-The Heights have been quiet this summer, and considering the news out of
Cincinnati, Villanova, and La Salle, that isn’t a bad thing. One player did
commit to Boston College at the end of June. Evan Neisler, a 6’7 forward
from Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, committed to the
Eagles. Neisler is from Connecticut originally and just moved south for his last
two years of prep ball. That now gives BC an abundance of players on the roster
who are between 6’4 and 6’7, but Neisler might still be growing.
-Villanova found itself on two years probation from the NCAA recently,
for various minor violations of recruiting and benefit rules. The Wildcats will
not be banned from the NCAA Tournament or lose any scholarships, so the
probation essentially amounts to a slap on the wrist and five minutes
of sitting in the corner thinking about what they’ve done. The worst of the
violations appeared to be allowing some players use telephone access codes to
make long distance calls that ended up with the school suspending 12 players for
varying lengths of time.
-The most recognizable St. John’s player from the scandal that blew apart
the team this winter, Elijah Ingram, has found a new home after being dismissed
by St. John’s. Ingram will transfer to New Mexico State to play for Lou Henson.
-Georgetown’s problem with players leaving the program continued this
week, as sophomore reserve guard Matt Causey announced that he will transfer.
The announcement comes a year after guards Tony Bethel and Drew Hall left for
North Carolina State and College of Charleston, respectively. This leaves new
coach John Thompson III (yes, THAT Thompson, he’s the son of the legendary
coach) with a thin roster of only 10 scholarship players.
-Providence dodged a major bullet for next season when star forward Ryan Gomes pulled out of the NBA Draft and returned to school for his senior season.
The Friars had already lost Marcus Douthit to the draft and thought they had
lost Rob Sanders as a transfer. Well, a recent story in the Providence Journal
says Sanders has been taking classes and playing pickup basketball on campus.
Perhaps Sanders will return despite his harsh words for the program when he left
in March.
-Providence also recently extended the contract of head coach Tim Welsh
through the 2009 season after leading the team to a 20-9 record last year and a
101-82 record in his six years at the school.
-Seton Hall signed Stan Gaines, a transfer from the University of
Minnesota. Gaines played in 30 games and started 17 for the Gophers as a
sophomore, scoring 5.5 points and grabbing 3.2 rebounds per game. Gaines will
have two years of eligibility after sitting out the 2004-2005 season.
-The 2004 NBA Draft saw three Big East players taken, with Connecticut’s
Emeka Okafor going second overall to the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, Ben Gordon
third overall to the Chicago Bulls, and Providence’s Marcus Douthit as the
27th pick in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers.
-We’ll have season previews of all the Boston College opponents later in
the year, but consider this lineup for Connecticut:
PG: A.J. Price
SG: Rashad Anderson
SF: Denham Brown
PF: Charlie Villanueva
C: Josh Boone
With transfer Ed Nelson, super-freshman Rudy Gay, and Hilton Armstrong
coming off the bench. Wow…
Brian Smith is the basketball beat writer for EagleInsider.com. He
can be reached at EagleScribe3@yahoo.com.