Brown

Poll: Who Will Win the Ivy League

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:10:19 -0400

Ivy League: Coach Ranking

Jon Teitel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:16:20 -0500

Ranking the 8 Ivy League coaches is no easy task: One of them has never been a head coach before, two others coached their 1^st Ivy games last year, and none have served a full decade as an Ivy head coach. As we get ready for another college basketball season, here is a look at who is doing the best job of keeping up with the Joneses...literally.

1. Glen Miller - Penn

(223-184 record in 17 years as head coach at Connecticut College/Brown/Penn)

Career highlights: Went 13-1 in conference play during his 1^st year at Penn en route to winning the school's 3^rd straight Ivy title. As coach at Brown for 9 years, had most consecutive wins in school history since the 1930s, in addition to 1 NIT bid. As coach at Connecticut College for 6 years, he went 24-0 in regular season in 1998-1999. As assistant at Connecticut for 7 years, worked for team that won 1988 NIT title.

Prediction for 2008-09: Having lost only 1 starter from last year, he will have a decent chance to unseat Cornell from the top of the standings.

2. Steve Donahue - Cornell

(96-123 record in 8 years as head coach)

Career highlights: Went 14-0 in conference play last year en route to winning the school's 2^nd Ivy title ever and being named NABC district Coach of the Year. As assistant at Penn for 10 years, he helped recruit 5 of the top 20 scorers in school history for teams that won 6 conference titles in 8 years.

Prediction for 2008-09: With most of last year's NCAA Tournament team back, a repeat of last year's success will put him further down the long path towards Dunphy/Carril territory.

3. James Jones - Yale

(117-134 record in 9 years as head coach)

Career highlights: During his 9 years at Yale, he has become the longest-tenured coach in the league and given the school its only postseason tournament win in over a century of basketball. During his 9 years as an assistant at Albany, Yale, and Ohio, he worked for teams that made the postseason twice.

Prediction for 2008-09: He has a great track record, but not sure if he will ever get over the hump to get a career winning record.

4. Joe Jones - Columbia

(63-75 record in 5 years as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at Villanova for 6 years, he worked for teams that went to the postseason 5 times. During his 5 years at Columbia, he has won more games than any Columbia coach in almost 3 decades.

Prediction for 2008-09: His young team will have to grow up fast to avoid its 5^th losing season in 6 years.

5. Tommy Amaker - Harvard

(184-57 record in 11 years as head coach at Seton Hall/Michigan/Harvard)

Career highlights: As head coach at Seton Hall/Michigan, for 10 years, he only had a losing record twice, and won 2004 NIT title. He was also an assistant for 9 years at Duke, getting to the Final Four 5 times in 6 years, including back-to-back NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992. During his 1^st year at Harvard, his team went 8-22.

Prediction for 2008-09: After an investigation cleared him of any improper recruiting violations earlier this year, his 4 returning double-digit scorers will try to put the media's focus back on wins and losses.

6. Terry Dunn - Dartmouth

(34-71 record in 4 years as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at several schools for 15 years, he worked for teams that went to the postseason 6 times. During his 4 years at Dartmouth, his team has not won more than 10 games in any season.

Prediction for 2008-09: If he cannot turn the program around soon, he will probably not be around for long.

7. Sydney Johnson - Princeton

(6-23 record in 1 year as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at Georgetown for 3 years, he worked for team that reached the Final Four in 2007. During his 1^st year at Princeton, his team had 1 of the worst seasons in the school's storied history.

Prediction for 2008-09: As the only 3-time captain in school history from his playing days in the 90s, the administration will probably cut him some slack as he tries to return to the glory days, but it will take awhile to do so.

8. Jesse Agel - Brown

(1^st year as head coach)

Career highlights: As assistant at Vermont for 17 years, he helped recruit Taylor Coppenrath and won several conference titles. During his 2 years as an assistant at Brown, his team set a school record for most wins in a season.

Prediction for 2008-09: A rebuilding year, but if he can recruit anyone half as good as Coppenrath, he might get the Bears their 1^st 20-win season ever at some point in the near future.

Ivy Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:20:49 -0500

Conference Rank: 22nd

10 year average: 24th

Conference Page

All-IVY Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Louis Dale	Cornell	Jr
G	Jeremy Lin	Harvard	Jr
G/F	Tyler Bernardini	Penn	So
F	Ryan Wittman	Cornell	Jr
F	Alex Barnett	Dartmouth	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Louis Dale Ryan Wittman		Points: Alex Barnett 15.6 Rebounds: Alex Barnett 7.3 Assists: Chris Skelja (Brown) 4.4

IVY LEAGUE Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

87	Cornell* **	Ivy	1	NCAA
153	Penn	Ivy	2
171	Brown	Ivy	3
195	Harvard	Ivy	4
233	Princeton	Ivy	5
263	Yale	Ivy	6
290	Dartmouth	Ivy	7
329	Columbia	Ivy	8

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the Ivy League?

Other Ivy League Content

Conference Media Poll

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Rise & Fall: Ivy

State of 08: New York

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the Ivy League?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:30:23 -0400

TJ Sorrentine Named Brown Assistant

Press Release — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:58:45 -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.

Three Stars of the Day: Huffman, Akognon, Stilphen

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:22:30 -0500

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Damon Huffman - Brown

Few options on a quiet Friday, so Huffman wins for the 2nd time in three days by scoring 29 against American. A shocking accomplishment considering only one other person (Harangody) has made the top spot twice.

Josh Akognon - Fullerton

Another solid night for the junior guard, who had 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting

Ryan Stilphen - Marist

Managed to convert a three-point play with 3 seconds left to push the Red Foxes to a one point victory at Rider

Other Top Performers

- No need for an others list on short Friday schedules

Previous Stars of the Day

January 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

January 3rd - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 2nd - Martin Zeno, Texas Tech

December 30th - Andrew Reed, ETSU

December 29th - Brian Roberts, Dayton

December 22nd - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

December 21st - Andrew Brown, Lafayette

December 20th - Levance Fields, Pittsburgh

December 19th - Jordan Hill, Arizona

December 18th - Tim Pollitz, Miami (OH)

December 17th - Darnell Dials, Eastern Kentucky

December 16th - Ty Lawson, UNC

December 15th - Demetric Bennett, South Alabama

December 13th - Jack McClinton, Miami

December 12th - Lee Cummard, BYU

December 11th - Bryan Mullins, SIU

December 10th - Ben Nwachukwu, Columbia

December 9th - Dane Watts, Creighton

December 5th - Drew Lavender, Xavier

December 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

December 3rd - DJ White, Indiana

December 2nd - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

December 1st - George Hill, IUPUI

November 30th - Craig Brackins - Iowa State

November 29th - Ryan Anderson, California

November 28th - James Powell, UCSB

November 27th - Stephen Curry, Davidson

November 26th - Michael Bramos, Miami (OH)

November 22nd - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

November 21st - Kyle Singler, Duke

November 20th - Patty Mills, Saint Mary's

November 19th - Matt Causey, Georgia Tech

November 18th - Daniel Hackett, USC

November 17th - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

November 16th - JJ Hickson, NC State

November 15th - Jon Brockman, Washington

Top 144 Previews | 2007-08 Preview & Awards | Interviews | Discuss the Preview

Games of the Night: American at Brown

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:23:16 -0500

Games of the Night

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

Slim pickings as usual on Friday nights, so don't be disappointed by the lack of quality.

American (7-6) at Brown (7-5)

7:00 PM

Not the sexiest of games, but there's little to choose from. American has the big win at Maryland, and some joker gave them a Top 25 vote or two at some point. This game should come down to the wire.

Prediction: American

Marist (7-6) at Rider (8-5)

7:00 PM

Rider has gotten a little bit of national attention due to the play of Jason Thompson (20 ppg), but Marist isn't too bad either. Still, Rider gets the edge for being at home.

Prediction: Rider

Fairfield (3-9) at Loyola (MD) (5-7)

7:00 PM ESPNU

Okay, this isn't a good game and neither of these team are good. But since this is the TV game of the night, I figured its as worthy as any other. Loyola's Gerald Brown (20 ppg) is coming off two subpar games but could be due for a 30 point outburst.

Prediction: Loyola

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)

Three Stars of the Day: Huffman, James, Giddens

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:11:22 -0500

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Damon Huffman - Brown

Hit the game winning shot with under 2 seconds to go, and also led all scorers with 23 agains Army

Damion James - Texas

The sophomore blew through his career best by scoring 29 points against TCU, and he also added 14 rebounds

JR Giddens - New Mexico

Did a little bit of everything in the Lobos OT win over UTEP, scoring 20 points, hauling down 19 boards, and even dishing out a season-high 7 assists

Other Top Performers

Pat Doherty - Holy Cross - The senior guard had 20 points in a close win over Boston University

Junior Hairston - Towson - Coming off two subpar games, Hairston had 25 points and 8 rebounds in a CAA win over Northeastern

Arinze Onuaku - Syracuse - Continuing his consistent play, the forward had 23 points and 13 boards in a home win over St. John's

Previous Stars of the Day

January 2nd - Martin Zeno, Texas Tech

December 30th - Andrew Reed, ETSU

December 29th - Brian Roberts, Dayton

December 22nd - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

December 21st - Andrew Brown, Lafayette

December 20th - Levance Fields, Pittsburgh

December 19th - Jordan Hill, Arizona

December 18th - Tim Pollitz, Miami (OH)

December 17th - Darnell Dials, Eastern Kentucky

December 16th - Ty Lawson, UNC

December 15th - Demetric Bennett, South Alabama

December 13th - Jack McClinton, Miami

December 12th - Lee Cummard, BYU

December 11th - Bryan Mullins, SIU

December 10th - Ben Nwachukwu, Columbia

December 9th - Dane Watts, Creighton

December 5th - Drew Lavender, Xavier

December 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

December 3rd - DJ White, Indiana

December 2nd - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

December 1st - George Hill, IUPUI

November 30th - Craig Brackins - Iowa State

November 29th - Ryan Anderson, California

November 28th - James Powell, UCSB

November 27th - Stephen Curry, Davidson

November 26th - Michael Bramos, Miami (OH)

November 22nd - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

November 21st - Kyle Singler, Duke

November 20th - Patty Mills, Saint Mary's

November 19th - Matt Causey, Georgia Tech

November 18th - Daniel Hackett, USC

November 17th - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

November 16th - JJ Hickson, NC State

November 15th - Jon Brockman, Washington

Top 144 Previews | 2007-08 Preview & Awards | Interviews | Discuss the Preview

Central Michigan Picks Up First Win Of Season

Ryan Molnar — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:34:14 -0500

A night after getting blown out by Youngstown State, the Central Michigan Chippewas responded with a 71-58 win over Brown in the consolation game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. It was also the first win for head coach Ernie Ziegler while at CMU. The previous day Brown had slowed the tempo and controlled possessions as they held Michigan State to only 45 points but still losing by 11. Ziegler wanted to push the tempo against Brown and got his first win. CMU shot 50 percent from the floor, got 11 steals and 12 offensive rebounds. Sefton Barrett scored a game high 14 points. Giordan Watson came off the bench to score 13 points and add six assists. Eddie Spencer also added 12 points and 6 rebounds. CMU pushed the lead to as many as 21 points before Brown added a late rally to close the game to the final deficit of 13 points.

Ivy Interview: Brown's Craig Robinson

Jon Teitel — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:50:25 -0400

Jon Teitel chats with Brown head coach Craig Robinson as part of an interview series with all eight Ivy League coaches.

1. What are your team’s goals for this season?

A: We would like to win the league (which is probably every coach’s goal), and also be extremely competitive. Since this is my first year at Brown, I want us to have shown some progress by the end of the year.

2. What are your team’s expectations for this season?

A: I expect us to work as hard as we can on the court, and if we do that, we should have a chance to win a lot of games.

3. Which non-conference opponent do you think will be your biggest challenge this year?

A: One of our first games is on the road at Michigan State, which is a heck of a place to start out.

4. After being named All-Ivy 2^nd-team as a sophomore, how high is the ceiling for Keenan Jeppesen?

A: I don’t want to put a ceiling on him, but would prefer to set some high expectations so that he can try to achieve even more than he has so far.

5. Which of your 5 incoming freshmen (J.J. Anderson, Colin Aldridge, Steve Gruber, Matt Jones, and Matt Mullery) do you expect to make the biggest impact this season?

A: It will be tough to tell, especially with seven returning players who each played a lot of minutes last year, but I am pleased that all the freshmen are working really hard.

6. In light of the success of current players Keenan Jeppesen (from Canada) and Sam Manhanga (from Mozambique), do you think it is crucial to specifically recruit foreign-born players, or do you just want to get the guys who can best help your team win?

A: In this age of global communication, we just try to get the best kids, no matter where they are born.

7. Do you consider this season to be the usual two-team race between Penn and Princeton, or do you think another team can win the conference title this season?

A: I would like to think that we can give them a run for their money, but Penn and Princeton usually finish near the top, so I would not expect anything different this year.

8. As the 4^th-leading scorer in Princeton history (1441 points), how do you think you will feel this winter when you walk back onto campus to face your alma mater?

A: I don’t know for sure, as I have not thought about it a lot. It should not be too different than when we face any other team and I am fortunate that I have a great relationship with my alma mater. I am happy to be coaching at Brown, and am looking forward to showing everyone what this team can do.

9. As the first man to be named 2-time Ivy League Player of the Year, how do you think your past conference success as a player will help your ability to coach in the Ivy League?

A: I have found that some good players end up being bad coaches, and vice-versa, so I do not think that my success as a player means that I will have success as a coach. I will try to convey to my players what Bill Carmody and Pete Carril did to their own players: leave here better then when you got here.

10. Do you feel any pressure in replacing Glen Miller (now the coach at Penn), who is one of the best basketball coaches in Brown history?

A: I do not feel any added pressure: Miller did a great job, and I just hope he doesn’t do as great a job when he is coaching against us!

11. What was your reaction to the shooting of the Duquesne basketball players, and how do you try to keep your own players safe when off the court?

A: I actually addressed this with my team before the shooting occurred. It seems to be the cost of doing business these days: players are campus celebrities (whether they like it or not), and they have to be careful. It is a very different time now from when I played. I told my players that if they are in a situation that is getting out of hand, they should just quietly move on. There is a combination of outside factors (alcohol, drugs, the wee hours of the morning, etc.) that can contribute to a dangerous situation, and I am a firm believer that “nothing good happens after 1AM.” I want them to have fun, since they are in college after all, but they must always be on their guard.