Hawks' Galloway Collects Honors

Last November, after current Hawk freshman Langston Galloway signed his Letter of Intent with Saint Joseph's, I was fortunate enough to interview Langston and his father Larry. If you didn't read the interview then, please check out the link at the bottom of this article. At the time, most people that follow the Hawks weren't very familiar with Langston. That has all changed in a year, as Langston is one of the key pieces of this year's Hawk team as a freshman.

This week, Langston received two accolades for his terrific performances against Rutgers and Fairfield. In the two games, Langston averaged 17.5 points, and in the Rutgers game alone, Langston dished out 8 assists. For his efforts, Langston was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week and Big 5 Player of the Week. Articles on both awards are linked below.

The Hawks face two city opponents this week, playing at Drexel on Wednesday night and at Villanova on Friday. The Hawks enter this week's action riding a 3 game winning streak, and with a 3-2 record.

Hawk Hill Hardwood Interview with the Galloways

Langston is Big 5 Player of the Week

SJU Hawks Article on Awards

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Newark Eastside gets a Visit from Head Hawk

On Friday night, Saint Joseph's took down Mike Rice's Rutgers team at the Palestra, 76-70. Over the past several months, Rutgers has garnered it's fair share of national attention for signing a number of highly-regarded recruits in the 2011 class. A day after taking down the NJ state school, SJU head coach Phil Martelli traveled north to Newark to pay a visit to two recruits. Newark Eastside High School's Twitter read, "Head coach Phil Martelli fresh off his victory over Rutgers was @ our practice today checking out Tariq Carey '12 and Will Joyce '13."

I saw Carey play in the Eddie Griffin Challenge in October, and had this to say about his game:

I was interested in seeing Carey play, since he is a name I have heard quite a bit of over the past year. Carey, a 6'2 guard from Newark, has garnered a decent amount of Big East interest over the past year, and seems to have his eyes set on a conference like the Big East or ACC. In my opinion, both Carey and Dallas Anglin were the best New Jersey guards Sunday after Kyle Anderson. Carey is very quick and strong with the ball. Due to his size, colleges probably want to see him develop into more of a pure point guard to play at the Big East or ACC level. His perimeter shot struggled a bit in this game, but he still managed to score 8 points. I can see why high-majors are keeping an eye on Carey.

While Carey is a name that I was familiar with, Will Joyce is not. The SJU coaching staff is putting in some really early work in the 2013 class, one that is loaded in the tri-state area. Princeton Day School's Davon Reed has spent time on campus already this year and is receiving significant interest from the SJU coaching staff. Chester's Rondae Jefferson was at the SJU-Rutgers game on Friday evening. Joyce, a 6'4 forward, is only a sophomore, but seemingly one that has stood out to the SJU coaches.

According to the Newark Eastside blog, here, Joyce has been on the Saint Joseph's campus twice unofficially already. The picture of him above is from the Newark blog.

Tariq Carey and Will Joyce are two names for Hawk fans to remember.

Newark Eastside Twitter

Hawks Take Down Rutgers

In front of just over 5,000 fans last night at the Palestra, Saint Joseph's got their third consecutive win of the season, defeating Rutgers 76-70. The game was a homecoming of sorts for new Rutgers head coach Mike Rice, who spent time on Hawk Hill as an assistant before moving on to Pitt, Robert Morris, and now Rutgers. Last night's game was also a family affair, as Hawk head coach Phil Martelli's son, Jimmy, is on Mike Rice's Rutgers staff. Linked below is a terrific article on the Martellis from the Star Ledger's Brendan Prunty.

After being hammered at home by Western Kentucky in the season opener and losing at Penn State, the Hawks have now put together 3 wins in a row. The Hawks had nine players earn double-digit minutes in the contest. Despite getting his lip ripped open in the first half, the Hawks got yet another stellar performance from freshman Langston Galloway, who scored 20 points, had 8 assists, and pulled down 3 rebounds. Galloway was 4-5 from three, leading the way as the Hawks shot 38 percent from three on the night. Sophomore Tay Jones also had a big night, scoring 21 points, including a number of critical free throws down the stretch.

The Hawks led throughout, and even had a 10 point lead with 12 minutes left in the game. A number of costly turnovers allowed Rutgers back into the game. With 3 minutes to go, Rutgers had trimmed the lead to 1. After the Hawks expanded the lead to 6, senior Charoy Bentley hit what may have been the biggest shot of his Saint Joseph's career, drilling a 3 with just over a minute to go.

Although Rutgers is down this year, any win over a Big East school is an important one, especially considering the youth of the Hawks.

Seated courtside for the game was 2011 SJU recruit Chris Wilson, who will look to earn minutes alongside this talented group of guards next season. Another big name in the house last night was sophomore Chester wing Rondae Jefferson. Jefferson is a top 50 recruit nationally in his class, and just another name the Hawks look to be trying to get involved with. According to an Adam Zagoria article from earlier this month, the Hawks are also very interested in 2013 New Jersey guard Davon Reed. Last night's game was an exciting and entertaining game for Wilson, Jefferson, and everyone else at the Palestra.

Saint Joseph's looks to bring their winning streak to 4 on Wednesday at Drexel.

Star Ledger Article on the Martellis

Galloway and Aiken Lead Hawks to Road Win

After dropping the first two contests of the season, the Hawks have rebounded and now won back-to-back games. The Hawks defeated Fairfield 60-51 in Connecticut last night. With the win, the Hawks stand at 2-2 going into Friday's game against Rutgers at the Palestra. Current Rutgers head coach Mike Rice spent time on Hawk Hill as an assistant coach. Rice has made national waves with his 2011 recruiting class.

The Hawks trailed early last night, before ending the first half on a run and closing the Fairfield lead to 25-19. Down the stretch, the Hawks were able to clamp down defensively and convert from the free throw line. Freshman Langston Galloway once again put together a game well beyond his years, scoring 15 points on 7-9 shooting from the field. He also pulled down 5 rebounds, had 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Langston got help on Tuesday night from a freshman, a sophomore, and a senior. Senior forward Idris Hilliard had 12 points and 6 rebounds, Tay Jones had 13 points and 4 steals, and freshman CJ Aiken had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 blocks.

After Saturday's win against Norfolk State, I wrote about the significant minutes being played by the team's freshmen. Last night, the five freshmen combined for 109 of the possible 200 minutes. They pulled down 23 of the team's 32 rebounds. They scored 31 of the team's 61 points, and did so on a night where Daryus Quarles was kept scoreless.

Sophomore guard Justin Crosgile only played 8 minutes last night, with his minutes going to Pat Swilling Jr. and senior Charoy Bentley. That will be an interesting statistic to track this season.

ESPN Box Score

Hawks Get First Win of the Year

It took three games, but the Hawks rebounded from two difficult early season losses and got their first win of the season today, 70-65 over Norfolk State. The Hawks were led by freshman Daryus Quarles' 17 points and 5 rebounds. Quarles, who had a tough time get his jumper to fall in the season's first time games, went 4-5 today from three. The Hawks also got 16 points from sophomore Tay Jones, who only scored two field goals but went 11-12 from the charity stripe.

An interesting stat from today's game is that, of the 200 available minutes, 113 minutes went to freshmen. Out of the sophomore class, Tay Jones played only 21 minutes after getting in early foul trouble and sitting most of the first half. Sophomore guard Justin Crosgile was in street clothes, and sophomore forward Carl Baptiste didn't enter the game, although he was in uniform.

Although freshman Ronald Roberts only played 11 minutes, he managed to score 7 points for the Hawks, including a thundering put-back dunk in the first half. After missing his initial shot, Roberts went right back up and threw down a 2-handed dunk.

In attendance for the game today was Patrick Swilling Sr, former Georgia Tech and NFL star, and the father of freshman Pat Swilling Jr. Pat played his best game of his early career today, tallying 5 points and 3 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

Saint Joseph's is back in action Tuesday night at Fairfield. They will look to even up their record at 2-2.

ESPN Box Score


Photo of Daryus Quarles courtesy of SJUHawks.com

Chris Wilson Officially a Hawk

Mid-week, the Hawks got a signed National Letter of Intent from 6'8 Florida forward Papa Samba Ndao. This signing was a bit of a surprise, as Papa's recruitment was certainly not a straight-forward one. While he will join the team in January, the expectation is that he will redshirt and be a 2011 recruit for the Hawks. Papa is now joined officially by 6'3 North Carolina guard Chris Wilson, as Wilson's signed LOI has been received by the Hawks.

The official press release from Saint Joseph's is linked below. In the release, head coach Phil Martelli had this to say about Wilson:

"Chris and his family have embraced Saint Joseph's and the basketball program. He anxiously awaits the opportunity to enhance our program and our school. His game defines the true definition of a big guard."

Chris Wilson's Terry Sanford High School basketball team kicks off the 2010-2011 season on Tuesday night against New Hanover. Check back here throughout the season for Chris' high school results.


Chris Wilson Signs LOI with Hawks

Papa to the Hawks

One of the more confusing Saint Joseph's recruiting situations in recent memory is that of Florida forward Papa Samba Ndao. Ndao, originally a 2010 recruit to Boston College, reopened his recruitment when Boston College fired then-coach Al Skinner. Upon reopening his recruitment, Papa visited Hawk Hill in April. Shortly thereafter, rumors began swirling that the 6'8 Ndao had committed to Phil Martelli and the Hawks. Following a summer with no definitive answers and no appearances on campus, the specifics of Papa's recruitment were left open to much speculation. Finally, today, news broke concerning Papa's college future.

According to a number of written reports, including ESPN.com and the Philadelphia Inquirer (both of which are linked below), Papa will be eligible to play the second semester of this year, but will likely redshirt.

SJUHawks.com, also linked at the end of my article, had this to say: Ndao will begin practicing with the Hawks after Christmas and will be eligible immediately, although he could redshirt the season. A 6-8, 215-pound forward from the Senegal, Ndao (pronounced NON-doe) attended scholastic power Montverde (Fla.) Academy. He had originally signed a letter of intent to attend Boston College, but was released from that commitment because of a coaching change there."

If he redshirts, he will become the second member of the Hawks' 2011 recruiting class, alongside 6'3 guard Chris Wilson. Earlier this week, I provided a link to an article stating that Wilson was scheduled to sign his National Letter of Intent this past Monday. As of now, I have not heard anything to substantiate a claim that Wilson actually signed his LOI. There has been nothing officially released through Saint Joseph's and nothing in local North Carolina newspapers.

The fact that Papa is listed at 6'8 and 215 pounds means that the Hawks will be adding some size to the frontcourt next year. While they will lose senior Idris Hilliard, they gain Papa and also 6'8 245 pound Hofstra transfer Halil Kanacevic.

Articles linked directly below:

SJU Hawks Press Release on Papa

Dick Jerardi Article

ESPN Article on Papa


Photo Courtesy of Rivals.com

Hawks in Happy Valley

In just under three hours, Saint Joseph's will tip off in their first road game of the young season, hoping for a better result than their home opener. On Friday, the Hawks were hammered 98-70 at home by Western Kentucky. In the loss, the Hawks started three freshmen, in Langston Galloway, CJ Aiken, and Daryus Quarles. According to SJUHawks.com. there will be a slight change in the starting lineup this evening. In the place of the 6'6 Quarles, the Hawks will start 5'11 guard Justin Crosgile.

With Crosgile in the lineup, the Hawks will be very small around the perimeter. The starting lineup includes the 5'11 Tay Jones, 5'11 Justin Crosgile, 6'2 Langston Galloway, 6'7 Idris Hilliard, and 6'9 CJ Aiken.

Penn State is led by 6-foot senior guard Talor Battle, who is one of the better guards in the Big 10. He will be a handful for the Hawks to contain. The Nittany Lions are looking to improve to 2-0, after beginning the season with a 14-point home win over Lehigh.

The game airs at 7:30 tonight on ESPN3.com.

Chris Wilson to Sign LOI Monday

The early signing period for high school seniors began on Wednesday November 10th and continues for a week until the 17th. Currently, the Hawks hold only one verbal commitment in the 2011 recruiting class, and that commitment is from 6'3 North Carolina point guard Chris Wilson.

Per the 910preps site linked below, Wilson is planning to officially ink with Saint Joseph's tomorrow, Monday the 15th. Anyone who has watched the Hawks over the past couple seasons knows that point guard is an area of need. Chris Wilson hopes to help fill that need beginning next season. Once the signing is made official tomorrow, I will update here.

910 Preps Link

Photo Courtesy of Scout.com

Hawks Host Davon Reed (Updated)

Friday night's home opener against Western Kentucky was a rude awakening for both players and fans alike. For roughly 25 minutes, the game was within arm's reach for the Hawks, before a 12 point lead exploded into a 20-plus point lead. For nearly everyone in the Hagan, it was a night that they hope to soon forget. The young Hawks look to rebound on Tuesday at Penn State.

In attendance at the Hagan on Friday night, according to Alex Kline of TheRecruitScoop, was Princeton Day School sophomore Davon Reed. Schools often use their home openers to make a positive impression on recruits. For example, Villanova had 2012 star-in-the-making Savon Goodman in the house for their opener against Bucknell last night. The Hawks, in turn, hoped the vibrant energy of their home opener would make a positive impression on the sophomore.

According to Kline, Davon Reed was at the game as part of an unofficial visit to campus. He is a 6'4 shooting guard from Princeton that ESPN ranks as the number 35 player nationally in his class. While only a sophomore, it's nice to see the Hawks involved early with players of Reed's caliber.

Update:
In a recruiting update article on Zagsblog, which I have linked below, Adam Zagoria and Alex Kline write that the Hawks are close to offering Davon Reed. The fact that the staff is close to offering a current high school sophomore says a few things. I remember reading an article a few years back, and I apologize for not recalling exactly when or where, where Phil Martelli discussed Syracuse's signing of current freshman Dion Waiters. Waiters signed with Cuse going into his sophomore year of high school. In the article, Coach Martelli talked about how his signing represented the current climate of college recruiting. He had not even really gotten a chance to recruit Waiters, because at the time, he wasn't actively scouting or recruiting players at that age. Apparently the Saint Joseph's coaching staff is now. Although there are a few 2013 players who have been linked with Saint Joseph's, it sounds like Reed could be the first to receive an offer.

Zagsblog Recruiting Roundup

Hawks Pounded in Season Opener

As the seconds ticked down in the first half, and Tay Jones dribbled the ball around the perimeter, the Hawks had let a close game slip away into a 13 point Western Kentucky lead. With just a couple seconds left in the half, after Tay lost the ball, freshman CJ Aiken picked up the loose ball, hoisted a three, and connected, trimming the Western Kentucky lead to 10. Heading into halftime trailing by 10, there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic at the Hagan on Friday night. Freshman CJ Aiken put together an outstanding first half, Tay Jones was pushing the pace, and 11 players were getting minutes. There was a bit of a buzz in the air.

Fast forward an hour, and that buzz was a thing of the past. The 10 point halftime deficit ballooned up over 30 late in the second half, before the final buzzer left the Hawks 98-70 losers to Western Kentucky. The Hawks were led by Tay Jones and his 17 points. The Hawks also got 13 points and 7 rebounds from freshman guard Langston Galloway and 12 points and 5 rebounds from senior Idris Hilliard.

Statistically, the Hawks were outplayed in about every facet of the game. They were out-rebounded by 7, had 13 assists compared to Western Kentucky's 26, and shot 20 percent from 3 compared to WKU's 52 percent. Those are the ingredients to a resounding 28 point loss.

The complexion of the game changed around the 8 or 9 minute mark when the Hilltopper lead reached the mid-20's. At that point, the Hawks began to jack up 3's nearly every time down the court.

There were plenty of glimpses of the offensive potential of the team throughout the night. CJ Aiken, all 6'9 of him, canned two 3's. Tay Jones, Langston Galloway, and Justin Crosgile also showed an ability to score the ball. The glaring deficiencies for the team are on the defensive side of the ball. It will be interesting to watch the Hawks adjust their defensive approach as the season progresses.

On Tuesday night, the Hawks have their first road test at Penn State. Until then, they will lick their wounds and game-plan for their Big Ten opponent.

ESPN Box Score

Season Less Than 24 Hours Away

Here we stand just a day away from the beginning of a much-anticipated 2010-2011 Saint Joseph's college basketball season. The men's team tips off Friday evening at 7:30 against Western Kentucky at the Hagan Arena. There is quite a bit of mystery, intrigue, and excitement surrounding this year's team.

The roster is composed of five freshmen, three sophomores, a junior, and two seniors. On the official Saint Joseph's athletics site, in the game notes for tomorrow, a list of probable starters was released. The probable starters include three of the talented freshmen, a sophomore, and a lone upperclassman. In the backcourt, sophomore Tay Jones and freshman Langston Galloway look set to start. On the wing, freshman Daryus Quarles is the probable starter, which is quite an accomplishment considering he didn't even play for his high school last year due to a New Jersey high school transfer rule. The frontcourt will be senior Idris Hilliard and freshman CJ Aiken. Galloway, although a freshman, brings with him the maturity and physical presence of an upperclassmen. Quarles and Aiken, while noticeably thinner than just about everyone they match up with this season, also possess freakish athleticism and a serious skill-set.

While this is not set in stone, it seems more likely than not that these will be your starting five tomorrow evening. While obviously a frighteningly young lineup, it also possesses athleticism that was simply not on Hawk Hill last year.

Check back Saturday for a full recap of the game, including a list of recruits in the building and other noteworthy findings.

A new era in Saint Joseph's basketball begins tomorrow night. Buckle up.

Fordham Gets Big Commitment

According to ESPN and multiple other recruiting sites, Fordham picked up a verbal commitment from 6'10 New England senior Ryan Canty earlier today. Canty, a 6'10 220 pound big man from Massachusetts, apparently chose the Rams over Saint Joseph's, Rhode Island, UMass, and New Hampshire among other schools. Saint Joseph's was keeping a close eye on Canty, who is a major pick-up for the current Fordham staff.

Canty will be able to sign his Letter of Intent tomorrow, as tomorrow begins the Early Signing period for high school seniors. Players can sign their LOI's between the 10th and 17th if they want to sign early. If not, they are forced to wait until the spring.

At the moment, Saint Joseph's has only one senior slated to sign an LOI during the Early Signing period, and that player is 6'3 North Carolina guard Chris Wilson. Last season, the Hawks got signed LOI's from CJ Aiken, Daryus Quarles, and Langston Galloway during the early period, and then later received commitments from Ronald Roberts and Pat Swilling Jr.

11/4 Practice Report

Three weeks into practice, and just over a week prior to the season opener, I was able to stop by the Hagan yesterday and take in an hour of practice. I'll use this entry to post my observations for those of you that need your fix a week before the season opener at home against Western Kentucky.

All players were present for practice, and all seemed healthy. During the course of the practice, Hofstra transfer and current redshirt Halil Kanacevic took an elbow to the face and had to sit out a few minutes. Freshman Daryus Quarles also took a stray elbow to the head, forcing him to sit out a few minutes. Quarles actually took the elbow to the face and wanted to stay in, but was instructed to have someone sub in for him for the remainder of the drill.

At the beginning of practice, head coach Phil Martelli split up the team by position: points, wings, and bigs. The points were senior Charoy Bentley, sophomores Tay Jones and Justin Crosgile, and freshman Patrick Swilling Jr. The wings were freshmen Daryus Quarles, Langston Galloway, Ron Roberts, and walk-on Taylor Trevisan. Finally, the bigs were senior Idris Hilliard, junior Todd O'Brien, sophomore Carl Baptiste, Halil Kanacevic, and freshman CJ Aiken. Once split up by position, players worked on a ball-handling drill.

In a shooting drill later in practice, the team was split into two groups of 4 and a group of 5. Some observations from the drill. The team of Ron Roberts, Justin Crosgile, Pat Swilling Jr, and Todd O'Brien was really impressive. Throughout practice yesterday, I was impressed with Justin's jumper. As I've mentioned before, when Swilling is in the zone, he can be a terrific perimeter shooter. Todd is a steady hand from around 15 feet. Roberts also demonstrated an ability to knock down some jumpers. He continues to quickly improve just about every facet of his game, especially his jumper and his handle. CJ Aiken, Daryus Quarles, and Carl Baptiste also stood out in the shooting exercise.

Now for some other random observations:

CJ Aiken had a tremendous block in a fast-break drill. In that drill, he altered the possessions a number of other times because players knew that he was in the paint. His timing and athleticism are really unique and remarkable.

Carl Baptiste impressed me again. He received praise from the coaches on a couple occasions and was in position, and very vocal, on the defensive side of the ball. I'm sure that he knows that it will be a battle for minutes this year with Roberts and CJ now on the roster. He looks more than ready to fight for those minutes. His jumper was very solid.

Tay Jones and Justin Crosgile both looked very focused. As opposed to practices last year where they were often being corrected and explicitly told what to do on the court, they seemed to have a much firmer grasp this year. Both practiced very hard and both knocked down shots from 3, something they will both have to do this season to keep defenses honest.

Idris Hilliard is one of two seniors this year and seems to be taking a more vocal role this year. As I've mentioned before, after the two scrimmages, Idris looks like he spent a lot of his summer working on his perimeter shot. The work seems to be paying off, as he does seem like a legitimate shooting threat when he gets the ball almost all the way out to 3.

Langston Galloway doesn't look like a freshman. His maturity on the court is well beyond his years. He also has a very business-like approach to the game. Night in and night out, I truly feel like he is a threat to lead the team in scoring. More than any of the other freshman, he may be the most consistent this season. Not that I take the recruiting sites all that seriously, but I'm always left scratching my head wondering how there are 150 freshmen in the country better than him. Frankly, there aren't.

I already said a number of positive things about Ron Roberts, but he continues to surprise me. Having never seen him play prior to this summer, I expected the athleticism and tenacity on the boards. Although his handle isn't great, it's better than I expected. Ditto on his jumper. His ceiling is incredibly high.

Todd O'Brien, once again, is the best back-to-the-basket threat on the team. He showed off some nice moves in the post yesterday. With Idris, Carl Baptiste, Roberts, and CJ also fighting for minutes in the frontcourt, I would be shocked if Todd plays the 23 minutes per game that he did last year. That's not an indictment on him, but more a sign of how talented the freshmen are and the apparent improvement in Carl Baptiste.

Daryus Quarles continues to look like someone who will get significant minutes at the wing this year. After being ineligible to play last year after transferring back to Paulsboro from Life Center Academy, he is likely still getting fully back into game shape. Daryus again showed off a nice mid-range game yesterday in practice, and is one of the better perimeter shooters on the team. In the fast-break drill, he was also able to use his length to finish around the basket.

Pat Swilling is someone who may earn some minutes at the point this year, based on his practice yesterday. Due to his size and strength, he is able to bully his way into the paint against other guards. Once in the paint, he is able to finish himself or distribute the ball. He shot the ball well again yesterday from deep as well.

Halil will be a major factor next year when he is eligible to suit up. He will be able to plug right into the power forward spot with the graduation of Idris. While Idris, Carl Baptiste, CJ Aiken, and even Ron Roberts have a nice shooting touch out to 15 or 17 feet, Halil is purely a post player. He will excel in and around the basket when he uses his strength and deceptive athleticism to rebound and score.

Charoy earned some praise from the coaches throughout practice for doing exactly what was instructed. With Langston and Patrick on campus this year, in addition to Justin and Tay, minutes will be hard to come by for Charoy, but I can still see him being used situationally.

As for the coaches, the practice had a very positive tone. All 4 coaches were involved. The general vibe of the practice was upbeat though. It actually contrasted a little with practices over the past couple of years. There was a lot of positive feedback, praise, and constructive criticism.

This practice served as a nice glimpse into the future of the Hawks team. The coaches will likely have a different approach to this team than they did with last year's, since there are 5 freshman and all will likely see significant minutes. It will be an entertaining season with some growing pains and some flashes of brilliance.

Devin Coleman Has a List; Some Odds and Ends

One of the people that I seem to be getting a lot of my news from lately is Alex Kline of TheRecruitscoop. His site is a really good one, and although I'm not really a huge Twitter person, his twitter is tremendous ( here ).

According to Kline, 2011 Friends' Central guard Devin Coleman has a list. Coleman's recruitment is one of the more interesting ones in the area. Iowa made him a priority over the spring and summer, and he was considered an Iowa lean. Both sides then moved in a different direction. At one point, Rutgers was making a hard push for him. Since that point, Rutgers has signed 7 (yes, 7) players in the 2011 class and moved on. Saint Joseph's and Temple both had great interest in him. Since that point, the Hawks signed guard Chris Wilson and Temple signed Florida guard Will Cummings. Coleman has a list now that includes Rice, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, Delaware, Saint Bonaventure, Marshall, and Canisius. Talk about a diverse list. Devin is a tremendously talented player, and one that, this time last year, I thought would be a stretch for any A10 team. I viewed him more as a Big 10 or Big East player. Obviously things have changed. I have no inside info on the subject, but am surprised to see the Hawks still listed by Coleman, with Langston Galloway and Pat Swilling freshmen this year and Chris Wilson already signed in the 2011 class. This is a recruitment that I will try to find out more about.

With the season opener only a week away from tomorrow, I have still yet to make it over to Hawk Hill to watch a practice. That will change either today or tomorrow, so check back over the coming days for a practice report.

In other news, multiple sites, including Zagsblog and TheRecruitScoop, are reporting that former Overbrook High star Nurideen Lindsey had 48 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds last night. Those numbers are remarkable enough, and all the more impressive when you know that it was his first organized regular season basketball game in over two years. Lindsey is playing at Redlands (OK) Community College this year and will suit up for Steve Lavin and Saint John's next season.