ALBANY - Before Sunday's game against New Jersey Institute of Technology, Gary Johnson couldn't feel his foot.

The trainer had wrapped his rolled ankle so tightly that the senior couldn't feel anything.

Coach Will Brown told him that was a good thing, but Johnson who hasn't had to deal with too many injuries in his career was nervous, when he got out on the court.

After missing two games, due to an ankle sprain against Duquesne, Johnson didn't look nervous.

He scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench, giving the Great Danes a lift.

"He was good," said Brown. 

Johnson got heavily into the mix at the end of last season and was a big reason why the team won the America East and advanced all the way to the NCAA tournament, so getting him back from injury was a big deal.

“It’s great to have him back," said sophomore Peter Hooley.

Johnson's length makes him one of the most versatile players on the team and his athleticism is near the top of the team.

“We’re a completely different team (with him)," Hooley said. "He’s our best perimeter defender and he’s a great slasher offensively."

Johnson's absence actually allowed fellow senior David Wiegmann to pick up more minutes and allowed some of the bench players to get more comfortable on the floor for UAlbany.

"I think having Gary out allowed David to get more comfortable out there," Brown said. "Now, having Gary back, I think we have some really good balance out there."

Johnson wasn't quite in terrific shape, having not had much practice time since injuring the ankle, but he still provided the team with some solid play.

"He made a bunch of plays for us, especially defensively," said Brown.

Johnson won't start on Wednesday against Holy Cross, again coming off the bench. Another injury update is that transfer Anthony Odunsi will be out for at least another week, after suffering a concussion in practice and missing the past two games.

UAlbany Athletics

One thing Brown isn't too thrilled about is rebounding. A statistic that is usually a staple of UAlbany teams since Brown has been at the helm has just been so-so this season.

The Great Danes are just plus-1.3 so far this season, something Brown would like to see improvement on.

"We have to rebound better," he said.

Even though UAlbany is over .500, the Great Danes haven't played a complete game yet this year, according to the players. The team has played 20 good minutes here and played 30 solid minutes against Rider last week. They have actually trailed, at halftime, in six of the seven games so far this season. 

“It is encouraging to know that we have these spurts where we play really good basketball, Hooley said. "And when we don’t have good spurts, we become good when we need to.”

Still, it's something Coach Brown acknowledged, earlier in the year, that will catch up with them eventually. 

Mike McMahon/The Record

University at Albany sophomore guard Peter Hooley has been on quite a scoring binge.

While his streak of 20-point games ended in Sunday's 66-55 victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology, Hooley (left) was named America East Player of the Week, on Monday.

Hooley averaged 17.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in two Great Danes victories last week.

He scored a career-high 24 points in the victory over Rider last Tuesday and ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (16.3 ppg). 

Hooley was an all-rookie selection last year and has taken his game to the next level, in his second season.

Hooley earned player of the week, while Vermont's Kurt Steidl was named the league's rookie of the week. 

Here is UAlbany's release.

Here is the America East release.

Here are the previous winners of the America East awards. 

Player of the Week
12/1 - Peter Hooley, UAlbany
11/25 - Jameel Warney, Stony Brook
11/18 - Jordan Reed, Binghamton & Chris Pelcher, New Hampshire
11/11 - Anthony Jackson, Stony Brook

Rookie of the Week
12/1 - Kurt Steidl, Vermont
11/25 - Magnus Richards, Binghamton
11/18 - Rodney Elliott, UMBC
11/11 - Nick Madray, Binghamton

ALBANY - Blake Metcalf woke up, put on SportsCenter and saw a familiar face...his.

Last Friday, Metcalf flipped on his television and as SportsCenter went to a commercial, he saw himself in the game against Vermont, where he took a basketball to the...well you can watch the video (which is below) and see.

"It was funny," said UAlbany's senior captain, before practice on Monday.  

Metcalf wasn't laughing at the time he was hit by the pass, from Vermont's Brian Voelkel. But as it was shown on TV, in SportsCenter's Not Top 10 segment, his phone was ringing off the hook, with texts and tweets.

"Once it's started running, I got tweet after tweet and text after text," he said.

The phone actually froze twice and Metcalf had to restart it.

"I didn't even know I had this many friends who watched ESPN," he joked.

While the play wasn't a highlight dunk or a great play, Metcalf has certainly taken his new-found fame in stride.

"It's not like there is something I could have done about it," he said. "It's just something that happened. I got a good laugh about it. It's going to be a funny story to tell, later on down the road."

Metcalf took a lot of good-natured kidding from his teammates, some of whom didn't see the airing on ESPN, but freshman Peter Hooley posted a tweet with the video for all to see."  

"Pete Hooley made sure he filmed it to make sure everyone got to see it," Metcalf said. "It was all right."

He's also happy that it wasn't as bad as New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez's butt-fumble, which happened on the night of Thanksgiving, and is still SportsCenter's Not Top 10 No. 1.

"I'm glad it's not going to be re-shown again." Metcalf sald. "It wasn't worse than Sanchez's butt-fumble. No one will ever see it again."

Well, that's not exactly true, as below is the video that ran on SportsCenter (sorry Blake).  

University at Albany basketball players Sam Rowley and Peter Hooley talk about the team's 65-49 loss to Stony Brook on Tuesday.

The loss is the Great Danes (5-4, 16-7) third straight and knocks them into fifth in the America East Conference standings. 

UAlbany coach Will Brown talks about his team's upcoming game against Stony Brook and the struggles of top player Mike Black.



UAlbany redshirt freshman Peter Hooley talks about the Stony Brook game.

AP

ALBANY - Peter Hooley knew that Hartford was in trouble as soon as he made his first few shots on Saturday evening.

Hooley posted career-highs in both points (18) and rebounds (12) on the way to his first career double-double, as the University at Albany downed Hartford 56-46.

“I would say everything, regarding me, is confidence," said Hooley on Monday.

Hooley's insertion into the starting lineup has been met with much success for the Great Danes (5-1, 16-4), who are now in first place in the America East, following Vermont's loss Tuesday evening at Maine.

“He creates a lot of stuff for us in our offense," said fellow guard Jacob Iati.

Hooley was going up against a familiar face on Saturday, in Hawks sophomore Corban Wroe, also a native of Australia.

When Hooley got off to such a good start, Wroe was surprised.

“You’re not supposed to be able to score the ball," he said.

“Funny how things change," Hooley told his "good mate" from back home.

UAlbany is 4-0 since Hooley and Sam Rowley moved into the starting lineup and those two have been very productive.

Hooley gets the rim effortlessly and as coach Will Brown said, he was playing north/south and attacking the basket on Saturday.

“If teams are going to shadow Jacob or shadow Mike (Black), there’s going to be a lot of openings for Peter to drive the ball," said Brown.

Hooley was set to make an impact last season before a stress fracture in his left foot kept him out after the first three games, forcing him to redshirt. Hooley was kept off the court for seven months and all he could do was lift.

“People don’t realize he’s still a freshman," said Brown.

Hooley was recruited for his all-around game, but he showed he can shoot the ball a little, making three treys in the Hartford win. 

“He’s a rhythm shooter," Brown said. "When he can get his feet set, he shoots it well.”

Hooley said he's at his best when he keeps everything simple.

“I always forget that I’m a freshman and I still have a lot to learn," he said.

Hooley has shown his passing prowess throughout the year. He's got 54 assists, second only to Black (58) on the team.

“When I was scoring a lot of points earlier in the year, I said a bunch of times it was because of Pete and Mike," Iati said. "I always threw him in the mix because he gets to the rim great.”

Hooley hasn't reached his potential and that could be a scary thought for opposing teams in the America East.

“Peter’s his own worst enemy," Brown said. "When he maintains his focus, he’s tough to handle.”

ALBANY - It's getting harder and hard to not believe in this University at Albany men's basketball team.

The Great Danes won their fourth straight game and are now 7-2 on the season, following a 77-73 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn.

Senior point guard Mike Black scored a matched game-high honors with 21 points, while Jacob Iati added 20 for UAlbany, which next plays at Colgate, on Saturday.

The Great Danes are getting solid contributions, on a nightly basis, from a lot of different players and that's what's making them so tough to beat.

On this night, Blake Metcalf grabbed 13 rebounds, while Peter Hooley scored nine points and dished out four assists off the bench and Jayson Guerrier had six points and four rebounds in only 12 minutes. D.J. Evans also chipped in with eight points and two assists in 10 minutes.

Below, Black talks about the game.

The University at Albany men's basketball team defeated Wagner, 66-63, on Monday evening.

Below is the final play of the game, as Seahawks guard Eric Fanning attempts a game-tying 3-pointers.



Below is video of redshirt freshman Peter Hooley talking about the win.

Courtesy UAlbany Athletics

ALBANY - Peter Hooley wasn't suited up for the home-opener on Friday afternoon, instead he sat on the bench, in a shirt and tie.

Hooley has been dealing with a foot injury and it was decided that he will take a medical redshirt this year because of a stress fracture in the left foot.


"He's going to be out, which hurts us because he's a pretty good player," said University at Albany coach Will Brown.

Hooley started feeling the pain, in preseason, before the Purple/Gold scrimmage, but fought through it.

Before the George Mason game, he came to Coach Brown and said it was too painful.

"He started not making shots in practice, not playing well, limping," Brown said.

An MRI revealed the stress fracture and it looks like next week, he'll have to screws put into the foot.

Brown said that freshman Tanner Gibson, who was going to be redshirted, will likely see more minutes now with Hooley out. 

Gibson played his first minutes of the year on Friday, getting in 10 minutes against Navy.

"I thought he was very poised today, but I need him to be more aggressive," Brown said.

Brown thinks that Gibson will be able to help out the team.

"He might be as good of an athlete that we have," Brown said;.

Brown also said that freshman Chris Page will redshirt. Page has been one of the better shooters in practice. 

"I don't want to burn a year, if he's not going to play," Brown said.

Earlier in the year, Brown said he didn't necessarily want to redshirt players because the Great Danes currently don't have any seniors.With that fact, if a player is seeing limited action this season, they would likely see the same amount of time next year.

ALBANY - The news isn't good for University at Albany sophomore center John Puk.

Puk (44) underwent a surgical procedure on Thursday to deal with swelling in his left shin.

"They split that baby open," Brown said.

They had to get the poison, puss and blood out of the shin and they will take another look, during halftime of Saturday's football game.

"We should see great progress in the nest 48 hours," Brown said. "If we don't see much in the nesxt 48 hours, then we have to look at the next alternative, which I haven't discussed with our doctors or (trainer) Jay (Geiger) yet."

Puk will miss time, Brown is just unsure of how much time it will be.

"I'm not thinking worst-case," Brown said. "I'm thinking best-case right now and I don't know what the best case is right now."

As far as short-term, Brown said he could go back to a lineup he used on the team's Canada trip, in August, and play Logan Aronhalt at a forward positon, when the Danes take on Monmouth and George Mason, Monday and Tuesday, in the continuation of the Preseason NIT Tip-Off.

Brown also said that freshman guard Peter Hooley (foot) is out indefinitely and junior guard Mike Black (ankle) won't practice today or Saturday.

Logan Aronhalt is a very good basketball player.

The scary thing could be that Aronhalt, who averaged 14.6 points per game last season, might get better still.

Asked today if he was the healthiest he's been since arriving at UAlbany, his response was yet.

“My freshman year I wasn’t healthy at all,” he said. “Last year, I was still up and down a little bit.

Aronhalt dealt with a number of foot issues when he first arrived at UAlbany and red-shirted his first season.

He earned third team all-conference honors last year, as a sophomore, and now is primed for another big season.

"I definitely think, now, I'm ready to go," he said.

While he and fellow junior Mike Black were left off of the preseason all-conference team, coach Will Brown is confident they are two of the best players in the league.

“I think both of those guys want to be first team all-league guys,” Brown said. “Both of them are ready to take the next step. Does that mean they’re both going to be first team guys? I don’t know because we have other guys who are going to play on the perimeter for us.”

The Great Danes actually have six newcomers this season - Peter Hooley, Jayson Guerrier, Tanner Gibson, Gerardo Suero, Sam Rowley and Chris Page.

“This is probably as good of a group of newcomers that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Brown said. “How that translates when the lights go on will be interesting, but it was pretty good for us when we went to Canada.”

UAlbany opens the season against Pitt, on Nov. 11.

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.

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.

ALBANY - University at Albany head men’s basketball coach Will Brown announced the signing of three student-athletes on Monday.

Tanner Gibson (Zanesville, Ohio), a 6-foot-1 guard, Jayson Guerrier (Oviedo, Fla.), a 6-4 guard and Peter Hooley (South Adelaide, Australia) a 6-4 guard will play for the Great Danes in the 2011-12 season.

Those three join Chris Page, Sam Rowley and Gerardo Suero, who all committed in the fall. It was also announced that Derrek Tartt and Jake Lindfors will transfer from UAlbany.