Before we get into details & rumors of Capital Region’s coming Section 2 Hoop Season, I thought it notable that so many upstate NYS hoop stars of recent years have showed up in memorable, ESPN-worthy games early in the 2007-08 season. Others have had debuts in their D-1 College careers, and their early feats are noted on their respective school’s websites. One homegrown hooper has achieved All-American status on the strength of a 4-year resume of excellent performances… and one amazingly close pre-season game.
Meanwhile, on the present day high school horizon, at least two primetime D-1 candidates are getting attention from major college coaches, including winners of 3 of the last 5 NCAA Championships, who have appeared in local high school gyms to scout the cream of the crop of 2009 and 2010 in advance of their soph and junior seasons.
But the big local news of the early November season was not only huge for the area but garnered national attention: Siena’s defeat of 25th-ranked Stanford University last Saturday, the 17th, at the Times Union Center in downtown Albany. That win put a buzz into Capital District fans, let me tell you. Not only does it lend credence to upstate
NY college ball, especially in addition to UAlbany’s recent ascension to and excellent showings in the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, but Siena was led in scoring that day by a kid who just three seasons ago was playing his high school ball in the Capital District…
Josh Duell Comes Home in a Big Way
Josh Duell got his college career on-track again in a big way on
November 17th as he led the way in Siena’s upset of Stanford with 17 points,
including a couple of huge threes down the stretch. He held 7’ NBA prospect Robin Lopez (who some are calling a lottery pick, though I don’t see it) in check, though giving up 4” in height. It’s not the first time he had performed such a feat, however—I was reminded of seeing his CBA team beat Henninger of Syracuse (I believe it was at UAlbany in spring of ’04) in the State AA Regionals of that season, when Henninger featured agile 6’11” center Andre Blaatch, the year before he went to South Kent Prep, and subsequently was drafted in the first round by the Washington Wizards, where he is currently having a stellar year. At CBA, Duell was sometimes outshone by some of the talent around him—Brian Monahan, Joe Bova, Datwan Hemingway, Pete Raponi, and Dom Foglia were on that team—but Duell that day was the predominant reason why CBA beat Henninger, I thought, frustrating Blaatche, blocking his path to the rim and muscling him away from the hoop, and drawing him outside with an occasional long jumper-- the type he hit against Stanford. Duell then went on to play D-1 ball at Vermont the next season, and Bova was the only other player on that team to go that route. Duell’s frosh year at UVM was promising, but when Tom Brennan retired and the new regime came in, Duell chose to transfer back to the Cap District at Siena, where he had to sit out a year before resuming. He did so at the right time—and I wonder now if the UVM coach knows the talent he overlooked.
Joe Bova gets his Moments of Fame on ESPN2…
Speaking of former CBA stalwarts, 2005 Grad Joseph Bova, who played 4 years of varsity ball with the Brothers of CBA in Albany, was recently seen when his Columbia University team had a rare appearance on national TV, going up against Big 10 Power Ohio State, last year’s NCAA Runners-up. Bova came off the bench and quickly spotted up for a couple of deep threes, and finished the game with 11 points for Columbia, who lost the contest but battled gamely and hung close, keeping it under 10 for part of the 2nd half. Bova, who has suffered through some serious back injuries during his college years, looked strong that day, and got several name-drops from the announcers, who noted he was from Scotia, NY, but I don’t think mentioned CBA. Bova was always a classy kid who carried himself well during many exciting Big 10 & Sectional Battles—primarily against some exceptional Schenectady teams a few years back—and along with guys like Duell, Monahan, Luke Weaver, and Greg Holle, was one of the prime reasons CBA was such a dominant force in high school ball in the past half-decade.
City Rocks Galore in the Syracuse/Siena Game…
City Rocks founder, guru, and coach Jimmy Hart must have been grinning ear-to-ear on a recent Tuesday night when the Siena team traveled to the dome to battle Jim Boeheim’s Orangemen, which was televised on ESPNU. There were enough former City Rocks on the floor to form a helluva team between the two squads. For Syracuse, high-flyer Paul Harris (a former Federation Tournament MVP from Niagara High in western NY) was a dunk-specialist playing with Tiki Mayben’s City Rocks’ assemblage a couple of years back, when they were taking on some of the nation’s best AAU teams on the 17U level. Sensational frosh PG Jonny Flynn—while not to my knowledge a City Rock—also played at Niagara, 2 years behind Harris, and delivered stellar performances at the Glens Falls Civic Center in recent appearances at the State Tournaments and Federation himself—I remember him being the best player on the floor in a junior-season loss to Mount Vernon, I believe. And injured star-shooter Andy Rautins—son of form SU star Leo Rautins (now an announcer for the Toronto Raptors) from Jamesville-DeWitt High in central NY—was also part of the City Rocks for a year or two late in his high school career—and I believe his team won the “A” crown at the Glens Falls Civic Center in his junior year as well.
For Siena, I’ve already mentioned Edwin Ubiles, who has a few good scoring runs in that 97-89 loss to a nationally-ranked ‘Cuse team—and met his former City Rocks teammate Paul Harris about 12 feet above the floor in blocking a dunk attempt during the game late in the second half—which may have been a turning point in the battle. A foul was called on the play, Harris went to the line, Coach McCaffery for Siena argued vociferously that Ubiles had gotten “ALL BALL”—and the subsequent Technical foul shots added to the Orangemen’s lead when Siena had been within 3 points at that late stage. In any case it was a great game, and proved Siena could play with just about anyone in the country. Senior Tay Fisher (originally from Kingston) and soph Corey Magee (from the Rochester area) were the other City Rocks players for the Green team from Loudonville who got significant minutes that night as well. While we are at it, we should mention prominent names of players who are putting Siena on the national-level stage who are NOT specifically from the Cap District, but are part of it now: star junior Kenny Hasbrouck, soph PG Ronald Moore, and soph forward Alex Franklin are already making huge names for themselves and helping this 3000-student Loudonville school gain respect and prestige as they advance. And Chris de la Rosa, a classy guard from NYC, will also be contributing in months and years to come.
Steve D’Agostino Gets Some Props at St. Rose as well…
One letter writer to the Times Union (Albany) sports page made a good point recently—Siena was lauded for coming within 8 points of powerhouse Syracuse in a regular season tilt at their place, but somewhat overlooked was the performance of Brian Breury’s high-quality D-2 program at Saint Rose of Albany, who came within 9 points of a similar upset of Syracuse in a pre-season game that must have had Jim Boeheim sweating bullets. In a college season where Gardner-Webb has beaten Kentucky, Mercer has beaten USC (with O.J. Mayo), and a school called Findlay (anyone know where they are from?) has beaten Ohio State in pre-season—the St. Rose victory over the mighty Orange would potentially have been the biggest news of all.
I don’t know if it registered on the national stage but local newscasts showed glimpses of St. Rose moving the ball briskly around the perimeter, and Guilderland’s floppy-haired Steve D’Agostino stepping into a couple of dead-on three-balls from way behind the arc, against the ‘Cuse-team’s vaunted zone. Like the similarly unhearled Siena guards, D’Agostino gave high-profile SU guard Eric Devendorf fits in that game, and finished with a team-high 17.
D’Agostino was also rightfully honored as making the Division-2 Preseason First Team All-American squad in his senior season for Saint Rose—truly some high recognition for this local Suburban League graduate, whose Guilderland team fought the aforementioned 2004 CBA squad in the Sectional Finals, 3 ½ seasons ago, in a memorable game. D’Agostino was also a reserve on the City Rocks teams of those days, showing how deep and strong those squads are—as he also played internationally this past summer as the only D-2 members of an American college team touring Europe.
Talor Battle & Jimmer Fredette Debut on the NCAA Scene…
I haven’t had a chance to check the websites for their respective school teams, but I’m told by one of my contacts that each of last year’s star players from Section 2 had impressive first games for Penn State (Battle) and BYU
(Fredette). All I heard so far is that Talor contributed 14 points and 5 steals in his debut on the Big 10 team, and that Jimmer hit 3 of 6 for BYU in his first game. I don’t know if either one is starting, or coming off then bench, but I’d be glad to hear from anyone who’s following their collegiate exploits to update me with news. Considering the talents both showed in high school and on the national AAU scene (again, with City Rocks), I was surprised that neither one seemed to get much pre-season ink in the publications that track college hoop—but I have faith that each of them will break through and make a name for himself, this season, and in years to come.
Two D-1 Prospects Locally Generate a Buzz…
Lastly for this month’s installment comes word (from several sources) that some big-name coaches have been in local high school gyms, scouting out two players who have been on the D-1 radar screens for a year or two now—not just because of their varsity exploits, but because of involvement with the highly-successful City Rocks program.
I knew that Coach Will Brown (U. Albany) was at a game last season watching then-sophomore Jordan Stevens of Saratoga Springs High—once you score your thousandth point in high school midway through your 10th grade season, you are no secret anymore. I also heard that Rutgers of the Big East was very interested, and that Stevens had been invited to visit Louisville and Syracuse at various times in the past year. Now it seems Siena’s Coach McCaffery is highly enthused about the 6’4” lefty forward as well—showing up more than once, even at open gyms, to watch Saratoga’s star in action. And then I heard that Jim Boeheim himself had shown up to peek at Jordan, which meant he was going out of his way to appear interested at a time when his own college team was about to get underway. We will hear more about this, I’m sure, very soon, as Jordan enters his junior season on the Section 2 scene.
More surprising perhaps was word that Bishop Maginn—last year’s Section 2 AA Champs, who ended CBA’s three year reign with that title—had been visited by two heavyweight coaches during pre-season workouts. Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech was not as much of a surprise—he is a former coach of Siena College, and already has attracted former Shaker star Brad Sheehan to his ACC program, as Jim Hart of City Rocks is a close confidant of his. The bigger surprise might have been that Billy Donovan—winner of back-to-back NCAA D-1 National Championships at Florida—has been spotted checking out Maginn’s young sophomore stud Taron Buie as well. Buie is the younger brother of Talor Battle, and played alongside his bro’ in Sectionals, Regionals, and State Finals right up till their eventual loss to Mount Vernon in Glens Falls last spring.
Donovan already has former Mr. NY State Basketball Jonathon Mitchell (a 4-year starter at Mount Vernon) entering his third year at his school, and he should play more of a role with five guys from last year’s championship team having been plucked up to the NBA. He must be looking ahead to reload for the 2010-11 season already because that is the soonest that Taron Buie would be ready for college. It speaks volumes for the prestige of local basketball, individual talent, the City Rocks program, and the influence of AAU coaches and directors like Jim Hart that NCAA coaches of this magnitude are cruising into gyms in the Capital District and Saratoga to scout players like this in our midst.
Watch for Taron and Jordan to be tomahawk-dunking soon in a gym near you—and catch the basketball fever that is certainly sweeping the Capital District this season, and in years to come! There is a lot of talent in our area now, and it is being noticed on a national level, to be sure.
--Copyright Wayne Perras 2007
Page Posted Wednesday, November 22, 2007