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.