I do not have any confirmed specifics for the reasoning, but Jeff James will not be coming to the Mount to join the men's basketball team this year. I suspected as much with the arrival of Evan Cleveland, (which was reported her first on Aug. 22) but could not say so for sure.
With the men's basketball roster updated at MountAthletics.com, sans James, it is official. This means that none of the recruits signed by Milan Brown remained with the program after Brown left for Holy Cross. Donte Morales is headed to UNC-Wilmington, Justin Burrell is headed to prep school, then Holy Cross, and James is headed God knows where.
This is actually kind of cool because now Burke will have to wait one less year to say that he has all of his own players. Excluding redshirt freshman David Golladay, everyone in the class of 2014 on will have been recruited by Burke for as long as he remains with the team.
Cleveland joins Julian Norfleet and Josh Castellanos as the other two members of Burke's inaugural recruiting class.
Showing posts with label Justin Burrell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justin Burrell. Show all posts
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
BREAKING: Burrell will follow Brown to Holy Cross
One-time Mount signee Justin Burrell, a Potomac (Va.) High School point guard, has committed to play at the College of the Holy Cross after he attends one year of prep school in the upcoming academic year, according to a source.
Burrell was supposed to enroll at the Mount this summer and join the men's basketball team in the fall as the heir apparent to Jeremy Goode. But after Milan Brown left the Mount for Holy Cross, Burrell received a partial release from Mount head coach Robert Burke and reopened his recruitment.
That recruitment ended today when Burrell gave a verbal commitment to become a Crusader in 2011 after attending Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Va., this year. Ironically, this is also the prep school Donte Morales, the other prize recruit of Brown's incoming Mount class who de-committed, attended before re-committing to UNC-Wilimington once Brown left.
Burrell was a Washington Post All-Metro Second-Team selection and was expected to compete with junior Lamar Trice for the starting point guard position this fall. Replacing Burrell and Morales, and joining original signee Jeff James of Bowie, Md., are Julian Norfleet and Josh Castellanos.
Burrell was supposed to enroll at the Mount this summer and join the men's basketball team in the fall as the heir apparent to Jeremy Goode. But after Milan Brown left the Mount for Holy Cross, Burrell received a partial release from Mount head coach Robert Burke and reopened his recruitment.
That recruitment ended today when Burrell gave a verbal commitment to become a Crusader in 2011 after attending Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Va., this year. Ironically, this is also the prep school Donte Morales, the other prize recruit of Brown's incoming Mount class who de-committed, attended before re-committing to UNC-Wilimington once Brown left.
Burrell was a Washington Post All-Metro Second-Team selection and was expected to compete with junior Lamar Trice for the starting point guard position this fall. Replacing Burrell and Morales, and joining original signee Jeff James of Bowie, Md., are Julian Norfleet and Josh Castellanos.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
BREAKING: Burke hires Hoop Group's Farrelly / Bye bye Burrell
According to a source, head coach Robert Burke has selected and hired Mike Farrelly, formerly a Hoop Group employee, as an assistant coach.
Farrelly has been a Director of Hoop Group ELITE for three years after coaching stops at Wilkes University as well as his alma mater, St. Joseph's University, according to the Hoop Group Web site. Farrelly was a three-year member of the Hawks team from 2000 - 2003 that featured Jameer Nelson of the Orlando Magic and Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In Farrelly's time the team won two Atlantic 10 championships and made two NCAA tournament appearances.
This leaves the door open for one more assistant to join Burke's staff. According to an additional source, one of the four previous candidates mentioned on this blog was contacted recently about the vacant positions, although the source asked that that person's identity not be revealed. Since that person was not hired today, nor were they informed that they were out of the running for a position, it seems that Burke is on the verge of filling out his staff. As it has been 39 days since Burke was hired, this has been a perfectly reasonable amount of time to select a new staff as I explained earlier this month.
Farrelly, who turns 29 July 13, appeared in 31 games in three seasons with the Hawks.
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One additional note involving one-time Mount signee Justin Burrell. It appears all but official (although it may be official by now) that the Mount staff has given up on retaining the point guard, who will likely take his talents to prep school and explore options outside of Emmitsburg.
Other recruits have been seen visiting campus although it is unclear whether any additional offers have been extended.
Farrelly has been a Director of Hoop Group ELITE for three years after coaching stops at Wilkes University as well as his alma mater, St. Joseph's University, according to the Hoop Group Web site. Farrelly was a three-year member of the Hawks team from 2000 - 2003 that featured Jameer Nelson of the Orlando Magic and Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In Farrelly's time the team won two Atlantic 10 championships and made two NCAA tournament appearances.
This leaves the door open for one more assistant to join Burke's staff. According to an additional source, one of the four previous candidates mentioned on this blog was contacted recently about the vacant positions, although the source asked that that person's identity not be revealed. Since that person was not hired today, nor were they informed that they were out of the running for a position, it seems that Burke is on the verge of filling out his staff. As it has been 39 days since Burke was hired, this has been a perfectly reasonable amount of time to select a new staff as I explained earlier this month.
Farrelly, who turns 29 July 13, appeared in 31 games in three seasons with the Hawks.
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One additional note involving one-time Mount signee Justin Burrell. It appears all but official (although it may be official by now) that the Mount staff has given up on retaining the point guard, who will likely take his talents to prep school and explore options outside of Emmitsburg.
Other recruits have been seen visiting campus although it is unclear whether any additional offers have been extended.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
No-el, No-el
The glimmer of hope that coach Robert Burke might land Levi Noel as his first recruit was extinguished last night.
Noel, a 6-foot-5 forward, whose high school coach says he can play 1 through 4, has committed to Eastern Illinois of the much more highly-regarded Ohio Valley Conference.
Whether he has actually signed, I'm not sure, but that would be a formality at this point.
Look no further than his Facebook profile picture for proof.
If that were not enough, one of his friends writes on his wall at 9:47 p.m. last night to, among other things, congratulate him on choosing Eastern Illinois. Noel responds by, among other things, thanking him.
Other than the nearly lost hope of landing Justin Burrell, I do not know who the Mount is recruiting for next year although there have been recruits making visits.
Two things I would expect to see are Burke using his international ties to land someone late and for Burke to continue hunting down a point guard other than Burrell.
As of right now the Mount has three scholarships to give for the incoming class and only one of them is taken by Milan Brown's recruit Jeff James of Bowie High School.
Noel, a 6-foot-5 forward, whose high school coach says he can play 1 through 4, has committed to Eastern Illinois of the much more highly-regarded Ohio Valley Conference.
Whether he has actually signed, I'm not sure, but that would be a formality at this point.
Look no further than his Facebook profile picture for proof.
If that were not enough, one of his friends writes on his wall at 9:47 p.m. last night to, among other things, congratulate him on choosing Eastern Illinois. Noel responds by, among other things, thanking him.
Other than the nearly lost hope of landing Justin Burrell, I do not know who the Mount is recruiting for next year although there have been recruits making visits.
Two things I would expect to see are Burke using his international ties to land someone late and for Burke to continue hunting down a point guard other than Burrell.
As of right now the Mount has three scholarships to give for the incoming class and only one of them is taken by Milan Brown's recruit Jeff James of Bowie High School.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Moment of Clarity / Go Colonials
Last night at the wonderful SAAC banquet for the student-athletes at Mount St. Mary's, it was brought to my attention by a friend of a friend of a coach who talked to an administrator apparently involved with the search committee that my three finalists post was "way, way off." In fact I was told that only one of them is correct, although I do not know which one. I'm hoping it's Brion Dunlap.
Although I'm sincerely flattered that an administrator on the search committee took the time to read my blog, it was not my intention to upset them as I apparently did. I was simply speculating on who the next coach could be and made it very clear when I had factual information versus when I was simply passing along rumors or my own hunches.
That being said, I want to be clear in the blame that I'm placing. I have no beef with athletic director Lynne Robinson. My athletic career is over and the school can take nothing from what I've done and already received athletically. If I had a problem with Lynne's involvement in the selection process I would say so. In fact I do not know exactly how much influence she even has because of the one man who, I do respect, but am troubled by his involvement; President Thomas H. Powell.
I won't get into the reasons I have a lot of respect for Powell as a person, he really is a great guy and has done a lot for the academic side of campus. But as someone supposedly leading the search committee I'm highly disappointed in the road this process has traveled.
President Powell is a busy man and is often out of town (as he was yesterday), not to mention that his general knowledge of sports is limited. It's no secret that his strong priority for the Mount is academics, and he'll do little to advance the athletic department further along than it is. I'm not saying he doesn't support the sports teams at the Mount - he is very supportive. What I'm saying is that he is not sports savvy.
I am confident that if Lynne Robinson and a search committee she would personally compile would do this search with no interference, it would have been done by now and a great coach would already be receiving a paycheck. If Powell wants the final stamp of approval, I have no problem with that. He is, after all, the Man at the Mount. He deserves final say. But what the school does not deserve is for him to be Al Davis-like in the sense that he wants to micromanage every part of the process instead of letting the experts in the situation do what they're paid to do.
I would not claim to be familiar with all the intricacies of the search process nor how much weight each person on the committee carries. But I do know from talking to some prominent people on the athletic side of campus that Powell is essentially running the show. And that's why I am doing something that I hope I never do again in my life - rooting for Robert Morris.
If the Colonials never win another basketball game in their existence I will be no less upset with my life than I am now. But as for the time it takes them to name a new head coach, I hope they crush us. I hope it's over by the first half, per se. If we're really lucky, Robert Morris will name it's new head coach before we do, let alone in less total time. Keep in mind that Mike Rice officially left the school to go to Rutgers 17 or 18 days (depending on which report you use) after Milan Brown left for Holy Cross. So how embarrassing would it be if our biggest rival beat us to the punch, even though we got a 17-to-18-day head start? Hopefully embarrassing enough that the Mount starts to take itself more seriously.
If Brion Dunlap isn't your man, fine. If he is, even better. I've made it clear that I'm rooting for him. If he is not the choice, I trust that the search committee will make a selection that it deems to be the best suit for the program. I will support that person as much as I'll support coach Bri if he is selected. But that does not change the fact that the school has dragged its feet.
You want to say that it's OK to take our time? That there's a positive correlation with taking more time? Or maybe you have another justification for the length of this process? That's fine, but sometimes different circumstances dictate different approaches. It is MAY 5 - CINCO DE FRICKIN' MAYO - and we don't have a head coach.
The AAU summer circuit is about to get under way. How can the Mount's head coach convince players to come here when the head coach doesn't even exist yet? Who is going to run a summer camp to generate money for the school and program? If you think it's not important to recruiting and that we'll find another late talent like we did with Kristijan Krajina* last year, you're dreaming. We've already lost Donte Morales, who is a borderline Mountain West/Atlantic 10 capable player. If we lose Justin Burrell, too, we'll have one point guard - Lamar Trice.
(*I ate breakfast with Kristijan this morning and he is noticeably bigger. He says he's put on 15 pounds - now at 240 - since the end of the season. He already has a great finesse game, if he can throw some weight around in the low post the next three years he will be a very versatile force.)
So don't tell me it's OK that we take this much time to find a new head coach. If it were March 20, you could convince me, but not early May when we already have a scholarship floating around.
I'm told (actually told this time, not just a hunch) that the coach will be selected by tomorrow. Another person assured me that the selection will be made by the end of the week, which I take to mean as Friday. Regardless of which day it is, I'll be glad when the wait is finally over, even if it has gone a number of days past the common sense deadline.
---
Follow The Fan Blog closely the next couple days for updates as well.
Although I'm sincerely flattered that an administrator on the search committee took the time to read my blog, it was not my intention to upset them as I apparently did. I was simply speculating on who the next coach could be and made it very clear when I had factual information versus when I was simply passing along rumors or my own hunches.
That being said, I want to be clear in the blame that I'm placing. I have no beef with athletic director Lynne Robinson. My athletic career is over and the school can take nothing from what I've done and already received athletically. If I had a problem with Lynne's involvement in the selection process I would say so. In fact I do not know exactly how much influence she even has because of the one man who, I do respect, but am troubled by his involvement; President Thomas H. Powell.
I won't get into the reasons I have a lot of respect for Powell as a person, he really is a great guy and has done a lot for the academic side of campus. But as someone supposedly leading the search committee I'm highly disappointed in the road this process has traveled.
President Powell is a busy man and is often out of town (as he was yesterday), not to mention that his general knowledge of sports is limited. It's no secret that his strong priority for the Mount is academics, and he'll do little to advance the athletic department further along than it is. I'm not saying he doesn't support the sports teams at the Mount - he is very supportive. What I'm saying is that he is not sports savvy.
I am confident that if Lynne Robinson and a search committee she would personally compile would do this search with no interference, it would have been done by now and a great coach would already be receiving a paycheck. If Powell wants the final stamp of approval, I have no problem with that. He is, after all, the Man at the Mount. He deserves final say. But what the school does not deserve is for him to be Al Davis-like in the sense that he wants to micromanage every part of the process instead of letting the experts in the situation do what they're paid to do.
I would not claim to be familiar with all the intricacies of the search process nor how much weight each person on the committee carries. But I do know from talking to some prominent people on the athletic side of campus that Powell is essentially running the show. And that's why I am doing something that I hope I never do again in my life - rooting for Robert Morris.
If the Colonials never win another basketball game in their existence I will be no less upset with my life than I am now. But as for the time it takes them to name a new head coach, I hope they crush us. I hope it's over by the first half, per se. If we're really lucky, Robert Morris will name it's new head coach before we do, let alone in less total time. Keep in mind that Mike Rice officially left the school to go to Rutgers 17 or 18 days (depending on which report you use) after Milan Brown left for Holy Cross. So how embarrassing would it be if our biggest rival beat us to the punch, even though we got a 17-to-18-day head start? Hopefully embarrassing enough that the Mount starts to take itself more seriously.
If Brion Dunlap isn't your man, fine. If he is, even better. I've made it clear that I'm rooting for him. If he is not the choice, I trust that the search committee will make a selection that it deems to be the best suit for the program. I will support that person as much as I'll support coach Bri if he is selected. But that does not change the fact that the school has dragged its feet.
You want to say that it's OK to take our time? That there's a positive correlation with taking more time? Or maybe you have another justification for the length of this process? That's fine, but sometimes different circumstances dictate different approaches. It is MAY 5 - CINCO DE FRICKIN' MAYO - and we don't have a head coach.
The AAU summer circuit is about to get under way. How can the Mount's head coach convince players to come here when the head coach doesn't even exist yet? Who is going to run a summer camp to generate money for the school and program? If you think it's not important to recruiting and that we'll find another late talent like we did with Kristijan Krajina* last year, you're dreaming. We've already lost Donte Morales, who is a borderline Mountain West/Atlantic 10 capable player. If we lose Justin Burrell, too, we'll have one point guard - Lamar Trice.
(*I ate breakfast with Kristijan this morning and he is noticeably bigger. He says he's put on 15 pounds - now at 240 - since the end of the season. He already has a great finesse game, if he can throw some weight around in the low post the next three years he will be a very versatile force.)
So don't tell me it's OK that we take this much time to find a new head coach. If it were March 20, you could convince me, but not early May when we already have a scholarship floating around.
I'm told (actually told this time, not just a hunch) that the coach will be selected by tomorrow. Another person assured me that the selection will be made by the end of the week, which I take to mean as Friday. Regardless of which day it is, I'll be glad when the wait is finally over, even if it has gone a number of days past the common sense deadline.
---
Follow The Fan Blog closely the next couple days for updates as well.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Mount loses Morales
According to Donte Morales's Facebook page, he is going to UNC Wilmington next year. One of the Mount's two stud recruits was expected to stay with the Mount if Brion Dunlap was named head coach, but it appears that the school's foot-dragging has cost them a premium player for the Northeast Conference level.
Morales's status at 11:13 a.m. on Sunday, May 2: "goin to UNC Wilmington".
The Mount's other prized commit, Justin Burrell was the first to comment on his status: "you commited or you just goin to visit?"
This was Morales's response: "i wnt onthe visit bro now im commited bro".
It will be interesting to see what Burrell, who I do not believe has been released from his letter of intent yet, decides to do in regards to waiting for the coach to be named or exploring his own options. The search timeline has already gone well past the two week period athletic director Lynne Robinson originally set to find a head coach.
Morales's status at 11:13 a.m. on Sunday, May 2: "goin to UNC Wilmington".
The Mount's other prized commit, Justin Burrell was the first to comment on his status: "you commited or you just goin to visit?"
This was Morales's response: "i wnt onthe visit bro now im commited bro".
It will be interesting to see what Burrell, who I do not believe has been released from his letter of intent yet, decides to do in regards to waiting for the coach to be named or exploring his own options. The search timeline has already gone well past the two week period athletic director Lynne Robinson originally set to find a head coach.
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