Bucknell

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Dave Paulsen, a two-time National Coach of the Year who led Williams College to the 2003 Division III national championship, has been selected as the head men’s basketball coach at Bucknell, director of athletics and recreation John Hardt announced Tuesday. Paulsen, a 1987 Williams graduate and a Phi Beta Kappa scholar, has coached at every level of college basketball over the last 20 years, has won 68 percent of his games as a head coach, and is considered a highly sought-after consultant on the principles of the motion offense.

With the off-season now upon us and the spring signing period well under way, this is a good opportunity to attempt to forecast some of the teams who could make the jump next season. Is there a team out there like this past season’s Drake Bulldogs, who went from ninth place to a dominating run through the Missouri Valley? Or how about Arizona State, a team that went from dead last in the Pac-10 to fifth place and could have the makings of a conference title run this season? With one pick for each conference, here are 31 teams you should keep an eye on next season.

Here’s a quick preview of the ESPNU O’Reilly Bracket Busters games this weekend that will not be shown on television involving northeast teams. In most cases, the organizers of this event have done a better job of limiting the travel for non-television games, with the exception of UC Davis visiting Loyola (MD) among games involving northeast leagues. Bracket Busters, originally put together to provide schools in non-BCS leagues one last opportunity to add to their resume, now involves some 100 schools from sixteen conferences.

Niagara @ Appalachian State (Saturday, 1 PM)

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Head coach Pat Flannery has announced that three student-athletes have signed national letters of intent to play basketball at Bucknell beginning in 2008-09. Enoch Andoh, a 6’8” forward from San Jose, Calif. (Archbishop Mitty); Bryan Cohen, a 6’5” guard from Huntingdon Valley, Pa. (Abington Friends); and Probese Leo, a 6’9” native of the Bahamas who now plays at St. Pius X High School in Houston will all become Bison next season.

American

Bucknell

Holy Cross

Lehigh

Other (Army, Colgate, etc)

Bucknell Bison

 

Overall Rank: #129

Favorite: Bucknell. Player of the Year: Chris McNaughton. Conference Rank: 24th