Multiple reports are surfacing on Saturday evening that 6-foot-2 guard DaVonte Beard has verbally committed to Siena College.

Rivals.com is reporting that Beard has verbally committed to play for the Saints and coach Mitch Buonaguro.

A tweet from Rodger Bohn, a Senior Writer for SLAM Magazine, later said he hasn't yet committed to Siena and cited a family source.

Beard is from Akron, Ohio and played for the same school as LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary's.

Beard did visit Siena this weekend and FOX23 caught up with him, while playing with some of the Siena players.

This would be a big get for Buonaguro and the Saints, especially with the recent news that both Jonathan Breeden and Kyle Griffin won't return to the team.

Buonaguro can't comment on a recruit until a signed Letter of Intent has been sent to the school.

Beard would join a freshman class of Lionel Gomis, Imoh Silas and Robert Poole.

If Beard does commit, Siena would have two scholarships remaining.

ALBANY - Siena junior guard Kyle Griffin (left) did a lot of cheering from the sidelines during Monday night's 73-67 victory over Iona.

Griffin was unable to cheer with his right arm though because it was in a sling.

Griffin said he will be wearing the sling for a few more days because of a slight tear in the cartilage of the labrum of his shoulder.

He said he expects to be out at least 2-3 weeks.

"There's nothing you can do," he said.

LOUDONVILLE - It's good thing that the Siena Saints have a few days before their next game because they are starting to look like the walking wounded.

Owen Wignot left the hospital seemingly without a concussion, something that the Siena trainers are still unsure of though because the junior forward has some of the symptoms.

Wignot had a CAT scan and an MRI taken at the hospital.

"He might be out, I'm not sure, it's hard to say," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro.

After issues like those of former Siena player Cory Magee and the increased awareness about the problems with concussions, Buonaguro will take it slow with Wignot.

"I think it's a very serious thing, when you have a player who gets hit like that," Buonaguro said. "You have to cover all the bases with it and I'm not going to play him until he's feeling better. There's no way."

Wignot will not practice on Monday and neither will junior guard Kyle Griffin.

Griffin injured his shoulder last Thursday in practice when a teammate ran into him.

Another player who's coming back from an injury is junior Kyle Downey, who played his first nine minutes of the season against UAlbany on Saturday.

Downey was 0-for-4 from the field and had one turnover against the Great Danes.

"I'm a little worried about Kyle," Buonaguro said. "He didn't look right to me."

Buonaguro said he was unsure of if to play Downey, but that the junior guard wanted to get on the floor.

"I don't know if he's ready physically yet," Buonaguro said. "I think he's still a little hurt."

Senior Clarence Jackson has struggles with his shot over the past two games, going 8-for-36 from the field.

Jackson is now shooting just 40 percent from the field, despite averaging 16.9 points per game.

Buonaguro said Monday that Jackson may still be affected by the foot injury he sustained before the start of the season, which is causing him to wear orthotics in his shoes.

"He's not the same," Buonaguro said.

LOUDONVILLE - Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro met with junior Kyle Griffin for an hour on Friday night at the team's hotel in Boston.

Buonaguro explained to him that he would be starting freshman Rakeem Brookins at point guard, the next day and that Griffin still had an important role with the team.

The Saints went on to demolish a good Northeastern team on Saturday, so the move seemingly paid off.

"I made the decision based on, we weren't running that well," said Buonaguro at his weekly meeting with the media on Monday afternoon. "It was nothing against Kyle Griffin. Kyle Griffin actually has pretty good stats."

Brookins played 27 minutes against the Huskies and although he didn't make a field goal, he finished with five assists and four points.

"I thought Rahk added some running to our offense," Buonaguro said. "We run the ball better when he's in there."

Brookins will remain the starter when Siena takes on Butler Tuesday night in downtown Albany. The game can be seen locally on Time Warner-3.

"I think he played well (against Northeastern)," Buonaguro said. "He ran the team well."

Griffin came off the bench for the first time this season and played 18 minutes, scoring four points and dishing out four assists.

"I was happy he bought into the role and responded," Buonaguro said.

Coach B said it was a little easier of a move, knowing that Griffin is a mature player, who will do anything for the team to succeed.

"When you have character people like Kyle Griffin, they understand when a coach makes a decision, you have to buy into it," Buonaguro said. "He understands, still, that he's a key player."

Griffin is averaging 3.0 points per game and leads the team with 13 assists on the year.

Buonaguro also addressed why he put sophomore Jonathan Breeden into the game as his first substitue at the point guard position.

"I wanted to get a look at Jon," Buonaguro said. "I played him a little at the point. He came in and I just had a hunch that it wasn't his day."

The victory over Northeastern was Buonaguro's first head coaching victory at Siena and his first head coaching win in 20 years.

"Beating a really good, quality opponent on the road is always a great feeling," he said. "To get my first win, was obviously a great moment for me."

ALBANY - Siena won't go undefeated this season.

We knew this was going to happen, but most fans probably thought it wouldn't start tonight. Or should I say end, as in the 38-game homecourt winning streak that came to an end as Vermont held on for an 80-76 victory in downtown Albany.

The Saints actually trailed by 15, before they tried to kick it into high gear and steal victory from defeat.

“We can’t put ourselves in that position and have to dig out of that hole,” said senior forward Ryan Rossiter, who was a beast late in the game.

The team's play wasn't great and kind of embodied how they've performed throughout the preseason.

“We were good at times and then we just don’t play well at times,” said coach Mitch Buonaguro. “The lack of consistency was evident tonight.”

Some quick positives and negatives.

Positives:

• Rosstier and OD Anosike should dominate throughtout the season (they combined for 38 points and 15 rebounds)
• The late-game play was your typical Siena team, trapping and causing turnovers. If they play like that for the entire 40 minutes, they win easily.
  
• Lack of turnovers. Coach B had been worried about that and the Saints had just 9, while forcing 20 turnovers.
  

Negative

• Rebounding. The Saints were outrebounded 44-30 and going up against Minnesota on Monday will be a even harder to even that stat.
  
• The point guard play. I wouldn't say Kyle Griffin or Rakeem Brookins were bad, but they just didn't get it done. Especially when little Joey Accaoui had a career night.
  

Vermont coach Mike Lonergan had a lot of good things to say about Siena (he met the school's president before the game).

“We pride ourselves on playing a tough schedule,” Lonergan said. “Obviously, they do too. They’re going to Minnesota now. I think these are two of the best mid-major programs in the last eight years, on the whole east coast, along with Davidson.”

Clarence Jackson had his thumb heavily taped in the locker room after the game.

He said he reaggrevated jamming it in practice and that's not a good sign.

He didn't make excuses for having a bad shooting night, but that thing will probably not feel much better in the morning.

“I tried to attack the basket more,” a frustrated Jackson said after the game. “I wasn’t finishing.”

ALBANY - While senior Edwin Ubiles was warming up earlier, he is not on the court right now as the team goes through their final warmups before tonight's game against Loyola (Md.).

Ubiles missed the team's last game, Monday against Manhattan, with spasms in his back.

Kyle Griffin is on the floor and looks like he will play.

Jonathan Breeden is out with migraines.

Update: Ubiles came out about 20 minutes before tip and is in the starting lineup for tonight.

It'll be interesting to see how long he plays and if his back acts up at any point.

*****

Loyola has had issues of their own.

Brett Harvey is not in the starting lineup for the Greyhounds, but Harvey is dressed.

Loyola is without junior Jamal Barney, who is no longer with the team.

While Siena's victory over Rider was pretty sound and definite, the Saints got their first game contribution from junior transfer Kyle Griffin.

"I felt good," said Griffin, who finished with five points in 13 minutes. "Tonight, my main goal was just to try to go out and contribute as much as I could and get my feet wet."

Griffin realized that it's been a long time since he's suited up for LaSalle University and didn't want to rush things.

"As the games keep progressing, I'll be more and more comfortable and hopefully I can contribute more and more."

Griffin said he wasn't as nervous as he thought he would be, but was a little bit on his first free throw, which hit the front rim and on a pull up jump shot, which hit the front rim.

"It's a completely different feeling when you're warming up and you look into the stands and it's packed and you look to the other end of the court and it's Rider and it's a big conference game," Griffin said. "It's just a completely different feeling to be a part of it rather than sitting on the sidelines."