Offseason Posting, Part VII

Greetings from Killarney, Ireland. Longtime Brey assistant Sean Kearney has been hired as the new head coach at Holy Cross (the D1 school, not the one across the street). Congrats to him and it's been a long time coming. Jay Bilas talked a lot about his credentials during the Maui Inivite and how he might be getting a nod soon. A good time for the Irish to shake up the coaching staff as well and hopefully bring in a top-notch assistant to lead the staff.

Offseason Posting, Part VI

Decision day for Luke Harangody is tomorrow, his last chance to return to college or stay in the NBA draft. I've tried to stay away from this story as much as possible, because it obviously generates a lot of speculation but very little news. I'd be shocked if Luke made the jump, the same way I have felt during the whole process. He's not guaranteed a first round spot (and the three-year contract that comes with it) and could drop to the mid or low second round. A great college player he remains, and possibly a serviceable pro in the future, but there is very little incentive to leave a year early.

EDIT: He's staying. Smart move by Luke. I think he has some kind of NBA future as a role player, but most likely won't be drafted early enough to merit leaving this year. His stock won't change much next season (teams keyed in on him this year already) and he just might get a little better with his slimmed-down frame. At the very least he'll get his diploma.

Oh, and I called this one. Just sayin'.

Offseason Posting, Part V

I don't follow recruiting a lot on this blog, partly because I'm lazy and partly because I don't care too much for the business that has become high school and AAU hoops. However, there is now a Twitter account devoted to following ND's recruiting. Check it out here.

This is perhaps the only possible intelligent use of that site. For anything else, who cares about what so-and-so is doing every second of the day? Very odd and creepy fad.

Offseason Posting, Part IV

Congratulations to all graduates on the day of their Commencement, especially the four basketball seniors. Congrats also to Darius Walker, who returned to campus to finish his degree two years after leaving early for the NFL. He remains one of the nicest people, football player or otherwise, that I have met at the University. Good luck with the Broncos, Darius.

Offseason Posting, Part III

Eric Atkins commits, our first for 2010. There are bigger fish in the sea, but its nice to know we at least have one point guard lined up.

EDIT: ESPN is much higher than on him that the other two major scouting sites. Their profile on him sounds very positive. Coach Brey really used his Baltimore connections well and grabbed a very solid player. Still waiting to hear back froms guys like McCallum, Irving, and Buie, but Atkins would not be a terrible starting point guard if he ends up being the de facto replacement for Tory Jackson.

Read this for more on what the guy's about. Very mature, a must for a guy who may be expected to start from day one. He'll make a good Domer. If he can gain a litle strength to go with the great quickness and solid defense, he could be a pretty solid player as well.