Vermont

Top Lists: Unknown Gems, Comeback Players, Shot Blockers

Jason Brubaker — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:33:08 -0500

We’ve covered the preseason All-Americans, Final Four picks and individual team previews. Now it’s time for the fun stuff – the guys who make college basketball so fun to watch. Let the debates begin.

Best players you haven’t seen: These guys aren’t in the spotlight much, but they sure have the game to be

1) Marquis Blakely G/F, Vermont: Fills up the stat sheet as good as anyone in the country (19 ppg, 11 rpg)

2) Lester Hudson G, UT Martin: Big time scorer will eventually be in the NBA (25.7 ppg)

3) Josh Akognon G, Cal-State Fullerton: Lights out shooter introduced himself during the NCAA Tournament (111 3's, 20 ppg)

4) Ben Uzoh G, Tulsa: Does a little of everything, now must help lead Golden Hurricanes to the tourney (15.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

5) Osiris Eldridge G, Illinois State: Great leader, good shooter, good defender, dangerous scorer. Enough said (15.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg)

Hospital breakouts: These guys will provide big boosts as they return from injury

1) Ronald Steele G, Alabama: When healthy, as good a point guard as anywhere in the country

2) Eric Devendorf G, Syracuse: Dangerous scorer will return Orange to the tournament

3) Jodie Meeks G, Kentucky: Meeks has all-SEC talent if he can stay on the floor

4) Korvotney Barber F, Auburn: One reason to get excited about Auburn basketball is his return to the floor

5) Solomon Alabi F, Florida State: Should provide a much-needed post presence for Seminoles

Shot blockers: Think twice before challenging these guys at the rim

1) Hasheem Thabeet C, UConn: Good luck getting your shot over his outstretched arms (4.5 bpg)

2) Jarvis Varnado C, Mississippi State: Remnicent of a young Kenyon Martin with the way he sends shots away from the basket (4.6 bpg)

3) Kleon Penn C, McNeese State: Owns the paint and the basket when he wants to (4 bpg)

4) Jerome Jordan C, Tulsa: Scary thing? He hasn’t even come close to his potential yet (3.7 bpg)

5) Hamady N'Diaye F, Rutgers: Great athlete has good timing, aggressive nature (3 bpg)

Yesterday: Top Dunkers, Shooters, Rebounders. Disagree with Jason's picks? Let us know your top lists below!

America East Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:04:35 -0500

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Conference Rank: 24th

Conference Page

All-America East Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Joe Zeglinski	Hartford	Jr
G	Mike Trimboli	Vermont	Sr
G	Corey Lowe	Boston U.	Jr
F	Darryl Proctor	UMBC	Sr
F	Marqus Blakely	Vermont	Jr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Marqus Blakely Mike Trimboli		Points: Marqus Blakely 19.0 Rebounds: Marqus Blakely 11.0 Assists: Jay Greene 7.2

America East Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

114	Hartford	Am East	1	NCAA
155	Vermont	Am East	2
180	Boston U	Am East	3
192	Albany	Am East	4
208	UMBC	Am East	5
226	Binghamton	Am East	6
258	New Hamp	Am East	7
323	Maine	Am East	8
332	Stony Brook	Am East	9

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the America East?

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Rise & Fall: America East

Vermont Defeats Concordia in Exhibition

Press Release — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:37:21 -0500

FINAL SCORE: Vermont 77, Concordia 69

BOX SCORE

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Freshman Garvey Young (Washington, D.C.) led four Catamounts in double figures with 14 points as the University of Vermont men's basketball team topped visiting Concordia 77-69 on Sunday afternoon in preseason action at Patrick Gym. Junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J.) added 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in the first game action of the season for the Cats.

Young shot 6-for-9 from the floor in his Catamount debut, while senior Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass.) added 13 points and eight rebounds and sophomore Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) chipped in with 10.

"It was a little bit ugly, but I am glad we got the win today," said Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan. "We played a lot of guys and experimented with some different line-ups and it was good to get some of the new guys out there. Hopefully we will improve this week a play better next weekend against Saint Michael's."

In a tightly played first half that saw 10 lead changes, the visitors scored four straight to take their biggest lead of the frame at 25-20 with 8:24 to go. After a lay-up by Blakely, Desmond Murphy hit a pair of free throws and Damian Buckley hit a short jumper in the lane to make it a five-point game.

The Cats would respond with a 21-9 run over the next 6:58 to take a 41-32 advantage. Six different Cats scored in the spurt, led by seven points from Young. Freshman Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md.) made it a nine-point lead with 1:26 to go on a lay-up for Vermont's biggest lead of the first half. Accaoui led the Cats in the first half with 10 points as Vermont took a 43-36 lead into the break.

A three-pointer by Young 6:33 into the second half pushed Vermont's lead to 10 at 54-44 and an alley-oop from Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) to Blakely gave the Cats their biggest lead of the afternoon at 63-52 with 8:04 left.

Concordia would score the nine of the next 10 to cut it to three with 4:47 remaining. Buckley hit six free throws in the run and Adam Carneol hit a three to make it 64-61. Vermont answered as McIntosh hit four free throws, sandwiched around a bucket by Young to extend its lead back to nine.

The Stingers would cut it to three at 72-69 on a pair of free throws from Dwayne Buckley with 49 ticks on the clock, but that would be as close as they would get.

Vermont returns to action on Saturday when it hosts cross-town rival Saint Michael's at 4 p.m. in the Cats final preseason tune up. The game can be heard live on DOT 96.7 FM, WEAV 960 AM, WVTK 92.1 FM and WTSA 1450 AM(Brattleboro), and on the internet at www.uvmathletics.com with the audio stream provided by sportsjuice.com.

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the America East?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:55:35 -0400

TJ Sorrentine Named Brown Assistant

Press Release — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:59:08 -0400

Providence, RI - TJ Sorrentine, a Pawtucket, Rhode Island native and the leader of the Vermont basketball team that upset Syracuse in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Championship, has been named an assistant basketball coach at Brown in an announcement made by Bears' head coach Jesse Agel.

Sorrentine will be reunited with Agel, who guided him as an associate head coach at Vermont and recruited Sorrentine to the Catamounts' basketball program.

"I've known TJ as a great player, a tremendous competitor and a leader that players gravitate towards and hoped to emulate," said Agel. "Now Brown basketball will be able to utilize all of TJ's championship attributes to help us achieve the successes he has attained."

A 2005 graduate of Vermont with a B.A. in sociology, Sorrentine was a two-year captain, America East Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, a three-time First Team All-conference player and an Honorable Mention All-American. He was also named to the America East Academic Honor Roll in 2002 and 2003.

"It's always been a dream of mine to coach, and having an opportunity to coach at Brown and in my home state is a dream come true," said Sorrentine. I've been coming to the Pizzitola Sports Center for the last 10 years, so it's a home away from home. Coach Agel and I have a great relationship and I've always respected him as a coach and person. This is a tremendous opportunity to learn from him as a coach."

The point guard led Vermont to two NCAA Tournament appearances, in 2004 and 2005, and hit the game winning three-point basket that crushed the Syracuse Orangemen in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Sorrentine played professionally from 2005-2008, playing with Kk Krka in Slovenia, FC Porto in Portugal, Branca Nouvo Trappani in Italy, and the Florida Flame of the NBA Developmental League. He also played in the NBA Summer League with the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks.

He also has extensive camp experience, and was a special guest speaker at the New England Top 90 Invitational, while working as a clinician at the Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp, the University of Vermont Basketball Camp, the University of Pennsylvania Basketball Camp, and the University of Rhode Island Basketball Camp.

Sorrentine's roots run deep through Rhode Island where he was a standout at St. Raphael's Academy in Pawtucket, earning All-State honors, while playing for his father, Thomas. He was the Rhode Island Player of the Year (USA Today, Gatorade) in 2000 after leading St. Ray's to back-to-back state titles. He was also guided by Steve MacDonald, WHJJ Sportscaster, in his early years, playing CYO basketball.

Northeast non-TV Bracket Busters preview

Raphielle Johnson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:23:55 -0500

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) The nation’s leading scorer, Charron Fisher, takes his act on the road as the Purple Eagles visit the Mountaineers of the Southern Conference. Fisher has eclipsed the forty point mark in two of his last three games, including 45 and nine rebounds against Loyola (MD). Niagara (with help from Tyrone Lewis, Stanley Hodge and an improving Benson Egemonye) will look to run and put up a lot of points, but the Mountaineers are also capable of scoring some points. Six players score at least seven points per game, led by senior forward Donte Minter. I’ll take the Mountaineers due to the home court advantage. Northeastern @ Holy Cross (Saturday, 4 PM) The Huskies make the short trip to Worcester to take on a Crusader team still trying to recover from a slow start in Patriot League play. Tim Clifford is Holy Cross’ best offensive option, but it’s been the health of PG Pat Doherty that has been the concern. His Achilles injury at San Francisco was the catalyst for a five-game skid early in 2008, and the team has been up and down ever since. Northeastern, looking to end their two-game skid, will counter with a balanced scoring attack led by wing Matt Janning. Normally, I’d go with the home-court advantage, especially with an environment as hostile as the one awaiting NU’s arrival. But I’m going to take the Huskies due to the fact that they’re a more balanced team on offense. Bucknell @ Old Dominion (Saturday, 7 PM) The Bison, like their Patriot League rivals, have uncharacteristically struggled in league play this year. But given the number of losses due to graduation over the last two seasons, you can understand why this team isn’t in its usual perch atop the conference standings. Guards John Griffin, Justin Castleberry and Stephen Tyree are the main men on the offensive end of the floor, and they’re going to have their hands full in Norfolk. Forward Gerald Lee leads the Monarchs in scoring, but they have seven players averaging at least six points per game. In their last four games, all wins, three different Monarchs have led the team in scoring (Lee twice, Brian Henderson and Abdi Lidonde once apiece). I like the Monarchs to win this one. Vermont @ UNC-Wilmington (Saturday, 7 PM) If you’re looking to find a candidate for the most improved player in the country (yes, country), look no further than Vermont’s Marqus Blakely. After averaging 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last season, the sophomore forward is up to 19.8 and 10.8 this year. And only two players have a 30/20 game to their credit this season: Michael Beasley and…Marqus Blakely. Mike Trimboli and Kyle Cieplicki are also more than capable of scoring from the perimeter. As for the Seahawks, four players average at least twelve points per game, led by senior guard T.J. Carter’s 15.8. Possessing a home record of 11-2, UNCW comes into this one riding a four-game win streak. Expect this one to be a close one, but I like the Seahawks to come out on top. UC Davis @ Loyola-Maryland (Saturday, 1 PM) Well, this one could get ugly as the Greyhounds host the Aggies. UC Davis, currently dead last in the Big West, has lost their last nine and are the league’s worst defensive team (opponents shoot 48.1% from the field). And when you’ve got to stop a player like G Gerald Brown, that could be bad news for the Aggies. Brown will have some help on the offensive end, supplied by Michael Tuck and Marquis Sullivan. The Aggies are led by guards Vince Oliver and Shane Hanson, but they have a road record of 1-11 for the season. I like Loyola to win this one. Hofstra @ Iona (Saturday, 2 PM) The Gaels host one of the nation’s best scorers in Hofstra’s Antoine Agudio, and with Iona preferring to quicken the pace this could be a game in which Agudio puts up some points. But the trend all season has been that the Pride are only as successful as Agudio’s supporting cast, and a group led by Charles Jenkins has become more confident as the season has progressed. On the other side, Kevin Willard’s first year as head coach has been streaky in regards to results, with a three game win streak followed by a short losing spell. Iona ended a two-game skid with a win at Canisius on Monday night, and five players averaging about eight points per game (Kyle Camper averages 7.8 to be exact). The key to this one will be how well Hofstra takes care of the basketball, something they haven’t done well on the road this season (3-9 away from home). I’ll take Iona by a basket. Fairfield @ Drexel (Saturday, 4 PM) The Stags, winners of five in a row, take their on one of the CAA’s worst offensive teams in the Dragons of Drexel. Center Frank Elegar leads Drexel in both scoring and rebounding, but the points have been few and far between for a team looking to replace the likes of Bashir Mason and Dominic Mejia from last season’s team. Fairfield, on the other hand, has received a boost from the likes of seniors Marty O’Sullivan and Mamadou Diakhate, two players who weren’t expected to see much playing time throughout the remainder of the season. But the team runs based on the play of PG Jonathan Han, the MAAC’s assist leader. With six road wins already to their credit, I like the Stags to pick up a seventh. Youngstown State @ Buffalo (Saturday, 4 PM) With two of the bottom feeders in their respective leagues on display, you have to dig a little deeper to figure out who to watch in this one. How about guards Andy Robinson (Buffalo) and Byron Davis (Youngstown State)? Both lead their teams in scoring, but truth be told each team has a couple of places from which the points can come. I’m taking Buffalo for one simple reason: The Penguins are 1-11 on the road this season. Binghamton @ Manhattan (Saturday, 4 PM) One of three matchups between America East and MAAC schools, this one will be an interesting affair due to the age difference between the backcourts. Manhattan, led by Antoine Pearson and Devon Austin (Austin’s a wing), rely primarily on sophomores while Binghamton’s backcourt is manned by seniors Mike Gordon and Richard Forbes. The Bearcats’ leading scorer, however, is sophomore forward Lazar Trifunovic (14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg). I like the Jaspers to move their three-game win streak to four due to the fact that they’re at home (Binghamton is 3-10 on the road this season). Albany @ Canisius (Saturday, 7:30 PM) There’s no Jamar Wilson, but the Great Danes are still in third place in America East. The leader this season is Brian Lillis, a wing currently averaging sixteen points per game. In all, five Great Danes are averaging at least 7.7 points per game. Their opponent has one of the quickest guards in the MAAC in Frank Turner, but little has gone right this year for the 4-22 Golden Griffins. Losers of five straight games, I don’t think Canisius plays good enough defense (allowing 73.1 points per game) to end the skid in this one. Boston University @ St. Peter’s (Saturday, 2 PM) The Terriers have won six of their last seven, while the Peacocks have lost eleven of thirteen. SPC has one of the toughest competitors in the MAAC in senior Todd Sowell, but as a team they simply don’t defend well enough or take good enough care of the basketball (averaging sixteen turnovers per game). When you have four players scoring in double figures, turnovers are a sure way to keep your win total low. Corey Lowe, one of the best guards in America East, leads BU with eighteen points per game, but the improved play of freshman John Holland has been the catalyst for their recent run of good play. I like the Terriers to get a road win in this one.

Picture of the Day: Vermont's Marqus Blakely

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:42:17 -0500

Picture of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, CHN will feature a Picture of the Day, which might include a newsworthy, funny, or simply interesting subject. At the bottom will be a caption or headline that might be informative or amusing. The possibilities are endless!

Vermont's Marqus Blakley

There's nothing particularly interesting about this picture. It was basically just an excuse to mention the sick numbers that Marqus Blakley's putting up. On the season, his 20 ppg, 11 rpg, 1.9 spg, and 2.6 bpg are impressive enough, but he's taken his game to another level in recent weeks. Over his last three games, he's averaged 26 points and 17 boards per game for Vermont.

- Check out recent Pictures of the Day!

- Also check out the Cheerleader of the Day!

Daily Dribble: Surprises by Conference

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:49:00 -0500

Today's column is the first in a Surprise Teams series, in which I list a surprise team from each conference. Some, like Texas are, are positive surprises, while others, like Louisville, have been disappointing..

America East

Vermont (3-7) – The Catamounts were by no means expected to roll in the AE, but we had them projected at 3^rd in the conference, and most had them in the top half. Instead, they’ve lost 4 of 5, including a bad home loss to bottom feeder Delaware. The problem has been depth. There’s virtually no production outside of Mike Trimboli and Marqus Blakely

A10

George Washington (3-5) – GW has been one of the country’s underrated programs in recent years, but things aren’t looking to good for 2008. The Colonials are coming off a 12 point loss to Binghamton, following a 32 point shellacking by Virginia Tech. The biggest key to GW’s blunders has been the horrendous start by senior Maureece Rice. Coming off a season in which he averaged 15 ppg on 45% shooting, Rice is down to 9 ppg on 33%. He also has more turnovers than assists, half as many rebounds, and half as many steals. Eeek.

ACC

Maryland (6-5) – No one thought the Terps were going to be great this year. But we had them pegged at 47^th in the country, on the fringe of making the Big Dance. Instead, the Terps are 100 spots lower in the RPI, sitting at 141^st. The latest debacle was a home loss to Ohio, a team that then went to Kansas and lost by about 100 points, just their 4^th non-conference home loss in 19 years. Its not like Maryland has no talent, and with teams like Delaware, AU, and Savannah State coming up, a new winning streak is almost certain.

Atlantic Sun

Kennesaw State (1-7) - Too be honest, the A-Sun is mostly going according to plan. Belmont is at the top as expected, followed by ETSU and Jacksonville, just as CHN predicted. For some reason though, we did put Kennesaw State 5^th.. and they’ve been absolutely atrocious, one of the bottom 20 teams in the nation

Big 12

Texas (11-0) – I personally had the Longhorns rated higher than most other pundits, but I didn’t see 11-0 coming. Honestly, I did see 10-1 because outside of the road trip to UCLA, their schedule has been mostly soft (no disrespect to Tennessee). That will change this week with a road trip to Michigan State and then a game against Wisconsin. Except for the squeaker against the Bruins, Texas has been winning big, outscoring opponents 84 to 62. Individually, things have all gone as planned: Augustin’s manning the point like a champ, Abrams is knocking down threes, James is hitting the boards, and Atchley improves every week.

Big East

Louisville (6-3) – Like Texas above, I really thought Louisville would be for real.. but they’ve simply been really disappointing. Granted, they’ve faced some adversity with more Padgett injuries and the suspension of Derrick Caracter, but no one has looked particularly sharp. Even in home wins to Miami (OH), Marshall, and Old Dominion, not exactly murderers row, they’ve often been down at half and had to work overly hard to pull off wins. Basically, it comes down to the fact that they have no true dominant point guard, no one’s hitting threes, and their bigs have been injured or suspended. Not a good combination.

Big Sky

Portland State (7-5) – This is admittedly an odd choice for this list. The Vikings have the 2^nd best record amongst Big Sky teams, and we projected them to be 2^nd.. so nothing exciting going on there. Last year, they started with the exact same 7-5 record as this year. What is surprising though is that the Viks have an early RPI of 68, a highly impressive number for a Big Sky team. The reason has been neutral court wins over decent teams like IUPUI and Akron, and competitive losses to Colorado State and Washington State.

Big South

UNC Asheville (8-3) – The great record is somewhat deceiving because 3 of the wins have been against D2 squads. Still, the Bulldogs started last year 1-10 against D1 teams, so .500 is a substantial improvement. The one name you may know on UNCA is Kenny George, a huge 7-6 center who has actually been contributing this year. After averaging just 5 and 4 last year, the Chicago native is averaging 11 and 9. More importantly, he’s been a force on D with 5.8 blocks per game including 10 against Campbell.

- More surprises coming soon!

Florida Blows Out Vermont 86-61

Press Release — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:29:54 -0500

TAMPA, Fla. - Freshman Nick Calathes scored 21 points to lead the two-time defending national champion Florida Gators to an 86-61 victory over the University of Vermont on Friday night at the St. Pete Times Forum. Junior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.) paced the Catamounts, who fall to 2-5 on the season, with a game-high 23 points.

Four Gators reached double figures, while they shot 59.6 percent from the floor for the contest and held a 41-23 edge on the boards as they improve to 7-1 on the season. Sophomore Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J.) added 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Catamounts.

Vermont scored the opening bucket of the game when Blakely had a lay-up 31 seconds in. Florida would tie the score at 2-2 before sophomore Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) connected on one-of- two from the line, giving the Cats their final lead of the game at 3-2. Florida answered with an 8-2 spark over the next 2:41 to go up 10-5.

The Cats would get it back to one at 10-9 on back-to- back jumpers by Trimboli and were within two at 15 -13 with 12:08 to go in the half. Florida used an 8-0 run to push its lead to 23-13 with 10:26 remaining, as the Catamounts would cut the deficit under 10 only one more time in the first stanza.

A lay-up by freshman Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) with 2:34 left made it 42-31, but the Gators closed out the frame with a 10-1 spurt that made it 52-32 going into intermission.

Vermont shot the ball well in the first half, hitting on 53.8 percent, but Florida connected on 61.5 percent from the floor, hit six three's and was 14-for-18 from the line.

The second half was much of the same as Florida would lead by no less than 20 and go up by as many as 33 at one point.

Trimboli finished 8-for-17 from the floor as he notched a season-high 23, 17 of which came in the second half. In his first start of the season Vier had five points, three boards and a team-high four assists in the contest.

Calathes was joined in double figures by Marreese Speights (15), Jai Lucas (15) and Chandler Parsons (10).

- UVM Media Relations

America East Player of the Week

Press Release — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:49:59 -0500

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Vermont men's basketball junior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.) has been named the America East Men's Basketball Player of the Week. The conference made the announcement today.

Trimboli averaged 22.0 points and shot 67 percent from the field to lead the Catamounts to their first two victories of the season last week. Trimboli, a preseason America East All-Conference selection, scored a game-high 22 points, including the 1,000th of his career as UVM downed New Jersey Tech 91 -71 on Tuesday. He connected on 9-of-10 shots and also dished out six assists.

In a 59-57 win over Towson, Trimboli scored 22 points for the second straight outing and also grabbed five rebounds. He netted 14 of his 22 in the deciding second half to help the Cats win in their home opener.

With 22 points in the win over NJIT on November 20, Trimboli became the 27th Catamount in the history of the program to top the 1,000-point mark. Trimboli needed 16 going into the game and reached that in the first half by shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor. He becomes the first Catamount since T.J. Sorrentine '05 to accomplish the feat, as Sorrentine went over 1,000 with 16 points at Massachusetts on December 2, 2003 during his junior year as well.

Trimboli's 940 points through two seasons was the fourth-best pace in school history behind only Eddie Benton (1,307 points), Taylor Coppenrath (1,086) and Sorrentine (974). With 1,028 points for his career, Trimboli is tied with Dave Lapointe '69 for 25th all-time in school history