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Friday, November 10, 2006
Friday morning readaround
With six teams tipping off this evening, it's a busy day in Patriot League hoops. We'll be adding a lot of new content later in the day, but until then, here's plenty to keep you busy this morning:

  • Army does not get a lot of in-depth coverage, so a lot of folks had no idea how bad Matt Bell's health was last season. But in a preview of the Black Knights, who open tonight against Stetson in the John Thompson Classic, Ken McMillan of the Times Herald-Record reports even Army coach Jim Crews didn't know how bad Bell's foot was hurting.

    "We had no idea how bad it was because he didn't complain," Crews told McMillan.

    Bell had off-season surgery to shave a bone in his bad (right) foot and is reportedly completely recovered. Good news for a team with a lot of young players sorely (pardon the pun) in need of senior leadership.

    Army's 20-player roster includes eight first-year players. It also includes six guys 6-7 or taller and more athleticism than in recent years.

    Says Bell:

    "There is just a different feel around the gym and the whole program from years past."
  • A return to health is also the theme of Stephen Miller's Look at Lafayette in The Morning Call. Having a healthy Jamaal Hilliard and Marcus Harley is bound to bode well for the Leopards. So to, the return to the fold of sophomore point guard Andrew Brown is good news for Fran O'Hanlon's team.

    In the off-season, Lafayette announced Brown had decided to leave school and was transferring to a junior college closer to his Colorado home. Miller's mention of the All-Rookie pick in this story sent us scurrying to check the Leopards' roster, and sure enough, with little fanfare, the prodigal son has returned. The 'Pards open tonight at Wagner.

  • Corky Blake, of The Express-Times, checks in this morning with a look at a Lehigh team that has ideas of surprising the skeptics who failed to pick them as one of the teams expected to contend for the Patriot League title.

    Jose Olivero tells Blake:
    "I want to win a (NCAA) first-round game, and that goes with winning the Patriot League championship."
    While we remain in the camp that considers that unlikely given the lack of experience on the Mountain Hawks roster, Olivero is definitely the kind of wild card that could make it happen. While it is unlikely Lehigh will win the regular season title, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Olivero could carry them to three wins come tournament time. As we wrote in the Blue Ribbon preview of Lehigh, when you have an offensive talent like Olivero, you always have a puncher's chance of knocking somebody off.

    Speaking of Olivero, Andre Williams also has a piece on the Hawks' star in today's Morning Call. We will also be posting a feature on him later today.

    Also on the Lehigh beat, here's a report of an official signing by Hawks recruit Rob Keefer, another on the signing of 6-8 big man Mike Howlett (who hopefully knows where the school is -- this paper didn't), and a look at tonight's opponent, the Ducks of Oregon.

  • You have to wonder how well Fairfield's new coach, Ed Cooley, has scouted his opening night opponent, the Eagles of American U. In a preview story in the Connecticut Post, Cooley says: "They have all played together for four years." True AU has five seniors. But Paulius Joneliunas has only played one semester at AU and the Eagles' point guard is just a sophomore. Nonetheless, Cooley is on the right track. American's experience will be a mismatch in that category when they meet a Fairfield team that graduated half its scoring from last season and is playing for the first time under a new head coach.

  • Tom Housenick previews the Bucknell Bison in today's Daily Item. Housenick says while Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt may be gone, they are not forgotten. The team's new leaders are working to emulate the work ethic Lee and Bettencourt instilled in the two-time defending league champs.

  • Speaking of Bucknell, The Albany Times-Union profiles the guy behind Big Purple Fans message board. Let the flaming begin.
    • Published at 7:33 AM by Hoop Time.
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