinson, Washington, Ghee, Tucker, Hill, Paulus, Caine Jr., Black, Diaz and Ibidapo!!

Length, athleticism, defenders, shot blockers and shooters.

Oh, what coiuld have been!!!

[NEPAFAN]

Posted without comment.

Men's Basketball Awards Announced
Posted: Mar 09, 2021 
TOWSON, Md. – University of Scranton's Logan Bailey highlights the 2021Landmark Men's Basketball All-Conference team after being named the conference Player of the Year.

Malachi Walker, Jr. of Drew University was voted the Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season while Catholic University Jesse Hafemeister was tabbed Rookie of the Year. Scranton head coach Carl Danzig and his staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year.

Bailey joins Zach Ashworth (2010, 2011), Ross Danzig (2014), and Brendan Boken (2016) to be named Player of the Year. Even in a shortened season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Bailey managed to rank in the top-five in points per game (16.8), total points (134), steals (13), blocks (9), and assists (15). He scored in double figures in nine of the 10 games played this season and registered at least one assist in every game. Bailey became the 46th player in Scranton program history to score 1,000 career points, as he passed the milestone with a made free throw late in regulation in the Landmark Men's Basketball Championship game.

Walker defended his Defensive Player of the Year title after finishing the 2021 shortened season with 14 blocks (2.0 bpg). The senior registered a season-high four steals in the Rangers semifinal matchup against Juniata, and was instrumental in the championship game, pulling down 14 rebounds – 12 of which were defensive. For his career, Walker has played in 82 games with 64 starts, amassed 434 rebounds, 167 blocks, 63 steals, and 417 points. His 167 blocks rank fourth in the conference.

Hafemeister is the fourth Cardinal to earn Rookie of the Year honors, joining Jason Banzhaf (2008), Corey Stanford (2014), and Jay Howard (2015). The two-time conference Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week was one of the top rebounders and leading scorers for the Cardinals, averaging 6.9 rebounds and 15.9 points per game. He scored in double-digits in all but one game this season, including an impressive 30-point performance against Moravian on February 12.

Danzig picks up his second Coach of the Year honor after leading the Royals to their second straight championship appearance. Scranton ranked first in points per game (75.3), assists per game (15.7), and was second in blocks per game (3.7). Additionally, the Royals led the conference in field-goal percentage, shooting 45.5 percent (269-of-591).

[ronk]

 Strange that the defensive POY(Malachi Walker-Drew) doesn't make either of the all-star teams.

[NEPAFAN]

Many Scranton fans hoping Carl goes out on top , so to speak.

Not sure why it didn't go to Drew coach or  the Catholic coach. Still no answer on details of the two kids he brought in leaving the team.

[saratoga]

Not that I want to contribute to the storming of Landmark HQ but it seems this poll for COY is a little off.
What happened to those votes between 2:00am. & 4:00 am.? Hmmmmmm.
Seriously???
Danzig leads the Royals to a 30 point loss at Drew then 2 weeks later loses the 'championship' to them in a winnable game & he gets rewarded for that?
Good for him I guess but certainly a ripoff for Coach K.

[Royals85]

Heard another one left the Team at Scranton!!!What the hell is going on????As a life long fan of the Program this Program needs to look else where and move in a total new direction.Still remember that day when the UofS hired a new AD by the name of Toby L he couldn't wait to get bess out the door  and hire this Coach from Bucknell Carl well 20 years later the program has been going down hill,hopefully Dave Martin looks at that trophy case and says for 20 years we haven't seen nothing out of this product Toby Hired!As a long time Royal fan that sits in the stands (not this year )but the past it is getting tired some to see one of the greatest programs in D 3 going down hill the last 20 years not all are bad but the job is not getting done and change needs to come.Depressed Royals fan

[NJRoyal137]

Heard another one left the Team at Scranton!!!What the hell is going on????As a life long fan of the Program this Program needs to look else where and move in a total new direction.Still remember that day when the UofS hired a new AD by the name of Toby L he couldn't wait to get bess out the door  and hire this Coach from Bucknell Carl well 20 years later the program has been going down hill,hopefully Dave Martin looks at that trophy case and says for 20 years we haven't seen nothing out of this product Toby Hired!As a long time Royal fan that sits in the stands (not this year )but the past it is getting tired some to see one of the greatest programs in D 3 going down hill the last 20 years not all are bad but the job is not getting done and change needs to come.Depressed Royals fan

What about elevating the program to D2 or D1 in the next 10 years?

[NEPAFAN]

I am liking the new guy(s) energy!!!!

[saratoga]

D-2 is not the answer.
Those schools are generally academic cess-pools with minimal credibility.
Unfortunately, per NCAA regulations, if you want to go D-1, you are mandated to spend 5 years in D-2 purgatory and have 3 million set aside for when they bestow that honor upon you.
Then, you better be ready to continually to feed the money machine that is the D-1 arm of the NCAA to a level that increases each year.
Plus, these days you can't move to D-1 only in basketball, you need to bring the entire department with you (obviously men's & women's teams).
While all this is going on, you better find a conference willing to take you otherwise you'll be on the road every game.
Before we get out in front of our skis, let's do a Royal re-set & start doing a much better job while in D-3 like so many schools do each & every year.
With the continuous decline of this program, beginning the process to assess where we were, where we are & where we want to be is long overdue.
It certainly appears the time has come to look for someone that can elevate the Royals from Regional & National has been to a program with a fresh & energetic approach. This search is, or should be, compulsory for the new President, his staff & the athletic department.
The same old/same old approach is boring and tired and the continual underachievement of the program warrants serious review.

[Pat Coleman]

D-2 is not the answer.
Those schools are generally academic cess-pools with minimal credibility.
Unfortunately, per NCAA regulations, if you want to go D-1, you are mandated to spend 5 years in D-2 purgatory and have 3 million set aside for when they bestow that honor upon you.
Then, you better be ready to continually to feed the money machine that is the D-1 arm of the NCAA to a level that increases each year.
Plus, these days you can't move to D-1 only in basketball, you need to bring the entire department with you (obviously men's & women's teams).
While all this is going on, you better find a conference willing to take you otherwise you'll be on the road every game.
Before we get out in front of our skis, let's do a Royal re-set & start doing a much better job while in D-3 like so many schools do each & every year.
With the continuous decline of this program, beginning the process to assess where we were, where we are & where we want to be is long overdue.
It certainly appears the time has come to look for someone that can elevate the Royals from Regional & National has been to a program with a fresh & energetic approach. This search is, or should be, compulsory for the new President, his staff & the athletic department.
The same old/same old approach is boring and tired and the continual underachievement of the program warrants serious review.

There is now a path to go directly from D-III to D-I. St. Thomas is using that to join the Summit League next fall.

[ronk]

D-2 is not the answer.
Those schools are generally academic cess-pools with minimal credibility.
Unfortunately, per NCAA regulations, if you want to go D-1, you are mandated to spend 5 years in D-2 purgatory and have 3 million set aside for when they bestow that honor upon you.
Then, you better be ready to continually to feed the money machine that is the D-1 arm of the NCAA to a level that increases each year.
Plus, these days you can't move to D-1 only in basketball, you need to bring the entire department with you (obviously men's & women's teams).
While all this is going on, you better find a conference willing to take you otherwise you'll be on the road every game.
Before we get out in front of our skis, let's do a Royal re-set & start doing a much better job while in D-3 like so many schools do each & every year.
With the continuous decline of this program, beginning the process to assess where we were, where we are & where we want to be is long overdue.
It certainly appears the time has come to look for someone that can elevate the Royals from Regional & National has been to a program with a fresh & energetic approach. This search is, or should be, compulsory for the new President, his staff & the athletic department.
The same old/same old approach is boring and tired and the continual underachievement of the program warrants serious review.

There is now a path to go directly from D-III to D-I. St. Thomas is using that to join the Summit League next fall.

pat,
That's why u get the big bucks!   

[saratoga]

Pat:
Thanks for the clarification on the new path to D-1.
Just recalling what the process was for my "other" school.
The new way of just pay the money & skip D-2 would have been so much better.

[NEPAFAN]

Pat:
Thanks for the clarification on the new path to D-1.
Just recalling what the process was for my "other" school.
The new way of just pay the money & skip D-2 would have been so much better.

Your point remains the same. Let's focus on excelling at D3...South Side Complex is a good foundation ( baseball team could use some work). The Athletic Dinner and Golf Tourney and recruiting budget have increased, just need to keep pushing.

[NJRoyal137]

Pat:
Thanks for the clarification on the new path to D-1.
Just recalling what the process was for my "other" school.
The new way of just pay the money & skip D-2 would have been so much better.

Your point remains the same. Let's focus on excelling at D3...South Side Complex is a good foundation ( baseball team could use some work). The Athletic Dinner and Golf Tourney and recruiting budget have increased, just need to keep pushing.

Not wrong at all. I'd like to see a more significant investment in building the Scranton Royals athletics brand and cultivating a stronger passion for sports and community on campus. Basketball is the key to that. Also, check out the social media accounts for schools like Ithaca, Tufts, East Texas Baptist, Johns Hopkins, etc. - making improvements there can help attract better recruits and student passion.

In the big picture, if the NCAA makes the path to D1 easier, I see it making sense for a city like Scranton - the MAAC conference makes sense given school size.

Those new athletic facilities in the southside are also D2 o D1 caliber.