St Francis PA

NEC Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:29:53 -0500

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Conference Rank: 27th

10 year average: 28th

All-NEC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Jeremy Goode	Mt St. Mary's	Jr
G	Sean Baptiste	FDU	Jr
G	Jeremy Chappell	Robert Morris	Sr
F	Ryan Wittman	Cornell	Jr
F	Devin Sweetney	St Francis (PA)	Jr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Jeremy Goode		Points: Sean Baptist 18.5 Rebounds: Devin Sweetney 7.7 Assists: Jeremy Goode 5.5

Northeast Conference Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

135	Mount St. Mary's* **	NEC	1	NCAA
174	Robert Morris	NEC	2
189	Central Conn St	NEC	3
212	Long Island	NEC	4
229	Sacred Heart	NEC	5
244	Quinnipiac	NEC	6
284	Wagner	NEC	7
299	Fair Dickinson	NEC	9
300	Monmouth	NEC	8
315	St. Francis (PA)	NEC	10
335	St. Francis (NY)	NEC	11

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the NEC?

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Conference Media Poll

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Rise & Fall: NEC

State of 08: New York

State of '08: Pennsylvania

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:08:07 -0400

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

PENNSYLVANIA

PITTSBURGH - The Panthers have made 7-straight NCAA Tournaments, thanks to the foundation built by Ben Howland. In that 7-year stretch are 4 Sweet Sixteens, including 2 each by Howland and Jamie Dixon. This year's team projects to be Top 20 once again.

VILLANOVA - Jay Wright's squad is looking to make its 5th Tournament in a row. Even though the team did sneak into the field last year, the previous three teams were legit Top 25 squads, including the 2006 team that earned a #1 seed.

SAINT JOSEPH'S - In the past eight years, St. Joe's has reached the postseason seven times (4 NCAAs and 3 NITs), a stretch in which Phil Martelli has been named the A10's top coach three times. This year the team should be solid once again, but Philly rivals Villanova and Temple are expected to be better.

TEMPLE - The Owls returned to the Big Dance for the first time since 2001, as the program is still trying to gain an identity following John Chaney's epic career. With the exception of 2007, Temple has been in the Top 102 RPI every year since the 80's.

PENN - The Quakers have obviously been one of the best teams (along with Princeton) in the Ivy League since the early 70's. While Princeton has collapsed, Penn is still hanging in there following the departure of Fran Dunphy. Last year's young team did struggle following 3-straight Tourney trips, but a 19-20 win season should be expected in 2009.

6. BUCKNELL - Long-time coach Pat Flannery stepped down after last season's disappointing 12-19 finish. But Flannery took the program to heights that no one could have expected. In '05 & '06, the Bison not only made the Big Dance, but knocked off Kansas & Arkansas. '07 wasn't bad either with a Top 80 RPI finish.

7. DREXEL - Drexel is coming off one if its worst seasons in years, and the worst in Bruiser Flint's 12-year career. Before last year's 12-20 debacle, the Dragons had made 4 NIT's in the previous 5 years.

8. PENN STATE - Last year's 7-11 Big Ten record was the best in Ed DeChellis' 5-year tenure. I guess that's progress of some sort, but the Penn State has accomplished virtually nothing since 2001's freak Sweet Sixteen run.

9. LEHIGH - When Billy Taylor took over in 2002, Lehigh had been in a prolonged slump. But he did a nice job getting the Mountain Hawks to the Tourney in '04 and to the Pat League title game in '06. 2nd year coach Brett Reed is trying to continue that success after an up and down first year.

10. ROBERT MORRIS - Last year was the culmination of steady growth achieved during Mark Schmidt's tenure. But it was 1st year coach Mike Rice who got to reap Schmidt's rewards, leading the team to an all-time high 27 wins and making the NIT after winning the NEC regular-season title.

11. DUQUESNE - Not one of Duquesne's last six coaches finished with a +.500 record. Last year's 17-13 record was the Dukes best since 93-94 when they reached the NIT. 17-13 is quite an accomplishment for Ron Everhart considering he took over a team that was 3-24 in '06.

12. LA SALLE - La Salle's utter lack of success is surprising because the school does have decent name recognition. The program has showed potential since John Giannini took over in 2004, but the postseason will still have to wait. La Salle has finished over .500 just once in the last 15 seasons (2006).

13. LAFAYETTE - In '99 & '00, the Leopards won back to back Patriot League titles. There hasn't been much to cheer about in the last 8 seasons though. 2004 was the last time Lafayette even finished above .500 in league play.

14. SAINT FRANCIS - The past three seasons have been simply brutal. The Red Flash have won 15 total games against D1 teams and finished below 300th in the RPI each year. Most preseason publications project another last-place NEC finish in 08-09.

Last: Oregon - Next: South Carolina

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Georgia Tech Adds Transfer Bassirou Dieng

Press Release — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:55:03 -0400

ATLANTA - Bassirou Dieng, who played basketball the last two seasons at St. Francis University (Pa.) and has been accepted into Georgia Tech's International Affairs graduate program, has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA to play for the Yellow Jackets' basketball team in the 2008-09 season.

Dieng (pronounced BASS-uh-roo dee-ENG), who is 6-9 and 215 pounds, has one year of eligibility at Tech. In two years at St. Francis, he averaged 8.5 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game and shot 46.2 percent from the floor. Dieng also played one year at Norfolk State (2004-05) before moving to St. Francis, where he sat out the 2005-06 season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

"'Bass' is a young man who contacted us about playing basketball after applying and being accepted into graduate school at Georgia Tech," said head coach Paul Hewitt. "Coaches in their league that I have spoken with are very complimentary of his ability as a player and his character. We're happy that he has decided to attend Georgia Tech."

NCAA rules require student-athletes sit out one year when transferring, but the NCAA can grant a waiver when the student-athlete enrolls at an institution in a graduate program which is not offered by his previous school. Dieng, who received his undergraduate degree from St. Francis in the spring in Political Science and International Studies and will begin his graduate studies at Tech in the fall semester.

Dieng, a native of Dakar, Senegal, will be on a basketball scholarship at Tech this year. The post player actually has played a game in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, scoring four points in 19 minutes for St. Francis during an 87-43 loss to the Jackets on Dec. 30, 2006.

NEC Weekly Honors

Press Release — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week

Tony Lee, Robert Morris
Jr., G, 6-0, 205 lbs., Boston, MA/Charlestown

Lee has stepped up his game considerably this season, and has been one of the key contributors in the Colonials’ 6-3 start. Last week, he tallied 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists as Robert Morris extended its non-conference home winning streak to nine with a 79-78 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday. Lee hit 9-14 shots from the floor, including 1-2 from three-point range, in the contest. The 23 points was one shy of his career-high 24-point effort against Monmouth on January 5, 2006. After the Penguins closed the lead to 71-70 with 3:16 left on the clock, Lee answered back with a conventional three-point play to push the lead back to four, then helped seal the win by hitting two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to make the score 79-74. A Boston, MA native, Lee leads the NEC with 2.8 spg, and also ranks second in field goal percentage (.587), sixth in assists (4.2 apg) and seventh in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg).

Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week

Devin Sweetney, Saint Francis (PA)
Fr., G, 6-6, 180 lbs., Washington, D.C./Riverdale Baptist

Sweetney takes home his third Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week award after a near double-double performance in the Red Flash’s 70-56 win over Liberty on Saturday. With the score tied at intermission, he scored all 14 of his points in the second half and pulled down six of his nine boards as Saint Francis avenged an earlier loss to Liberty and snapped the Flames’ six-game winning streak. Sweetney hit all 12 of his free throw attempts in the contest and has now made 22 consecutive shots from the charity stripe. The Washington, D.C. product is averaging an NEC-best 6.3 free throw attempts per game and is the league leader from the line at 91.2 percent. Sweetney also paces all conference freshman with 14.2 ppg (eighth in NEC) and 7.0 rpg (fourth in NEC).

NEC Player & Rookie of the Week

Press Release — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:11:04 -0500

Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week

Javier Mojica, Central Connecticut State
Sr., G, 6-3, 180 lbs., Auburn, MA/Auburn
Mojica claims the first Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week award of his career after averaging 20.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in Central Connecticut State’s 1-1 week. He also shot a scintillating 69.6 percent (16-23) from the floor and 62.5 percent (5-8) from three-point range. Mojica posted his league-leading third double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 boards in a 77-64 win over St. Francis (NY) on Wednesday in CCSU’s NEC opener. He also tallied 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 55-52 setback at Lehigh on Saturday. Mojica has scored 20 or more points in five straight games, the longest stretch for a CCSU player in 12 seasons. The Auburn, MA product currently ranks among NEC leaders in nearly every statistical category, including first in three-point accuracy (.526), second in scoring (20.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg), third in made three-pointers (2.9 per game), fifth in field goal percentage (.520), 11th in free throw percentage (.760) and 12th in assists (2.9 apg).

Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week

Devin Sweetney, Saint Francis (PA)
Fr., G, 6-6, 180 lbs., Washington, D.C./Riverdale Baptist
Sweetney continued to put up big numbers for the Red Flash en-route to his second straight Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week accolade. He averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and shot 40.0 percent from three-point range and 91.7 percent from the charity stripe last week. Sweetney scored 15 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, including 11 of his team’s last 18 points in a 75-69 setback at Howard on Monday. In a back-and-forth affair, he gave Saint Francis the lead three times in the final six minutes of the contest and pulled the Red Flash to within 68-67 on a layup with 1:46 to play. Two days later, the native of Washington, D.C. recorded 11 points, five boards and two steals in a near upset of Patriot League power Bucknell as the Bison ended the game on an 8-0 run to win, 60-56. On the season, Sweetney paces all NEC freshman and ranks in the NEC top-15 in scoring (eighth, 15.0 ppg), rebounding (third, 7.6 rpg), field goal percentage (11th, .481), free throw percentage (second, .880) and steals (sixth, 2.0 spg).