ALBANY - Freshman guard Denzel Yard has withdrawn from Siena College according to an email from the athletics department at the college.

Yard has been suspended for academic reasons, and last played Dec. 12 at Northern Iowa.

“I regret that things didn’t work out with Denzel,” said Siena coach Fran McCaffery. “We wish him the best of luck in the future.”

Freshman guard Denzel Yard has been suspended from the Siena men's basketball team indefinitely for academics.

No more information was made available.

The Philadelphia native has played in eight games this season and is averaging 1.9 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.

ALBANY - Starters 51, Bench 39.

Clarence Jackson and Ronald Moore: 2 points. Just-in'Love Smith and Conner Fenlon: 6 points.

That clearly won't happen every night, but it showed just how much of a team victory Tuesday's 90-56 victory over Delaware really was.

Every player played at least two minutes and everyone took at least one shot for Siena.

“It feels good to see everyone in motion and everyone in the rhythm of the game,” said sophomore Kyle Downey.

While coach Fran McCaffery said he doesn't consider Downey and fellow soph Owen Wignot young anymore, he was pleased with his freshmen's play, for the most part.

“Denzel (Yard) and Jon (Breeden) in particular were up and down like a lot of freshmen will be and they have to take better care of the basketball,” McCaffery said. “I’m not happy about that at all.”

McCaffery was very happy with O.D. Anosike's 10 rebounds, something he pointed out in the postgame talk to the team.

“I knew I was grabbing some, but I was surprised when (McCaffery) told me I had double digits,” said Anosike, who also had three points and two steals.

Everyone seemed pleased with the young guys' effort.

“They played well,” said senior Alex Franklin. “They stay composed, they did what they were capable of doing, they stuck to their strengths and I thought they really played hard.”

“As you can see, they can contribute,” Moore said. “They put a lot of hard work in at practice and for everybody to get in and contribute is a good thing.”

Downey was happy to get back on track as he scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds on 4-for-7 shooting.

“I think it was just more of a confidence booster for me,” said Downey.

With their next three games on the road, it was a solid team win.

“It’s always good to have a team win for reliance on the road, so we don’t depend on Ron and Eddie (Ubiles) and Alex and Clarence, just those guys,” Downey said. “It’s good to get our whole team involved.”

While Siena coach Fran McCaffery said it was great for the crowd and Tay Fisher to be back to unveil last year's championship, he's foucsed on the new season.

"Last night, it was time for business," McCaffery said.

The Saints took care of business in Game 1 and now are looking ahead to Saturday's date with Cornell.

First, Siena annouced Tuesday that O.D. Anosike, Jonathan Breeden and Denzel Yard all have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Saints in 2009-10. Siena has one more scholarship to give.

Here's what McCaffery said about the new class.

"I'm really excited about these three," said McCaffrey at Tuesday's media luncheon. "I feel like we've addressed some of our needs."

Anosike is a 6-foot-8 205-pound forward from New Jersey, who averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds a year playing for Saint Peter's High School for Boys' in Staten Island.

"He's 6-8 and long, very versitale and can handle the ball extremely well for a 6-8 player," said McCaffery, who added the staff saw O.D. play probably 30 times this summer. "He can really play the three (small forward) if we need him to."

Breeden is a 6-foot-1 point guard from Harrisburg, Pa.

"Breeden's a pure point, get in the lane, great pick-and-roll player, solid body and very athletic," McCaffery said.

Breeden didn't play this summer due to an ankle injury, but McCaffery said he's had lengthy discussions with his high school coach at Central Dauphin East, who McCaffery knows well and so he knows what he's getting.

Yard is another guard from Philadelphia, Pa., who played for Team Philly AAU.

"Denzel Yard can play point, he can play two (shooting guard)," said McCaffery, who added that he's seen Denzel play 15 times already. "He's a phenomenal athlete, really competitive and great basketball instincts."

Overall, McCaffery is happy with how these players will fit with his team.

"For a team that likes to go up and down and press the way we do, we have three guys that can play exactly that way," McCaffery said.

According to ESPN, Siena's basketball team landed their third recruit on Monday as Oderah Anosike committed to Fran McCaffery. Anosike joins Jonathan Breeden and Denzel Yard.

Here's what ESPN says about the 6-foot-8 Anosike, who plays AAU for the New Jersey ShoreShots.

April, 2008: This active "face-up 4-man" has a great feel for the game and an extensive arsenal of moves. Anosike has great genes as his sister Nicky helped lead Tennessee to two National Titles, and she was recently drafted 16th in the WNBA Draft. His 6'10" wingspan helps him defensively as he has a great knack for blocking or altering shots. He should be an A10 or CAA starter by his junior year.

Also, here is a link to a story from ESPN's Andy Katz, who apparently made a trip to Loudonville recently.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3614256

If you notice, down near the bottom, there's a picture of "Kenny Hasbrouck," but it's actually Alex Franklin. (I bet Kenny would love to dunk like that)

The Philadelphia Daily News reports today that Denzel Yard, a 6-foot, 170-pound guard from East Germantown, Pa., has verbally committed to Fran McCaffery.

The newspaper reports that Yard was on his visit this past weekend along with Parrish Grant, a fellow Pennsylvania player from Imhotep Charter.

Yard had this to say...

"What really impressed me was that he offered me a scholarship even before I went up for the visit. This school has a high mid-major program. Someone like that wants you, it means a lot."

Siena has three more scholarships for the 2009-10 season.