Colonials Corner

After one of the best seasons in program history, Sal Buscagalia has signed a 3-year contract extension that takes his deal through 2015-2016.

We talked to Sal earlier on Monday for this story that’s in Thursday’s Beaver County Times.

Couple things that didn’t make the cut:

• Several RMU players played for their respective national teams over the summer, including Mary Durojaye (England), Anna Gailite (Latvia), Yohanna Morton (Dominican Republic), and freshman Artemis Spanou (Greece).
• Gailite and Durojaye apparently impressed their national team coaches during the summer. Buscaglia said the English coaches were “really happy with her progress.”
• He also pointed out that the international players benefit from playing top competition all year around, noting that per NCAA rules, coaches aren’t allowed to do much at all with their players during the summer. The international players get to play at a high level during the summer sessions, which helps their development and skillset.
• As you’ll see in the article, Vega Gimenez-Martinez will not be back. Buscaglia said that she really enjoyed her time at Robert Morris, but it’s “hard to turn down” an offer that includes a pro contract in your native Spain that includes education benefits.
• Coach Sal said that replacing Angela Pace, the reigning NEC Player/Defensive Player of the Year, will be the toughest task. It’ll likely fall to a combination of Morton and freshman Danielle Bounds.
• Season opener is against Lehigh, followed up with a game at North Carolina.

Our colleague Eric Hall at the Beaver County Times has an excellent article showcasing how Andy Toole is settling in as the youngest head coach in college hoops.

As has been mentioned, Toole finally has a complete staff and roster to work with as the school year draws near. Mike Byrnes (Winchendon Prep School) had been mentioned several times over the last month or so as a potential assistant coach and he’s officially been added to the staff this week, as a couple commenters have posted. That finalizes Toole’s staff for his first year. Toole has Byrnes, former Vermont assistant Matt Hahn, and holdover Robby Pridgen as assistants. Dave Richards and Dave Scarborough stay on as the video coordinator and director of basketball operations. Hahn is likely Toole’s number one assistant – he has the most D-I experience – and has been very active with Toole on the recruiting trail.

As for the roster, it’s extremely doubtful any additional players are added this late. Deion Turman was about as late as it gets anymore. Turman’s officially through the clearinghouse and a member of the team. The depth chart looks something like this:

F – Lijah Thompson (6’7, 200, So.), Bernard Webb (6’9, 230, So.), Deion Turman (6’9, 215, Fr.)

F – Russell Johnson (6’6, 180, r.So.), Lawrence Bridges (6’6, 220, Jr.), Yann Charles (6’5, 220, Fr.)

G – Gary Wallace (6’3, 200, Sr.), Elton Roy (6’2, 195, Fr.)

G – Karon Abraham (5’9, 150, So.), Coron Williams (6’2, 170, rFr.), Shane Mahoney (6’1, 175, Sr. walkon)

G – Velton Jones (6’0, 170, rSo.), Anthony Myers (5’11, 170, Fr.)

And with that, we’re officially onto football for the next few months. Basketball should be quiet until the 2011 commitments begin to come in and practice begins in October.

Robert Morris fans looking for some additional size on the 2010 Colonials men’s basketball team may get their wish.

Our colleague Eric Hall at the Beaver County Times reports that RMU is close to signing 2010 Mount Lebanon graduate Deion Turman. The 6-foot-8 center/forward would be joining the Colonials very late in the process, but head coach Andy Toole certainly could use an extra forward. As of now, the Colonials only have redshirt sophomore Russell Johnson, sophomore Lijah Thompson, and junior college transfer Bernard Webb as players 6-foot-6 or taller at forward, Johnson profiles better as a wing/small forward.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that Turman has accepted the scholarship offer, and quotes him as saying that he believes RMU is a place he can succeed on and off the court, but Hall reports that Turman has paperwork that still needs to clear with the NCAA Clearinghouse.

It’s still unofficial, as it hasn’t been released on the official Robert Morris website, but it looks like the schedule has been finalized for the first year of the Andy Toole era in Moon Township.

There are no surprises – after all, much of the schedule has been speculated on even before Mike Rice left for Rutgers. The only thing that has changed with Toole in charge is the return of Youngstown State to the schedule, the addition of a home game that became the season opener (St. Peter’s), and the confirmation that the Colonials will indeed play Pitt early in the season.

The schedule includes 3 buy games – Pitt, WVU, and Arizona – and just three non-conference home games. The Colonials will play four teams (Pitt, WVU, Morgan State, and Ohio) who played in the NCAA Tournament last year.

No word on if any games will be televised outside of the ESPN game against Kent State. Other logical bets include the games against Duquesne, Pitt, St. Francis Pa., and the rivalry games (especially the final game of the regular season) against Mount St. Mary’s.

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This is the final regular season tripleheader at Greentree. The league will host playoff games next Tuesday before crowning a champion and handing out awards on Wednesday.

We’ll see if Karon Abraham continues his hot shooting from Monday night. The Colonial sophomore led all scorers with 32 points on 11 of 18 shooting, including 7 of 12 from beyond the arc. Unfortunately for Karon, his P&W team is winless.

This week also brings a surprise appearance by former Colonial Chaz McCrommon. He’s been playing overseas much of the past few years and is listed by the Pitt website PantherLair as being on a roster this week.

Schedule:

7 p.m. – Center Court vs. SPK
8 p.m. – UPMC vs. P&W
9 p.m. – PGT vs. The Lair

Standings:
The Lair (No RMU connections) – 5-1
Center Court (Russell Johnson, Coron Williams, Yann Charles) – 5-1
UPMC (Mezie Nwigwe, Josiah Whitehead) – 4-2
SPK (Velton Jones, Lijah Thompson) – 2-4
PGT (Jeremy Chappell, Dallas Green) – 2-4
P&W (Karon Abraham, Anthony Myers, Chaz McCrommon) – 0-6

The Pittsburgh Basketball Club summer league is back in action Wednesday night with another tripleheader. Again, all games are at the Greentree Sportsplex and admission is free. Arrive early as parking tends to be at a minimum.

Wednesday’s schedule:

7PM — PGT (Jeremy Chappell, Dallas Green) vs. UPMC (Mezie Nwigwe, Josiah Whitehead)

8 PM — Lair (No RMU connections) vs. Center Court (Russell Johnson, Yann Charles, Shane Mahoney)

9PM — P&W Motors (Karon Abraham, Coron Williams) v. SPK (Velton Jones, Lijah Thompson, Anthony Myers, Elton Roy)

STANDINGS:
Center Court – 4-0
UPMC – 3-1
The Lair – 3-1
SPK – 1-3
PGT – 1-3
P&W – 0-4

Since there seems to be enough interest, I’m going to do regular open threads for everyone to discuss the summer basketball league played at Greentree.

Games begin at 7pm and are held at the Greentree Sportsplex. There is no admission charge, and the tripleheader usually lasts until 10:30 or so.

The annual Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am season begins on Monday and the regular season will last through July 14. The following week will the playoffs and championship game.

We will not be able to attend like in years past, but we encourage Pittsburgh area and Robert Morris fans to check out the games. They are triple-headers held at the GreenTree SportsPlex. There is no admission charge, and games are held every Monday and Wednesday, beginning at 7pm. The night usually lasts until about 10:30.

For a complete schedule of games, reference this PDF file on the PBC website. There are six teams featuring players from Robert Morris, Pitt, and Duquesne, as well as local athletes who ended up at other schools. It also will feature appearances by former area athletes, including former Pitt star and current New Orleans Hornet Aaron Gray, former Pitt star Carl Krauser, UNLV’s Armen Gilliam, and former RMU star Jeremy Chappell. Some D-2 and D-3 players from the area are also on the roster, as are a couple of highly touted incoming college freshmen from the local high schools (Evan Pierce of Mt. Lebanon, headed to Wagner; Tom Droney of Sewickley Academy, off to Davidson).

For a full list of players participating and the rosters, download this Microsoft Excel file.

After the jump, we’ll break down the teams featuring Robert Morris players.

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As schedule news slowly leaks out and the coaching staff takes shape, it looks like Andrew Toole’s first recruiting class and initial roster for the 2010-2011 season is pretty much set.

Robert Morris still has to release the official information, but it looks like Toole has set up a five man class for next year, joining six returning scholarship players and a walk-on.

That means Robert Morris will have three scholarships for next year instead of one, as Gary Wallace will graduate and the two open scholarships from this year will remain open.

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Robert Morris, fresh off the near upset of Villanova and the hiring of the youngest head coach in Division I basketball, will play a nationally televised regular season game for the first time in years. The Colonials will travel to Kent State on November 16 to take part in ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

The catch?

Tipoff at Kent State is at 8:00. In the morning.

A Kent State newspaper broke the news, and says that in order for the deal to happen, Robert Morris and Kent State moved their originally scheduled late November game to earlier in the month. Kent State won the Mid-American conference – only to lose in the conference tournament – last year and beat RMU 71-57 at the Sewall Center in December.

The game will likely not be the season opener for Robert Morris, as the season starts almost a week beforehand. Kent State will have played three games already by the time RMU strolls in for the early tip. Last rumor was RMU would participate in a season opening tournament in Philadelphia hosted by La Salle, but there were apparently issues finding a fourth team. No word on whether that officially fell through or not.

Other schedule highlights for Robert Morris so far include early road games against Pitt and West Virginia; the annual rivalry game against Duquesne at the Sewall Center; road games against Cleveland State, Ohio, Morgan State, and Appalachian State; a home game against Youngstown State; and a December 22 trip to the desert to take on Sean Miller’s Arizona Wildcats.