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Here and There in Friartown

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Opinions, news, and notes around Friartown while not so patiently waiting for Madness.

1. Looking for a player that is slipping under the radar who may wind up being a key for the Friars? My nominee is Junior Lomomba. With the absence of Josh Fortune there are a lot of minutes available at the shooting guard position, and Lomomba should see minutes for his defense and potentially surprise offensively. He has been working out regularly with God Shamgod who raves about Lomomba’s work ethic, saying that he puts in as much time on his game as Bryce Cotton did. PC has a history of finding players who come out of nowhere to be really good Big East players. Maybe Lomomba can be the next one.

2. Every year I can’t wait for the preseason college basketball magazines to come out. When I was growing up the best magazine by far was Street and Smiths. Every die hard basketball fan would buy their copy in late September and continually use if right through the Final Four. Today, the must have college basketball magazine is the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. I purchased this year’s copy online last week and it is head and shoulders above anything else out there as usual. This year’s PC squad is forecasted to finish third in the Big East by Blue Ribbon, and LaDontae Henton is picked to be on the 1st All Big East team. There is also a fantastic preview of the Friars by Kevin McNamara. All in all, a must get for Friar fans.

3. Last week Ed Cooley was at the Raymond Hall Cafeteria participating in the annual Dominican Iron Chef Competition against Fr. Brophy. This  past Tuesday he was speaking at the State House promoting flu vaccine awareness. Saturday night he was a key speaker at Providence College’s launch of the PC Our Moment 100th Anniversary Campaign. Who knew four years ago that we were getting so much more than a basketball coach when Providence College hired Ed Cooley? This should never be taken for granted.

4. Unfortunately, there is going to be no Mal Brown Scrimmage this year. I am guessing that there are several reasons for this. If you have been to a PC practice over the past few years you know how regimented they are. Every minute is accounted for. With the NCAA mandating that there is a limited number of practices allowed between the start of practice and the first game it is probably tough for the coaches to allocate one of these days for an inter-squad scrimmage. Another possible reason is that October is a big time recruiting period with open gyms and home visits going on. The coaching staff probably needs to be on the road for some of these October weekends. Old timers like myself will remember the Mal Brown scrimmage used to be an actual scrimmage game between the freshman team (plus transfers sitting out) and the varsity. Those days are long gone.

5. I have always been a fan of local sports talk radio. Unfortunately in Rhode Island when 790 The Score went out of business there was really no place to talk about the Friars. Today, there are two options for PC talk on the radio. On Saturdays between 7:00am and 9:00am John Rooke and Scott Cordischi host the GoLocal Prov show on WEEI 103.7 FM. PC talk is encouraged. You can also tune in to WDOM 91.3 FM on Wednesdays between 6:00pm and 8:00pm to hear Angelo Marciano and the gang on Start the Friars where you can get the PC students’ take on the Friars.

6. It looks like this year’s Late Night Madness is going to be another huge recruiting opportunity for the Friars. In addition to  the usual throng of top New England players at the event, ESPN five star players Temple Gibbs and Rawle Alkins may be attending from outside the area. Half the battle is getting these kids on campus and Midnight Madness really helps with this.

 

Email Craig at Craig.Leighton@friarbasketball.com

Follow Craig on Twitter: @Craig78

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