Colonial Athletic Association Notebook
by Jay Pearlman
What an opening week in the CAA! If you thought the top of the league could be weaker this year (VCU, Old Dominion, Hofstra and Drexel could all be weaker than last year), the so-called second division just keeps on keeping on!
This writer picked Delaware as most improved in the pre-season, largely due to transfers Jim Ledsome and Marc Egerson, then precipitously pulled back when Central Connecticut destroyed them in the transfers’ first game eligible. Now Delaware has backed up its opening home win against Towson with two more road wins, at William & Mary and at Drexel, and the Blue Hens stand alone atop the conference at 3-0.
James Madison backed up its road win at Northeastern with the biggest conference win so far, at home over VCU. Rod Barnes’ Georgia State Panthers shocked America with a home win over George Mason. And without Gary Neal, Dennard Abraham and Tommy Breaux, Towson held off Northeastern at home. Remarkably, after three games in this topsy-turvy conference, everyone has already won a game, and only Delaware has yet to lose.
With lots of transfers sitting out their residence years, this is becoming a league to “transfer home” to, and will only get better (ok, in the case of Georgia State, transfer home from Ole Miss to your old coach). Delaware, Towson, Northeastern and JMU are all playing two transfers, and Drexel is playing one. And more are coming, particularly at Georgia State and Towson.
I caught up with Towson coach Pat Kennedy before his game with Northeastern Wednesday night. Kennedy was happier than I expected to talk at 4-7, 0-1 and picked last in the conference (now 5-8, 1-2). Gently, I asked what it’s like coaching with the league’s highest scorer now gone, and his answer surprised me.
“We have more balance now,” he began, which wasn’t too surprising. “Everything isn’t so focused on just one man.”
Kennedy went on to say that the rest of the team can improve now, that the players he has make one another better, and the smile on his face told me he’s enjoying his coaching more. He lit up to talk about College of Charleston transfer forward Junior Hairston, second in the country at that time with 12 rebounds per game, including two games with 21, despite the slightest of builds. His only regret is the football injury to forward and star wide receiver Tommy Breaux. He admitted he’d have really liked to have Breaux and Hairston on the floor together this winter.
Kennedy never said, but I inferred, that there was a burden now lifted associated with 25-point scorer Gary Neal. The thinking is that the last two years others didn’t get shots and didn’t improve, and that on some level it’s ok with the coach that Neal’s career there has come to an end.
Then, with second-highest scorer Rodney Spruill out of the lineup (academic-related suspension by Towson, not the NCAA), Towson went out and beat Northeastern wire-to-wire, 77-71, playing harder than at any time last season. Predictably, Junior Hairston had 25 on 8-13 shooting (the 2-3 from the arc wasn’t predictable), and a modest 8 rebounds. Less predictably, in his third game and second start, Georgetown transfer (and undersized second guard) Josh Thornton had his first big game, scoring 13 on 5-7 shooting, including 10 straight points during the second half to crush a Northeastern comeback. Least predictably of all, senior forward Jonathan Pease had a career night, shooting 4-7 from behind the arc and 4-4 from lesser distance to score 20, and grabbed 7 rebounds. And while they didn’t score much (1-6 and 1-3 from the floor respectively, with no threes), C.C. Williams and Rocky Coleman combined for 8 assists in the game. More importantly, they combined to blanket reigning Rookie of the Year Matt Janning all night long, holding him to 6 points on 3-12 shooting, no three-pointers and just 3 rebounds. And the coach loved every minute of it.
Counting injured Tommy Breaux, who may or may not choose to play next season before the NFL draft, Towson has five players sitting out this year. 6-6 guard Brian Morris may be the best of the group, having led Richmond last season in assists, steals, three-point baskets and minutes played. 6-5 redshirt freshman forward Ricardo Brown from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania scored 1,200 points in high school. And the Smith brothers, Jarrel and Jimmy, from Newport Beach, California via Colorado State, should also help, particularly younger brother and 6-7 forward Jarrel. And if any of you knows of a Baltimore kid who’s homesick or having less than the expected Division I career, well, expect him to show up at Towson next year or the year after, sit out for one season, and then help Pat Kennedy move the Tigers forward.
CAA news and notes
- Led by a career-high 24 points from sophomore guard David Schneider (22 coming in the second half), William & Mary won its first league game Saturday on the road at ODU, a wire-to-wire 70-61 win.
- After missing two conference games, Antoine Agudio was back in the Hofstra lineup Saturday, and his 19 points helped Hofstra beat high-flying JMU on Long Island, 66-62.
- Delaware returns home Wednesday to face a George Mason team that shouldn’t overlook the Blue Hens, and with a win Jim Larranaga’s Patriots can forge a tie for the conference lead with Delaware and the winners among VCU, James Madison and ODU.
- Agudio and Rookie of the Week Charles Jenkins lead Hofstra into Wilmington for a television game Thursday, and the winner will be back to .500.
