Patch

Little, Ambrose and James could be the best recruiting class so far during our DI tenure.

The latest Hoopscoop rankings list Ambrose at 169 and little at 376.

They will give us a whole perimeter group for 4 years.

Ambrose is suppose to be a ridiculous athlete.

For all our members if you go above to media links

click on Fox Sports

When it comes up click on sports on the black header and the video selection will pop up

click on what meets your fancy

You can't make this stuff up!!!!!!

FRom the Siena site.......

"Re: Mackin backs AD on Mensah"

In response to message #1

     

 

 

Based on Father Mackin's comments, I think it is unlikely that the appeals committee made up of Siena faculty members (who work for Father Mackin) would rule in favor of Team Ostrin. I think it's time Mensah started filling out those financial aid forms.

Atleast one Siena fan expects that there is no honesty or integrity at Siena. They realize that at Siena even important appeals panels are controlled by one of the sides at conflict. No matter the outcome Lets hope that the panel will have the "balls" to make a decision based on the information brought to them.

It's always great to get firsthand updates and unbiased opinions from reliable sources, especially straight from the RACC.

Your nephew probably knows alot more about hoops then me or some of my fellow posters.

bosiydid - PEACE

I never felt we were at war.

Its always great to have spirited conversation especially in the off season.

It's great when people can openly express their opinions and even when not in agreement be respectful of each other.

Later!!!!

bosiydid - "PEACE"

I didn't know we were at war!!!!!!!

Opinions are great everyone should have their own and I respect that!

But.....Please don't tell me what my reaction would be in a Hypothetical situation. It's not happening here for many reasons.

Let me clarify this my life doesnot revolve around individual college hoopsters. I love Great Danes Athletics but I can survive without it.

Just so you know - believe it or not - if Jamar were in the same situation as Kojo, I too would be upset but I would say good bye, Thanks for the Memories and here's you conditional release.

I would not knock Jamar as the Siena fans knock Kojo - 2 months ago Kojo was a "God" now he should be punished heavily for not wanting to be at Siena.

Remember he wanted out when Lanier was let go and was talked into staying. He's a sophmore in college he's not some 50 year old worldly businessman.

I totally respect what you have to say and of course your right to say it. This is definitely an open forum - for that I thank Dane Pound.

.......Like I said in my prior post I’m glad Siena is taking a hard stance with Kojo. It will make people like Norm and Everheart think twice about doing something of this nature. For me this is more about recruiting tactics across the board/conferences rather then Siena. - bosiydid

Even I am getting tired of this thread - Siena has the right and can do anything they want.

But to ask Kojo to give them a list is ridiculous no other school can officially talk to him until he gets a release so therefore how can he make a list he doesn't know what is available scholarship wise?

If Siena has a belief or some information that schools were tampering then give Kojo a conditional release and list those schools as schools he cannot go to.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.....It will make people like Norm and Everheart think twice about doing something of this nature....

If you truly believe Siena's stance will affect those that tamper with athletes you know nothing about DI Men's Hoops. This is a minor incident in the scope of reality and will have "ZERO" impact on how DI business is effected.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Siena was everything they think they are - why would anyone ever want to leave that "UTOPIA".

Sometime someone has to look at Siena's recent track record and realize that in some minimal way the Siena Athletic Department and the Siena's Administration has to take some heat.

Look at a young man like Scoop Jordan a "Good Guy" who Siena used for 4 years and we now find out that even if he stayed around he wouldn't graduate until December, Four years and three summers and it wasn't enough to get him close to wearing a "Cap & Gown". Where was the Administration on that one?

Siena says that Kojo betrayed them and used them I say they betrayed and used "Scoop" but noone from the Siena side is shocked by that.

bosiydid - I' am basically in agreement that Kojo made a bad decision and his timing was atrocious, but give the kid a "conditional release" and get on with life.

Does two wrongs make a right??????

If Brent asked for a release at the same time as Kojo I would have been very upset but no matter what life goes on.

If the team is again successful this year and Coach Brown gets a chance to go to a higher level and opts out, I would be upset but that's the nature of the business1

If coaches can opt out, if school's can opt not to renew a scholarship, why shouldn't a student/athlete have the option to do what he/she thinks is best for themselves.

We don't have to like the decisions of others but we should respect their right to make decisions.

From today's TU article......

Siena stands to lose more than its reputation. The NCAA tracks retention and graduation through its Academic Progress Rate. Programs that fall below a certain score are subject to scholarship losses.

Siena's score figures to drop with the transfers of Mensah, McClinton and Levi Osby, who left after this past season. Also, because he is pursuing a professional basketball career, senior Antoine Jordan did not graduate this spring and might not for several years.

bob87 - you failed to pick up on one of the major points of the article - Siena was at 917 in the Academic Progress Rate(APR), last season with the acceptable rate I believe at 925. With the defections of McClinton, Osby, and Mensah (just to name a few) plus the fact that Jordan will pursue a professional career and put off college graduation.

The select "Private" elite educational institution called Siena is along with Iona at the bottom of the MAAC in APR and it could get alot worse. They could lose scholarships in the near future.

It is the nature of DI Basketball that every recruit's dream is that they are going to the "League" or will sign a lucrative overseas contact.

A certain amount of transfers will naturally occur. Some players can't start on their own college team and transfer, some don't like the atmosphere at the school and some want to transfer to a higher level for more exposure.

I really think that the Siena fans should stop being so overly protective and start realizing that it's time to start looking at the administration that watches over its program.

Siena should seek to be a competitive MAAC Basketball program and stop trying to be the "Crown Jewel of the MAAC".

I hope UA stays very competitive but I also want to retain as many Student Athletes as possible and Graduate those that do stay. There should be no trade off in order to become more successful.

This year's team was a good example of that. Knotts, Zoellner, Jamar and Lu all graduated and Levi is finishing up now.

...........it's kind of ironic that Siena might not have all the control it boasts over the time during the day the game is played.

Olddog71 That's what I like about Siena they talk the talk but don't walk the walk. The Knick/Pepsi/Tuc is their exclusive home court but they are a second class citizen in the building.

I also have some sympathy for Siena in the Mensah affair. I may be from the old school, but I think that when a player signs on for a scholarship to play for a school that he should retain loyalty to the school under almost all circumstances. There are exceptions to the rule, but I don't think this case is one of them. -olddog71

As for the Mensah affair I too sympathize with Siena, but....

1. It is evident that they had to talk him into staying when Lanier was fired.

2. Evidently after the loss of two assistants Mensah had second thoughts about staying any longer, and the feelings from the previous year resurfaced.

3. Evidently a bond was not developed between the Head Coach and the Player. Who is at fault for that we'll never know.

4. Mensah handled the situation extremely poorly and in my opinion got some very suspect advice but Siena's reaction was equally as poor. In my opinion they should have given him an immediate conditional release rather then appear to hold him hostage - wasn't it stated in the TU that Kojo wouldn't be given a release and that he would not be allowed to play basketball at Siena - to me that reaks of "SPITEFULNESS".

5. I would hope that at UA if a kid doesn't want to be here our staff would get him a release ASAP (unconditional or conditional according to the situation).

6. Regardless of what the sophisticated Hoop Experts on the Siena site think - Siena's recent history with recruits will hurt their image and will be used by other DI coaches against them. The recruiting of athletes is devious at best.

Indian91 - I'm in full agreement with you! Who does your AD have pictures of????

Siena should have quietly granted Kojo a conditional release (no Duquesne, no MAAC) and washed their hands of the kid. Instead, their jerkoff of an AD has created a horribly negative media frenzy, which has made Siena look awful.

I can only speak for myself in regard to...

With respect to UA and Siena, I can't understand all the bad blood with the rivalry

I really laugh at the whole thing and think it is enjoyable - a rivalry game is good for the Capitol Region.

The only 2 negative feelings I have for Siena comes from.....

1. the condescending back handed compliments which come from some of the lead posters on you website

2. the attitude that Siena is some type of bigtime Mid Major a Gonzaga of the East wannabe. While in reality Siena is a long established program that has struggled for respectability for most of the century we're currently living in.

The Siena/UA game is a great game and 10,000 + should show up regularly if Siena wanted it to be that way. It's their Home facility - they plan the schedule. When they think they have the upperhand they schedule a good date and a good time when the game is in doubt they schedule it at an off time/day.

By the way good post.

I was just thinking - I wonder how many (if any) Basketball players or Coaches read the NY Post?

From the NY Post......

Mensah, a 6-1 guard who played at Bishop Loughlin, asked for his release from the school last month and has yet to receive it, but the MAAC school sent him a letter last week stating that his scholarship will not be renewed...........Those close to Mensah, including advisor Norm Ostrin, believe that the fact his scholarship isn't being renewed means he has been released. Ostrin's attorney, Michael Rosenblatt, said he hopes to get word from the NCAA as early as tomorrow regarding the issue and that Mensah will learn soon after if and where he will be able to play next........."It's clear (Mensah) has been misled by someone not looking out for his best interest," Siena head coach Fran McCaffery said in a statement.

It's just amazing that a kid who doesn't want to stay at Siena must be misguided, anything that happens that is Siena related that could be at all considered negative is never their fault.

They just can't understand why everyone in the world doesn't want to attend Siena, especially with all Siena's inherent advantages.

Some of their fans now say that it's not much of a loss because Kenny H. was/is better anyway and can easily shift to the PG and by doing so even his already solid FG% will probably get better(ie. Siena Tony)

I guess it's called addition by subtraction?

"As the Siena World Turns" don't miss the next exciting edition.

Cody Yelder of Richards High School and Jake Pancratz of Schaumburg were named co-MVP's for the North Squad in the Class AA IBCA All-Star Game. Howard Little of Rich South was MVP for the South Squad. The North won the game 102-91. Yelder and Pancratz each scored 20 points, while Little pumped in 17. Yelder is bound for Northern Illinois, Pancratz is headed to the University of Chicago, and Little is headed to Albany after prepping for a year at Stoneridge in California.

Hopefully he commits with a Letter of Intent during the Nov. Early Signing period. A year in Prep should only have him better prepared academically and physically.

UAalum72 - I'm with you, if we "patch" something together to "make do" the stadium/field will become a lower priority.

With the rapid improvements and the present notoriety of our Athletic Program I think we have an excellent shot at the stadium. If we start nickel and diming it that's all we'll ever have.

If scholarship Football comes so will our stadium.

MTS - no one is knocking Kenny. Kenny is an outstanding player .

At the end of last season all you Siena fans were complaining that Kojo should have been atleast 2nd Team All MAAC and that he would be a Preseason !st team selection this year.

Now he's gone so he a chump.

Kojo 16.6ppg - 6.3rpg - 232 FTAs

Kenny 12.4ppg 4.3rpg - 97 FTAs

Kenny is a fine player for Siena but last year he lived off the penetration of Kojo and Scoop as did Tay Fisher.

Another thing - Kenny can play the Point but he's not a Point Guard, there's a difference.

I really don't think there will be much pressure on Gifford unless it's self applied. If he starts he'll probably be the 4th or 5th option offensively, from what I've heard previously he has the potential to be very good.

He ranked 254 in the Hoopscoop Final ratings of this years Top 1000. Georgia Tech recruit Brad Sheehan from "Shaker" was listed at 266.

I am sure Covington will bang Gifford and Yocum around pretty good, as will Connelly. The two sophs want minutes and I'm sure they will pound the Frosh every chance they get.

The real pressure will be on Lillis, Iati, Siggers, Knight, Ross and Adnderson who will be competing for perimeter minutes. We all know Jamar will get his 32mpg.

Anyone know what Lance James status is, will he play this year or next?

Clark Francis and Hoopscoop has printed their final edition of the Top 1000 for 2006.

Take all these rankings with a grain of salt but.....

It seems our coaching staff is getting it done!

169 - Tim Ambrose

254 - Brett Gifford

376 - Howard Little

455 - Reid Anderson

Yocum is a fifth year player ranks 83rd on a list of the Top 150 5th year players

Ross and Knight are JCs

Lance James - is not listed but is listed but is rated 2 stars on Scout

olddod71 were you in attendance?

If so are Gifford's and Yocum's as advertised "size wise" ?

Zo can only enhance his value overseas by having this NBA tryout with Golden State.

What I found surprising and somewhat disturbing in the article on "Scoop" Jordan was that he was so far from getting his degree at Siena.

If you go up top to Winter Sports Links and click on College Insider when the home page comes up scroll down and on the left hand side you will see the Albany "A logo" and a statement about UA wanting to repeat. If you click om more info it takes to to Coach Brown's new website.

I would think that that will give the school more national exposure as inquisitive Hoop Fans will enter and learn a little more about the Albany Program.

Not a big deal but my simple mind found it interesting and thought it was just another sign of how things have changed since we've entered the DI Arena.

NYR - I guess you feel we will be picked to win the AE again?

Remember UVM has their entire starting team back, UNH should be stronger, Maine will have Kevin Reed back, Boston U has reloaded, Binghamton will be tough again and Stony Brook has like 100 new players. I'm not sure how strong UMBC will be this coming year.

The AE could be very interesting

College Hoopnet publishes a list of the Top 144 Teams one a day for 144 days.

Last season UA appeared on it at 141 this season they are at 133 already and no mention of UA.

Will Albany be listed this year?

If you think so - where will they be listed?

twballgame9 - glad to see your support and interest in UA Hoop but please let the individuals react to Siena the way we want.

This board is not run with the dictatorial conformist methods of a Siena Tony type board.

For some it may be boring and for some it may be fun, each to their own!!!

olddog71

GREAT POST

and besides that some of us have fun just harrassing our neighbors........

The self proclaimed "Crown Jewel of the MAAC", their arrogance is beyond description!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

twballgame9 - ignore what you don't like and enjoy this site as it is informative about an entire athletic program - Thanks mainly to the efforts of Dane Pound !!!