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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Wednesday / December 11.
  • Tim Pernetti was officially named the new Rutgers athletic director Thursday.

    The appointment, following a national search, is effective April 1.

    Pernetti, 38, will oversee 24 men’s and women’s intercollegiate teams in New Brunswick, 212 employees and an annual budget of approximately $56 million, roughly 3 percent of the university’s total $1.8 billion budget.

    “We are delighted that Tim Pernetti is returning to the Rutgers community and is ready to work with our coaches and athletics and academic support staffs to further the tradition of excellence established by our student-athletes on the field and in the classroom,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick.

    JAY WRIGHT, Villanova

    ON JIM CALHOUN WINNING 800 GAMES

    “It’s a number that none of us can even comprehend and I don’t know if he can either….To think about 800 of them is just incomprehensible to me.”

    BOB HUGGINS, West Virginia

    ON FRESHMEN DEVIN EBANKS, TRUCK BRYANT AND KEVIN JONES

    “Our freshman have gotten pretty comfortable and I think they’re

    It was a Big Night in the Big East with many storylines unfolding…

    **Thanks to a career-high 36 points from A.J. Price and 14 points and 15 rebounds from Hasheem Thabeet, UConn coach Jim Calhoun became just the seventh coach in Division I history to win 800 career games when the Huskies (26-2, 14-2) downed Marquette 93-82 in Milwaukee. Calhoun joined Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Jim Phelan, Mike Krzyzewski and Eddie Sutton as the only coaches to win 800.

    “My dad always used to tell me…’You’re always going to be judged by the company you keep,'” Calhoun said. “I looked around at that list, and I’m really happy to be in that company.”

    MOST CAREER WINS

    Bob Knight – 902

    Dean Smith – 879

    Adolph Rupp – 876

    Jim Phelan – 830

    Mike Krzyzewski – 826

    Eddie Sutton – 804

    Jim Calhoun – 800

    Tim Pernetti will be announced as the new Rutgers athletic director at a Thursday afternoon press conference, according to a report in the Home News Tribune, which cites three high-ranking university officials as sources.

    The Rutgers board of governors will convene Thursday morning in Newark to vote on whether to accept President Richard McCormick’s recommendation, but the appointment is expected to be a formality.

    The school has announced a 12:30 press conference to introduce the new AD.

    Pernetti, 38, was one of three finalists for the position, along with North Carolina-Wilmington athletics director Kelly Mehrtens and University of Akron athletics director Mack Rhoades.

    All three finalists met with the 14-member search committee, headed by Dr. Philip Furmanski, for about an hour Wednesday, the Home News reported.

    “Tim really made a good impression on us,” one committee member told the paper.

    If Bobby Gonzalez and Seton Hall (14-12, 5-9) stand any shot of making the NIT, they must win tonight’s home game with South Florida (8-18, 3-11).

    The Bulls have lost four straight and are coming off a 64-50 loss at UConn on Saturday.

    “We’re still trying to have a winning season,” Gonzo said after Sunday’s loss at St. John’s. “We still have other games ahead of us. We know that the next one’s very important because we’ve lost three in a row now on the road, two Top 10 teams. Now we’ve got to try to bounce back  and try to see if we can just get one game at a time.”

    After the South Florida game, Seton Hall on Saturday hosts No. 1 Pitt, which is coming off last night’s stunning loss to Providence, and then goes on an extended road trip to play both No. 6  Louisville and Cincinnati.

    Even Mike Tranghese thinks Rutgers has a lot of work to do on the hardwood.

    The outgoing Big East Commissioner told Chris “Mad Dog” Russo during a radio interview Tuesday that Fred Hill’s club had to improve or there would be changes on The Banks.

    “Well, they gotta get better,” Tranghese said, according to a report in The Star-Ledger. “I sound like I’m making excuses and I know this is a hard league, but they don’t have an athletic director at Rutgers. They are in the process of naming someone and I would think that down the road, everybody’s got to win.

    “If you don’t win, you’re going to make changes. Our coaches are being paid a significant amount of money. This is a hard league to coach in, but I don’t see any administration staying with any coach for a long period of time when they are winning zero, one, two three or four games.”

    It’s been a tough year for teams ranked No. 1 in the nation.

    When Providence downed No. 1 Pittsburgh 81-73 Tuesday night, it marked the sixth time this season –and second time for the Panthers — that the No. 1 team had gone down in flames.

    Pitt had just re-claimed the top spot on Monday after beating UConn last week.

    While the Panthers can still be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Providence was fighting for an NCAA berth.

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