Friday, August 26, 2011

RPI football Media Day

Today was a chance for the RPI football team to jump in front of the cameras and talk about the upcoming season.

The Engineers have a scrimmage on Wednesday, Aug. 31, home vs. Springfield and open the 2011 campaign against Alfred, on Saturday, Sept. 10.

I've talked a few times with new coach Tim Landis (below) and like his ideas for where he will go with the team.


In Saturday's paper, you can read about Landis' focus on running the ball more this year.

With junior quarterback Mike Hermann (below) back, RPI could certainly win the Liberty League. It seems like a wide open race this season.


The team will have to replace the talented Pat McCarthy at receiver and also the leadership provided by running back Nick Costa.

On defense, the biggest replacements will be at linebacker, where Colin King and Jeff McCormick have vacated and the pass rushing of Darryl Brown.

They may have found a new mascot though. Below is the Landis family's new bulldog, Brutus.


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Friday, August 19, 2011

UAlbany tops Quebec-Montreal 86-57

Release from the UAlbany Sports Info Department

Montreal, Quebec - Gerardo Suero had 18 points off the bench and Logan Aronhalt added 15 points and 10 rebounds in leading UAlbany to an 86-57 exhibition victory over the University of Quebec at Montreal on Friday evening at Sports Centre. The Great Danes, who are playing five games on a tour of Quebec and Ontario, Canada, tangle with McGill University on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.


UAlbany led by nine at the intermission, but then pulled away in third quarter. Blake Metcalf, a 6-foot-9 junior, scored in the lane, before Aronhalt canned one of his three 3-pointers to start the period. Ralph Watts later made two free throws and Jayson Guerrier drilled a long-range jumper for a 49-29 margin.The Great Danes, who shot 55.6 percent from the field after the break, ripped off 11 unanswered to build a 71-41 advantage in the final stanza. Peter Hooley, a freshman from South Australia who netted 10 points, made a three-point field goal to ignite that stretch. Chris Page and Tanner Gibson, a pair of freshman guards, completed the run by converted shots in the lane.

“I thought we were very sharp in the third quarter and I was happy with our team defense in the second half,” said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose squad is playing without forward Luke Devlin (back) and center John Puk (achilles) as they heal from injuries. “We accomplished our goal of playing everyone. All eleven guys played had double-figure minutes.”

Guerrier, a transfer from Southern Alabama Community College, finished with nine points and nine rebounds for the Great Danes, who made 10-of-25 from beyond the arc. The Citidins had two players in double figures, as Ouicem Maatoug and Vincent Lanctot-Fortier had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Paw Prints
: University of Quebec at Montreal previously faced Illinois State and Akron in the month of August … the Citadins are also scheduled to meet New Hampshire (Aug. 25) and Niagara (Aug. 30) … the University of Quebec at Montreal is a public French-language university of approximately 40,000 students … UQAM ranks among the top research universities in Canada, notably in the social sciences, natural sciences, public health and creative arts.

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

FCS Preseason Top 25 - Aug. 17

The FCS preseason poll is out. You can view it here.

UAlbany is receiving votes. The Great Danes were picked to finish fourth in the Northeast Conference.

This is my second season as a voter for the poll, which is voted on by conference, school and media members that are in/cover the schools in the classification.

Here is my preseason poll. The number in (x) is if it's different on the actual The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 poll.

1. Eastern Washington
2. William & Mary (3)
3. Georgia Southern (4)
4. Appalachian State (2)
5. Montana State (6)
6. Delaware (5)
7. Northern Iowa
8. Wofford
9. Jacksonville State
10. New Hampshire
11. Montana (12)
12. Lehigh (13)
13. Stephen F. Austin (17)
14. North Dakota State (11)
15. Chattanooga (21)
16. South Carolina State (23)
17. Richmond (16)
18. Southern Illinois (19)
19. Central Arkansas (18)
20. Sacramento State (24)
21. James Madison (15)
22. Villanova (14)
23. Liberty (22)
24. Penn (NR)
25. Central Connecticut State (NR)

Teams in FCS poll, but not in mine.
20. McNeese State
25. Massachusetts

Here are the teams receiving votes in the FCS poll.

Others receiving votes: Penn 456, Bethune-Cookman 425, Southeast Missouri State 341, Murray State 315, Western Illinois 247, Southern Utah 240, Jacksonville 215, Cal Poly 168, Stony Brook 163, Grambling State 146, Eastern Kentucky 139, Jackson State 76, Florida A&M 76, Colgate 75, Sam Houston State 75, Harvard 54, Indiana State 51, UC Davis 48, South Dakota State 40, Youngstown State 28, Central Connecticut State 26, Coastal Carolina 25, Dayton 21, Northwestern State 20, Northern Arizona 18, Elon 16, Yale 15, Weber State 13, Illinois State 12, Tennessee Tech 12, Rhode Island 11, Maine 10, UAlbany 10, Texas Southern 10, Northern Colorado 10, Furman 10, Brown 8, South Dakota 7, Old Dominion 5, Columbia 5, Missouri State 2, Robert Morris 2, Hampton 1, Duquesne 1, UT Martin 1.

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Maryland, Pitt on UAlbany hoop schedule

The University at Albany released their non-conference basketball schedule for the 2011-12 season on Wednesday.

The Great Danes will kick off with Pittsburgh, last year's Big East regular-season champion. UAlbany will also play ACC foe Maryland.

Here is the release from the school.

Albany, N.Y. - University at Albany Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced on Wednesday, Aug. 17 the school's men's basketball non-conference schedule for the 2011-12 season. Pittsburgh, last year's Big East Conference regular-season champion, and Atlantic Coast Conference member Maryland top the list of opponents. UAlbany plays in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off, beginning with the opening two rounds on Nov. 14-15.

The Great Danes will start their schedule on the road against a Big East Conference team for the third time in the last four years with a matchup at Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 11. The Panthers made their 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance last year, advancing to the third round and finishing with a 28-6 record. Head coach Jamie Dixon has an All-Big East guard returning in Ashton Gibbs, who averaged 16.8 points per game. UAlbany travels to the 12,508-seat Petersen Events Center for the second time, having previously played there on Nov. 28, 2003.

UAlbany meets an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent for the fifth time in the last six seasons with a trip to Maryland's Comcast Center, a 17,950-seat facility. The Terrapins, who posted a 19-14 record last year, have a new coach. Mark Turgeon, who previously coached at Texas A&M, has led three Division I programs to a combined 250 wins and five NCAA tournaments. Sophomore guard Terrell Stoglin was a member of the 2011 All-ACC Freshmen Team. The Great Danes previously played ACC members Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke and Virginia.

In the NIT Season-Tip-Off, UAlbany faces Ivy League member Brown in the opening round on Monday, Nov. 14 as part of a doubleheader at Syracuse's Carrier Dome. The Orange, who twice has won the NIT Season Tip-Off, tangles with Manhattan, of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, in the other contest. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim led last year's squad to a 27-win campaign and the SU program to the NCAAs for the 34th time.

In the first-ever meeting between the teams, the Great Danes open their home schedule against Navy on Friday, Nov. 25. Former Penn State mentor Ed DeChellis has taken over the reins of the Midshipmen's program. UAlbany returns to SEFCU Arena two days later against Fairleigh Dickinson.

In addition to those two games, UAlbany has home dates against Colgate (Dec. 7) and Dartmouth (Dec. 23). The Great Danes and Colgate, of the Patriot League, are meeting for the second year in a row. The Big Green last traveled to the Capital Region on Dec. 30, 2004.

UAlbany and Siena will continue their crosstown-rivalry on Monday, Dec. 5 at Times Union Center in the 51st meeting. The two teams are tangling for the 11th time as Division I programs. UAlbany also travels to Cornell (Dec. 17), St. Francis, N.Y. (Dec. 19) and Mount St. Mary's (Dec. 31).

UAlbany coach Will Brown returns four starters from last year's squad. Logan Aronhalt and Mike Black, a pair of All-America East Conference guards, each scored in double figures. Luke Devlin, who led the team in rebounding, was voted to the conference all-rookie team. Blake Metcalf, a 6-foot-9 junior, and John Puk, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, bolster the baseline.


2011-12 UAlbany Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Nov. 11 (Fri.), at Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Nov. 14 (Mon.), Brown, Syracuse, N.Y. (NIT Season Tip-Off)
Nov. 15 (Tue.), Syracuse or Manhattan, Syracuse, N.Y. (NIT Season Tip-Off)
Nov. 21-23, Consolation or Championship Rounds (NIT Season Tip-Off)
Nov. 25 (Fri.), Navy, SEFCU Arena
Nov. 27 (Sun.), Fairleigh Dickinson, SEFCU Arena
Dec. 5 (Mon.), at Siena, Albany, N.Y.
Dec. 7 (Wed.), Colgate, SEFCU Arena
Dec. 17 (Sat.), at Cornell, Ithaca, N.Y.
Dec. 19 (Mon.), at St. Francis, N.Y., Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.
Dec. 23 (Fri.), Dartmouth, SEFCU Arena
Dec. 28 (Wed.), at Maryland, College Park, Md.
Dec. 31 (Sat.), at Mount St. Mary's, Emmitsburg, Md.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

VIDEO: Peter Hooley - UAlbany basketball

UAlbany freshman Peter Hooley talks about arriving on campus and the first day of practice. The Great Danes leave for an international trip to Canada on Thursday, Aug. 18.

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Aussies come from down under to Albany

Peter Hooley's first view of the University at Albany campus was a dark one.

That' s not because Hooley wasn't happy to be in Upstate New York, rather it was midnight and he had just finished three-day journey to arrive at UAlbany.

Hooley, who had never been on the UAlbany campus, Sam Rowley and Luke Devlin all flew in from Australia and it was quite the trip.

Hooley departed his hometown of South Adelaide on Sunday and flew into Sydney to stay with Rowley and Devlin for the night.

The three boarded a plane and landed in Los Angeles at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Their flight to Chicago was delayed two hours. Once the reached the Windy City, their flight was delayed three and half more hours and they finally got to UAlbany on midnight, Wednesday morning where they were picked up by one of the coaches and taken to their dorms.

"You always hope to sleep on the plane, but that didn't happen," said Hooley, after Wednesday's afternoon practice.

Hooley said that he and Rowley asked Devlin many questions about college hoops in America, on the plane. Devlin, who was an America East All-Rookie selection, learned a lot over the past season about the difference in play from Australia to the U.S.

Having three players from Australia will help all of them feel more comfortable, especially when it snows.

“It’s like I’m bringing a bit of family here,” Hooley said. “Our families are so far away and especially when I’m rooming with them, it’s just like living at home.”

The Aussies and the rest of the Great Danes made it on to the floor for the practice, the first of 13 before the team leaves for Canada on Aug. 18.

"This was a good day for us," UAlbany coach Will Brown said.

Brown mentioned that the two biggest reasons Canada was chosen as the destination for the squad were cost and distance of travel.

There will be some different rules on the court for UAlbany (24-second shot clock, 8 seconds to get ball across half court, no inbounding ball into the backcourt from frontcourt), but they hope this trip will get them on the same page.

"I feel like this is a good opportunity for us to build our chemistry," said junior point guard Mike Black.

While the Great Danes have four returning starters (only Tim Ambrose graduated), the team has six new faces.

Here is the schedule for games.

Friday, Aug. 19 - at University of Quebec at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 20 - at McGill University, 7 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 22 - at Dawson College All-Stars, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 24 - at University of Ottawa, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 25 - at Carleton University, 7 p.m.

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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Rossiter to France, Hasbrouck to Germany

More former Siena College players are signing on with professional teams overseas.

After Ronald Moore (Poland) and Alex Franklin (France) inked their deals last week, Ryan Rossiter has now signed on to play in France.

According to a school release, Rossiter (right) has reached an agreement to play pro basketball with ASC Voltaire in Denain, France. Rossiter will be playing in the French Ligue Nationale de Basketball (LNB), the same league as Franklin.

"I'm really looking forward to starting my career and helping my new team out in any way possible," Rossiter said via e-mail. "I hope I can contribute to an already successful team."

Also signing a pro contract is Kenny Hasbrouck, who played with Rossiter, Franklin and Moore.

Hasbrouck will be playing in Germany, for EWE Baskets Oldenburg of the Bundesliga.

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Stubby Clapp tirade draws national crowd

On Monday, Stubby Clapp, the manager of the Tri-City ValleyCats wasn't particularly pleased with a call from one of the two umpires, during an afternoon game against the Auburn Doubledays.

He let the umpires know about it...for a few minutes.

The YouTube video already has more than 84,000 views, probably because it's been picked up by Deadspin and ESPN.com just tweeted about it.

I've dealt with Stubby a couple of times and he isn't really like this often. I think things may have just boiled over from the team not playing well/a hot day/a bad call.

You be the judge.

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Follow Siena women's basketball overseas

The Siena women's basketball team leaves for an overseas trip to Denmark and Italy, next weekend.

Traveling to Denmark is especially exciting because the team will get to travel to the hometown's of senior captain Maja Gerlyng and incoming freshman Ida Krogh. Coach Gina Castelli has begun a pipeline from Denmark to Loudonville and it'll be interesting to see if this trip nets to the program and more Danish players.

Here is a link to keep track of the entire trip.

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