Dane Pound

For some reason reading this thread is making my eyes water I think Bill Raferty from CBS would love it though.

Just curious if anyone saw Wyland's story on the verbal. I missed it but there was a reference to it on the $iena board. As far as another signing I think this is the fourth verbal although I don't know who the other one is from. It would make sense for another guard but we might have to wait for letter of intents to come in to find out.

Excellent preview Voice. Weird to see you put Maine down there in the bottom half since they owned the conference when we joined. I guess since their coach left (to Baylor?) they've been in a slide. Like just about everyone else has said so far this team is young and unproven. I don't expect a lot. Hopefully we are surprised.

Wow, that's some terrific company to be recruiting with. Sounds like a fantastic recruit, maybe the jem of this class. Started out his junior year 6'7 and has grown over last school year and this summer-maybe took some time to adjust to the growth but has taken off over the summer. Like Yokum and Anderson he'll be one of the top players on one of the top teams in his state.

If you see a tall, good-looking guy Sunday at University Gym that's not me. I'd wear my old "Dane Pound" shirt from my undergrad days but I think it shrunk or something. I just sent you more detailed directions but I'll be sitting in the middle section of the stands about halfway up. I know I've met a bunch of people from the board but anyone who wants to come over and say hello feel free to do so.

My favorite from that thread is "Most of Siena's roster are oompa loompas compared to Zoellner." I find it especially amusing because last year they were telling us what a stiff Zoellener is. This year he's Shaq although I'm sure it's more a concern with their lack of frontcourt depth. I agree with Patch that if McCafferty is worth his salt he'll have his team playing inspired and trying to defend their homecourt. I do hope he takes their advice and double and triple teams Zoellner.

I couldn't make the UConn match but I'll be at Bing. I'll try and make up for your absence Alum73.

Nice win tonight over UConn 3-0. Sounded like a pretty good crowd on the radio. Hopefully everyone comes back for Bing on Sunday.

The three local papers were represented as were several TV stations. I haven't seen any of the TV reports. If Iati's rusty it didn't show in his shooting. He knocked down a couple of 3s and looked physically much stronger. Tough to gauge too much about Zoellner in a game like this. A lot of up and down and guard play. He did score several times and got fouled while going up.

Terrific job by the defense again. Sacred Heart won the time of possession by about 5 minutes but it seemed like more, the defense was always on the field and got final two turnovers that really turned things around.

I just got back from the basketball scrimmage and football game a while ago. I thought the scrimmage was really well-run and pretty well attended. Hopefully there were some recruits on campus because that would have been a good thing for them to see. Really well-done. The team was split into two teams. One was Jamar, Levi, Covington, Courtney, Brent and Connelly. The other was Lou, Iati, Zoellner, Siggers, Graham, Knotts and Bauman. Jamar/Levi's team won by seven or eight. Before the game in lay-up lines either Zoellner or Siggers dunked on one of their attempts which spurred an unofficial dunk contest with Levi, Jamar, Lou, Covington, Siggers, Zoeller, and Graham getting in on the action. My winner was Siggers. Overall I was really impressed with Siggers, terrific athlete and good shooter. After the scrimmage Brown took a microphone and anwered questions from the crowd who had a microphone handed around talk-show style. A couple of questions about exceptations and of course, the Siena game. Of the returning players Jamar and Levi stood out the most. Really looks like Levi has lost some weight and seems alot quicker than I ever remember him. He was really flying around the court. Jamar looked slimmed down to me and if it's possible, quicker than last year. Iati had the unenviable job of trying to guard him and had his hands full. Of the new guys I was impressed with both Siggers and Graham. Really thought Siggers was "just" a sniper but looked to have a lot more to his game than than. He really should add a lot. Ditto for Graham. He had some nice touch around the hoop. He is pretty thin but skilled and can really get off the ground. Neither Covington or Connelly looked great in the first half but seemed to find themselves in the last 12 minutes. For freshman I was surprised that they both looked college ready strength-wise. These aren't beanpoles you hope will grown. Covington had some nice post moves and more importantly a determination to score when he catches it down low. Connelly got pushed around early but asserted himself after a while and grabbed some tough rebounds. He stuck with an offensive rebound and got a putback and foul that got the crowd excited. Really a nice intoduction to the team and well-done. If they do this again next year I'd certainly enourage people to go. It's worth the trip.

Bing drew 680 people to a game last night against Maine. They won in five again to remain at the top of the conference standings with 7 games to go. They have a couple of road matches coming up against Maine, Albany and UNH. Hopefully they'll get knocked off once or twice. Otherwise there will be another conference tournament they'll be hosting this year

Today's TU has a story about the expectations for this year. Also that Brent Wilson has added 20 pounds to be more of a presence inside this year. Danes cautious about high expectations-TU

I'll be there also. Looking forward to finally see my first football game of the year.

Story in today's TU about practice beginning tonight. Danes eager to get started-TU

Really like the merit student part. Shows he's smart and hardworking-two good characterisitics that are also handy in basketball. Interesting he's described as one of the top wing players in the state and one of the top two guards. I suppose he can play either position and will probably play more foward if he keeps growing. I suspect they Brown and Co. might be looking for another big guy and maybe another guard in that same class.

A blurb from one of the midwest recruiting sites: COMMITMENT UPDATE: Ohio Sleeper Off The Board A Great Day For The Great Danes! Reid Andersen, a 6’5 sr. wing, from Lakewood (OH) St. Edward committed to Albany University this past weekend. Andersen, who is PrepSpotlight.com’s No. 4 wing forward and No. 28 overall prospect in the Class of 2006, chose the Great Danes over Vermont, Wright State and Morehead State. “Reid is probably the biggest sleeper in the 2006 class,” said Prep Spotlight Vice President, John Stovall. “He has been growing -- he was 6'2 as a sophomore -- and improving by leaps and bounds over the past two years.” Carrying the label of “biggest sleeper” in the state seems like it’s a cliché, but there’s a definite reason that Andersen deserves it. “He did not play with one of the shoe company sponsored AAU teams this past summer,” Stovall explained. “Therefore he was a little under the radar. He is a skilled wing that can score off the bounce getting to the rim or light you up from deep.” Look for Andersen to be one of the leaders for a strong St. Edward team this winter along with super soph, 6-foot-7 Delvon Roe, who is on the short list of most every high-major in the Midwest. Reid is a steal for Albany and Coach Will Brown. Congratulations to Coach Brown and the staff.

Just wanted to say welcome. Hope you enjoy the board.

Really impressive that Brown and Co. find players who are good students who also appear to be good players. For the good student part Anderson was nominated for the National Merit Scholar. St. Edwards is the same high school that Jawad Williams from UNC went to and has sent a bunch of other players to DI. They're generally one of the top ranked schools in Ohio and have been ranked in the top 25 nationally over the years. Anderson was also honorable mention all-state as a junior. We'll know how players from PA (Yokum and Bauman), Ohio (Anderson), Illinois (Covington) and Iowa (Lillis and Wilson). That Cleveland State game is looking more and more like a recruiting trip in disguise.

I'm pretty sure they held a scrimmage the same weekend last year. It was more like a split-squad pickup game coached by the assistants. If I remember correctly the only public announcement of it last year was a brief in the paper the day of the scrimmage although I think we heard about it here before that.

Latest update from Coach Sheffield: Dear Friends, Family, and Alumni of UAlbany volleyball: An up and down week for the Great Danes this past week. We opened up with a 3-0 sweep at Siena on Tuesday. For most of the match we played very well. They had a lot of difficulties with our serves and we passed the ball beautifully. In the match, senior middle Ashlee Reed surpassed 1000 kills for her career. She's only the 7th UAlbany player to reach that milestone. Ash has meant so much to the growth of this program and is the type of person that we want associated with the program. It is great to see her obtain this accomplishment. Also on Tuesday, junior setter Blair Buchanan moved into second place on the all-time career assists charts, surpassing Vanessa Docharty (87-89, 91). Although most of our players are from outside of the capital district, they certainly understand that losing to Siena is not an option. For most of the night, we played that way. On Friday, we traveled to New Hampshire. On the scoreboard, it appeared to be a blowout (30-19, 30-18, 30-19), but it certainly didn't feel that way. In each game, the first third of the game was neck-and-neck until we would get on a big run. It was the third match in a row that we held the opposing team's best hitter to under .100 hitting percentage. We've been matching senior Ashley Green on the opposing team's best attacker, and she's been absolutely shutting them down. On Sunday, we were at Binghamton. Up to this point, they've probably been the surprise team in the conference. Both teams went into the match undefeated in conference play. The Bearcats ended up beating us in four games (30-26, 23-30, 32-30, 31-29). The combination of us not playing very well, and them putting together a nice match was too much for us to overcome. We consider ourselves an experienced team with 8 seniors and juniors, however, Binghamton, without a senior on their roster, was the team that performed with more purpose and poise at the end of games. Ashley Green's perspective following the match: "We are not taking this disappointing loss lightly and it has made an imprint in our hearts and minds. Although we are very upset by this game, it has brought on a renewed commitment by our team to work that much harder. We will come back from this a more focused and determined team that will accomplish all the goals that we have set for ourselves this season." One of the things that this team does well, is to respond following a loss. Our next match is this Friday against Hartford. We also have upcoming home matches this Saturday against UMBC, and next Tuesday against UConn. All three match times begin at 7:00. Congratulations goes out once again to Rafaela Nikas ('98) for being inducted into the UAlbany Hall of Fame on Friday night. She still owns season (566) and career (1607) marks in digs and is currently 9th in all-time service aces with 123. Congratulations Rafaela! Thanks for all of your support. Let's pack the PE Gym and make some noise this weekend!!! Best wishes & GO DANES!!!

Good story in today's TU about Colin Disch. Also Hall may be starting at QB today. Disch dominant Dane-TU.

I heard the same thing UAlum did about the seat backs. Hopefully I'm true to what I was told which I'm pretty sure was that they were hoping for an average attendance over 3,000 with the possibility of a couple of sell-outs. If nothing else it would be great if the BPG sells out.

I have to say I think it might have been more fun to watch them win at Siena than at home. Although it felt more like an Albany home game than one on the road. Great to see the guys in the purple and gold shirts make the trip to Loudonville. They made things much more enjoyable. Ashlee Reed got her 1,000th kill last night and Blair Buchanon moved to second on the all-time assist list.