Blue Hen’s Hagins, Hawks Rendleman named Co-Players of the Week

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jamelle Hagins • Delaware Jr., F, 6-9, 240 – Roanoke, Va./William

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Four set for UNCW Athletic Hall of FameWWAY NewsChannel 3Last March, she was honored by

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The “Buzz” on UNCW MBB

One-on-one with UNCW Coach Buzz Peterson to discuss the 2011-12 season UNCW Coach Buzz Peterson

Hawks open with Maryland, play four in Trask

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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).

CAA Finds Victory on All Fronts…

There’s no question this is the best year in CAA basketball history. When you factor in the relevance of three teams dancing, the wins in November and December for ALL 12 TEAMS, and honestly the money, there’s no getting around this (very good) fact. Mason and VCU gave the conference its first-ever dual winners in the NCAA tournament. It’s all sparked the inevitable money discussion. Brian Mull did an outstanding job providing the high level behind this record haul for the conference. In the spirit of great minds think alike, I’ve been crafting the following report since #3Bids4CAA became reality. You’re going to need to be patient, because it isn’t easy. (And, I need a graphics guy to make pretty pictures out of Excel. Apologies in advance for what you are about to go through.) Everything is public information, but somebody had to do the math, right? Ready? NCAA Distribution: The NCAA distributes the revenue from the tournament back to its member conferences in the form of “units.” A team gets one unit for making the tournament, and one unit for every game they win up to the finals. Math is simple: total revenue divided by total units is the distribution per unit. Multiple by the number of units and presto–you reach payday. This revenue is doled out on a per year basis for six years before a unit “expires.” Item one is playing best-case-scenario with actual numbers. The 2005 money was published at $220,000 per unit. This year’s money, according to my sources, will be roughly $242,000. For the years in between, we’ve used a graduated approach to get us from one number to the next. That seems logical, and will protect the model and a fairly-close number for Your Team. Colonial Redistribution: Each school gets an equal share of the revenue produced from the conference’s automatic qualifier unit. For any units earned above that (winning a game or multiple teams), 60% of that money is also distributed equally among all 12 schools. The other 40% goes into the Excellence Pool. It’s essentially a bonus pool in which teams earn shares for playing well. Shares are earned thus: Two shares for making the NCAA tournament. Two shares for each NCAA tourney win produces two more shares. One share for the conference regular season champion. (In the case of a tie, the teams split the share.) One share for an NIT bid. One share if you finish the season with an RPI of better than 100; OR if you have a nonconference record of .500 or better. *** Now you have the easy part. Let’s get down to business. The first chart is the summary of the revenue provided the conference by the NCAA for the years 2005 through this year. (So far. If you haven’t heard, VCU is playing in the Sweet 16.) The AQ unit is separated, since that’s equally distributed. Therefore, the chart depicts only those units earned in excess of the AQ unit. With one team and zero victories in 2005, 2008, 2009 there is no money for the excellence pool: YEAR 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 AQ PAY 220,000 224,000 228,000 232,000 236,000 240,000 242,000 NON AQ PAY 0 1,120,000 456,000 0 0 240,000 1,452,000 60 pct 0 672000 273600 0 0 144000 871200 40 pct 0 448000 182400 0 0 96000 580800 So put the AQ money and the 60% in your back pocket for a moment, and think about only the Excellence Pool. This second chart is a sum of the shares each school earned during these six years. See above for detail on how you earn shares: SHARES 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Mason 1 9.5 1 3 2 0 4 VCU 2 1 6 3 4 1 9 ODU 4 2 3 0 1 6 3 UNCW 1 3.5 0 1 0 0 0 JMU 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 NU 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 Drexel 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 Hofstra 2 2 2 0 1 1 1 Delaware 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Towson 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Ga State 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 W&M 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 TOTAL POOL 0 448000 182400 0 0 96000 580800 TOTAL SHARES 11 22 16 9 11 14 19 PER SHARE 0 20364 11400 0 0 6857 30568 This third chart is easy. Take Your Team’s shares, multiple by the Per Share number above, and you get to the amount each year Your Team earned from the Excellence Pool. (Or use an excel formula like I did.): TOTAL REVENUE 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Mason 0 193455 11400 0 0 0 122274 VCU 0 20364 68400 0 0 6857 275116 ODU 0 40727 34200 0 0 41143 91705 UNCW 0 71273 0 0 0 0 0 JMU 0 0 0 0 0 6857 30568 NU 0 20364 0 0 0 13714 0 Drexel 0 20364 22800 0 0 0 30568 Hofstra 0 40727 22800 0 0 6857 30568 Delaware 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Towson 0 0 11400 0 0 0 0 Ga State 0 20364 0 0 0 6857 0 W&M 0 20364 11400 0 0 13714 0 This fourth chart is also pretty easy. It adds the AQ unit money to the 60% of additional unit money to get what every school receives on an equal distribution basis: EQUAL SPLIT DISTRO 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 AQ 18,333 18,667 19,000 19,333 19,667 20,000 20,167 60% Split 0 56000 22800 0 0 12000 72600 EQUAL DISTRO TOTAL 18,333 74,667 41,800 19,333 19,667 32,000 92,767 You should know what’s coming now. Take the third chart (Excellence Pool revenue) and add the fourth chart (Equal Distribution revenue) and you have your number. This is the total amount each school earned each year: TOTAL CASH 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Mason 18,333 268,121 53,200 19,333 19,667 32,000 215,040 VCU 18,333 95,030 110,200 19,333 19,667 38,857 367,882 ODU 18,333 115,394 76,000 19,333 19,667 73,143 184,472 UNCW 18,333 145,939 41,800 19,333 19,667 32,000 92,767 JMU 18,333 74,667 41,800 19,333 19,667 38,857 123,335 NU 18,333 95,030 41,800 19,333 19,667 45,714 92,767 Drexel 18,333 95,030 64,600 19,333 19,667 32,000 123,335 Hofstra 18,333 115,394 64,600 19,333 19,667 38,857 123,335 Delaware 18,333 74,667 41,800 19,333 19,667 32,000 92,767 Towson 18,333 74,667 53,200 19,333 19,667 32,000 92,767 Ga State 18,333 95,030 41,800 19,333 19,667 38,857 92,767 W&M 18,333 95,030 53,200 19,333 19,667 45,714 92,767 The last chart is the check each school receives (less annual conference dues). The CAA fiscal year is July-June, so checks are made each July for the previous year. Therefore, this July each school gets a check for the six year period from 2005-2010. Next July (7/2012), checks are made for 2006-2011: Disbursement FY2011 FY2012 Mason 410,655 607,362 VCU 301,421 650,970 ODU 321,870 488,009 UNCW 277,073 351,506 JMU 212,657 317,659 NU 239,878 314,311 Drexel 248,964 353,965 Hofstra 276,184 381,186 Delaware 205,800 280,233 Towson 217,200 291,633 Ga State 233,021 307,454 W&M 251,278 325,711

Hofstra Blog Swap! Loyalty of Towson fans never wanes

Greetings Defiantly Dutch Fans! My name is Gary Moore, and I am the author of the blog The College Hardwood . This is my sixth year covering the CAA Tournament for my blog. Jerry and I thought it would be a great time again to do our second annual blog swap. Our first blog swap was at the same time last year. I have to give Jerry credit for the idea for today’s story. As most of you know, Towson went through the entire CAA regular season winless. 0-18. No CAA team had ever gone through the regular season winless in conference till the Tigers accomplished it this season. Jerry thought it would be a great idea if someone could write a story about sitting in the Towson student section behind their basket during their first round CAA Tournament. Since Jerry wasn’t going to be down here at Richmond until Friday evening and I was going to be there for the afternoon session, I offered to write the story. The first concern I had when I got to the Richmond Coliseum around noon time was would I be able to sit in the Towson student section. As I sat in my seats in Section 31L for the UNCW-Georgia State game, I would find out very quickly the answer. Tieff and I became friendly with one of the fans sitting in the row in front of us, Tom, a very knowledgeable East Carolina fan who loves college basketball. It turns out that Tom knows Rob Goodman, who works for the CAA and who just happened to come by to say hi to Tom. I introduced myself to Rob and told him about my blog and that I wanted to write a story about sitting in the Towson student section and what it was like rooting for the Tigers today. He kindly told me that the CAA has a strict policy that only students of that school can sit in the designated student section. But Rob was kind enough to say that I could interview Towson students for the article. That certainly worked for me. Hopefully there would be Towson students to interview. After Georgia State had defeated UNCW, the Seahawks band, dance team and student section cleared out and the Towson band, dance team and cheerleaders made their way in. Sure enough, three Towson students were sitting together in the front row, the only three non band, dance team and cheerleader students sitting there (a fourth would show up much later). I went down and talk to the security attendant at the end of the aisle to let him know I wanted to interview the students. Before I could finish, one of the students in a black Towson shirt came up near me. I got his attention and asked if he and his friends would be interested in being interviewed. The student, Randy replied that he had to go somewhere first, but he told me that he would be glad to talk to me. Sure enough, he came back to his seat and motioned me to come over. Randy introduced me to his friends Drew and Eric. Randy, Drew and Eric are all seniors at Towson and have gone to the NCAA Tournament every year that they have been at Towson. Drew stated to me that there wasn’t enough student interest for the school to pay for a bus to bring students down to Richmond. So Randy, Drew and Eric all drove down together. As Drew said to me, “This is my school, so I have to show my support.” I asked them about how the season has been for them. They commented that they had played a lot of close games and that beating LaSalle (an A-10 team) was the highlight of the season. And they are correct, coming into the game, twelve of the Tigers twenty five losses were by six points or less, including nine games in conference. I asked them who their favorite player was on the team. Both Drew and Randy said Isaiah Philmore, who has led the Tigers in scoring. Eric said Brian Morris due to his commitment on defense. I then asked them if Towson won against Drexel, would they rush the court. They all laughed and one of them commented they hadn’t thought about it. I believe it was Drew who said he would like to be back for tomorrow’s game, so he didn’t want to get thrown out. But if I could assure them they had the CAA’s permission, they would do it (later I asked Rob Goodman about it and it gave him a good chuckle). I thanked them for their time, told them I had my Tiger towel that I purchased at the souvenir stand and that I was rooting for their team. Then I took a picture of three and went back to my seats. After that interview, I really wanted Towson to win. Towson definitely did have a chance against Drexel. Despite losing both games to the Dragons, the Tigers could have won both games. Towson lost at Drexel by six points, and then lost at home to the Dragons by three points. And knowing they could beat the Dragons, with the support of the Towson band, cheerleaders, dance team and Drew, Randy and Eric, the Tigers came out inspired. Nine minutes into the game, Towson was up 11-7 on Drexel, much to the approval of their support behind their basket. But the fifth seeded Dragons, a team that had upset Louisville on the Cardinals home court earlier in the season, would rally in typical Drexel style, scoring inside and Chris Fouch outside shooting. Dartaye Ruffin, Samme Givens and Fouch combined to score 11 points during the Dragons’ 13-1 run. Drexel was up 20-12 with 6:41 left and seemed to be ready to blow the Tigers out of the Richmond Coliseum. But Towson responded with a run of its own. In a little more than four minutes, the Tigers outscored the Dragons 14-3. Rashawn Polk’s two foul shots gave Towson a 26-23 lead with 2:27 left in the first half. Drexel would end up tying the score and the game would go to the half at 28 all. While Josh Brown and Rashawn Polk did most of the scoring in the first half, the Tigers needed to get Philmore, their season leading scorer, going as he only had four points in the first twenty minutes. And sure enough, Towson got the ball to Philmore who scored five of the Tigers’ first seven points. The problem was during this time, the Dragons were putting a serious run on the Tigers thanks to the inside presence of Givens. Drexel outscored Towson 22-9 over the first eight minutes of the second half as Givens scored eight of those points. The Tigers had no answer for Givens post moves as the Tigers’ Braxton Dupree picked up his third and fourth fouls not even three minutes into the second half. Drexel was up 50-37 with twelve minutes left in the game. The lead remained between twelve and thirteen points for the next six minutes. The score was 60-48 with a little over six minutes left in the game. At that point, the fans in my section and myself thought the game was over, figuring Drexel’s defense would be too much for Towson to overcome. But Randy, Drew and Eric, along with the dance team and the Tiger Mascot continued to cheer their team on. And perhaps due to that support and the Tiger Pep Band’s great version of Frankenstein, the Tigers seemingly rose from the grave. Over the next three minutes, led by Brown and Polk, the Tigers outscored the Dragons 14-4. Polk’s three pointer capped the run and Drexel’s lead was only two, 64-62 with 3:15 left, much to the chagrin of the always animated Bruiser Flint. The band, the dance team and the three friends cheered loudly and they had the support of the rest of the Richmond Coliseum sans the Drexel fans. As they implored “DE-FENSE”, the Tigers’ played tough defense at Drexel’s end. But as the shot clock neared zero, Gerald Colds launched a long three point attempt and it hit nothing but net. The Dragons had the momentum back and led by seven, 72-65 with one minute left. But again Towson’s support didn’t give up on the Tigers and with some help from the Dragons’ Dartaye Ruffin missing four free throws (and missing would be a kind word for his free throw attempts), the Tigers crept back into the game. With the score 72-69, Josh Brown had a chance to cut to the lead to one with a layup attempt. But despite it looking like he was fouled, Brown missed. Drexel would hold on and win 75-69. The Tigers played so hard as a team and gave it everything they had, but again they couldn’t get over the hump and get a win. There would be no miracle upset, no rushing the court. But the Tigers showed heart and gave their supporters every reason to believe they would win. As the Tigers left the court, there was Randy, Drew and Eric by the gate, high fiving the Tigers’ players, thanking them for their inspired play against a now 21 win team. The three friends who share a love of Towson college basketball never wavered for their support of their team. As Kyle Whelliston would say, Towson’s season ended with loss. But their season never ended without support. Especially from three soon to be graduating students named Randy, Eric and Drew.

Just The Facts 2011: Trying to beat a team three times in a season

The final scene here from His Story III is the best Janitor moment ever. Happy Saturday from the palatial Hilton Garden Inn in Richmond (Loyal Reader NUHF hooked us up with this room, it is awesome beyond words and so is he) and welcome to an unprecedented fourth installment of Just The Facts, in which I actually use a clip from a third installment in a series for reasons that will be obvious in the very next graph! The Flying Dutchmen will face William & Mary—i.e. the College of Bill Lawrence—for the third time this season when the two schools face off in the final quarterfinal tonight at 8:30. William & Mary, the 11th seed in the CAA Tournament, advanced to the quarters by upsetting sixth-seeded James Madison 72-68 last night. The Dutchmen’s third meeting against William & Mary is a, pardon the horrendous pun but I’m fried after driving seven hours, slam dunk for the Just The Facts treatment. The Dutchmen beat the Fighting Bill Lawrences twice during the regular season—the second win, of course, was highlighted by Charles Jenkins’ multiple YouTube moments—and the common belief is that it is particularly tough to defeat a team three times in one season. Good news for the Dutchmen, though: School and CAA history is on their side. Hofstra has swept an opponent in the regular season and then played it in the conference tournament eight times. The Flying Dutchmen are 6-2 (.750) in those tournament games (whoohoo!), but 6-0 since 1991. (Oh no! They’re due!) P.S. The previous paragraph was almost entirely and shamelessly cut-and-pasted from what I wrote in 2009, when I conducted most of this research for a piece that appeared two years ago yesterday as the Dutchmen prepared to open play in the CAA Tournament against UNC Wilmington, whom the Dutchmen knocked off twice in the regular season. If only I was this organized in every other facet of my life. That said, the Dutchmen have never faced for a third time a team they beat as narrowly as this year’s edition beat William & Mary. The Dutchmen won each game by three points. More good news, hooray! The other three times the Dutchmen have faced a team they beat twice by a combined margin of less than 20 points, they have won the tournament game by double digits. Here’s a list of how the Flying Dutchmen have fared when facing in a conference tournament an opponent they have beaten twice during the regular season, followed by their combined margin of victory in the regular season and their margin of victory (or defeat) in the tournament tilt: 2005: Beat UNC Wilmington, CAA 2001: Beat Vermont, America East 2001: Beat Maine, America East 2000: Beat Boston U., America East 2000: Beat Drexel, America East 1992: Beat UMBC, East Coast Conference 1991: Lost to UMBC, East Coast Conference 1984: Lost to Lafayette, East Coast Conference Margins of regular season victory 2008-09 UNCW: 9 pts (1 OT), win tourney game by 13 2000-01 Vermont: 18, win tourney game by 13 2000-01 Maine: 11 (1 OT), win tourney game by 12 1999-2000 Boston U.: 43, win tourney game by 18 1999-2000 Drexel: 32, win tourney game by 18 1991-92 UMBC: 27, win tourney game by 3 1990-91 UMBC: 25, lose tourney game by 1 1983-84 Lafayette: 11, lose tourney game by 20 In the CAA, meanwhile, a team that has won two regular season meetings has also experienced great success when meeting that foe for a third time in the conference tournament. Since the CAA first expanded prior to the 2001-02 season, teams that sweep an opponent during the regular season are a robust 28-11 (.718) against said opponent in the tournament (see the full list below), including 8-2 in the last three seasons (counting yesterday’s wins by Delaware over Northeastern and Drexel over Towson). In addition, at least one team has beaten an opponent three times every since since 2001-02 except 2007-08. 2011: Drexel beats Towson, Delaware beats Northeastern 2010: Drexel loses to JMU, ODU beats W&M, ODU beats Towson 2009: Hofstra beats UNCW, VCU beats Georgia State, JMU beats W&M, Drexel loses to Towson, Mason beats Towson 2008: VCU loses to W&M, UNCW loses to Mason 2007: VCU beats Georgia State, VCU beats Mason, Mason beats JMU, ODU loses to Mason, Drexel beats Northeastern, Northeastern beats Delaware, W&M loses to Georgia State 2006: VCU beats W&M, Northeastern beats JMU, Towson loses to Georgia State, UNCW beats Delaware 2005: VCU beats Delaware, ODU beats W&M, Drexel loses to Hofstra 2004: VCU beats Towson, VCU beats ODU, Mason beats UNCW, UNCW beats JMU 2003: Mason loses to Delaware, UNCW beats Hofstra, UNCW beats Drexel, UNCW beats Delaware, JMU beats Towson 2002: VCU beats ODU, Mason loses to Hofstra, W&M loses to JMU, UNCW beats JMU Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch .

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