Big East Preview Part 2
Check it out
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- It's like going from
While St. Patrick came up short in its bid to win the City of Palms Classic in Florida, St. Benedict’s captured the Kreul Classic title Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale.
Junior Aaron Brown hit a driving layup with 9.2 seconds left to give the Gray Bees, No. 3 in the USA Today Super 25, a 53-52 victory over host Dillard (Fla.) in the title game.
Dillard made one of two free throws with 19 seconds remaining to take a 52-51 lead, but Texas-bound junior forward Tristan Thompson grabbed the missed free throw and fed a streaking Brown, who scored on the other end.
I just got off the phone with Alif Muhammad for the second time in two days and he reiterated and clarified a few things regarding the Keon Lawrence situation.
The bottom line is that Muhammad, Keon and Keon’s mother decided that it is not worth it for Lawrence to play the remainder of the Big East season if the NCAA Clearinghouse declares him eligible after Jan. 5. He would miss three Big East games at that point.
Therefore, Muhammad and Lawrence faxed a letter yesterday to the Seton Hall compliance department expressing their desire to withdraw the request for a waiver.
I’m watching the City of Palms Classic final featuring St. Patrick and Mater Dei on ESPNU and will give some periodic updates for those of you who don’t have the channel….Sophomore Austin Rivers poured in a tournament-record 46 points on 15-of-22 shooting, including 8-of-13 from 3, to lead Winter Park (Fla.) to a 91-87 victory over Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler in the 3rd-place game. Austin is the son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers and has committed to Florida.
5:19 – Mater Dei took a 15-14 lead after one quarter on a 3-pointer from USC-bound point guard Gary Franklin Jr. at the buzzer. He has 11 first-quarter points. North Carolina coach Roy Williams and George Mason coach Jim Larranaga are in the stands. UNC’s entire recruiting class for next season are in this event, including 6-10 twins David and Travis Wear of Mater Dei. St. Pat’s forward Paris Bennett is headed to George Mason.
5:27 – Franklin just scored on a change-of-pace layup to give Mater Dei a 21-14 lead with 5:03 left in the half.
Casiem Drummond will transfer to Marist from Villanova, according to a source with knowledge.
The 6-foot-10, 275-pound big man from East Orange, N.J., will have to sit out a year and hopes to play beginning in December 2009.
“I think he wants to play a little more,” Bloomfield Tech coach Nick Mariniello said previously. “He’s coming off of foot surgery and he’s probably 90 percent and I don’t think he’s playing as much as he wants to play.”
Mariniello previously said Marist, Siena and Boston University had secured waivers to speak to Drummond.
