Men's Basketball (2016-17)

Brian Earl's first year on the job starts with understandably low expectations as the Big Red was picked 7th in the pre-season media poll. There are reasons to think this could be an interesting season.

The backcourt is the team's strength. Sophomore Matt Morgan looks like an elite scorer. He averaged nearly 19 points a game last season, shattering the school record for freshman scoring. I'm not sure saying he'll leave Cornell as the school's all-time leading scorer qualifies as a hot take any more. Senior Robert Hatter will be asked to run the point. Robert is a puzzle in that he posts great stats but is really inefficient in doing so. Other guards likely to see the floor are: Senior Daryl Smith who is a very good all-around player, but not likely to shoot 60 percent from the field again; Senior JoJo Fallas who is a nice role player; and Sophomores Troy Whiteside and Joel Davis who both have potential, but need to polish their games. Whiteside had a 15 point game on the summer trip.

Cornell's problem last year was lack of production from the forwards. Senior David Onuorah returns as the team's best rebounder and shotblocker, but he's never blossomed offensively. It will be interesting to see if Earl can get him more involved. Junior Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof started 25 games, but he will need to shoot better (31%) and rebound better (3 per game) if he wants to hold onto his job.

The player that was probably most excited about the coaching change was Sophomore forward Stone Gettings, the star recruit from last year's class. Stone never found a role in BC's scheme, but he averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists during the three games in Spain this Summer. Plus, Donovan Wright is back and healthy and apparently played well during the Red-White scrimmage. Cornell's team last season had a lot of issues, but they were arguably the worst rebounding team in the nation. Wright and Gettings could help a lot there.

KenPom projects 11-17 and 5-9, which is a three way tie for sixth with Penn and Brown. Personally, I think the Red could challenge for 4th because it is a top heavy league. Princeton and Harvard are the class of the league by a wide margin, but after that, meh. Yale lost 4 starters (but will be good), Columbia is completely rebooting, Brown is a mess and Dartmouth is starting over with a new head coach. With a couple of breaks, a .500 season, appearance in the Ivy Tourney and a trip to a "pay to play" post-season event is possible.

Edit: Sorry, I missed that a topic had already been started.

Started the season 0-2. Road losses at Binghamton (68-62) and Siena (89-78).

Couldn't watch either game because of travel. Looks like they were feisty in the loss at Siena (four down with five minutes to go). The Saints are pretty good, so that's not the end of the world.

From the box scores, it looks like Gettings and Wright are getting a lot of PT, as is Freshman Josh Warren. Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof hasn't played yet, Daryl Smith has played a single minute, Onuorah missed the Siena game. Not sure why.

mountainred
Couldn't watch either game because of travel. Looks like they were feisty in the loss at Siena (four down with five minutes to go). The Saints are pretty good, so that's not the end of the world.

From the box scores, it looks like Gettings and Wright are getting a lot of PT, as is Freshman Josh Warren. Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof hasn't played yet, Daryl Smith has played a single minute, Onuorah missed the Siena game. Not sure why.

I believe I saw that Onuorah stayed back in Ithaca with an illness.

I'm rather surprised that Smith and Abdur-Ra'oof, unless injured, have fallen out of the rotation.

scoop85

mountainred
Couldn't watch either game because of travel. Looks like they were feisty in the loss at Siena (four down with five minutes to go). The Saints are pretty good, so that's not the end of the world.

From the box scores, it looks like Gettings and Wright are getting a lot of PT, as is Freshman Josh Warren. Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof hasn't played yet, Daryl Smith has played a single minute, Onuorah missed the Siena game. Not sure why.

I believe I saw that Onuorah stayed back in Ithaca with an illness.

I'm rather surprised that Smith and Abdur-Ra'oof, unless injured, have fallen out of the rotation.

David looks to be back in the starting line-up for tonight's game with Colgate, which is good. Jordan is apparently injured, off-season shoulder surgery, but Daryl seems to have fallen out of favor.

The Cornell Basketball Blog has all but disappeared; no new posts since Brian Earl was named the new coach. CBB was annoying, and didn't understand copyright laws, but he had every little detail on the basketball team.

mountainred

scoop85

mountainred
Couldn't watch either game because of travel. Looks like they were feisty in the loss at Siena (four down with five minutes to go). The Saints are pretty good, so that's not the end of the world.

From the box scores, it looks like Gettings and Wright are getting a lot of PT, as is Freshman Josh Warren. Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof hasn't played yet, Daryl Smith has played a single minute, Onuorah missed the Siena game. Not sure why.

I believe I saw that Onuorah stayed back in Ithaca with an illness.

I'm rather surprised that Smith and Abdur-Ra'oof, unless injured, have fallen out of the rotation.

David looks to be back in the starting line-up for tonight's game with Colgate, which is good. Jordan is apparently injured, off-season shoulder surgery, but Daryl seems to have fallen out of favor.

The Cornell Basketball Blog has all but disappeared; no new posts since Brian Earl was named the new coach. CBB was annoying, and didn't understand copyright laws, but he had every little detail on the basketball team.

Yeah, too bad the Blog has fallen by the wayside. Certainly a good source of information, despite the flaws that you pointed out.

I don't know what the season will turn out, but I like what I see and hear about Earl. If he is a decent recruiter I expect he'll bring us back to at least being a competitive program.

Finally got to watch the guys play as they drop their home opener to Colgate 67-63. David Onuorah was out again and it hurt as Cornell's young front line players gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds and good looks (If 'gate had better shooters, it could have gotten ugly.) Gettings has some nice offensive moves and a shooters touch, but needs to get stronger. Freshman Josh Warren looks like he's part of the rotation and hits the glass hard, but makes freshman mistakes because that is what he is. His ESPN scouting report was essentially "solid but unspectacular," but solid has it's value.

Matt Morgan remains incredible, even when he tries to do too much, and Coach Earl has Hatter playing more in control. The rest of the guards struggled and Daryl Smith remains missing.

The defense looked much more organized, but the offense still relied way too much breaking guys down one on one. The Big Red had two assists in the first few minutes when they built an 11-2 lead, then four more the rest of the game. .500 is going to be tough, but they could come together by league play.

The Big Red get their first win, knocking off Lafayette 82-75 on the road. It's a nice win for the guys.

I didn't get to watch, but the MVP was sophomore Donovan Wright who went off for 26 on one of the odder stat lines you will ever see. 8 for 10 from behind the arc, 1 for 7 inside, 0 for 1 at the line. The problem is, that 3 point shooting is not likely to be repeated while Donovan's shooting the rest of the season indicates 1 for 7 from in close could be. Still, Donovan has some talent, so take the good shooting and the win.

The stat line that stood out to me was Stone Gettings: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Again, the rating services all said Stone was the top recruit in last year's class, not Morgan. If he thrives in Earl's system, and Morgan remains a scoring machine, those two could be a lot of fun to watch over the next three seasons.

I'm going to look for a replay somewhere.

Ugly one at Monmouth. Hawks 76 Big Red 61. Monmouth is a top 100 team, so beating them on the road was unlikely, but most of the second half was played at a 15-20 point spread.

Basically, Cornell couldn't shoot. The team shot 36%. Hatter and Morgan were a combined 5 for 20. Last game's hero, Wright, was ice cold. The ball movement was good early, but if you don't hit the shots it doesn't matter. David Onuorah was out again and the lack of size was an issue as Monmouth had 16 second chance points to Cornell's 4.

Gettings had 14 and drew praise from the Monmouth announcing team on ESPN3. Troy Whiteside had 14 points and Daryl Smith resurfaced with 12 points and 8 rebounds, but a lot of their damage was after the game was settled.

Even uglier one at Houston. Three forwards out, Hatter and Gettings had bad nights. It was lucky to be only 83-53.

Despite the 1-5 start, the overall stats this year are slightly better than last. The offense is more efficient, as is the defense. Cornell is rebounding better (based on the percentage of available rebounds collected). Northeastern on Wednesday is a toss-up.

Cornell trailing at the half, but it's a really fun game to watch. 44-40 Huskies. Morgan is on fire and Hatter is making some great plays.

Nice win for the guys, 80-77. Matt Morgan set a career high with 34; Hatter had 8 assists (and deserved more) and freshman Josh Warren had 12 points (including 4 in the last minute), 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

The bad is that until the last minute or two, Northeastern was carving up the Big Red D. They were finding seams, soft spots and driving baseline at will.

But the offense was beautiful. 22 assists on 29 made FGs. 6 players had at least two assists. It helps to have Morgan, but the guys seems to be buying what Coach Earl is selling. It's a great game to take into exams.

Exam break thoughts: The guys are 2-5, which can be divided as 0-3 against top 100-ish teams and 2-2 against everyone else. Losing to Bingo stings. The rest of the non-conference slate breaks down as 2 likely wins (D3 and second Vegas game), 1 should win (Lowell), 1 toss-up (Troy), 2 likely losses (@ Wyo, @ Alb) and 2 not gonna happens (@ USC, @ SU).

The offense looks much better and is improving with each week. Everyone is involved -- the Red is assisting on more than 50% of the FGs for the first time since 'ski graduated -- and the offensive rebounding is better (though still not great), but the team needs to shoot better. The defense still needs work. Gone are the days of pressing and trapping, so turnovers are much more rare which results in needing to defend for the full 30 seconds. Opponents are getting way too many easy looks by finding seams or driving the baseline (David Onourah should help there when he returns), but Cornell is doing a very solid job of keeping teams off the offensive glass and holding opponents to one shot. Good shooting teams (see Houston) will give this team fits.

At guard, Morgan remains an elite scorer (he leads the league in scoring); Hatter is playing in control and is dangerous; and Smith and Fallas are providing solid depth. At forward, Gettings looks like a great fit for Coach Earl's offense (though he's struggled in his last two games) and lone Freshman Josh Warren impresses me more with each outing. He may not be the next Shonn Miller, but he could be the next Alex Tyler. Donovan Wright is starting and rebounding, but other than the night he hit 8 three pointers at Lafayette, he's not finding his shooting touch. Plus, you have to figure Onourah will get healthy and give you quality defense and rebounding at the post.

The drop off after those guys is troubling, and four of them (Hatter, Smith, Fallas, David O.) are seniors. Wil Bathurst and Troy Whiteside round out the rotation, but both have turnover rates that are close to 25% and that is just too high for a guard at this level.

In all, the games are less frustrating and more fun to watch, at least for me. They should be competitive in the Ivy this year, though a step behind the top 3 of Princeton, Harvard and Yale, and perhaps a step behind Penn as well.

0-2 start to the west coast swing. They guys lost 97-78 at Wyoming on Saturday afternoon. Basically, the Red were done when Wyoming closed the first half on a 35-10 run. Late last night, Cornell led until the closing seconds of the first half against #25 USC before falling 79-67. I'm not a huge fan of moral victories, but considering where the program is, that was pretty much a moral victory.

Still no David Onourah, but Troy Whiteside started and played pretty well. His 17 points against Wyoming were nice to see.

Next up are two games in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Hootenanny: a toss-up v. Troy, then a very winnable game against either Chicago State or SE Missouri. Not sure there will be any coverage for either game.

Early lead by Troy University dooms the Big Red as they lose to Troy 92-84 and fall to 2-8 on the season.

And they bounce back to beat SE Missouri St. 78-62. The RedHawks aren't good, but just taking care of business is good to see.

Wake up and I see this on Facebook: This week's shootout at Not OK Corral. It was scary to see the COR-USC teaser last week, even worse this week. I have no idea how Facebook chooses the other three games to p;romote.

The annual loss to Syracuse is taken care of: 80-56. Cornell took an early 8-2 lead, but it was all Orange after that.

One adjustment from my exam break thoughts is that Sophomore Troy Whiteside has supplanted Wright in the starting line-up and has played pretty well. His turnovers are down and he's 18 for 23 from inside the arc.

Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

mountainred

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

Bill Courtney couldn't recruit talented tall front court players in his 6 years. It's going to take Brian Earl time to reverse that recruiting trend.

Ken711

mountainred

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

Bill Courtney couldn't recruit talented tall front court players in his 6 years. It's going to take Brian Earl time to reverse that recruiting trend.

He never found a dominant center, but Bill had a couple of hits in his front court recruits: Shonn Miller was outstanding, Onuorah is/was a defensive presence, Warren looks promising and Gettings should be a big part of Earl's team for three years. But no question BC over-recruited athletic shooting guards over other positions.

I'm fully on board with giving Coach Earl time to get the roster the way he wants it; sorry if I gave another impression. I like watching the offense under his direction. But losing to UMass-Lowell at home is a bad loss no matter how you parse the result. And that attendance is depressing (edit: I live in WV, was the weather particularly bad in Ithaca?).

FWIW, bad weather doesn't keep people from attending hockey games.

The attendance reflects the quality of the product.

But I suspect only the students are interested in basketball. The townies mostly do hockey. Therefore with school out of session, who's there to go to the game?

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

Bill Courtney couldn't recruit talented tall front court players in his 6 years. It's going to take Brian Earl time to reverse that recruiting trend.

He never found a dominant center, but Bill had a couple of hits in his front court recruits: Shonn Miller was outstanding, Onuorah is/was a defensive presence, Warren looks promising and Gettings should be a big part of Earl's team for three years. But no question BC over-recruited athletic shooting guards over other positions.

I'm fully on board with giving Coach Earl time to get the roster the way he wants it; sorry if I gave another impression. I like watching the offense under his direction. But losing to UMass-Lowell at home is a bad loss no matter how you parse the result. And that attendance is depressing (edit: I live in WV, was the weather particularly bad in Ithaca?).

You're absolutely right, Shonn Miller was great. I should have been clearer regarding the center position. I guess we were spoiled by the luck to have gotten Jeff Foote. Regardless, an active center 6'9" or taller is a critical must for Earl and his staff to bring in.

I was frustrated by the poor defense in the UMass Lowell game. It goes back to the last couple of years since Shonn Miller graduated (Thank you Ivy League for your silly obsolete rules that punish players who get season ending injuries and force them to use their eligibility elsewhere)-that Cornell struggles to get stops on defense. It was a game where there was no height advantage for either team. Josh Warren has to work on finishing his shots. He had three inside shots that he missed in overtime. Finishing shots is a mental thing and I am sure that the coaching staff is going to work with him on this part of his game. On the other hand the offense looks much better with everyone sharing the ball and am glad that Bathhurst is playing up to his potential. The team will go as far as Morgan and Hatter can take them-too bad about Wright and from my vantage point think they will finish 6th to 8th place in the League.

The Bill Courtney era has sent Cornell hoops back to the dark ages. After going 27-57 in 6 Ivy seasons, he left the cupboard largely bare of front court players. We start one player taller than 6'4". Why did it take Andy so long to realize this? Hard to believe we've gone from the Sweet 16 in the year before Courtney was named, to this.

Ken711

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

Bill Courtney couldn't recruit talented tall front court players in his 6 years. It's going to take Brian Earl time to reverse that recruiting trend.

He never found a dominant center, but Bill had a couple of hits in his front court recruits: Shonn Miller was outstanding, Onuorah is/was a defensive presence, Warren looks promising and Gettings should be a big part of Earl's team for three years. But no question BC over-recruited athletic shooting guards over other positions.

I'm fully on board with giving Coach Earl time to get the roster the way he wants it; sorry if I gave another impression. I like watching the offense under his direction. But losing to UMass-Lowell at home is a bad loss no matter how you parse the result. And that attendance is depressing (edit: I live in WV, was the weather particularly bad in Ithaca?).

You're absolutely right, Shonn Miller was great. I should have been clearer regarding the center position. I guess we were spoiled by the luck to have gotten Jeff Foote. Regardless, an active center 6'9" or taller is a critical must for Earl and his staff to bring in.

Centers are tough and we were insanely lucky with Foote. Not that it works this way, but that luck was counterbalanced by Braxston Bunce's awful health. I'm not sure how good Braxston was, but his knees robbed him of whatever career he could have had.

I think Stone can be the high post player Coach Earl wants to run his offense, but he needs to get stronger and be more consistent. And I know I sound like the proverbial broken record, but not having Onourah's rebounding and shotblocking hurts a lot.

Unless there is a late find, it won't get better next year as the current recruiting class is 4 shooting/combo guards. But maybe one of them is the sniper the Big Red have lacked since Cressler's transfer in 2014 (if not the graduation of 'ski, Ferry and Groebe in 2012.)

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

Bill Courtney couldn't recruit talented tall front court players in his 6 years. It's going to take Brian Earl time to reverse that recruiting trend.

He never found a dominant center, but Bill had a couple of hits in his front court recruits: Shonn Miller was outstanding, Onuorah is/was a defensive presence, Warren looks promising and Gettings should be a big part of Earl's team for three years. But no question BC over-recruited athletic shooting guards over other positions.

I'm fully on board with giving Coach Earl time to get the roster the way he wants it; sorry if I gave another impression. I like watching the offense under his direction. But losing to UMass-Lowell at home is a bad loss no matter how you parse the result. And that attendance is depressing (edit: I live in WV, was the weather particularly bad in Ithaca?).

You're absolutely right, Shonn Miller was great. I should have been clearer regarding the center position. I guess we were spoiled by the luck to have gotten Jeff Foote. Regardless, an active center 6'9" or taller is a critical must for Earl and his staff to bring in.

Centers are tough and we were insanely lucky with Foote. Not that it works this way, but that luck was counterbalanced by Braxston Bunce's awful health. I'm not sure how good Braxston was, but his knees robbed him of whatever career he could have had.

I think Stone can be the high post player Coach Earl wants to run his offense, but he needs to get stronger and be more consistent. And I know I sound like the proverbial broken record, but not having Onourah's rebounding and shotblocking hurts a lot.

Unless there is a late find, it won't get better next year as the current recruiting class is 4 shooting/combo guards. But maybe one of them is the sniper the Big Red have lacked since Cressler's transfer in 2014 (if not the graduation of 'ski, Ferry and Groebe in 2012.)

Speaking of alleged snipers, is Pat Smith done? He's still listed not he roster, but I haven't heard anything about him in a long time

scoop85

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

CAS
Hoops falls to 3-10 in OT loss to Mass - Lowell, before an announced crowd of 422.

No way to spin this loss. Or that attendance.

And Donovan Wright is no longer listed on the roster.

Bill Courtney couldn't recruit talented tall front court players in his 6 years. It's going to take Brian Earl time to reverse that recruiting trend.

He never found a dominant center, but Bill had a couple of hits in his front court recruits: Shonn Miller was outstanding, Onuorah is/was a defensive presence, Warren looks promising and Gettings should be a big part of Earl's team for three years. But no question BC over-recruited athletic shooting guards over other positions.

I'm fully on board with giving Coach Earl time to get the roster the way he wants it; sorry if I gave another impression. I like watching the offense under his direction. But losing to UMass-Lowell at home is a bad loss no matter how you parse the result. And that attendance is depressing (edit: I live in WV, was the weather particularly bad in Ithaca?).

You're absolutely right, Shonn Miller was great. I should have been clearer regarding the center position. I guess we were spoiled by the luck to have gotten Jeff Foote. Regardless, an active center 6'9" or taller is a critical must for Earl and his staff to bring in.

Centers are tough and we were insanely lucky with Foote. Not that it works this way, but that luck was counterbalanced by Braxston Bunce's awful health. I'm not sure how good Braxston was, but his knees robbed him of whatever career he could have had.

I think Stone can be the high post player Coach Earl wants to run his offense, but he needs to get stronger and be more consistent. And I know I sound like the proverbial broken record, but not having Onourah's rebounding and shotblocking hurts a lot.

Unless there is a late find, it won't get better next year as the current recruiting class is 4 shooting/combo guards. But maybe one of them is the sniper the Big Red have lacked since Cressler's transfer in 2014 (if not the graduation of 'ski, Ferry and Groebe in 2012.)

Speaking of alleged snipers, is Pat Smith done? He's still listed not he roster, but I haven't heard anything about him in a long time

No first hand knowledge, but it doesn't look good. Pat hasn't played since last year's season opener. He looked promising as a freshman and even started one game (which was his last game of that season).

Big Red drop a 69-59 decision at Albany where the Great Danes have 16 offensive rebounds to Cornell's 1. Matt Morgan was out, I assume hurt since he seemed to suffer an injury late in the Lowell game.

The Big Red trailed pretty much the entire game, but a late run (largely Hatter) closed the gap to 2. Unfortunately, the Red couldn't get another stop.

The last OOC game is against NAIA Fisher.

Meanwhile Dartmouth has won three in a row, including one over a decent New Hampshire squad, so they aren't going to go quietly into last place.

mountainred
Big Red drop a 69-59 decision at Albany where the Great Danes have 16 offensive rebounds to Cornell's 1. Matt Morgan was out, I assume hurt since he seemed to suffer an injury late in the Lowell game.

The Big Red trailed pretty much the entire game, but a late run (largely Hatter) closed the gap to 2. Unfortunately, the Red couldn't get another stop.

The last OOC game is against NAIA Fisher.

Meanwhile Dartmouth has won three in a row, including one over a decent New Hampshire squad, so they aren't going to go quietly into last place.

Earl and his staff have got to bring in the front players in subsequent recruiting classes.

Cornell drops the Ivy opener 79-75 to Columbia. Down one, the BR forced a Lion turnover with 18 seconds left, but thanks to a turnover never got the shot at the win.

Size was again the problem. Columbia's center had 31 points and the Lions had 11 offensive rebounds (basically one of every three possible rebounds.)

Sophomore Jack Gordon had 13 points on 4 for 4 shooting and added 3 assists. If he can repeat that (I don't count double figures against the non-D1 opponent), he should be taking a chunk of Fallas' minutes down the stretch.

Also Hatter left the game with injury in the second half and never returned.

Penn has started 0-3, so the last slot for the Ivy Tourney may be up for grabs to a team that can go 7-7. It's unlikely Cornell can do that, but it will be nearly impossible without a split of Columbia.

Cornell gets the split with Columbia 67-62. Brian Earl gets his first league win.

The Big Red win despite Hatter being out with an injury, giving up 16 offensive rebounds and 22 turnovers. You have to respect a team finding a way to win despite that.

Morgan led the way with 17 points and 7 assists. Gettings and Whiteside had 13 each, and Bathurst had 12. Will started for Hatter and played well. And Jack Gordon had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. Notably he was on the floor in the in the final moments, along with Matt, Stone, Troy and Will.

It's Cornell's best road win of the year by far. Making the Ivy Tourney is still unlikely, but it's still possible with the split. One positive note for the long-term health of this team: the senior class was not much of a factor.

Meant to add that Columbia's Luke Petrasek only had 8 points, and only took 6 shots inside the arc, after destroying the Big Red last week. The BR was clearly focused on Luke, but the Lions have to get the ball inside better. I bet their fans are not happy right now.

mountainred
Cornell gets the split with Columbia 67-62. Brian Earl gets his first league win.

Agh so mad I missed this. I forgot it was today but to be honest I spent too much time in Manhattan today anyway.

Cornell splits a pair at home. Harvard closes on a 13-2 run to beat the BR 77-71. Frustrating loss in that Cornell led by 12 early in the second half and 5 with five minutes to go, but the talent between Harvard and Cornell (and frankly every other Ivy) is enormous. Cornell bounces back to beat Dartmouth 75-62 in a game that Cornell led by around ten most of the way. The split means Cornell is right now 5th in the league and ahead of Brown, Penn and Dartmouth.

Troy Whiteside and Will Bathurst have played really well the last couple of weeks which is great to see. Over the last five D1 games Troy is averaging something like 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Maybe not all-Ivy numbers, but solid starter numbers. Bathurst has always struck me as a bit of a 'tweener in that he has a forward's game in a guard's body. In the past, he'd explode every now and again, but he lacked consistency. Well, he's started the three games in place of Hatter (injured) and hit double figures each night with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He still sometimes tries to do too much, but the increased PT may be reducing his urgency to impress.

In crunch time lately, Cornell has gone with Morgan (still a special talent), Whiteside, Bathurst, Gettings (or Warren if rebounding is more critical), and a lot of Jack Gordon. What makes that group interesting is that it is 1 junior, 4 sophs, and our only freshman. With all respect to the seniors, who I know are still working hard, that's probably the right move for the longer-term success of the program.

I was traveling, so I missed the games -- even the delayed by blackout game against Yale -- but the Big Red dropped a pair at home this past weekend: 81-70 to Brown and 78-71 to Yale. The main culprit appears to be the inability to hit 3s as the Big Red shot 10 for 45 from behind the arc (22%) over the weekend. The losses move Cornell's chances for making the Ivy Tourney from "unlikely, but maybe they get hot" to "mathematically alive, but not going to happen."

The record is a bit disappointing, but the change to Earl has been largely for the better. The offense is more cohesive. The defense needs tightening, but it's hard to excel on that end without a good big man. Stone is a much better offensive player than he is defensive. There has been more individual development as Whiteside, Bathurst and Gordon are all getting better as the season goes along.

The big question for Earl is whether he can bring in the talent necessary to compete. Cornell needs front line help, three point shooters and could use a pure PG. I like Josh Warren, but he is the only freshman on the team in year that has seen a ridiculous amount of freshman talent in the league. The current recruiting class for next year has some interesting prospects, but no one who will be a pre-season pick for ROY. This could well be a multi-year rebuild, but I guess we knew that.

At the half, Penn 42 - Cornell 14. Penn is 1-6 in Ivies.

CAS
At the half, Penn 42 - Cornell 14. Penn is 1-6 in Ivies.

The worst I've seen the guys. By far. Very disappointing after a competitive loss at Princeton on Friday night.

Penn isn't great, but their 1-6 record is a bit deceiving. They looked like a lock for the Ivy Tourney before the league slate began.

But, make no mistake, that was a brutal half.

The second half was better. How could it not be? But Penn wins 82-63.

In a classic college basketball moment, the refs spent a minute watching the replay to decide if they needed to put .8 on the clock at the end of the game. With the score 82-63. Just in case Cornell had a 20 point play ready to use.

Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth and Penn are all tied for fifth place at 2-6. I know that also means last place.

Well, I'm glad I was distracted by a broken snowblower so that I didn't have to watch such a debacle

I started to watch it - it was on Comcast - but when it got to the point when Cornell had missed something like 10 shots in a row and were already way down, i quit.

mountainred
The second half was better. How could it not be? But Penn wins 82-63.

In a classic college basketball moment, the refs spent a minute watching the replay to decide if they needed to put .8 on the clock at the end of the game. With the score 82-63. Just in case Cornell had a 20 point play ready to use.

Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth and Penn are all tied for fifth place at 2-6. I know that also means last place.

+1

Final: Cornell 69 Dartmouth 65

Ken711
Final: Cornell 69 Dartmouth 65

Nice road win for the guys. Warren got his first start and it helped on the glass. Warren had five offensive rebounds; the team had 10. Troy Whiteside had a huge, possibly game-saving offensive rebound late. Cornell led by 8 with 2+minutes to go, but Dartmouth scored six in a row and forced the Big Red into a desperate shot just before the shot clock expired. It looked liked Dartmouth was going to get a chance to tie or take the lead when Troy swooped in for the offensive board. Dartmouth had to foul and Morgan was perfect from the line down the stretch.

Morgan had 28 points and Getting added a double/double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Technically Cornell is still alive for the Ivy Tourney as the team is only one game back of 4th place Columbia. Realistically? Not going to happen.

mountainred
Technically Cornell is still alive for the Ivy Tourney as the team is only one game back of 4th place Columbia. Realistically? Not going to happen.

How come? We and Columbia play the same schedule as travel partners, right? So we just need to pick up a game someplace.

Trotsky

mountainred
Technically Cornell is still alive for the Ivy Tourney as the team is only one game back of 4th place Columbia. Realistically? Not going to happen.

How come? We and Columbia play the same schedule as travel partners, right? So we just need to pick up a game someplace.

Well, we play the same schedule except for tonight (we're at Harvard, the Lions get Dartmouth). That is a big advantage for Columbia. The likely result is a two game hole with four to play. And Penn is lurking with the same record and a better team according to the computers (not to mention what the Quakers did to us last Sunday).

Upset the Crimson tonight and the odds change dramatically.

mountainred
Well, we play the same schedule except for tonight (we're at Harvard, the Lions get Dartmouth). That is a big advantage for Columbia. The likely result is a two game hole with four to play. And Penn is lurking with the same record and a better team according to the computers (not to mention what the Quakers did to us last Sunday).

Upset the Crimson tonight and the odds change dramatically.

Got it. Thanks.

Yes, there's no chance Cornell sneaks in this year. Just like them to finish with a few more wins and hope that Earl can concentrate the recruiting on bringing in some size on the front court.

Cornell losses to Harvard 75-87.

Ken711
Yes, there's no chance Cornell sneaks in this year. Just like them to finish with a few more wins and hope that Earl can concentrate the recruiting on bringing in some size on the front court.

Frontcourt help for Gettings and Warren is important, and doesn't look like it is coming in this class. The two tallest recruits are both 6-5. But the team also needs a true PG and a couple of dependable three-point shooters. Gettings is great at running the offense from the high post, but your post player shouldn't be the team's top threat in assists and three-point shooting. A Chris Wroblewski type would help a lot.

mountainred

Ken711
Yes, there's no chance Cornell sneaks in this year. Just like them to finish with a few more wins and hope that Earl can concentrate the recruiting on bringing in some size on the front court.

Frontcourt help for Gettings and Warren is important, and doesn't look like it is coming in this class. The two tallest recruits are both 6-5. But the team also needs a true PG and a couple of dependable three-point shooters. Gettings is great at running the offense from the high post, but your post player shouldn't be the team's top threat in assists and three-point shooting. A Chris Wroblewski type would help a lot.

Why can't Earl try and bring in some transfers or Jr. College recruits to bridge the gap until he finds some HS front court players?

Ken711

mountainred

Ken711
Yes, there's no chance Cornell sneaks in this year. Just like them to finish with a few more wins and hope that Earl can concentrate the recruiting on bringing in some size on the front court.

Frontcourt help for Gettings and Warren is important, and doesn't look like it is coming in this class. The two tallest recruits are both 6-5. But the team also needs a true PG and a couple of dependable three-point shooters. Gettings is great at running the offense from the high post, but your post player shouldn't be the team's top threat in assists and three-point shooting. A Chris Wroblewski type would help a lot.

Why can't Earl try and bring in some transfers or Jr. College recruits to bridge the gap until he finds some HS front court players?

He certainly could. Cornell has had some recent success with that: Drew Ferry (JUCO), Jon Gray (transfer), and Mark Coury (transfer). And Jeff Foote worked out okay too. What I don't know is if that is a route Earl is comfortable following; he learned at Princeton which has normally not used JUCOs or transfers.

Penn 69 Cornell 66. Cornell fought back from 12 down to take a four point lead late, but the Quakers made the plays down the stretch. Morgan was Morgan with 26 points and just missing an NBA-length 3 that would have forced the tie. Bathurst added 15 points and Gettings had 10 rebounds. Princeton tomorrow on ESPN3, but the Tigers are still unbeaten in league play (not that it matters, they will need to win games in the sell-out ILT).

Princeton 75 Cornell 60 on senior day. I thought the game tipped at 7, so I was settling down to the watch the second half and found out I missed the entire thing. Looks like the game was close for 30+ minutes.

mountainred
Princeton 75 Cornell 60 on senior day. I thought the game tipped at 7, so I was settling down to the watch the second half and found out I missed the entire thing. Looks like the game was close for 30+ minutes.

Cornell led by 10 at 23-13.

Al DeFlorio

mountainred
Princeton 75 Cornell 60 on senior day. I thought the game tipped at 7, so I was settling down to the watch the second half and found out I missed the entire thing. Looks like the game was close for 30+ minutes.

Cornell led by 10 at 23-13

Sounds like 2010 vs Kentucky.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2017 01:11AM by toddlose.

Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

 

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

mountainred

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

Can't hurt the recruiting pitch to other kids when a legendary coach's son elects to play for you

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

Can't hurt the recruiting pitch to other kids when a legendary coach's son elects to play for you

But does he actually go to class or is he like the sort of kid his dad would recruit?

abmarks

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

\

Can't hurt the recruiting pitch to other kids when a legendary coach's son elects to play for you

But does he actually go to class or is he like the sort of kid his dad would recruit?

And is he an asshole like pops?

Trotsky

abmarks

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

\

Can't hurt the recruiting pitch to other kids when a legendary coach's son elects to play for you

But does he actually go to class or is he like the sort of kid his dad would recruit?

And is he an asshole like pops?

And a nice warm welcome for Jimmy Boeheim to the Cornell family!

Trotsky

abmarks

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

\

Can't hurt the recruiting pitch to other kids when a legendary coach's son elects to play for you

But does he actually go to class or is he like the sort of kid his dad would recruit?

And is he an asshole like pops?

Who really cares as long as he can score.

Ken711

Trotsky

abmarks

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

scoop85
Interesting news, as next season. The kid appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, and it looks like he'll be a solid Ivy League player.

Excited to announce that I have committed to play basketball at Cornell University #gobigred

Jim Boeheim's kid! 6'7" but mostly outside game from his highlight reel. Interesting.

Nice late pick-up. He doesn't look like the rim protector/rebounder that the team needs, but extra frontcourt help is great. And good shooters are always useful.

\

Can't hurt the recruiting pitch to other kids when a legendary coach's son elects to play for you

But does he actually go to class or is he like the sort of kid his dad would recruit?

And is he an asshole like pops?

Who really cares as long as he can score.

I'd like to root for a decent person who can shoot threes.

But I will take shooter.

I would surmise most here have never met the family nor realize they have family that works here at cornell.

Nice article on Jim Boeheim.

[insidetheloudhouse.com]

Today is clean out the closet day.

Ken711
Nice article on Jim Boeheim.

[insidetheloudhouse.com]

The sub-title seems to mistake Cornell (Big Red) for Cortland (Red Dragons).

Ugly loss at Yale. Big Red now sit alone in last place, though a win tomorrow probably creates a three way tie for sixth. And last, but at least there will be company.

Johnny 5

image.jpg1.jpg

Today is clean out the closet day.

Nice

The team closes the season with a 92-78 win at Brown. The story was basically the guys couldn't miss as they shot nearly 60% for the game.

With the win, and Princeton's win over Dartmouth, the Big Red finish tied with Brown and the Green for 6th at 4-10 in the league.

One bright-ish angle on the season is that next year isn't the complete rebuild I expected. Coming into the season, it looked like 50-60% of the minutes were going to come from seniors with three senior starters returning. But Onuorah only played 20 minutes in the opener and Smith never clicked with the new regime. By the end of the season, neither was still on the roster. Fallas started for a while, but by the end was a 10-15 minute reserve. Only Robert Hatter was still starting. Hatter finishes his career as the #10 all-time scorer for the Big Red, but his graduation may not be the end of the world because he was never a terribly efficient player.

The offense was improved and averaged almost a point a possession; the best mark since 2011. The passing was better and more than half the baskets were assisted for the first time since 'ski graduated. Offensive rebounding remained an issue (Warren helped) but the guys love the three ball too much. Cornell was 31st in percentage of shots taken that were threes, but #247 in three point shooting. That's not a good combination.

The defense still needs work. The BR didn't give up nearly as many offensive rebounds, but those gains were matched by not forcing any turnovers.

I'm mildly disappointed in the season, but the transition from Courtney to Earl was pretty significant. And the team "looked" better. The bottom line will be recruiting. The sophomores are solid, but our freshman class of one is a problem. Warren is a fine player, but he's the entire class and this year's Ivy freshman class was loaded.

mountainred


With the win, and Princeton's win over Dartmouth, the Big Red finish tied with Brown and the Green for 6th at 4-10 in the league.

Call it what it is: Last place.

scoop85


And a nice warm welcome for Jimmy Boeheim to the Cornell family!

FOUnd this quote from Boeheim Sr.

Coach Boeheim- From Espn.com
"Very happy!" Jim Boeheim told ESPN in a text message. "He's a stretch-4 at that level. He can shoot the 3, and can rebound the ball.

"I think it's a great fit for him. He's a good student, it's a good basketball school, and I really like the coach [Brian Earl]."

Good basketball school? I guess he thinks his own students are "good students" too.

abmarks

mountainred


With the win, and Princeton's win over Dartmouth, the Big Red finish tied with Brown and the Green for 6th at 4-10 in the league.

Call it what it is: Last place.

Which I did on Friday. But at least there's company.

abmarks

mountainred


With the win, and Princeton's win over Dartmouth, the Big Red finish tied with Brown and the Green for 6th at 4-10 in the league.

Call it what it is: Last place.

Which I did on Friday. But at least it's along in the cellar.

mountainred
The team closes the season with a 92-78 win at Brown. The story was basically the guys couldn't miss as they shot nearly 60% for the game.

With the win, and Princeton's win over Dartmouth, the Big Red finish tied with Brown and the Green for 6th at 4-10 in the league.

One bright-ish angle on the season is that next year isn't the complete rebuild I expected. Coming into the season, it looked like 50-60% of the minutes were going to come from seniors with three senior starters returning. But Onuorah only played 20 minutes in the opener and Smith never clicked with the new regime. By the end of the season, neither was still on the roster. Fallas started for a while, but by the end was a 10-15 minute reserve. Only Robert Hatter was still starting. Hatter finishes his career as the #10 all-time scorer for the Big Red, but his graduation may not be the end of the world because he was never a terribly efficient player.

The offense was improved and averaged almost a point a possession; the best mark since 2011. The passing was better and more than half the baskets were assisted for the first time since 'ski graduated. Offensive rebounding remained an issue (Warren helped) but the guys love the three ball too much. Cornell was 31st in percentage of shots taken that were threes, but #247 in three point shooting. That's not a good combination.

The defense still needs work. The BR didn't give up nearly as many offensive rebounds, but those gains were matched by not forcing any turnovers.

I'm mildly disappointed in the season, but the transition from Courtney to Earl was pretty significant. And the team "looked" better. The bottom line will be recruiting. The sophomores are solid, but our freshman class of one is a problem. Warren is a fine player, but he's the entire class and this year's Ivy freshman class was loaded.

Please try and bring in some size in the front court!

Congratulations to Matt Morgan for being named 2nd team All-Ivy!

mountainred
Congratulations to Matt Morgan for being named 2nd team All-Ivy!

Good for Matt. Not good for Cornell when that's the story headline rather the secondary title.

Princeton pulled away at the end of a close semi against Penn. They'll face Yale who led wire-to-wire (but close throughout) and knocked off Harvard in the other semi.

Final is tomorrow at noon.

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

Ken711
Yes, there's no chance Cornell sneaks in this year. Just like them to finish with a few more wins and hope that Earl can concentrate the recruiting on bringing in some size on the front court.

Frontcourt help for Gettings and Warren is important, and doesn't look like it is coming in this class. The two tallest recruits are both 6-5. But the team also needs a true PG and a couple of dependable three-point shooters. Gettings is great at running the offense from the high post, but your post player shouldn't be the team's top threat in assists and three-point shooting. A Chris Wroblewski type would help a lot.

Why can't Earl try and bring in some transfers or Jr. College recruits to bridge the gap until he finds some HS front court players?

He certainly could. Cornell has had some recent success with that: Drew Ferry (JUCO), Jon Gray (transfer), and Mark Coury (transfer). And Jeff Foote worked out okay too. What I don't know is if that is a route Earl is comfortable following; he learned at Princeton which has normally not used JUCOs or transfers.

Add a JUCO: Chukuka Emili, a 6' 6" forward. Emili played for New Mexico Military Institute last season and averaged a little more than 5 rebounds a game. Has to help.

Chukuka Emili from JUCO New Mexico Military Institute sounds like Key and Peele.

Trotsky
Chukuka Emili from JUCO New Mexico Military Institute sounds like Key and Peele.

Next year we'll go from a single All-Ivy second time to the nationwide all-name team.

And another JUCO: Steven Julian is a 6'6" 200 pound forward who was all-Region (whatever that means, but it sounds good) at Kaskaskia College in Illinois. He averaged 10.5 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.

Coach Earl is trying to build up the front court.

mountainred
And another JUCO: Steven Julian is a 6'6" 200 pound forward who was all-Region (whatever that means, but it sounds good) at Kaskaskia College in Illinois. He averaged 10.5 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.

Coach Earl is trying to build up the front court.

Makes a lot of sense. I get the feeling that Earl knows exactly how to build a team that can win in the Ivy League, something Courtney never was able to figure out. Now whether Earl gets enough of the right kids is where the rubber will meet the road.

I was hoping Earl might look to JC players to get some instant talent while he builds up his recruiting classes.

mountainred
And another JUCO: Steven Julian is a 6'6" 200 pound forward who was all-Region (whatever that means, but it sounds good) at Kaskaskia College in Illinois. He averaged 10.5 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.

Coach Earl is trying to build up the front court.

From the Kaskasia web site:
[www.kaskaskiaathletics.com]
[www.kaskaskiaathletics.com]

Interesting quote from Martha Pollack the new President of CU:

We both love music, especially classical and jazz, so we hope to attend the Cornell Concert Series and some of the student performances, and we’re basketball fans, so look for us at some of the men’s and women’s basketball games.

Cop at Lynah
Interesting quote from Martha Pollack the new President of CU:

We both love music, especially classical and jazz, so we hope to attend the Cornell Concert Series and some of the student performances, and we’re basketball fans, so look for us at some of the men’s and women’s basketball games.

Hockey or GTFO.

mountainred

mountainred

Ken711

mountainred

Ken711
Yes, there's no chance Cornell sneaks in this year. Just like them to finish with a few more wins and hope that Earl can concentrate the recruiting on bringing in some size on the front court.

Frontcourt help for Gettings and Warren is important, and doesn't look like it is coming in this class. The two tallest recruits are both 6-5. But the team also needs a true PG and a couple of dependable three-point shooters. Gettings is great at running the offense from the high post, but your post player shouldn't be the team's top threat in assists and three-point shooting. A Chris Wroblewski type would help a lot.

Why can't Earl try and bring in some transfers or Jr. College recruits to bridge the gap until he finds some HS front court players?

He certainly could. Cornell has had some recent success with that: Drew Ferry (JUCO), Jon Gray (transfer), and Mark Coury (transfer). And Jeff Foote worked out okay too. What I don't know is if that is a route Earl is comfortable following; he learned at Princeton which has normally not used JUCOs or transfers.

Add a JUCO: Chukuka Emili, a 6' 6" forward. Emili played for New Mexico Military Institute last season and averaged a little more than 5 rebounds a game. Has to help.

And before we learned to spell Chukuka Emili, he's apparently reopened his recruiting and is gone.

Trotsky

Cop at Lynah
Interesting quote from Martha Pollack the new President of CU:

We both love music, especially classical and jazz, so we hope to attend the Cornell Concert Series and some of the student performances, and we’re basketball fans, so look for us at some of the men’s and women’s basketball games.

Hockey or GTFO.

Probably was turned off by a coach who pissed all over campus.

I thought, "why not mention hockey," but if she added that, she's started a list, and somebody would wonder about lacrosse, and wrestling, and etcetera, and it'd sound as if all she cared about was sports.

I do recall that Skorton (or was it Lehman?) was introduced in person to the student body at a hockey game.

Possible big loss for the basketball program.

[cornellbigred.com]

Ken711
Possible big loss for the basketball program.

[cornellbigred.com]

I am ... not concerned.

ugarte

Ken711
Possible big loss for the basketball program.

[cornellbigred.com]

I am ... not concerned.

He could learn from a few of the workouts, but he will almost certainly pull his name. Mason from Yale did this last year.

Actually, the best part of these stories is hearing that Morgan isn't thinking transfer.

Jeremy Lin says racist remarks he heard from opponents were worse in NCAA than NBA

He mentions Cornell right off the bat.

"The worst was at Cornell, when I was being called a c---k," the Brooklyn Nets point guard said in an interview on his teammate's podcast, "Outside Shot with Randy Foye." "That's when it happened. I don't know ... that game, I ended up playing terrible and getting a couple of charges and doing real out-of-character stuff. My teammate told my coaches [that] they were calling Jeremy a c---k the whole first half. I didn't say anything, because when that stuff happens, I kind of just, I go and bottle up -- where I go into turtle mode and don't say anything and just internalize everything."

Anti-Asian chants at Cornell? Something something coals to Newcastle.

ugarte

Ken711
Possible big loss for the basketball program.

[cornellbigred.com]

I am ... not concerned.

ahem

Cornell's Matt Morgan will withdraw from NBA draft process and return to school, coach Brian Earl told ESPN.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) May 22, 2017

So what was that all about? Did somebody (Morgan himself?) just have a wildly optimistic idea of his draft value?

Trotsky
So what was that all about? Did somebody (Morgan himself?) just have a wildly optimistic idea of his draft value?

He was just gauging interest and looking for feedback as to whether he has a realistic chance to someday be an NBA caliber player. Apparently he was contacted by 3 NBA teams during the process.