Archives For Andy Katz

The Friar Daily 8.22.12

dave@friarblog —  August 22nd, 2012 8:56 PM — 2 Comments

All the notable news, links, pictures, and video in and around Friartown and college basketball all in one digestible, tasty place.

Day 9 of the Ledo Wait (It’s probably been longer, but last week I feel we’ve heard it could be coming): My body is feeling weak. I’m hungry and just want water. I’m becoming irritable to those around me.

linkESPN: 3-point shot: Northeastern stuffs schedule

Speaking of Ricky Ledo, I missed this little nugget in one of Andy Katz’s blog posts yesterday.

Purvis is one of the three highest profile incoming freshmen still not cleared to play this season. He probably rates second on most important overall behind UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad and ahead of Providence’s Ricky Ledo. The Wolfpack need Purvis’ ability to score but can live without him if need be due to the overall depth and talent returning and arriving. The Bruins need Muhammad’s motor and skill set to overtake Arizona and Stanford in the Pac-12 and be a legit player in the Final Four chase. Muhammad is being held out from UCLA’s trip to China as the NCAA examines potential extra benefits by a third party. Ledo was a reach to be academically eligible at PC after attending multiple high schools. Coach Ed Cooley knew this from the moment he signed him. The Friars are a lower level Big East team this season so Ledo’s arrival wouldn’t change the outcome much at all.

Ouch, Andy. You mean the Friars are so bad that a TOP 25 recruit who happens to be one of the most talented scorers coming in this year would not help the Friars in any way whatsoever? It’s not like he would be able to play and excel with one of the most talented point guards in the nation or anything. With Kris Dunn hurt right now, Ledo not only would add much need depth, but would make a huge difference in PC’s offensive firepower. Man, back in the Tim Welsh days, Andy Katz always seemed to pull for the Friars. Maybe he just needs to spend more time with Coach Cooley.

imTwitter Chat:

John Infante, who runs the Bylaw Blog on NCAA.org and is an NCAA expert for Athnet, was kind enough to field some questions on Twitter regarding Ledo’s status.

@friarblog: @John_Infante what’s your take on the 8 semester rule and what Ledo has pending?

@John_Infante: @friarblog Please hold while I educate myself on Ledo a bit.

@John_Infante: @friarblog Ok, is it known that Ledo did not meet the 8 semester rule? Or did he just not graduate after 8 semesters?

@John_Infante @friarblog If he finished his 16 core courses (which is tough if he repeated a year) in four years, he can graduate in five with no problem.

@friarblog: @John_Infante I’l be honest a lot of info is thrown around so not 100% sure. I was under the impress he didn’t get the core in 4 years

@John_Infante: @friarblog The way waivers work nowadays, GPA and test score get a lot more important.

@John_Infante: @friarblog So if he didn’t finish the 16 courses in 4 years but did in 5 and had a good (not just adequate) GPA and SAT, he has a shot

Continue Reading…

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Katz on Ledo

dave@friarblog —  August 2nd, 2012 7:37 AM — 1 Comment

Andy Katz had some quick thoughts about Ricky Ledo in his “Three Point Shot” blog post when referencing the Friars trying to get Jake O’Brien.

ESPN: 3-point shot: Teams seek O’Brien’s services

Meanwhile, PC coach Ed Cooley is dealing with a more pressing matter. He’s hoping that star recruit Ricky Ledo can get a waiver to play or at least be on campus this season as his academic reports go through the Eligibility Center. Cooley would take Ledo on campus, even if he’s not eligible. Kansas had a similar situation with a stud recruit last season when Ben McLemore didn’t get eligible but was at least on campus and around the team last season to learn the system and adapt to the program. Ledo, who has lacked stability during his career, would benefit from being in one place for a few seasons.

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Andy Katz Upset Pick of the Week: Providence over UConn

dave@friarblog —  February 27th, 2012 9:13 AM — 1 Comment

In his Weekly Watch column today, Andy Katz picked Providence over UConn as his upset pick of the week.

Weekly Watch: Drama doesn’t have to wait for March Madness

Upset pick of the week

Providence over Connecticut, Tuesday: Traditionally, the Huskies haven’t played well at Providence. And the pressure will be immense on UConn to win this game after failing to score on a final possession against Syracuse. Providence has the offense to score against Connecticut from the perimeter. Of course, the question will be whether UConn has the focus to lock in and defend the Friars in what is a must-win game. Can the Huskies lose this game, beat Pitt on Saturday and make a mini-run in the Big East tournament to still earn a bid? Yes. But falling to PC would zap them of any momentum, save a return to the bench by Jim Calhoun if his surgery goes well Monday.

H/T @PhilRealMcCoy

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Andy Katz Previews Syracuse / Providence

dave@friarblog —  January 1st, 2012 9:13 PM — 2 Comments

Andy Katz previewed the upcoming game against Syracuse in his Weekly Watch video.

“Could be a difficult game at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center because Providence certainly has the possibility of knocking off the Syracuse Orange if they shoot the basketball well. Vincent Council has to have a monster game”.

Oh, and Andy – Providence beat #1 Pittsburgh 3 years ago, not last year!

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Friars Impressed Andy Katz This Week

dave@friarblog —  December 26th, 2011 8:39 PM — 2 Comments

PC’s win at URI made a little nation attention today, with a mention in ESPN’s College Nation blog. Here is what Andy Katz wrote.

ESPN: 10 teams that impressed this week

2. Providence: Yes, the Friars made the grade this week. They won easily at rival Rhode Island, which might not mean much considering the Rams have only one win, but it was a strong statement for first-year coach Ed Cooley, who has his program trending upward heading into Big East play.

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Katz on Friars Out of Conference Schedule Toughness

dave@friarblog —  October 5th, 2011 2:05 PM — 1 Comment

ESPN is breaking down all the nonconference schedules “of each and every team in a dozen different leagues”. Since the BIG EAST is technically still alive (kinda like Al Davis), today they analyzed all 16 teams and ranked their schedule from a scale of 1-10. What is Ed Cooley looking at in his first OOC run with the Friars? Not as easy as UCONN (they got a ONE. way to defend your crown) but nowhere near as hard as St. John’s (10/10).

Nonconference schedule analysis: Big East

Toughest: at Fairfield (Nov. 14), South Padre Invitational (Nov. 25-26)
Next-toughest: at South Carolina (Dec. 1), Boston College (Dec. 8), at Rhode Island (Dec. 23)
The rest: Fairleigh Dickinson (Nov. 12), Florida A&M (Nov. 19), Southern (Nov. 22), Holy Cross (Nov. 29), Brown (Dec. 5), Bryant (Dec. 10), New Hampshire (Dec. 20)
Toughness scale (1-10): 4 — The Friars do have a difficult slate for a team that won four Big East games and 15 overall and now has a new coach in Ed Cooley. Iowa State should be a sleeper in the Big 12 and Northern Iowa is never an easy out. Those will be games in South Padre Island, Texas. Cooley also has to go back to Fairfield, where he built a nice MAAC program. Winning at South Carolina and Rhode Island won’t be easy, but both programs are in transition at the moment, as is Boston College.

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Andy Katz Chat: Providence Question

dave@friarblog —  September 7th, 2011 3:14 PM — 1 Comment

Andy Katz of ESPN took a Friars question right off the bat in his SportsNation Chat this afternoon.

Chat with Andy Katz

Ryan (Norwalk CT)
I realize its early, but is Providence staring to turn the corner to hopefully be a contender in the big east once again?
Andy Katz  (3:07 PM)
It’s early. And remember Indiana had a great recruiting class, but it hasn’t meant wins yet. But the first step toward turning the corner is getting players and Providence has started that under Ed Cooley.
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Greedy Snubbed Left and Right

dave@friarblog —  January 11th, 2010 5:11 PM

Apparently Jamine Peterson’s amazing 29 point, 20 rebound performance was not good enough for any BIG EAST weekly honors, or any mention in the ESPN Weekly Honors post.  I guess his stinker against Louisville brought him down so much, even doing something only 12 other BIG EAST players have ever done could not make up for it.

Harangody, Oriakhi Earn Weekly Men’s Basketball Honors

Harangody was named BIG EAST Player of the Week after he averaged 30.0 points and 5.5 rebounds and shot 57.9 percent from the field (22-of-38) to lead Notre Dame to a pair of close victories against BIG EAST opponents.  Harangody scored a season-high 36 points — including a go-ahead free throw with 1.9 seconds left — and had six rebounds in a 74-73 win at USF. He had 24 points and five boards on 9-of-15 shooting in a 70-68 win against No. 8/8 West Virginia

YAWN.  Jeremy Hazell (averaged 23 points), Dominique Jones (averaged 28 points), Wes Johnson (averaged 19 and 10 in two games), and Friar killer Scottie Reynolds (averaged 18 pts and 3 assists in 2 wins) made the honor roll.

In ESPN land, Katz doesn’t even give Greedy a mention among many other good performances for the week.  I guess the fact that it was against Rutgers makes it ho-hum?

Tennessee, CofC’s Goudelock take home honors

Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell, who has never seen a shot he doesn’t like, scored 33 in a win over Cincinnati.

Srsly? Man, if only Greedy could hit one of those 4 foul shots in a row he missed in the end to get to 30 points.

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Katz Weekly Watch: St. John’s pummeled by lowly Providence

dave@friarblog —  January 4th, 2010 4:50 PM

Hey, finally a Providence mention in ESPN’s Weekly Watch! Only took 7 weeks!

Purdue notches top win of week

Cooling Off

All the good vibes about St. John’s heading into the Big East must be fading fast. The Red Storm got pummeled by lowly Providence on Sunday, 74-59, to drop to 0-2 in the Big East. The game was at St. John’s. You can’t let that happen this season. Playing without starting point guard Malik Boothe, who is nursing a strained groin from the Red Storm’s loss at Georgetown on New Year’s Eve, St. John’s turned the ball over 23 times, resulting in 21 Friar points. The Red Storm hadn’t totaled as many miscues since last Feb. 14 at Marquette (24).

Lowly eh? I would have went with “rebuilding”.

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Katz Ranks the Conferences: BIG EAST Falls to 4th

dave@friarblog —  November 10th, 2009 7:55 PM

In league rankings, power shifts to the Midwest

4. Big East: The league may not have a top-seeded team in 2010 after getting three last season (Louisville, UConn, Pitt), but the strength of the league from 1-16 has gotten better. The bottom of the league has risen up with Seton Hall and St. John’s having a real shot at an NCAA bid. West Virginia should be the favorite, despite Villanova’s high ranking. But the Wildcats, Connecticut, Georgetown, Syracuse and possibly Louisville will be in play for bids. So, too, should Notre Dame, with the possible player of the year in Luke Harangody, Cincinnati, with maybe the freshman of the year in Lance Stephenson, and Seton Hall are sleeper teams to rise up into the top four in the league. And never discount Pitt under Jamie Dixon. Toss in the Red Storm as the only team that returns all five starters and the Big East has 11 of its 16 teams thinking NCAAs.

No PC talk yet folks.  Under. The. Radar.

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