How Does An Eagle Impale A Blue Demon?

Welcome to AU Hoops Blog - Vlad the Impaler edition! Today there is much to celebrate and we've got a lot to cover here on the blog, so old on to your seats, folks...it's gonna be a wild ride after the jump!

First, I am sure we are all holding our collective AU breath in anticipation of Vlad Moldoveanu's first game wearing an Eagles uniform tomorrow against DePaul University (6-3) in Chicago! There's been nearly as much speculation on Vlad on this blog as raw anticipation over the past few months, so I'll spare you too much repetition. Here's all you need to know - Vlad is going to make an immediate impact on both sides of the court. He lead the Romanian national team this summer with an average of 18 points and 8 rebounds over 4 games. Of course Vlad can't carry the team by himself, but his leadership might give some other players some needed relief that will allow them to perform at an even higher level as well. There's going to be a whole lot of pressure off of guys like Hendra and Grafft, and it's going to be interesting to see how this new dynamic gels after a few games. I'm fairly certain that Vlad is going to be starting tomorrow, likely over Grafft. That means that starting at tip-off, there's going to be some serious impalement going on.

There's been murmurings that he might be a little rusty after NCAA regulations kept him benched for a season, but this blogger doesn't think that will be a huge issue. I believe he can compete with anyone on DePaul's roster tomorrow, although with a few games under his belt who's to say he won't be even better come Patriot League time. There's also concern that whatever factors were inhibiting his performance at George Mason might manifest here as well. To be honest, I'm not worried. Vlad merely didn't fit in Jim Larranaga's style of play, and part of the reason he left was he realized that under Coach Jones, he'd have much more opportunity to excel. He did have his bright moments over in Fairfax, such as a career-high 11 points against nationally-ranked Kansas State. That's the type of play I expect to see from Vlad as an Eagle, starting tomorrow at 7:30 PM in Chicago.

Now comes the tough question - will we win tomorrow? Despite all my excitement over Vlad "The Impaler" Moldoveanu, this is not a 1-on-1 ball game. While DePaul is nowhere near the cream of the crop of the Big East, fact is they're still a league ahead of us right now. Last year, I might have said differently (0-18 in the Big East, 13-1 in the Patriot League, I would call that closer to even), but this year the Blue Demons have certainly improved while we are rebuilding. Players like Will Walker (who just entered the 1000-point club against Illinois-Chicago yesterday) and Mac Koshwal are going to be challenging for us to guard, although I doubt they'll be able to shut down Lumpkins like Greg Monroe did at Georgetown. This game might be close, but I don't expect a W. I do expect a damn good game of basketball, though, and that's what we're going to get.

UPDATE: Junior Forward Mac Koshwal has been confirmed to be sitting out of tomorrow's game with a broken foot. He is the Blue Demons' second leading scorer this season, averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds in three games this season. At 6'11", losing Koshwal has caused DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright to be "concerned about his team's height." Oh boy!

I'm keeping the preview somewhat short this time because there's so much other good stuff going on in Eagles Basketball Land. First, today is the 27-year anniversary of our 62-61 win over the 5th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas. On December 15th, 1982, future coach of the Washington Wizards Ed Tapscott '80 led our Eagles to victory over a top-10 team and crosstown rival. Driven by great players like Gordon Austin, we held onto a double-digit halftime lead (ah, Villanova, you got lucky), and walked away with our most recent win over the Hoyas. I'm sure this won't be our last, however, and every year that Georgetown deigns to play us, I will be rooting for another victory over those ugly little bulldogs with a silly Greek name (I've got my fingers crossed for next year).

However great that may be, folks, it's not all. Today this blog received its first mention on the redesigned american.edu, which debuted last March and is a thing of internet beauty. Check out this great article from the latest edition of Alumni Update, which so graciously linked to the AU Hoops Blog on the right-hand side of the page. For all of our alumni readers out there, be sure to take note of the dates of the upcoming get-togethers and watch parties. These are great chances to reconnect with your classmates, AU, and most importantly EAGLES BASKETBALL.

Of course, the good news does not stop there. I am happy to report that ESPNU has updated the profile of our lone early signee for next season, Tony Wroblicky. Tony has received a score of 90 (in comparison, Josh Snodgrass and Jeff Holton were our highest rated recruits this year, each with an 83). Moreover, Tony is ranked as the #22 Center nationally for this year's recruiting class. So far Wroblicky's the best recruit of any Patriot League or DC-area school that is not Georgetown or UMD, which I like to believe is consecutive NCAA berths (coupled with damn good showings) finally manifesting in recruiting. Right now we needed something to make Snodgrass' departure sting a little less, and this is certainly it. At 6'10" and 215 lbs. (apparently this kid has grown six inches in the last two seasons and might not be done yet) I can imagine Tony is going to definitely see playing time next season despite the wealth of talent we're going to have available (we don't really have a dedicated Center right now). I'm fairly convinced we won't be looking at a 1-8 record next season, but lets get through this one first and focus our attention on DePaul tomorrow.

So that's it for today, folks. I'll see you right here tomorrow at 7:30 pm for our AU-DePaul liveblog. There's also live coverage that can be accessed on Depaul's Website. So let's get on our blue, cheer for the debut of Vlad "The Impaler", and appreciate the long tradition of AU Eagles basketball that has lead us to this point and on into the future. Go Eagles!

Blue Demon meat is oh so sweet,
Josh