George Mason gives recently fired Paul Hewitt a fresh start

Seldom has being fired turned out more favorably than for Paul Hewitt. Had Georgia Tech shown enough patience with Hewitt to give him one more season, he’d still be coaching a rebuilding Yellowjackets team with minimal hope of making the NCAA tournament. Instead he now has a lavish buyout, a fresh start and a new team likely to be among next year’s preseason top 25. Hewitt landed the most attractive remaining Division I head coaching vacancy on Saturday when George Mason hired him to replace new Miami coach Jim Larranaga. In addition to his salary of nearly $1 million per year at George Mason, Hewitt will still receive every penny of his $7.2 million buyout from Georgia Tech. What makes the George Mason job so appealing is that there’s potential for instant success. The Patriots, of course, made a historic Final Four run in 2006, returned to the NCAA tournament in 2008 and bring back the core of a conference championship team that beat Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tournament last month. Whether Hewitt is the right choice to take the torch from Larranaga is a subject worthy of more debate. Hewitt led Siena to back-to-back conference titles in 1999 and 2000 and took Georgia Tech to its lone national title game in 2004, but he’d struggled to turn stellar recruiting classes into successful seasons since then.  Not only had Georgia Tech missed the NCAA tournament in four of the past six seasons prior to Hewitt’s firing last month, attendance had also dwindled and the atmosphere surrounding the program had become somewhat caustic. In Feb. 2010, Hewitt sent out a bizarre series of tweets challenging the fan base to remain loyal even as the underachieving Yellowjackets struggled to reach the NCAA tournament. “Are you a critic or a supporter of this team?” he wrote. “Supporters will continue to watch this team fight.” The reception will surely be more favorable for Hewitt at George Mason At Georgia Tech, Hewitt’s teams finished above .500 in ACC play just once in 11 years. He’s well set up to do far better than that immediately at George Mason and he’ll need to in order to prove he’s the right choice.

Ex-GT coach Hewitt takes job at George Mason

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — After losing a Final Four coach to the Atlantic Coast Conference, George Mason got one in return.

Hewitt to George Mason (UPDATED)

Paul Hewitt is the new coach at George Mason, according to CBSSports.com, which first reported the story. Georgia Tech fired Hewitt after 11 seasons , including five NCAA Tournament trips and an appearance in the 2004 national championship game. He was 190-162 during his tenure with the Jackets. George Mason features several local products on its roster, including sophomore guard  Sherrod Wright of Mount Vernon, redshirt-freshman forward  Paris Bennett of Linden, N.J., and junior forward  Ryan Pearson of Christ the King. Vaughn Gray , a senior guard at St. Benedict’s Prep remains committed to George Mason. “Vaughn is very excited with the choice,” his mother, June, said by text. “Although he hasn’t spoken to Coach Hewitt yet, he’s made a decision to keep his commitment to George Mason.” Point guard  Corey Edwards of Christ the King said he was waiting to hear from Hewitt. “I really haven’t heard anything about it,” Edwards said Saturday by phone. “I spoke to the AD a couple days ago and he said he they were thinking about picking a coach that we all could relate to. If it’s Paul Hewitt, then it’s Paul Hewitt. “It’s too early to tell what I will do. He’s a good coach. He’s from New York, obviously.” RELATED CONTENT ** Gray, Edwards commit to George Mason Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter And like ZAGS on Facebook

Paul Hewitt replaces Larranaga at George Mason

Paul Hewitt has reached an agreement in principle to become George Mason’s next head coach,

Weekly recruiting roundup

The Maryland men’s basketball program’s search for a 2011 big man has turned to the junior college ranks. InsideMDSports.com reported Thursday that the Terps are “moving” on Robert Goff , a 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College . Goff, who will have two years of eligibility, signed with Oklahoma last fall. But the three-star prospect came back on the market this week . Goff signed with OU in November prior to his sophomore season at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. When Goff signed, it was to play for former Sooner coach Jeff Capel. When he was fired last month, it led to a change of heart. He asked OU to release him from the letter of intent. • Former Bladensburg star and Kansas State transfer Wally Judge will visit Maryland this weekend and Washington the next, according to Adam Zagoria . Still, sources said Rutgers remains the team to beat after the 6-foot-9 Judge visited the campus two weeks ago and was hosted by Dane Miller and Austin Carroll. • Two scouting services released their final class of 2011 rankings this week. In Scout.com’s Top 100 , Terps shooting guard signee Nick Faust checked in at No. 49. Faust was ranked 48th in Rivals.com’s Top 150 , while Martin Breunig made a surprise appearance at No. 137. • Joe Davis of ScoutsFocus.com tweeted an update Thursday on the recruitment of potential Terps forward target Jared Guest . Top 4 right now is VCU, UGA, Clemson, TN. Florida called yesterday. • NBE Basketball caught up this week with Brewster (N.H.) Academy center Mitch McGary . He’s already taken trips to Illinois, Marquette, Purdue and Indiana and is attempting to plan visits to Cincinnati, Maryland, Florida, Indiana and Texas. Football recruiting • Maryland cornerback signee Michael Williams ran the fastest 400-meter hurdles time for high school runners in the country last weekend at the McNamara Mustangs Invitational . Williams, a key member of DeMatha’s 4×400 relay team that finished the indoor season with the fastest time in the country, showed tremendous strength in the 400 hurdles. He led from the start and ran away from Oxon Hill’s Kyle Smith to win in 54.28 seconds. That time eclipsed the 54.43 run by Antonio Blanks of Dunbar (Ohio). • The Sporting News named Good Counsel's Stefon Diggs one of the top cornerback prospects in the 2012 class . He’s a Maryland product, and nearby schools like Maryland, Virginia Tech, Rutgers and Pitt should be considered potential threats to land him. The rest of the nation’s powers won’t quit trying to get him.

2011 CAA Football Roundup – 4.27

As the NFL Draft draws near for some former CAA Football standouts we want to make sure you are following our coverage of the draft here at the blog as well as at CAASports.com .  When we have information we'll let you know the details! A host of CAA Football schools continue to make the National Marrow Donor Program and their registration drives a success.  Maine plans to hold its registration drive Thursday from 3-7 p.m.  Rhode Island will be on the Rhody student quad Thursday morning asking for registrants.  Old Dominion held its registration drive earlier this week and recapped the event with an article on ODUSports.com and the video below. Delaware's Pat Devlin and Mark Mackey were honored for their work in the classroom last fall.  Both were recognized as FCS Athletics Director’s Association Academic All-Stars .  Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher visited the Delaware campus last week for a speaking engagement, but before his speech he talked with Devlin and offered some advice… WDEL Radio has the story here . We are sure most of you saw the spring scrimmage recap from James Madison last weekend, in addition to a photo gallery on our Facebook page .  The Dukes also posted a new photo gallery of the construction progress at Bridgeforth Stadium…look at it below!  A few new photo galleries of the progress have been posted since our last blog update so go here to find what you might have missed .  Placekicker Dixon Wright was honored this week as the JMU Athletics Scholar Male Athlete of the Year …congrats go out to Dixon. Maine will play its Spring Game this Saturday morning at Alfond Stadium.  The Black Bears also continue to post post-practice interviews and spring season video blogs from head coach Jack Cosgrove and selected players.  Watch those videos by clicking on the following link to be taken to goblackbears.com . UMass will play its Spring Game this weekend and has all sorts of activities scheduled around the game.  Click here for more details on UMassathletics.com .  The Minutemen also continue to post video recaps from spring practices.  We found this one from April 22. New Hampshire is progressing through its spring season and recently posted the video below highlights who the Wildcats have returning.  Take a look. Old Dominion played its spring game last week and we recapped it here on the blog , on CAASports.com and on our Facebook page with both the recap and some photos .  The Monarchs also managed to gather a few more interviews and highlights from the spring game we didn't catch last weekend and that video is posted below.  Prior to Saturday's game, ODU announced the return of the Oyster Bowl will be this season with the Monarch’s host James Madison in a CAA Football conference clash. Rhode Island will host its Spring Game this weekend and we will post a recap here, on CAASports.com and on our Facebook page .  The Rams have and will continue to be busy with off the field activities…on April 10 members of the team took part in a Walk For Autism in Warwick, R.I.   The squad also has plans to host its annual spring fundraiser Thursday, April 28, at Brick Alley Pub in Newport.  Late last week GoRhody.com sat down with Rams' defensive line coach Brian Vaganek for a “Coach Speak” Q&A session… take a look at what he had to say . Richmond just posted a video compilation of the Spiders' 3-on-3 Hoops tourney and slam dunk contest.  Watch it below…chances are probably pretty good you see head coach Latrell Scott in the video too. Towson is also closing in on its Spring Game this Saturday …and also has loads of activities around what it is dubbing Tiger Bowl .  Included in the festivities will be a youth clinic, an alumni game and more.  In addition to the videos about Tiger Bowl below we dropped an interview with new assistant coach Reno Ferri from towsontigers.com . Last Wednesday the Tigers took part in “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes” to raise awareness for sexualized violence towards women.  We posted a photo gallery and video of the event below. Towson also posted a couple practice recap videos from last week below including one from April 21 and April 23 . William and Mary closed out its spring season with a Spring Game back on April 16.  The Tribe posted a highlight video from the game and we dropped it below.

CAA Basketball schedule rotation announced

Over the past 6 years, the 12 CAA basketball teams have been working on a set rotation of opponents. That rotation that involved 7 home-and-home series each year (5 of which were with permanent partners), plus two additional road-only and two home-only opponents. For 2010-2011, everybody knew what teams they’d be playing at home and on the road six years ago. For 2011-12 and the two seasons after that, there is a new rotation that was announced on Tuesday. Here are some quick thoughts on both the Northeastern schedule and the rotations for other CAA teams. We know that the Huskies will be playing both a home game and a road game against each of Delaware, Drexel, Georgia State, Hofstra, and Towson for the next three seasons. In the coming year, Northeastern will also have home-and-home series with Old Dominion and William & Mary. NU will host George Mason and UNC-Wilmington, and will travel to James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth. For 2012-13, the two additional home/away partners are GMU and VCU, with home games against ODU and JMU plus road games at UNCW and W&M. The following year, the Huskies get home-and-home series with JMU and UNCW, home games only against VCU and W&M, and away games only at GMU and ODU. STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Looking at the level of talent that’s expected to be on each of those teams, Northeastern has a favorable schedule. It’s no secret that the powerhouses of the CAA are George Mason, VCU, and Old Dominion – each one of those schools made it to the NCAA tournament in 2011, with VCU making an improbable run to the Final Four after squeaking into the field in one of the new “First Four” games added for this year. Each of those three teams has been highly competitive for the last several years, and likely will be for many more to come – so it’s nice that NU only has to play each of them twice in one of the three seasons on the new rotation (ODU in 2011-12, GMU and VCU both in 2012-13). Georgia State and Towson have long been bottom-feeders in the league, though both have new coaches (Ron Hunter and former Northeastern assistant Pat Skerry, respectively) this year. I’m not going to make any predictions on the Huskies’ end of season record right now, but it certainly should be better than the 6-12 mark the team played to this past season. ROAD GAMES: Travel-wise, Northeastern couldn’t have asked for better permanent partners. That was no doubt a consideration for each team, as the cost of travel for 12+ players per team plus coaches and team staff can get high. The team can take a bus to each of Delaware (just south of Philadelphia), Drexel (in Philly), and Hofstra (on Long Island); Towson is just outside of Baltimore making that a quick and easy trip through the air, and Georgia State is in downtown Atlanta – again, not hard to find flights to. James Madison and UNC-Wilmington are the most difficult to get to, so it’s nice that Northeastern will only have to play at each of those locations (Harrisonburg, VA and Wilmington, NC) twice each over the next 3 years. For those that don’t know the geography of the CAA, George Mason is in Fairfax, VA, just a short drive from Washington’s Dulles International Airport. Virginia Commonwealth is in downtown Richmond, VA, Old Dominion is in Norfolk, VA, and William & Mary is just north of Norfolk in Williamsburg (there is an airline adding direct flights from Boston to Norfolk in May, making trips to both ODU and W&M much easier). PROMOTION: In terms of promotion of games and drawing fans in, it’s too bad Northeastern doesn’t get to host VCU in 2011-12. Of the three CAA teams that danced this past March, the Huskies only get to host the one that didn’t win a game. They lost to two-time national runner-up Butler, but that doesn’t have nearly the promotional value of a team that made the Final Four coming to Matthews Arena, or even a team that beat Villanova in the first round (and, of course, made it to the Final Four back in 2006). Delaware, Drexel, Georgia State, Towson, and William & Mary have very little name recognition on Northeastern’s campus, and Hofstra is mainly recognized because of the population of New York students. Old Dominion beat Notre Dame in the 2010 NCAA tournament, but they still don’t have much name value. OUT OF CONFERENCE: For now, we don’t have much information on the out of conference schedule. Head Coach Bill Coen and Boston University Coach Pat Chambers reportedly came to an agreement last year that says the two teams open the season against each other for the next few years, alternating between home arenas. Expect a game on Commonwealth Ave on November 11th or 12th, and be prepared to see the Terriers raise their America East banner before the game. We’ve been told that Southern Illinois will be coming to Boston for homecoming, likely on November 19 in a basketball/hockey doubleheader similar to what we had this past year. The only other game we’re aware of is a road game at Louisiana Tech, probably the week before Christmas which would prevent the Huskies from playing another 3-game tournament in an exotic location like Hawai’i or Cancun. They’ll also host a Bracketbusters game sometime around February 17-19. All of those games could change, and there will probably be about 6 more games added to that list – possibly including an in-season tournament (or two, if the LaTech game gets moved to a different time on the schedule). THE REST OF THE CAA: There’s not a whole that that jumps out about the rest of the rotation. One good thing, though, is that Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth, and George Mason will all play each other twice per year for the next three years. Those will be some very exciting matchups, and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see some of those games on national networks. For the most part, travel makes sense. As I mentioned before, it had to have been a consideration. UNC-Wilmington will have a tough test each year, as that’s another team that’s been lower down in the standings for a few years and they drew each of George Mason, Old Dominion, and Virginia Commonwealth as permanent partners (to go with Georgia State and Hofstra).

Turning around Towson a tall task

Turning around Towson tall task for Pat Skerry – Washington Times TOWSON, Md. | The

UMass upgrades football to FBS

UMass to upgrade football, play at Gillette – BostonHerald.com The University of Massachusetts will make

Okereafor inks NLI to join Rams next season

RICHMOND, Va. – Just weeks after Head Coach Shaka Smart guided VCU basketball into NCAA history, he and his staff have brightened the future of the program with the signing of Teddy Okereafor, a 6-4, 185-pound point guard out of Christchurch (Va.) School. “The addition of Teddy is huge news to our program and vital to our future,” Smart said. “His biggest asset is making his teammates better, which is a trait that all winning players share.” Originally from London, England, Okereafor came to the Commonwealth last fall to finish his high school career at Christchurch School under the guidance of Head Coach Ben Thompson. Since his arrival, he has become one of the top players in the state and helped his squad to one of its best seasons ever, reaching the state semifinals in March. His ability to make an impact on the Rams immediately makes the point guard spot an extremely competitive position for the Black & Gold after the graduation of All-CAA performer, Joey Rodriguez. “Teddy brings a tremendous basketball IQ to the game and plays with a terrific understanding of pace,” Smart said. Okereafor was named Virginia Prep League Player of the Year and First-Team All-State after pouring in 13.1 points per game and dishing out 7.2 assists per game for the Seahorses. He led his school to a 23-6 overall mark and perfect 14-0 in the Virginia Prep League. Prior to coming to Virginia, he was a member of the U-18 England National Team. He is described as an outstanding ball handler, who changes speeds well and excels using ball screens, a trademark of the Rams offensive attack. His ability to run and pass in transition makes him an ideal fit for Smart’s “HAVOC” style of play. Okereafor’s skills are not limited to the hardwood as he is a terrific student with a 3.5 grade point average. He will plan on majoring in business this fall. In only one season in the country, Okereafor became a hot recruiting target, drawing interest from Clemson and Virginia out of the ACC, as well as Georgetown out of the Big East.

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