Basketball Recruiting News

With the graduation of seniors Graham Dow, Andrew Naeve, Ugo Ihekweazu, Jason Mitchell and Kevin App just months away, Cornell basketball is wrapping up its recruiting effots for 2007-- hoping to find an additional back-up point guard for Louis Dale and potentially one more big man to add depth in the frontcourt. Accordingly, reports from various sites have Cornell giving "offers" to a pair of high school point guards and a pair of low post players. Here is a run down of recent news from around the net:

According to Jim Thomas, the Cornell coaching staff was up in Toronto recently to see Eastern Commerce H.S. (Toronto) PG Keaton Cole (5'9" play. Cornell is waiting on his SAT test results to see if he can qualify for the program academically. Eastern Commerce is the perennial #1 powerhouse basketball program in Canada. There are currently eight Eastern Commerce alums playing NCAA Division I basketball and NBA player Jamal Magliore is the most notable alum. Jim Thomas ranks Cole as the #1 point guard in Ontario. His teammate, Chretien Lakusa is committed to Binghamton. Barry Hayes, another recruiting guru in Canada said that Cole has "Iverson-like speed" and is "one of the top points guards in Ontario, that can take over a game with his play making or his outside jumper. He has a great understanding on how to organize his team on both offence and defence." Apparently Cole gets respect in the U.S. as well, HoopScoop ranked Cole as #449 in its September 2006 ranking of top American players. Cole has been a member of the Ontario provincial select team the last four years and was a Nike All Canada Camp attendee.

Rivals.com reports that Cornell has extended an offer to Andy Moore, a 6’1” 180 lb point guard out of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, TX. Moore is averaging 17.2 ppg, 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game this season. Rivals.com evaluates Moore as follows: A steady and smart floor leader. He gets into the gaps in the defense, finds the open man and creates scoring opportunities. He has a nice stroke out to the 3 point line, handles it well against pressure, has nice speed and quickness and really understands the game. In addition to Cornell, Moore is also entertaining late interest from Tulane. He is planning an official visit to Cornell.

Cornell also has reported offers on the table to Kramer Knutson 6-9 245 Dobson HS, Mesa AZ and James Granstra 6-10 245 SW Concept Star HS, Edgerton, MN. Knutson is entertaining interest from Stanford, Portland U., Southern Utah, Cornell and Columbia. Granstra is considering North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Cornell after turning away offers from Fairfield and Northeastern.

Cornell already has three newcomers on board for next year, they include:

Aaron Richardson C 6-9 220 Redmond WA Overlake HS/Pottstown PA Hill School
Collin Robinson G 6-0 170 Diamond Bar CA HS/USC Transfer
Jeff Foote C 7-0 220 Spencer-Van Etten HS NY/St. Bona. U.

Thanks. Looks like a good list.

Crazy that the best team in Canada is sending its players to Cornell and Binghamton. That probably wouldn't be the best team in Queens.

Here is an artcle commenting on how Eastern Commerce has won a few big U.S. tournaments against nationally ranked opponents

[www.signonsandiego.com]

As an FYI-- when Graham Dow came out of Toronto-- he was a highly ranked point guard, but he was not considered the very best in Ontario. He turned out quite well for us.

Keaton Cole would be a much higher profile recruit if he was taller than 5'8"/5'9".

But... Wallace Prather was around that size and he had a nice career-- so Cole is worth a look. And we are recruiting him to back-up Dale for three years.

Cornell could also use Gore or Collin Robinson-- so its not like we are pinning our future on a 5'9" Canadian.

CornellFan
Cornell already has three newcomers on board for next year, they include:

Aaron Richardson C 6-9 220 Redmond WA Overlake HS/Pottstown PA Hill School
Collin Robinson G 6-0 170 Diamond Bar CA HS/USC Transfer
Jeff Foote C 7-0 220 Spencer-Van Etten HS NY/St. Bona. U.

Admittedly my opinion is skewed by watching Schafer's teams (or perhaps by watching hockey in general), but does anyone else think 220 sounds like not a whole lot of weight for a guy who's 7 feet tall?

Josh '99

CornellFan
Cornell already has three newcomers on board for next year, they include:

Aaron Richardson C 6-9 220 Redmond WA Overlake HS/Pottstown PA Hill School
Collin Robinson G 6-0 170 Diamond Bar CA HS/USC Transfer
Jeff Foote C 7-0 220 Spencer-Van Etten HS NY/St. Bona. U.

Admittedly my opinion is skewed by watching Schafer's teams (or perhaps by watching hockey in general), but does anyone else think 220 sounds like not a whole lot of weight for a guy who's 7 feet tall?

I'm not svelte, but I'm way short of obese (by County Fair standards, anyway). I'm 5-10, 210. He must be invisible if the light hits him correctly.

ugarte

Josh '99

CornellFan
Cornell already has three newcomers on board for next year, they include:

Aaron Richardson C 6-9 220 Redmond WA Overlake HS/Pottstown PA Hill School
Collin Robinson G 6-0 170 Diamond Bar CA HS/USC Transfer
Jeff Foote C 7-0 220 Spencer-Van Etten HS NY/St. Bona. U.

Admittedly my opinion is skewed by watching Schafer's teams (or perhaps by watching hockey in general), but does anyone else think 220 sounds like not a whole lot of weight for a guy who's 7 feet tall?

I'm not svelte, but I'm way short of obese (by County Fair standards, anyway). I'm 5-10, 210. He must be invisible if the light hits him correctly.

You're also in your mid thirties. Guys tend to put on a lot of weight between 18 and 30, both in good and bad ways. He is probably slender but I'm sure he'll fill out to some degree while in college.

The ideal weight for a 7-0 guy at the D-I level is approximately 240-260 lbs.

Andrew Naeve came to Cornell at 6-9 and 210, but then grew an inch and added 30 pounds of muscle, now at 6-10 and 240.

Jason Hartford is currently a very strong power forward at 6-9 240.

Yes, Jeff Foote is slender at 210, but he has a very similar frame to other young freshmen centers in the Ivy League.

I suspect that with a couple years of intense training and diet alterations, he can probably pack on at least another 10 pounds of muscle.

In a perfect world, we get him north of 230 pounds.

There is one area of concern--

Foote graduated high school a couple years ago. So, it begs the question-- why did he not add additional weight while at St. Bonaventure?

When I was in high school in New Haven, Yale had a 6'11" center named Gerry Glynn who weighed something like 180 pounds. You cringed everytime he went up for a rebound, thinking it might be the last.

ugarte
Thanks. Looks like a good list.

Crazy that the best team in Canada is sending its players to Cornell and Binghamton. That probably wouldn't be the best team in Queens.

I'm waiting for the Harvard Crimson to write an editorial about how unsporting and disgraceful it is for Cornell to have Canadians on its roster.

[www.thecrimson.com]