One-Bid Wonders

For Immediate Release

NEW ENGLAND BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME
www.nebasketballhalloffame.com
Individual Honoree Press Release

TAYLOR COPPENRATH TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE NEW ENGLAND BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

Taylor Coppenrath has been named to the 2013 New England Basketball Hall of Fame. On Saturday, June 22, Taylor Coppenrath will join other honorees representing a variety of categories including coaches, players, teams and special contributors at a major ceremony at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Widely known as one of the best basketball players from the state of Vermont, Taylor Coppenrath will return home after a sixth season playing in Spain. This season he has been named MVP of the LEB ORO league four different weeks and MVP for the month of October. He is currently the top player on his team and one of the top ten players in the league. After graduating from UVM Taylor has played 8 years in the top leagues in Europe and was the “MVP” of the 2010 Spanish Prince Cup and he is the only player to play in four consecutive cups playing on three different teams!

In 2005,Taylor was a finalist for the John Wooden Award as he led the University of Vermont to an unprecedented season, capped by a legendary upset of Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. He finished second all-time in scoring at UVM, was MVP at UVM for three years and third in America East conference history with 2,452 points. The America East Conference named Taylor “Player of the Year” three consecutive years, and he received the Reggie Lewis Most
Outstanding Player in 2004 and 2005. A scholar/athlete Taylor was named to the America East Academic Honor Roll in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Taylor finished his senior year at UVM second in the NCAA Div I in scoring with a 25.1 points per game average.

The June 22 event will include a series of afternoon panel discussions featuring a number of former NBA and WNBA players who will be inducted that evening, as well as famed coaches, such as John Caliperi of Kentucky, former UMASS Coach. Renowned novelist, Harlan Coben, who was an outstanding player at Amherst, will be among the inductees, and will serve as an afternoon panelist.

The event — as much reunion as ceremony — has become one of the largest sports dinners in America. At the last ceremony, the event welcomed over 1,600 people and was a sell out. The 2013 event is expected to be a sell out.

For further information, visit www.nebasketballhalloffame.com.

(Burlington, VT) – It was a very happy birthday indeed for Vermont head coach John Becker last Wednesday. On the day he turned 45, Becker received the best gift a coach could ask for: a verbal commitment from Harry “Dre: Wills – a player with the skill set to turn every one of the Catamounts’ weaknesses into strengths.

Vermont fans may have to go all the way back to high-flying Tobe Carberry (’00) to find a Catamount guard with a similar skill-set to Wills. An extremely athletic, incredibly tough and very physical 6’1” combo-guard, Wills’ is a bit rough around the edges and a suspect shooter from behind the arc, but he is an elite-level defender, an elbows-above-the rim-athlete and a big-time play maker capable of blowing by his man off the bounce, slashing into the paint and finishing at – and well above – the rim.

Wills comes to Vermont from Indiana by way of a post-graduate year at Mercersburg Academy, a prep-school in Pennsylvania and had significant interest from, among others, Butler, Loyola-Chicago, Siena and Wisconsin-Green Bay and was also recruited by the likes of Xavier and Michigan before committing to the Catamounts. (more…)

(Burlington, VT) – A tidal wave of purple cascaded down over the wooden the bleachers of Patrick Gymnasium, burst through the green and gold floodgates and crashed onto the hardwood floor.

Amidst the sea of purple and gold chaos, first-year Albany assistant coach Jon Iati –who had helped lead the Great Danes to their first two NCAA Tournaments as a player – assistant coach Jeremy Friel – who had first competed against Iati at rival New Hampshire before coaching him as a member of the staff at Albany – and associate head coach Chad O’Donnell bear-hugged at center court; leaping and shouting in celebration – grown men turned kids again by the magic of the moment.

Iati’s younger brother Jacob, a fifth-year senior shooting guard who followed his brother to Albany initially as a walk-on transfer, fought frantically through the fray, searching for his teammate and best friend Mike Black. The diminutive-duo had stood tall as pillars of the program over the grind of the season, and in the biggest game of their lives Saturday, the pint-sized playmakers towered over the court, combining for 22 points.

When Iati finally found his back-court mate, tears were pouring from Black’s eyes and streaming down his face. Now, amidst the uproar, they shared an embrace.

Great Danes head coach Will Brown, wearing a sedated smile, quietly ducked out of the spotlight to find his family: kissing his wife Jamie and embracing his son Jackson.

The final buzzer had sounded. The clock read “0:00,” but it still hadn’t struck midnight on the Great Danes and their fairytale season.

Albany had run the gauntlet through the America East Tournament, exorcising demons and slaying dragons every step of the way. And now, the scoreboard read “Albany 53, Vermont 49” and the Great Danes were the America East Champions. (more…)

(Albany, New York) – In basketball, as in life, at some point, everyone and every team gets knocked down – It’s what happens after the fall that counts.

The Vermont Catamounts have tripped, slipped and been flat-out floored several times this season.

Multiple times, the Catamounts have been knocked down for an eight count: There were the back-to-back December losses – on the road to a bad Rhode Island team and at home to Towson; a season-sweep on a pair of lackluster performances to arch-rival BU; a beat-down at the hands of first-place Stony Brook on the heels of their second loss to the Terriers; and an inexplicable no-show on their home court in their season finale against Hartford (a team with which they share no love-loss).

But every time Vermont has fallen, the Catamounts have picked themselves back up off the mat and come back fighting harder than before.

And that’s why, when the dust of the America East Tournament settled and top-seeded Stony Brook – the regular season runaway champion – and three-seed Hartford – the Tournament “dark horse” in the eyes of many – had been felled, the Catamounts were still standing. (more…)

(Albany, New York) — It is said that teams often embody their coach. After back-to-back comebacks in the America East Tournament – a turning on the second-half jets quarterfinal win over New Hampshire, and a do-or-die 85-72 win over UMBC in the semifinals – and a punched ticket to the title game, nowhere is that more true than with the down-but-never-out Vermont Catamounts and second-year head coach John Becker,

Neither flashy nor fancy, Becker is not a hype man, self-promoter or mouthpiece – and is decidedly not a “rah-rah” guy. A soft-spoken players coach, he is a lunch-pail and hard-hat gamer, a blue-collar grinder who gets his hands dirty.

In the era of sideline theatrics where outspoken coaches pander to the camera, Becker has deflected credit during press conferences, praising his players while downplaying his own accomplishments.

But his accomplishments speak at a far more deafening decibel level than boisterous boasting ever could: He is the hard-working, hardwood embodiment of Teddy Roosevelt’s proclamation to “speak softly, and carry a big stick.”

All he does is win. (more…)

(Stony Brook, NY) – Only time will tell if this was the “Statement Win” that has long eluded Stony Brook Men’s basketball in its quest for America East supremacy, but the Seawolves sure made a statement Friday night, stomping Vermont.

Squaring off against their bitter-rival – and the team that dashed their NCAA tournament dreams a year ago – before a packed house partisan fans, Stony Brook rose to the occasion, crushing the Catamounts 65-48 in a game no where near as close as the final score. In doing so the Seawolves grabbed a stranglehold of first place in the standings, entrenching themselves on the inside track in the race for a regular season title and the coveted top-seed in the conference tournament.

“We played a real good basketball team in Vermont and we played really well,” said Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell.

“They out toughed us; they out-played us; they out-shot us; they kicked us all over,” said Vermont head coach John Becker.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, and against a Catamount squad that had bested them in three straight games – including last year’s Championship Game – the Seawolves did just that, holding Vermont to an icy 36.7 percent shooting from the floor (18-of-49) and 26.3 percent from behind the arc (5-of-19). Stony Brook forced 13 Catamounts’ turnovers, turning them into 26 points, and held Vermont to a season-low in scoring.

“Defensively they gave up their bodies,” said Pikiell of his team. “We swarmed today, this was the kind of defense we need to play.”

On offense, the Seawolves used a first-half three-point barrage to space the floor and open up a lead in the first half, before bulldozing the Catamounts in the paint after the intermission.

Freshman center Jameel Warney shrugged off double – and many times, triple – teams in the post to notch a double-double, scoring 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. Warney scored all but two of his points after the intermission and poured in eight points in the opening five minutes of the second half to turn a six point lead into a 14 point runaway.

“Give credit to Vermont in the first half for playing tough defense: They wouldn’t let me get the ball. But you start to see chances open up, and we knew we had to attack,” said Warney, who added a blocked shot and altered several more on the defensive end.

While Warney finished off the Catamounts, it was reserve guard Marcus Rouse who started the romp, scoring a team high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Rouse took advantage of the defensive attention being paid to Warney in the paint to drill 4-of-5 shots from the perimeter. (more…)

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(West Hartford, CT) – When you live by the three you die by it a lot more.

With 11:37 remaining in the second half, the Hartford Hawks had the ball, a 36-32 lead over visiting Vermont, the momentum, and what looked like a straight-line path to a big upset win.

Hartford didn’t relinquish the ball for the next 1:37 of playing time, ripping down six offensive rebounds during that stretch. But the Hawks didn’t put a single point on the board, clanking all seven of their shots from the floor – including five hastily heaved shots from behind the arc – during the stretch.

“You have certain possessions that are key possessions in a game, because it was four at that time, if one of those goes down it’s seven, the momentum comes back to us,” said Hartford head coach John Gallagher.

After Vermont finally wrestling the ball away from the Hawks, forward Clancy Rugg buried a three at the other end. After the Hawks misfired on another salvo from deep, Forward Brian Voelkel converted two free-throws, giving Vermont the lead and the Catamounts never looked back, pulling away for a 49-43 win.

“Feel fortunate to get a win tonight in all honesty. I thought Hartford was the aggressor tonight for most of the game and we were playing on our heels and I give them a lot of credit,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “We found a way tonight: this was a game, similar to the Boston University and Maine games on the road where we couldn’t find a way [to win] and tonight we did.”

Hartford held the Vermont to 13 points below their season scoring average and nearly 15 points below their average in conference play. But the Hawks squandered a stellar defensive effort by shooting themselves in the foot and out of the game, building a brick house of three-point bombs, shooting just 5-of-29 from downtown.

“For us right now, defense isn’t the issue; it’s offense,” said Gallagher. (more…)

(Boston, MA) – They say that an animal is the most dangerous when it is wounded – the adrenaline is flowing and the instinct to survive at all costs is the strongest. The same is true in Basketball: when a team’s back is up against the wall, the chips are down and its season is on the brink, it is usually the most dangerous.

Facing a fight or flight scenario, with its already depleted roster further decimated by injuries and its season likely hanging in the balance, the Boston University Terriers chose to fight – with furious vengeance.

Boston University overcame the loss of two starters to injury, a decided height disadvantage, the shortest bench in the league and an early 10 point deficit to knock off defending America East Champion Vermont 63-53.

“It was a great character win – there’s no doubt,” said Terriers head coach Joe Jones. “You just saw some guys out there just battling and able to use their quickness and their athletic ability to our advantage: That’s what a BU team should look like.”

The out-gunned and out-manned Terriers relied on guts and guile, and flat out played harder than the heavily favored Catamounts – out-hustling and out-working the bigger and deeper Catamounts for 40 minutes, while imposing their will on Vermont’s vaunted offense. Catamount starters Brian Voelkel, Luke Apfeld and Candon Rusin combined to shoot 0-for-18 from the floor, while Voelkel committed an uncharacteristic five turnovers.

“We were just sloppy with the ball and our best players were throwing the ball all over the gym. Instead of trying to make simple plays, they were trying to make great plays,” said Vermont head coach John Becker.

Undersized forward Dom Morris, the Terriers’ lone low-post threat, chopped down the Catamounts’ trees in the low post, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting while ripping down 10 rebounds. Guard D.J. Irving scored a game-high 20 points, taking Catamounts defenders off the dribble at will, while dishing out four assists.

“We battled today: It felt like this was the first game that we battled for 40 minutes,” said Morris. (more…)

(Durham, NH) – The University of New Hampshire Wildcats may have been a thorn in the side of the Vermont Catamounts during previous seasons, but in Wednesday night’s America East opener, they offered up little resistance against the defending America East champs.

By tip-off Wednesday night, temperatures in Durham dipped to the low-end of single-digits, inside Ludholm Gymnasium, the Wildcats offense and internal fire weren’t burning much warmer. Vermont rolled to a 64-51 road win in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score.

“We executed our defensive game-plan as well as we have all year, as far as doing it for 40 minutes and doing all the little things that we expect of the guys,” said Vermont head coach John Becker.

“They deserved to win, they outplayed us, and it started from the beginning,” said New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion. “First home conference game, against the defending league champions, I thought we’d put up a much better fight: we kind of went away quietly in the second half.”

Vermont used timely shooting, effort and intensity on the glass and defensive end, and a patient and diverse offense to handle the lethargic Wildcats. Nine different players scored for the Catamounts.

“Hopefully we can continue to get production from nine guys so that we can use a nine-man rotation,” said Becker.

Do-everything forward Brian Voelkel keyed Vermont, ripping down 13 rebounds to go with six assists and five points.

“Brian set the tone for us all night – being vocal and his energy on both ends of the court,” said Becker. “He is our leader, and when he does that, guys follow.”

With Forwards Luke Apfeld and Clancy Rugg struggling through ineffective nights, a trio of unusual suspects packed Vermont’s scoring punch in freshman forward Ethan O’Day, first-year transfer Candon Rusin and reserve center Ben Crenca.

O’Day, who had struggled for nearly a month after a hot start to the season, paced Catamounts out of the gate, scoring eight of his 11 points in the early going.

“I thought Ethan O’Day was just all over the offensive glass,” said Becker. (more…)

(Allston, MA) – Just start calling the Vermont Catamounts “The Road-Warriors” and point guard Sandro Carissimo “Big Game.”

Carissimo poured in a career-high 25 points, once again making the biggest play in the game’s biggest moment, and was the engine that powered the Catamounts to a resounding 85-78 road win over the defending Ivy League champion Harvard Crimson.

“Obviously, Sandro was incredible,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “It was a really good Harvard team, on the road; we’re really excited about this win.”

The Catamounts shot a blistering 59.6 percent from the floor, including an unconscious 73 percent in the first half, and put on an offensive clinic against a Crimson squad that has reigned as one of the best defensive teams in the nation, and remained calm under pressure and cool under fire, to weather every Crimson offensive charge down the stretch.

“It was a really good effort, especially offensively tonight. We finally executed our offense,” Vermont head coach John Becker said. “We were aggressive, took good ones, and made the extra pass.”

Carissimo led the way, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown, including the biggest shot of the night – a three-point dagger from the left-corner with 1:16 remaining in the game – dished out six assists to just one turnover, and continued to run the Catamount’s show with ice-water in his veins.

“He’s become our closer,” said Becker of Carissimo. “He just wants the ball at the end of the game. Coaches have confidence in him, players have confidence in him, and he’s got confidence in himself, obviously – he’s unbelievable.”

Forward Clancy Rugg scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and forward Luke Apfeld battled his way to 13 points despite being limited to 18 minutes of action before fouling out, scoring on several extremely hard-fought buckets around the hoop. Point-forward Brian Voelkel continued his nightly battled in the trenches, making all the hustle plays that don’t show up in the box score while playing lock-down defense. Guards Candon Rusin and Trey Blue added seven points, apiece, and eight different Catamounts scored four points or more.

“Clancy was really good on the inside, Luke got 13,” said Becker. “This group, we’ve been through a lot, and they understand what it takes to win games and win games on the road.”

Prior to tip-off, Tuesday night’s game appeared to be a case-study in what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. The Crimson entered the game 30-1 since February of 2010 when playing at home in the cozy-confines of Lavietes Pavilion, while the Catamounts had won 39 road contests since the start of the 2009-2010 season. (more…)