American University Absent from This Year's BB&T Classic

Last year, the Eagles were faced with a conundrum. Florida was balking at fulfilling their end of the home-and-home arrangement the two schools made. The solution was the BB&T Classic, a local basketball tournament that, at its best, features all of the local Washington-area college teams. Florida agreed to play AU there, at the Verizon Center, instead of at Bender Arena.

The Eagles are not going to participate in this year's Classic, however. The tournament has downsized this year to just four teams for the first time since 2009. Six teams participated in 2005-2007, and again in 2010. AU has only participated twice, last year (67-48 L, Florida) and in 2005 (75-35 L, George Mason).

This year the BB&T Classic will be held on December 4 at the Verizon Center. The two games are Maryland vs. Notre Dame and George Washington vs. Virginia Commonwealth. More info here.

Cross Your Fingers and Hope for Vlad

Tonight is the night that the top college players in the country dream about: the 2011 NBA Draft. Starting at 7 PM in Newark, New Jersey, 30 teams will call out the names of tomorrow's superstars. All in Eagles Nation will be watching with bated breath as we eagerly wait to hear the name of Vlad Moldoveanu. Hell, we don't even care if they pronounce it right this time.

So this is a reminder to flip on ESPN at 7 PM tonight, cross your fingers, and root for Vlad. He gave us a year and a half of some of the best basketball I've ever seen, so let's make sure to give him a few hours of our time tonight. If every NBA team makes the mistake of not picking him, then we all know he's going to have an incredible career in Europe. Still, there's that glimmer of hope that the greatest Romanian player since Gheorghe Mureşan will have his chance to shine at the highest level.

If you haven't read it yet, make sure to check out the The Washington Time's piece on Vlad's quest to find employment in the NBA.

Finally, I'll put my money where my mouth is and pledge that if Vlad is chosen by the Wizards, I'm buying season tickets tomorrow. You hear that, Wizards? Good.

Here's to you, Vlad. Impale 'em!

IMPAAAAAALED,
Josh

AU Great Kermit Washington A "Forgotten Legend"

Image courtesy AUeagles.com

Thanks to the AUeagles facebook page for linking to a great CollegeHoops.net feature on AU legend Kermit Washington '73. CHN writer Jon Teitel sat down with Kermit about a week ago in an installment of their "Forgotten Legends" series. 

It's a great interview with some good sound bytes from Kermit, particularly surrounding his choice to stay at AU despite a big offer from the Nets after his junior season. I wish that Teitel avoided the inevitable question about "the punch", although I'm glad it focused on public misconception and appeared close to the end. I'm sure our readers have varying opinions about Kermit due to this incident, but the handful of times that I've met him, he was truly an incredible, humble guy, so I'm prone to see him for what he should be remembered for (on this blog at least): being the best AU basketball player of all time. 20 ppg and 20 rpg, 'nuff said.

I do want to briefly point out that CHN's list of "best pro players in Patriot League history" is slightly in error, as every player it mentions played for their respective alma mater years, or even decades, before the Patriot League was founded. It also fails to mention the myriad of great players that played or still compete professionally outside of the NBA/ABA. Still, that minor detail doesn't detract from the interview or the recognition that many of the Patriot League schools have produced truly great professional athletes in their histories.  

Check out the CHN article here. Then watch the 7-part series The Kermit Washington Story: Redemption, narrated by Forrest Whitaker. It's a great piece that brings together Kermit, Rudy Tomjanovich, and even former AU Head Coach Tom Young and talks about the infamous "the punch" incident in the context of Kermit's entire life and career.




Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle,
Josh

Vlad Moldoveanu Gearing Up For NBA Draft

After the Eagles lost to Lafayette in the second round of the Patriot League Tournament this past March, Vlad Moldoveanu took a week off. He began synthesizing his workout plans, because the NBA draft was just over three months away.

On June 23, Moldoveanu will look to accomplish something no Eagle has done in 38 years: be selected in the NBA Draft.

Bulking Up

When Moldoveanu looked at the average size of a power forward in the NBA, he found that he had some work to do.

"One of my goals is to get stronger, and that's a long process,” Moldoveanu said. “I looked at the list of the average weight of the power forward in Europe it's about 230-235 punds, and in the NBA it's about 240-245. So I want to get to that 235 range."

He’s been working out six times a week ever since spring break ended with Eagles Assistant Coach Lamar Barrett. And team managers Ryan Eskow and Tiana Hakimzadeh have helped him practice shooting. He works out mostly at Bender Arena, but when that’s in use, like it was during graduation weekend, he goes to St. John’ High School, where he played before going to college.

Moldoveanu had a few goals heading into the spring besides gaining muscle. Among them, he wanted to improve his free throw shooting (he finished last season with an 83.2 percent success rate at the line) to around 90 percent.

He’s also been trying to quicken his release time and altering his footwork. He’s found inspiration from his favorite player.

"I like watching Dirk [Nowitzki], and the way he uses his feet. It looks weird, but I've been working on those fade-aways," he said. He’s tried them during pick-up games and says that the move works for him.

But Moldoveanu will need to be more than a shooter for the NBA to come calling.

Vlad Moldoveanu Works out for the Wizards

Vlad Moldoveanu worked out with the Wizards this morning. Media were only allowed access to the last 10 or 15 minutes, but here is a shooting drill that Vlad did towards the end. He had to make eight elbow jumpers, but every time he missed one, he had to sink a layup and it took away from one of his makes. He looked to be on his way to nailing them all in a row but had trouble with the last few shots, which set him back. He did pretty well compared to some of the other players in his group.

"It was an honor to be here," Moldoveanu said. "I've been in D.C. for seven years, and I've been following the Wizards since then. I was watching them when they were the Washington Bullets and they had Gheorghe Muresan so I know a lot about the organization."

Moldoveanu also enjoys a few unique connections with the Wizards. Aside from being friends with Muresan, the Wizards Director of Player Development, Ed Tapscott, was the head coach at AU from 1982-1990. Wizards President and General Manager Ernie Grunfeld is also Romanian, but Moldoveanu says he doesn't know Grunfeld that well.

With the draft coming up around the corner, Moldoveanu isn't trying anything new.

"I think at this point and time really, with a week and a half left before the draft, you can't really blow anybody's mind," Moldoveanu said. "You're not really going to show something that they haven't seen before. These guys have been scouting for years. They go to games, sometimes they go to practices, they talk to a lot of people about you, and it's not something where you're going to come and just blow their minds. You just got to be confident and you got to do what you do and do it really well. That's what it is about the NBA; every guy is really really good at what they do."

Here are a few photos from the workout.

Lumpkins Will Sign with Kansas City Royals

We'll have analysis/coverage about this in the coming days, but for now, be sure to read Josh Barr's article regarding Stephen Lumpkins' decision to sign with the Kansas City Royals.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Lucky Round 13 for Stephen Lumpkins

Stephen Lumpkins pitching for the Bethesda Big Train last summer

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We'll start off our big return this week by covering the latest headline, which is that Stephen Lumpkins has again been drafted by a Major League Baseball team. The fact that it's baseball is not quite as surprising as last time (my jaw only made it halfway to the floor at first), but his improvement over last year is something to take note of. In 2010, Lumpkins was the 1257th overall pick (42nd round) by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2011, after only playing a total of six games with a local baseball league, he was picked in the 13th round (somewhere around 400th overall) by the Kansas City Royals. Yup, that's a 30 round jump after not exactly a whole lot of baseball. OK, now pick your jaws up.

Lumpkins is set to break out his left-handed pitching arm again this summer, playing for the Laconia Muskrats (based in Laconia, New Hampshire) of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He's looking to beat the performance last summer that got him on scouts' radar, where he struck out 11 batters in 10.2 innings while allowing four earned runs (these may be the most baseball stats you'll ever see on this blog). Of course, 6'8" left-handed pitchers probably don't show up in the New England Collegiate Baseball League every day, so I have high hopes for his chances.

This thing is fierce!

Of course, the real question is - will Lumpkins head to the MLB, or stick around for his senior season? It goes without saying that the loss of Lumpkins would be a huge loss for our program next season. The only silver lining I could see would that it would open up a scholarship, but at this point in the year that would most likely go to a transfer who wouldn't see play for at least a year. Not much to smile about there. Still, let's think about Lumpkins. What sort of opportunity is this for him? A 13th round pick is definitely more enticing than a 42nd, but is forgoing his final year of college (on scholarship) worth heading to the minor leagues? This may be his last chance to have real leverage with a baseball team, and there's little chance (read: no chance) of him getting drafted by the NBA.
Update: It looks like Lumpkins would be facing stiff competition as well - according to sbnation, in the first 13 rounds, the Royals picked 9 pitchers. Of the 9, 3 are left-handed pitchers (including Lump), and both the 12th and 13th picks are 6'8" (Kansas City Star).

According to Athlon Sports, every year that there's been a draft (with the sole exception of 1975), at least one 13th round pick has made it to the majors, most notably Albert Pujols (402nd overall pick in 1999). So, his chances aren't terrible, but it's also far from guaranteed. This is going to be a tough decision for him, and wherever he goes, AUHoops will follow (so these may not be the last baseball stats we see, in fact).

The AUeagles press release does hint that he will be back, citing the milestones he'll be able to reach next season if he stays on the hardwood. Last year, they gave no such indication, so read into that as you will. Although he sometimes got lost behind Vlad, Lumpkins is already in the top 20 in program history for rebounds, and top 5 all-time for blocks (19th and 4th, respectively). Next season, he could become the 11th Eagle to score 1,000 points and pull down 500 boards. Should I mention again how much of a hit it would be to lose him?

Ultimately, Lumpkins knows how much he means to this team. It's going to come down to how much he wants to be a professional athlete, and what he feels his chances are after he graduates. We'll keep our ear to the ground and keep you updated with the latest. In the mean time, vote in this week's poll to let us know what you think Lumpkins will do, and of course, share your thoughts in the comments.

One final silver lining - if Lumpkins does have a meteoric rise in baseball, he could likely finance the return of varsity baseball at AU, last played in 1986. We can dream, right?

If you want to catch Lumpkins on the mound (and happen to be in or around New Hampshire), the Laconia Muskrats will be playing their season opener at home against the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide (what an incredible name) this Friday, June 10th, at 7:05 PM. The Muskrats' Robbie Mills Field is located at 15 Eastman Road in Laconia, New Hampshire.

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

*Image courtesy Harvey Levine, SmugMug.com

We're Alive, We Promise!

We awaken from our slumber...

As many of our loyal readers have brought to our attention, it's been over a month since we've updated the blog (35 days, to be precise), which is pretty much the longest downtime we've had since we started this thing. For this, we feel terrible. While AUHoops does give us all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings, the people we really write this blog for are you all. So, when we don't write anything for a month, we expect some people to start calling us out on it. Fear not, for we really are alive, we promise! It's been a bit of a transitional period for Bill, Bobby, and myself, but we're back and ready to deliver your Eagles fix all summer long until the sweet sound of victory echoes in Bender again. First, let's dispel some popular rumors:

1. We were kidnapped and held hostage in the basement of a Holy Cross dormitory.

2. We fell asleep behind the bleachers in Bender.

3. We were eaten by zombies (see above).

4. We were eaten by a furious Jeff Jones (we can only hope this is how we eventually go).

5. We were driving up and down the East Coast warning each of the ACC schools that they'd be "the next Maryland of 2007."

6. We had signed up as Vlad's personal cheerleading squad as he tried out for the NBA.

7. We gave up on AUHoops because there are better things in life than blogging about mid-major college basketball (Editor's Note: there aren't).

8. We discovered we were Jedi and flew off to a galaxy far, far away.

9. We succeeded Dr. Kerwin as co-Presidents of American University.

10. We wanted to play a very long game of "guess when they'll next update AUHoops."

Needless to say, none of the above are true, and if word on the street is to be believed, it may take some time to dispel these vicious and widespread rumors. We trust all of you, of course, to spread the truth. In return, we're going to write a post every day for the rest of the week, catching you up on a month's worth of Eaglemania. Let me say that again -- check back every night this week for a new post.  Consider this our big double-overtime comeback over Lafayette (because we all still dream about it).

You want it. We want to give it to you. You deserve it for being the best fans we've ever written for. Welcome back to AUHoops.

Pro Deo Et Patria,

Josh

2010-2011 Highlight Video Released

Without a doubt, one of my favorite things to watch on repeat until my eyeballs melt during the off season is the annual men's basketball highlight video. The 2010-2011 edition was released yesterday at the Student-Athlete Banquet, and needless to say it's 46 seconds of mind-blowing, cornea-rocking, amygdala-exploding Eagles goodness. So without further adieu:





While the basketball video is our favorite here at AUHoops, it's worth mentioning that Athletics has a video for every sport on their YouTube channel. This year there's an added twist, in that for the next two weeks, they'll be tallying the views for all of the videos, and the one with the most views will receive 50 points toward next year's AU Team Cup (this year awarded to Field Hockey). So by all means, watch them all, and feel the Eagle pride swell within your veins until they burst.

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

Jeff Jones Not Leaving for Green (and Yellow) Pastures

This is how I will always see Jeff Jones in my mind

First, my apologies for letting the blog sit idle lately. I'm graduating in about a week and things have been a bit hectic, while Bill's been preparing to ship off to grad school. That being said, there are no excuses for someone as AU Basketball-obsessed as myself, so please bear with me as we move further into the off season. I'm also going to fix that pesky bug that's only showing one story at a time this week most likely, in case it's bothering anyone else as badly as it is me.

The big news lately are the coaching vacancies at two nearby institutions, namely George Mason and George Washington. Jim Larranaga left a little over a week ago to take the head job at Miami, while GW's new athletic director "let go" of Karl Hobbs shortly after taking over. Jeff Jones, logically, was named as a potential candidate for both positions by major media outlets and the college basketball blogosphere alike. Fortunately, The Washington Post reported today that Paul Hewitt, formerly of Georgia Tech, has taken the Mason job. While the GW job is still open, it's fortunately looking more and more likely that we'll have a few more years of Jones sticking around Tenleytown.

I for one am thankful for this, as the thought of losing Jones made my heart briefly stop. Love him or hate him, he's turned our program completely around, and replacing him would be a tall order. In my opinion, there's not a better coach out there for us at the moment, although I'm sure some might disagree. That being said, Jones is rooted down in the area and likes it here (and his job security, I'd expect), and really the only positions that might be able to draw him away are local ones (unless, you know, we pull a Butler or VCU next season), so the timing of both GW and GMU losing their coaches in the span of a week wasn't particularly great. Oh, and we lost our award-winning wrestling coach to Oklahoma less than a month ago to boot.

Any thoughts on the DC coaching merry-go-round? Let us know in the comments. We'll be back to full strength shortly, so keep checking back for updates. My goal is to come up with a relatively regular posting schedule I can stick to a whole lot better than last summer, so stay tuned.

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

AU Wrestling Coach Mark Cody Leaves for Greener (Corn-Filled) Pastures

Former AU Wrestling Head Coach Mark Cody

The sad reality in college sports is that success and personnel retention don't often go hand-in-hand. With the exception of the Division 1 power conferences, if a player, coach, or administrator hits it big, they'll most likely be snapped up by someone with a bigger budget, better facilities, and a household name faster than you can say "Once an Eagle..."

This scenario played itself out at American University yesterday, as Wrestling Head Coach Mark Cody was hired away by Big 12 power University of Oklahoma. For those in Eagles Nation who follow the wrestling program, you know Mark Cody is the man hired to save a program on the brink of elimination. He turned a struggling, underfunded, and forgettable program into a national powerhouse in less than a decade. 

When AU came close to permanently cutting Wrestling from its athletics repertoire in the early 2000's, a number of alumni and boosters stepped up and provided enough funding to conduct a national search for a head coach who could help save the program. That search resulted in the 2002 hire of Mark Cody, an assistant at Oklahoma State. In the past nine seasons, he turned AU Wrestling into AU's third fully-funded sport (when he came in, there were only 4.5 scholarships). His squad has been ranked in the Top-25 for six consecutive years, and in the Top-10 for almost the entirety of this past season. He produced AU's first National Champion in any sport in four decades with Josh Glenn's 2007 title. Within three years, he produced the program's first-ever All-American, and since 2005, turned out 15 more. Add 21 Academic All-Americans to that resume (with multiple national-high team GPAs and that same distinction expected again this year), as well as a program-best 5th place finish at the NCAA Tournament after sending a program-high six wrestlers, and this year's NWCA Coach of the Year award, and you have one hell of a resume. 

So, really, it's incredible Cody stuck around Tenleytown this long, right? When the position at OU opened up after the retirement of 18-year head coach Jack Spates, many close to the Sooners program expected assistant Sammie Henson to be promoted. Instead, they went with Cody, almost insultingly hailing his success "despite limited resources" in their press release as one of his biggest accomplishments.

Despite spending the last decade or so in DC, Cody is no stranger to the Big 12. In addition to his stint at Oklahoma State, he spent 12 years at the University of Nebraska, and wrestled for Missouri. Additionally, AU Athletic Director Keith Gill spent three years at Oklahoma before being hired by AU in 2007. Whether or not Gill's prior affiliation with OU played a role is unknown at this time.

This morning OU released a transcript of a teleconference Cody held announcing his decision (audio can be found here). Per usual, AU Athletics has remained tight-lipped and has not announced anything regarding Cody's new position, or any preliminary plans to search for a new coach.

The timing of Cody's announcement was also a bit unfortunate, as it came only a day after The Eagle ran the following cover story:

The Eagle's story, which in this blogger's opinion was one of their best-written sports stories this year, included inspiring quotes such as:

"Cody is happy with his team’s performance at the championships but not satisfied. He is still in the hunt to be number one is the nation in wrestling and academics, and his goal is to achieve both in the same year."

Unfortunately for the Eagles, it looks like he'll be pursuing that goal in Norman, Oklahoma next season. It is this blogger's hope that AU is able to recruit someone even half as successful to fill the incredibly large shoes Cody is leaving behind. Although we now have a legacy of success as a program, hurdles such as inadequate facilities will certainly make it more difficult to find someone else of Cody's caliber. Most importantly, I hope we can find someone respected enough to keep our student athletes from also seeking greener, corn-filled pastures.

But hey, at least we still have Jeff Jones.

Pro Deo Et Patria,

Josh

P.S. - I know many readers are likely wondering why I'm reporting on this and not Vlad's recent success in the Portsmouth Invitational and All-Star games. Simply put, I'm pretty bogged down at the end of the semester and this seemed like more breaking news. Fear not, more of The Impaler is coming soon! As always, thanks for reading, everyone.