BREAKING: Holy Cross Fires Head Coach Sean Kearney After One Season

Wow. I really thought I'd be writing this as a joke post, but I never thought it would actually happen. After one season, a 9-22 7th place finish in the Patriot League, Holy Cross has fired Head Coach Sean Kearney.

The statement from Holy Cross Athletic Director Richard M. Regan, Jr. is as follows: "This was a very difficult decision," said Regan. "This is also an affirmation of how important basketball is at Holy Cross. At the end of the day, after assessing the results and evaluating what our prospects were for the future, we felt this was a move we had to make. We have an obligation to our student-athletes to deliver the best possible experience for them while they are at Holy Cross. Sean is a quality person, something that is beyond question, which makes this decision that much harder."

Awesome. Well, like we said in our letter to you, Coach, now that you're gone, you don't have to deal with the cultural blight that is Worcester, MA.

More on this developing story. The CROSSPORTS thread on this topic is here.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Third Time Not The Charm For Former Patriot League Player of the Year

Derrick "Blaze" Mercer '09

No Eagle will deny that Derrick Mercer was a fantastic player. A real dynamo of a guard, despite standing only 5'7" tall he could drive to the basket through a veritable forest of defenders like no other. Derrick was a key component of our two runs to the NCAA Tournament, and certainly this season with the lack of a strong point guard the 2009 Patriot League Player of the Year was sorely missed.

It's been previously reported on this blog that Mercer played a brief stint in Finland, leading some unpronounceable team to their first win in a year only to be let go for being "too short." Then he hit an even luckier stroke and was drafted by the Eerie Bayhawks of the NBA D-League before being cut days before the season began in the final slimming of the Bayhawks' roster. Finally Mercer found a team willing to use his raw talent, the Maryland Greenhawks of the Premier Basketball League. Yet after playing 8 games not too far from where he dominated the Patriot League, averaging 6.6 points per game and 4.4 assists, Mercer was cut yet again. The Greenhawks have retained former teammate Travis Lay, however.

This is certainly disappointing, as I was really looking forward to an opportunity to catch a Greenhawks game and see Mercer play again. Poor guy just can't catch a break. Fingers crossed that he finds a team that will really utilize him, but I'm starting to think that another career may be in Mercer's future.

Your thoughts? Was this fair? Is Mercer cursed?

If you're reading this, Derrick, THIS basketball team (and its fanbase) misses you like crazy. Wish you were still wearing the Red, White, and Blue.

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

AUHoops Bracket Madness Update

Gooooood evening, AU Hoops fans! Sorry we've been so MIA. I'm working on some entries that I'm hoping to get up soon, but in the meantime, let's take a look at how our bracket competition has been going.

We've got 17 FIERCE competitors. Out of those 17:

- 11 picked Kansas as champion
- 3 people picked Syracuse
- 1 person each picked Baylor, Duke, and Kentucky

Right now yours truly is in the lead, but loyal readers Lisa and Robert both can potentially beat me if Duke beats West Virginia in the national semifinal.

If I should happen to win this challenge, second place gets the fabulous prize that we haven't determined but will definitely award!

This should be exciting. Personally I'm pulling for West Virginia and Butler, and if they both make the national championship, I honestly don't know who to cheer for. Have to love the idea of a Horizon League national champion, but I also like Bob Huggins.

What do you folks think?

Any news on the AU Hoops front anyone has to report?

For Old Time Sake

I don't have time to write a full entry tonight, getting killed at work again right now. So I'll offer up a little nostalgia:




Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Poll of the Week Recap Begrudgingly Admits the Hill Pigeons Played Well

Wellllll helllooooo AUHoops fans! Sorry I've been so MIA, I just got back from a vacation, and last week I was working hard so that I could actually go on vacation. But now I'm back and playing catch-up. I want to thank the 16 of you who are participating in the AUHoops bracket challenge. I'll be posting an update tomorrow of how it's going, but for now let me just say the field is wiiiiiide open. Anyway, that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about our latest poll of the week regarding the Lehigh Hill Pigeons and their matchup with the now similarly extinct Kansas Choking Birds. Join me after the jump and we'll talk!

Coming Soon...

Already Counting Down The Days To Next Season...

Sorry for the slow week, folks! Quite a few things (that, amazingly, are not basketball related) have caught up with me this week and Bill is out of town. Stay tuned this week and next however for the following:

1. AUHoops Tourney Challenge Update (OR "Thank you Northern Iowa for screwing us all")
2. WBB WNIT Recap (long time coming)
3. MBB Season Recap (even longer time coming)
4. AUHoops Top 10 Moments of the 2009-2010 Season
5. New Poll of the Week
6. Speculation on the 2010-2011 non-conference slate
7. ...and even more...

Fear not folks, we're not hibernating for the off season!

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

WBB vs. Old Dominion Lady Monarchs LIVEBLOG

Here we go, our first WBB liveblog! Come join in the postseason fun!

WNIT matchup and some love for Lump

Man, I'm still reeling from the shock of not being given an at-large bid, but we'll just have to move on I suppose. Two things for tonight, Eagles fans:

1. The WNIT bracket has been announced and we will be taking on the (14-4) Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (before someone jumps down my throat they are actually referred to as the Lady Monarchs) on Wednesday at 7 PM on their home court. ODU is a tough team, as our Eagles well know from our time spent with them in the CAA. In fact, according to the press release the Lady Monarch's 67-53 loss to James Madison in the CAA finals was only their second loss ever in the CAA Tournament. We lost in the WNIT to JMU last year by a slim margin (61-59), so hopefully that can be avenged on Wednesday against Old Dominion. The year before that we lost to Villanova by an equally slim margin of 53-51. For those keeping track, you'll note this is our third straight appearance in the WNIT, setting a program record for consecutive years in the postseason. Furthermore, before this current streak the Eagles had only made the postseason once before, appearing in the WNIT in 1998. We'll be throwing a full preview your way on Tuesday, and join us starting at 6:45 PM on Wednesday for the liveblog! I honestly have no idea where you can find coverage of the game elsewhere, but where there's a will there's a way, so stay tuned!

2. We failed to mention here at AUHoops that Stephen Lumpkins was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team. Shame on us! I suppose poor Lump was a little peeved that he didn't make any of the All-Patriot League teams, so he put up three straight double-doubles (and was a single rebound away from a fourth) to end the season, including the beastly 29 point, 15 rebound effort against Navy. When Vlad went cold in the tournament, Lump put the team on his back and kept us in the game. He completely deserves this honor, especially as he was the only non-Lehigh/Lafayette player to make All-Tournament honors. I cannot wait to see what he's capable of next season. Here's how he ranked nationally after the Quarterfinal vs. Navy on March 3rd:

Rebounds:
Points:

Also if you haven't yet put up a bracket for the AUHoops Tourney Challenge, look below and then join in! It's fun, I promise!

GO EAGLES,
Josh

Announcing the AUHoops Tourney Challenge!

Hi everyone. Hope you're all enjoying Selection Sunday! I have to say I'm shocked (shocked!) that the committee didn't see fit to award us an at-large bid. Teams like Florida just burst our bubble, I guess.

Anyway, although the AU men's season is over, the NCAA basketball tournament obviously holds a lot of allure for fans of college basketball. Since we've got a budding community here, I figured it might be fun if we had a basketball pool here.

I've set up a group at CBS Sportsline for us to use. To participate, you will have to sign up for an account, but it takes all of 30 seconds and is free.

The link to the group is: http://auhoops.mayhem.cbssports.com/e and the password is "lumpkinpatch"

Hope I'll be seeing a lot of you participate in this. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I might even be able to scrounge up some kind of prize for whoever wins!

If you have any questions, email at auhoopsblog@gmail.com or post in the comments. I'll try to troubleshoot as best I can.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Hill Pigeons to Face Jayhawks in the First Round

So will they lose by 20, 30, or 40 points?

Pummeled by Pigeons...Part Deux

Lehigh's Defense Looks A Lot Like This

Alas, Eagles fans, those of us who held out hope we could avenge the cruel men's loss versus the Lehigh Hill Pigeons in Bethlehem with the Patriot League Women's Championship were sadly disappointed. The Lady Eagles fell in a similarly lackluster fashion this evening, with the final tally coming in at 58-42. It was a low-scoring, sluggish affair, highlighted by our roughly 20% shooting from 2-point range and 10% (2-20) from beyond the arc. Frankly, it was a case of "if we had made our shots, it would have been close, and we might just have won."

Lehigh Going to the Dance

Lafayette shoots 3-20 from long range, and Lehigh wins 74-59. I think Lehigh will avoid the play-in game. More on this later.

PL Championship Game is on...

...I can't help but notice we're not in it.

Go...Lafayette Lolcats.

Thursday...From the Vault

Just because basketball season has come to an end for our valiant Eagles (the women fight on, of course) does not mean we're hibernating here at AUHoops. On the contrary, we're taking this time to keep bringing you the weekly features you (probably) love, and most of all improve all aspects of the site leading up to AUHoops Season 2. To this end, I want to present a new feature that you might not see every week, because it's dependent on how much cool stuff we can find as we relentlessly scour the darkest depths of the longest-forgotten archives. I hereby dedicate "Thursday...From the Vault" to our older readers, whose vast knowledge of AU far exceeds our own. I have to say I've learned a whole lot from you guys who post in the comments, so I hope I can give a little back.

For the inaugural edition of TFtV, I present one of AU's original fight songs. This was pulled from an old edition of The Eagle that ran a feature on the history of AU Spirit on October 28th, 1959. Presenting...THE EAGLE SONG:

Speculation Tuesday Has All Kinds of Updates

Gooooood evening AUHoops fans! If you haven't read through the spirited discussion that took place in the comments section of the last post, I highly suggest you do so as it's a very interesting read. I've got to be honest, I'm having a pretty busy week at work, so you won't get the normal volume of posts. I'll do my best, but no promises. In any event, I have some articles and such I want to share:

In the time following the loss, let's focus on the GOOD

Well, good evening AU Hoops fans. After a long season full of ups and downs, the train finally chugged along to a stop tonight against the Lehigh Hill Pigeons who looked decidedly un-pigeon-like tonight. We got completely outplayed tonight in virtually every facet of the game. We came out flat against a team that was more experienced, more cohesive, and more talented. The game wasn't really ever that close. Still, we lost in the semifinals, and that's farther than a lot of people thought we would go this season. (I just wanted to host a home game in the quarters, personally). In light of what the team did achieve, I'm only going to focus on the GOOD from tonight's game. There is plenty of BAD and UGLY to point out, but I'll abstain. I imagine we can talk about it in the comments, but for now, join me after the jump.

AU Eagles vs. Lehigh Hill Pigeons Liveblog - THE SEMIFINAL BATTLE OF THE WEEK!

Join us live from the AU Superfan Bunker!

9 Games to the National Championship and Counting

The Hill Pigeon (Columba rupestris), officially the least intimidating mascot I have ever seen

Mmmmmh, gravy. This is all gravy. Our valiant Eagles, against all odds, successfully hosted and won the quarterfinal of the Patriot League tournament. Therefore, anything else is just gravy to me. However, gravy tastes great on grilled Mountain Haw-- er, Hill Pigeon, so I'm thinking I'd like some of that too. It's certainly going to be a battle of the ages up in Bethlehem, PA tomorrow at 8:05 PM, but we're certainly going to give those mutant chickens a hell of a fight. Will we win? I think we have a decent shot. Find out why we could be on our way to a third consecutive Patriot League Championship game after the jump!

GET PUMPED! BEAT THE HILL PIGEONS!

Your Morning Dose of Jeff Jones

Just some quick links this morning:

Jeff Jones on the Kojo Nnamdi show from Monday

Requires Facebook, but JJ on the teleconference call Monday with all of the league coaches

A little dated since they take place before the Navy game, but still valuable.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Weekly Poll is a Litttttle Late

Well, you all are pretty confident that you want a message board at AUHoops, so we'll take a look at that and look at how to integrate one for next season.

For this week though (well, the next two days), I want to know if anyone is actually going to make the trek up to Easton to see the guys play. As I mentioned before, because it's 8pm on a Sunday I won't be able to, but I'm curious to see if there will be any AU contingent there.

Let us know!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

9 straight quarterfinal wins, 9 straight wins over Navy, 9 games away from an NCAA championship...coincidence? I think not. The GOOD, BAD, and UGLY

Gooooood evening AUHoops fans! Well, this team has really pulled it together toward the end of the season and avoided three potentially unfortunate distinctions. We've never finished below 4th in the PL, we've never finished below .500 in the PL, and after tonight's victory against Navy, we have always made it into the semifinals of the PL tourney. It was a great win tonight, although a little more cardiac toward the end than it needed to be (more on that later). We played 38 solid minutes and then almost gave it up in the last two minutes. We'll be playing Lehigh at 8pm (what a ridiculous time) on Sunday. The EIWA wrestling championships are being held at Lehigh and won't be done until after 5pm. Because it's so late and on a Sunday, I'll be liveblogging rather than actually attending. Sorry about that. Anyway, let's get to it.

The Road to the National Championships BEGINS TONIGHT

Good morning and welcome to March Madness, AUHoops fans! Today is the big day. Today, our American University Eagles begin the long march (pun intended) toward our first NCAA National Championship! Some may think that such a championship is a foregone conclusion. That our postseason success will be a walk through the arboretum as refreshing and carefree as Sherman's March to the Sea. I say to those, though, "Nay, nay indeed!" Our path to the National Championship will be wrought with perilous dangers, treacherous opponents, and ugly enemy mascots. But I say to you my comrades-in-hoops, take heart! For in a mere matter of weeks our very own Jeff Jones will be wearing a cut-down basketball net as a necklace, and our legacy as the greatest Patriot League team shall be cemented for time without end.

PL Awards Announced-UPDATED

Well, I finally got home from work, so now I can post about this. Join me after the jump for my thoughts on the PL awards

You...you really, really like us!

Dear AUHoops Readers,

The final readership numbers for the month of February just came in, and I must say I am impressed, astounded, flattered, and inspired all at once. In the mere 28 days that comprise February, 7,500 of you loaded our page over 16,500 times...and 3,600 of you came back for even more AUHoops goodness. Whether you love us, AU Eagles Basketball, or (most likely) both, let me offer forth a sincere, heartfelt THANK YOU!