Colonials Corner

It’s far from official, and there are some holes to fill, but it looks like the 2010-2011 recruiting class for Robert Morris is finally taking shape. And it features some different names than expected.

Malcolm Lemmons, who signed back in November, is officially out of the picture for this year’s class. He’s been released from letter of intent and is exploring options elsewhere. Brook Turson, the Ohio guard who remained quiet through all of this until just a few weeks ago, is also out. Jerome Hunter, the 6’10 center who committed a couple weeks ago, has also opened up his commitment as we reported earlier.

So who is coming? Anthony Myers, the D.C. area guard related to former PG Derek Coleman, is in. As the Washington Post reported, Myers is on campus already taking classes. Yann Charles, the Quebec wing who Mike Rice raved about, is in. Former Central Michigan freshman and junior college transfer forward Lawrence Bridges is in.

Also apparently in, but without full confirmation that he’s signed a letter of intent, is 6’9 junior college forward Bernard Webb. He committed to Manhattan out of high school, went to junior college, ended up redshirting at Barton Community College in Kansas, and will have three years of eligibility.

From there, it gets a bit murky. Colonials Corner has heard that Elton Roy, a guard from Yates High School in Houston, Texas (a school that finished last season as the top high school in the nation), is in the mix for the recruiting class. No confirmation on whether he’s fully committed yet, but Robert Morris has been linked with him for several months and he remained unsigned through late May.

Finally, no new information on Wilbur O’Neal. The junior college he attends reported he had signed with Robert Morris, but that appears based off of information from back when he originally committed. Whether he’s qualified or not is unknown at this time.

Without O’Neal, that’d be a five-man recruiting class. With only one senior, it’s possible that new head coach Andy Toole will keep an extra scholarship or two for next year to spread out the depth.

Expect to have a fully finalized class here in the near future.

Interesting note from an NEC rival:

Travis Taylor, the rising star forward of the Monmouth Hawks, is leaving the university. Taylor’s mom told Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway that the family decided that Taylor needed to be in a better position to “enhance his chances of playing in the NBA”.

Taylor missed seven games of Monmouth’s stretch run while he served a suspension for violating team rules, so it’s not surprising that he’s on his way out. What is surprising is the reason given – anything could happen in two years when it comes to playing professionally.

But just to throw some more intriguing gasoline onto the fire, the Asbury Park Press’ Tony Graham – who is usually pretty informed on NEC matters – says that Taylor’s destination very well could be Rutgers. Mike Rice needs players there, both this year and next, and it would give Taylor a higher profile gig while give Rice an experienced player he’s familiar with. We’ll see if that happens.

UPDATE: Doesn’t look like it will. Graham has posted in the comments section of that blog post stating that it looks like Rutgers won’t be targeting Taylor, that they have their sights set higher.

First off, we’re back up and running full bore here at Colonials Corner HQ. Thanks for being patient while we reformatted and resuscitated our computer.

We’ll move on to some football stuff in the coming days/weeks, but until an official announcement about the new basketball coaching staff and recruiting class comes in, here’s where we stand.

Andrew Toole is your head man, with Robby Pridgen staying on. As has been linked on here and in the comments section, Toole has hired another assistant, luring Matt Hahn away from Vermont with what has been reported to be a “substantial pay raise”. Hahn was a major part of Vermont’s recruiting team, so expect him to take on a large role here at Robert Morris. Wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up being Toole’s right-hand man, but we’ll see who the third and final assistant is going to be first.

Last I knew, Dave Scarborough and Dave Richards were asked to stay on in their roles as director of basketball operations and video coordinator, but we’ll see if that sticks.

As for the team that this coaching staff will be running, the six remaining scholarship players (plus walk-on Shane Mahoney) are all well known. The rest is a bit murky. We’ll try and find out for sure for you, but here’s the tentative status of the RMU recruits.

G Anthony Myers – signed, taking classes

G Brook Turson – signed

F Yann Charles – signed

F Malcolm Lemmons – reportedly asked for release, but RMU still in the mix

F Lawrence Bridges – signed

F Wilbur O’Neal – reportedly signed, no confirmation

C Jerome Hunter – verbal commitment, some reports say he’s rethinking his decision

If all seven make it in, that’d be a full class and a full roster.

This is short and sweet: I sat down with new head coach Andy Toole on Friday morning for an interview session that appears in Sunday’s Beaver County Times. I encourage you to go out and buy the paper (after all, it’s a way to support the industry as well as your favorite sports writer), but for those of you who wish to see the online version, you can read it here.

Coach Toole and I sat down for about a half hour or so and discussed his background, his college career, life at an Ivy League school, and his coaching philosophies.

There wasn’t enough space for everything to be included, but we were able to get quite a bit into the paper and on the Times’ website.

Enjoy, and maybe at some point down the road I’ll post the rest of the interview.

With announcements beginning to roll in across the country, here’s a quick guide to the players coming in to play basketball for Robert Morris in the 2010-2011 season. A reminder: Each NCAA team can have a maximum of 13 scholarship players on the roster. Robert Morris has six scholarship players returning from last year’s roster, five sophomores-to-be and one rising senior. That leaves seven openings that can be filled.

Returning guards: Gary Wallace (Sr.), Karon Abraham (So.), Velton Jones (rSo.), Coron Williams (rFr.), Shane Mahoney (Sr. walk-on)

Returning forwards: Russell Johnson (rSo.), Lijah Thompson (So.)

Robert Morris has filled six of the seven openings. The list of commitments is after the jump.

5/5/2010 update: Lamount Samuell has de-committed. He apparently never signed his LOI and will not be coming to RMU.

5/12/2010 update: Two recruits added, depth chart updated.

Read the rest of this entry →

It could have been an ominous sign. The backdrop behind the podium where Andrew Toole was set to be introduced as the next head coach of the Robert Morris University basketball program collapsed just before the dignitaries were set to take the stage.

Turns out it was just a small speed bump in a smooth transition to the Toole Era at Robert Morris.

Toole was formally introduced at Robert Morris Tuesday afternoon, and you can check out our story in the Beaver County Times for full details. The article contains information on Toole’s introduction, the early formation of his staff and the future of Rice’s former staff, as well as comments from players and administrators about Toole’s hiring.

A few things didn’t make the cut, including news on recruits and scheduling.

Read the rest of this entry →

The day after the NCAA Tournament loss to Villanova, I wrote this column for the Beaver County Times. I wrote about how Mike Rice had transformed Robert Morris from a team with occasional success to an actual program, one where success is expected and outlives players and coaches. I ended it with this:

The seniors will graduate, Rice may eventually leave for a major program, but Robert Morris will have the tools and be expected to win on a regular basis.

Sounds like the definition of a true basketball program.

Well, the seniors are gone and Mike Rice is on his way to New Jersey. Now, it’s time for the next step. That step includes athletic director Craig Coleman and university president Gregory Dell’Omo thanking Rice for his time, wishing him well, and then speed-walking into the Robert Morris basketball offices on the second floor of the Charles L. Sewall Center and presenting associate head coach Andrew Toole with a “can’t refuse” offer to be the next head coach at Robert Morris.

Toole is the glue that can keep this program together. Had the Rutgers/Rice situation come about back in March, when Rice was flirting with Seton Hall, things would be different. Toole would have been an immediate favorite, but Coleman and Dell’Omo could have then set up the search committee like they did when they hired Rice in 2007, and they could canvas the country and draw in applications from an excellent list of potential candidates.

But that was March. This is May, and the sands of time went from a trickle to a full-blown sandstorm. The future of the program hangs in the balance, from committed 2010-2011 recruits to current players like Karon Abraham, Velton Jones, and Russell Johnson.

Read the rest of this entry →

Sorry about the delay in getting this up, but I’ve been away from any device that would allow me to post. Talk about bad timing…

Mike Rice is headed to New Jersey. The Robert Morris head coach will be the next head man at Rutgers, according to multiple reports. The news isn’t quite official, as Rutgers has yet to introduce Rice or sign him to a contract, but it’s essentially a guarantee. When the news explodes like it did this evening, it starts a train that rarely stops.

Instead of rehashing the news, I’m going to link you to the various reports, all of which generally say the same thing. I’ll have an opinion piece up later.

First, here’s the report from my colleague Eric Hall at the Beaver County Times. Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke the news this evening, and he has comments from Karon Abraham. The returning leading scorer is quoted as saying that associate head coach Andrew Toole is the preferred replacement for Rice, and that Abraham would stay as long as Toole does. And for a view from Rice’s new stomping grounds, here’s an article from NJ.com

Finally, some commentary from around the college basketball world:

• The PG’s Bob Smizik understands why Rice is leaving, but he doesn’t like the fact that he can.

• NorthJersey.com has some insight on what’s next for Rice and Rutgers.

• Adam Zagoria helped sell Rice. The SNY writer/blogger wrote a piece promoting Rice for the Rutgers job a few weeks back. Here’s his follow-up today.
  

We’ll have an editorial up later with our thoughts.

You can call him a finalist, you can call him a candidate, you can simply say he’s in the mix. Whatever terminology you want to use, one thing is clear: Mike Rice has interviewed at Rutgers, and he is one of several who have done that over the past week or so.

In today’s Beaver County Times, you can read our article (with great help from Eric Hall) regarding Rice’s status in the Rutgers search.

The article was a response to an internet rumor that Rice had been offered the job and was about to be the next Rutgers head coach.

As of now, it appears that Rutgers is still deciding who to offer the job to and is hoping to have a decision and an announcement sometime this coming week. Other candidates reportedly in the mix are former Boston College coach Al Skinner, and ESPN analyst and onetime St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla.

Skinner has the backing of several ACC head coaches, while Fraschilla is believed to be the favorite overall as a “name” pick.

Many of you saw the Yann Charles update, but we have a new name to add to the 2010-2011 recruiting class for you. Joining Charles in committing to Robert Morris this week is Jerome Hunter, a 6’10, 235 pound center from Charlotte, North Carolina. Hunter spent a post-graduate year at Queen City Prep in North Carolina and was going to commit to St. Joseph’s back in March. He never signed, and Robert Morris had an opening.

Hunter also had an offer from Texas Christian and looks from East Carolina and UCLA.

Charles, meanwhile, is a 6’5, 220 pound wing from Quebec, Canada. An early easy comparison would be a slightly shorter, more versatile Colson Senat, who played for Robert Morris several years ago. Charles had offers from Canisius and Eastern Kentucky, while Notre Dame and Lafayette were also interested.

Also, 6’7 junior college forward Wilbur O’Neal has de-committed from Robert Morris according to recruitrecon.com. O’Neal had question marks surrounding his ability to qualify academically.