Dane Pound

I think he was the national coach of the year while at UMass. On paper he certainly looked like the guy to turn things around.

I don't recall hearing too much after her signing but a story in the Gazette almost made it sound as if she'll be the starting PG this year. Pretty sure she was a first-team Juco all-american which sounds pretty good. Hopefully she can score a ton because we'll need it.

That's a good question. I thought that too while I was reading the article about it. Two other questions came to mind: 1. Are we lucky we didn't get St. Rose for our exhibiton this year? Or 2. Are we unlucky we didn't schedule Syracuse this year?

Agree Patch. Also considering Iati's long layoff it might be better for him to get more time-presumably if Jordan sit's out. One of the papers also mentioned Brent Wilson has plantar facisitis. Same thing Wyatt had although I don't think we can blame the RACC floor anymore after last year's upgrades.

Terrific atmosphere last night-really a lot of fun. I caught the WCDB postgame on the way home and your voices sounded a shot as mine did when I got home. Hopefully Time Warner will replay that game several times.

Tough ones this time. Here's the answers 1."It's a great day to be a Great Dane."-Danielle Hutcheson 2."We didn't play, Anybody can beat you when you don't play. They played a good ballgame. We didn't, that's it."-Billy Kirsch, Siena's Head Coach after they lost to Albany in 1977. 3.`I'm a graduate of Albany, that speaks for itself. I won't be impartial. I am glad this game is being played because it's great for Albany and for basketball fans.''-The Mayor-Jerry Jennings 4.``He would have been a great one for us, He had great speed and hands and good size. He was a little bit of a flake, but a wonderful flake. ... He had a high energy level and enthusiasm.''-Bob Ford about Shawn Miller 5.``I predict next year that Albany's definitely going to take it,'' he said. ``I hate to say we should have won this game. Should have, would have, could have. They played a great game. They made a lot of great shots when they needed it.''-Will Brand after the first reinstallment of the Albany-Siena game

Danes finally top dog-TU UAlbany picked as top dogs in A-East-Troy Record Almost nowhere to go but up-TU

1. Isn't Trina but close 2. Nope, not Rob Lanier 3. The mayor is right! Maybe we'll see him at another game beside Albany-Siena this year. 4. Yes, Bob Ford and the extra credit, Shawn Miller 5. Not Scott Marr. Sounds like something he would have said after the Syracuse game last year but that wasn't him.

The following five quotes are from five different people either from or about Albany. Who said them? 1."It's a great day to be a Great Dane." 2."We didn't play, Anybody can beat you when you don't play. They played a good ballgame. We didn't, that's it." 3.`I'm a graduate of Albany, that speaks for itself. I won't be impartial. I am glad this game is being played because it's great for Albany and for basketball fans.'' 4.``He would have been a great one for us, He had great speed and hands and good size. He was a little bit of a flake, but a wonderful flake. ... He had a high energy level and enthusiasm.'' 5.``I predict next year that Albany's definitely going to take it,'' he said. ``I hate to say we should have won this game. Should have, would have, could have. They played a great game. They made a lot of great shots when they needed it.''

Kinda heavy expectations to lay on Gifford but I hope you're right Patch. I expect him to take a little longer to develop than Jamar who was a huge factor right from the start (because we needed him to be). While I don't they they were quite as highly ranked I thought Joe Dyson and Covington were 3 star recruits also. It seems like Brown is bringing in several very good AE quality players each year and then adding that one guy who is above what you usually see in the AE.

CCSU could be the first team in memory to win the NEC and lose to St. Francis in the same year. Amazing the way they pull out these wins in close games-their average margin of victory in conference games is like 3 points.

Listening to this game while outside today but had to come in. Awesome game today by the Danes up by 25.

Stony Brook is the only other team with back to back matches this weekend. Both of theirs are home. Albany just got luck with their travel schedule I guess. I was hoping UNH would knock off Bing and would offer some breathing room since I'm sure Stony Brook would like nothing better than to knock the Danes out of first.

On the men's schedule there's listed a scrimmage with Colgate on Sunday at 1. Is that open to the public does anyone know?

Realizing that Bing doesn't play football and that historically Albany-Stony Brook has been the biggest game on the calendar in most sports (outside Siena). It's seems to be the past few years there have been as many or more important games between Bing and Albany than Stony Brook. I'm thinking mostly of lacrosse, men's and women's basketball and most recently volleyball.

Sounds like a good recruit who passed on Pepperdine. All you WCDB guys who are seniors will miss out on saying Iromuanya on the air for four years. Link to story with picture LNE guard commits to University of Albany BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star Lincoln Northeast guard Charity Iromuanya must have really liked her official visit to the University of Albany in New York. Lincoln Northeast's Charity Iromuanya takes a shot last season against Fremont. Iromuanya committed to the University of Albany. (Fremont Tribune) She turned down the opportunity to go to Malibu, Calif., and check out Pepperdine University, another Division I college basketball program recruiting her. Before she could experience the sandy beaches on the Pacific Ocean, Iromuanya gave an oral commitment to Albany. The 5-foot-8 senior guard will sign her national letter of intent on Nov. 9, becoming the state’s seventh girls basketball player from the Class of 2006 to receive a Division I scholarship. “When I went to New York, I liked it a ton,’’ Iromuanya said. “My mom (Helen) went on the trip, and she told me, ‘If they offer you a scholarship, take it.’ We were both impressed with what they had to offer in both basketball and academics.’’ Iromuanya chose Albany over Pepperdine, Denver and Nebraska-Kearney. Albany, 14-14 last season, is coached by Trina Patterson, who served on the USA women’s basketball team’s coaching staff in 1998. “The school is really focused on the women’s basketball team, they give them the support and resources they need,’’ said Iromuanya, who plans to major in biology, physical therapy or sports medicine. Iromuanya, a three-year starter, averaged 10.6 points and 3.7 rebounds for the 24-0 Rockets on their way to the Class A state championship. The second-team Super-Stater, who averaged 14 points in Northeast’s final four games, is one of the quickest players in the state and the spark in the Rockets’ full-court pressure defense. She was recruited by Albany as a point guard. Iromuanya did not play on a select team this summer, and she was a little concerned that might hurt her Division I chances. Albany first noticed her in a tournament in Atlanta last April. “Coach (Rich) Olson sent them videotape, and they must’ve liked what they saw,’’ Iromuanya said. “This takes a lot of pressure off. I didn’t want to go into the season worried about impressing college coaches. Now I can focus on helping the team win state again.’’ Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.

Brett Gifford (w/ ball) 6'11 250 lbs Center Rock Bridge, Missouri October 22, 2005 Midwestern Sleeper headed to Albany... By Van Coleman van@hoopmasters.com One of the Midwest's best kept secrets 6-11 250-pound Brett Gifford is headed to Albany... According to sources close to his recruiting 6-11 250-pound Brett Gifford from Columbia, MO Rock Bridge has made his college decision and is headed to Albany. This Missouri big man flew a little under the radar because he only participated in a couple summer events held in the Midwest. He has a good set of hands, runs the court well, and soft touch in the paint. He averaged 14.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game as a junior as Rock Bridge finished 20-6 and won the District title. Gifford chose Albany over interest from Wisconsin Milwaukee, Utah State, UMKC, SW Missouri State, and Utah State. Game Profile: Active big man went under radar because he only played in two summer tournaments. But has tools to make an immediate impact at mid major programs. Commitment Level: Verbally committed

Admittedly I don't know too much about this place other than Lamar Odom went there. Interesting story on CBS Sportsline about it. Link to article Players burned by prep school's cash-for-transcript policy Oct. 25, 2005 By Gregg Doyel CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer Tell Gregg your opinion! Rainier Rickards went to Redemption Christian Academy in upstate New York to get an education and play basketball. He didn't go there to haggle over his high school transcript. He didn't go there to bake cookies. "Cookies, pies, bread, banana nut loaf -- you name it," Rickards said. "And if you weren't baking that stuff, you were selling it. I'd be outside at Wal-Mart from nine in the morning to six at night." With prep schools popping up all over the country, drawing increasingly skeptical interest from the NCAA, 26-year-old Redemption Christian rates among the most peculiar, the most controversial and -- several people told CBS SportsLine.com -- the most damaging. Coaches from five schools in the Big East and Atlantic 10 told SportsLine.com that they refuse to recruit players from Redemption. "I'd love for someone to expose those guys," said Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) High athletics director Pete Sheehan. "It's criminal what they're doing to kids." Ex-Redemption players describe the RCA basketball program as a thinly veiled fund-raising arm of the school, with players having to cook, package and sell bakery goods -- usually outdoors, sometimes door-to-door. Players told SportsLine.com they had a sales quota -- ranging from $200 to $400 a week -- and at the end of the year were charged the difference before getting their transcript. No money? No transcript. And for a college basketball prospect, a transcript is gold. Without one, the player cannot prove to the NCAA that he earned the credits necessary to qualify. Without one, it's like the year at Redemption never happened. Rickards told SportsLine.com that he could have graduated in June but, because he couldn't afford to pay for his transcript, he has to attend another prep school this year. He has committed to play for St. Francis (N.Y.) in the Northeast Conference. "I could be in college right now, but my mom didn't have the money for my transcript," he said. "I don't feel I should be giving them money anyway. I made money all year (selling cookies and cakes). My quota was $400 a week, but I didn't do good in the middle of the year. I'm anemic and diabetic, so some weeks I could only sell $200 and they got mad at me. I couldn't take it, so I left." Rickards says he was charged $1,500 for his transcript, and he apparently got off easy. The mother of ex-UConn recruit Will Harris says she was asked for $7,000 for his transcript. The guardian of Yamar Diene, who went on to play for Rice, says he was asked for $5,000. The founder, principal and coach at RCA, Elder John Massey Jr., doesn't dispute the main facts. Yes, he says, players spend hours each week cooking and/or selling baked goods. Yes, they have a quota. Yes, transcripts are withheld until students fulfill their financial obligations. But he says RCA is doing nothing illegal. The cost of tuition is $15,000, Massey said, and all RCA students "have to earn their way here." "We don't ask or recruit kids to come to our school," Massey said. "They come to us. They sign a statement of agreement, and their parents agree. They're not coerced." Coerced, no. Confused? Possibly. RCA thrives on students from third-world countries or from poor, inner-city families. It's possible, and even likely, that some students and parents lack the sophistication to understand their Faustian agreement with Redemption. Harris' mother, Veronica, said she knew about the fundraising her son would have to do at RCA, but only in general terms. The same goes for the financial "obligation" she would have to meet when it came time to get his transcript. "Of course (Massey) is going to mention the contract, but it wasn't until Will got to school that it was obvious what fundraising meant," she said. "They're out there for hours on end. Long hours. You don't send children out into the cold. You just don't do it. Will wanted to leave after his first year there (in 2002-03), but we were told he couldn't get his transcript. So he went back for another year. And then when we tried to get his transcript, we were told he hadn't met his quota and we owed $7,000." Diene, a native of Senegal who came to the United States in the late 1990s, described his Redemption "ordeal" for SportsLine.com. "I unfortunately attended Redemption," Diene wrote in an e-mail from France, where he is playing professionally. "For my ordeal, I was first offered a scholarship ... but soon did I find out that being at school over there meant a whole lot of manual labor which they like to call 'work study.' Students including myself had to go frequently outside -- usually at Wal-Marts and other stores -- to sell cookies in the freezing cold for long hours. "If a student decides that he wants to leave the school, (Redemption) just holds their transcript and asks for a ridiculous amount of money, making it almost impossible for someone to graduate on time and go to college. They did it to me and I had to pay thousands of dollars to get my transcript." After Diene transferred to Poughkeepsie High in 1999, his guardian and AAU coach, Jim Hart of the Albany City Rocks, says Redemption asked for $5,000 for Diene's transcript. Hart complained to the state board of education but was told that Redemption, a private school, was outside its jurisdiction. Sheehan eventually raised $3,000 from school boosters and made Redemption a take-it-or-leave-it offer. "I went to Redemption and said, 'That's all I've got. Is that enough?' And it was," Sheehan said. "They took my money and gave me the transcript." Massey said Diene was charged for his transcript because he left school early and owed the balance of his tuition. He also said Diene was "a thief (who) had to be de-wormed (and) broke school rules by pilfering money." Hart was outraged by that accusation. "He said what? Let me tell you something," Hart said. "I've coached more than 50 Division I players in eight years, and we've had more than 500 players in our program, and in that time I'd put Yamar's morals above everyone else we've ever had. And everyone else would agree. This is a great, great kid. That school is a sham." Massey had harsh words for Rickards and Will Harris, too. He said Rickards, now at Florida Prep, "has to be brainwashed" to have said he quit Redemption because he was tired of selling baked goods. And Massey said Harris, now at Brewster (N.H.) Academy, was "disruptive and disrespectful ... he was a nobody before he came to Redemption." In a hour-long interview Monday with SportsLine.com, Massey repeatedly responded to allegations with dismissive laughter and rhetorical questions. He noted that Harris and Rickards played for the same club coach in New York City, Nate Blue, who has been critical of Redemption in the past. "The reason I'm laughing is, you have no idea how silly this is," Massey said. "I could go on and on. It's silly. Nate Blue says we've always been controversial? Wait minute -- are you stupid? Why put your kids in a situation where you know they're being exploited? Rainier came after Will. If we did Will Harris so wrong, why did (Blue) send Rain here? I want you to ask Nate that." SportsLine.com did. "That's an easy answer," Blue said. "Will was there when Rain went there for the summer, and then Will decided not to go back when school started in September (2004). By then Rain was already there, and he couldn't leave and keep his transcript from that summer. Rain told me, 'I can do one year here and go somewhere.' But he couldn't make it. He had to get out of there. "Now," said Blue, "I laugh at kids (on my team). I tell them, 'You keep doing bad, I'll send you to Redemption.'" RCA continues to get the occasional marquee player. Past students include NBA vets Mike James and Lamar Odom, as well as eventual college players like Avery Queen (Michigan), Rodney Epperson (St. John's) and most recently Texas Tech recruit Charlie Burgess, Rickards and Harris, who is being recruited by Top 25 programs. Massey notes that wealthy athletes have sent relatives to RCA. "Does the fact that Evander Holyfield's kid went here mean anything? Bruce Smith's nephew?" Massey said. "Are they people of any status? Are they silly, ignorant, dumb? They can't make judgments? Do you know they have the money to place their kids anywhere? Why do they choose us?" Will Harris' mother wonders the same thing. Rainier Rickards wonders. Yamar Diene wonders. Sheehan, the Poughkeepsie athletics director who bartered for Diene's transcript years ago, remembers the last words he heard as he left Redemption: "As I was walking out the door, they said, 'If you ever have any kids at Poughkeepsie that would like to go Redemption, send them here,'" Sheehan said. "And I was thinking, 'This is the last place I'll ever send a player.'"

Reid Anderson's Lakewood team is also playing a national tournament at Myrtle Beach in December. Certainly both players will be facing some pretty good talent before they reach college. It amazes me how big high school basketball has become. When I was in high school a road game meant a bus ride to the next town. Now these teams are traveling to another state to play teams from across the country. No small wonder some of them arrive at college playing at a high level.

This is kind of surprise to me anyway. UMBC has actually brought in some really good recruits over the past few years but haven't been able to hold on to them. Brown certainly must have seen something he like last year. It'd would be great if he could redshirt to retain his eligibility but from their website it sounds like his juco team expects a lot of scoring from him this year.

Long-term it looks like he could really thrive in the AE where he won't face many guys his size. Really looks like a terrific recruit. Short-term he will be stepping into a team that will likely have multiple established scorers so he won't be looked upon to be a savior. I can't wait until he signs so we can hear what Coach Brown has to say about him.

Pretty sure it was Ashlee Crenshaw who sang the national anthem yesterday. Between women's hoops (Tamika Thrower) and volleyball that also seems to be a recruiting criteria-bring in a player who can sing. I should have asked Coach Brown last weekend which player he was going to send out to sing the anthem this year. BTW 84. I caught seems like some of the previous games on WCDB. It seems to me volleyball is harder to do play by play on than most of the other sports you guys do. Tough to identify players when the plays are so quick. You guys did a good job of it though.

I was at the match today so I didn't catch the broadcast. I got some of the pre-game on the way in and the post-game on the way out. Good to hear you guys are adding some broadcasts including possibly the last game of the season at Hartford. I meant to go down to introduce myself to both of you but got chatting after the game.

Flash fall to Danes-Tribune-Democrat Ground game good for Albany-TU