One-Bid Wonders

It’s been almost two months since America East season came to an end when the Albany Great Danes were bounced from The Big Dance by top-seed Duke and the Stony Brook Seawolves took a tumble in the second round of the NIT at Iowa. But several America East alums are still chasing titles in some of the best leagues in the world.

Former America East Champions Taylor Coppenrath and Rashad Bell will be playing for their league championships this week in Spain and Hungary, respectively, while former two-time America East champ Jason Siggers is in hot pursuit of the chip in France.

From 2001-2005 Coppenrath flat-out owned the America East as the most statistically dominant player in league history. Over his four-year career at Vermont, the 6’9” 250 pound Coppenrath amassed 2,442 career points, good for third in the league’s all-time record book. After winning the 2002 Rookie of the Year award, Coppenrath won three straight Player of the Year awards (joining late, great Reggie Lewis as the only players in league history to win the award three times), leading the Catamounts to the NCAA tournament each time. His 14 Player of the Week awards are tied with former-NBA player Vin Baker for the most in America East history.

Coppenrath scored a combined 80 points in the league title game over his last two seasons at Vermont, earning championship MVP honors both years. His 43 points in the 2004 Championship Game (despite missing the previous three weeks and playing the entire game in a brace because of a broken wrist) remain an America East Championship Game record. Coppenrath, of course, would lead the Catamounts to their historic first-round upset of Syracuse University in the 2005 NCAA Tournament as a senior.

After turning pro, Coppernath went to training camp with the Boston Celtics in 2005 and Indiana Pacers in 2006, coming that close to making the league (according to several NBA insiders, if not for persistent back injuries that have nagged him throughout his career, Coppenrath would have been all but guaranteed at least a cup of coffee in the league).

Even though he came up short of his NBA dreams, Coppenrath has followed up one of the greatest college careers in America East history with one of the most successful professional careers of any AE alumn. In his eight years as a pro, Coppernath has played in the Euroleague (a trans-national league made up of the best teams from across Europe), as well as the top league’s in Greece (A1), Italy (SerieA), Spain (ACB – regarded as the top domestic league in the world outside of the NBA) as well as the second-division in Spain (LEB Oro) – all regarded as top domestic leagues.

After winning three league titles in college, as a professional, all Coppenrath has done is win. The LEB Oro (or LEB Gold) may be the second division in Spain, but it is widely regarded as a top-five league in Europe and Coppernath has entrenched himself as one of the league’s best players, guiding three different teams to the championship and a spot in the ACB the following season (the regular season and post season champions of the second division move up to the first division and the bottom two first division teams drop down to the following year).

Now Coppenrath has a chance to do it a fourth time, leading Lucentum Alicante (a team he has previously guided to a championship) through the playoffs and into a best-of-five championship series. Coppenrath’s eighth season of pro ball may have been his best, as he has averaged a team-best 14 points per game while shooting a robust 58.5 percent from the floor to go along with 5.8 rebounds (good for second on his team).

Coppenrath’s quest for his seventh championship (and fourth as a pro) tips off Friday, May 24, in a best-of-five game series.

If his career hadn’t coincided with Coppenrath’s, Bell would likely have been regarded as the premier America East power forward of his era. (more…)

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.

Former Boston University Terrier John Holland is one step closer to his dreams of playing in the NBA. The 2011 America East Player of the Year, Holland is one of 13 players signed to suit up for the reigning Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA’s Orlando Summer League.

A three-time First Team All-Conference selection, Holland etched his name across the Terriers record books during his four-year career (2007-2011), ranking in the top-10 in program history in 11 different statistical categories. His 2,212 points, 725 rebounds, 200 steals, 129 games and 4,195 minutes rank second, sixth, first (tied), first and first all-time in program history, respectively.

A 6’5” guard-forward who excelled in run-and-gun transition as well attacking the hoop off the bounce in the half-court, Holland was the recipient of the 2011 Kevin Roberson Award given to the America East regular season Player of the Year.

Holland capped his career by carrying the Terriers to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002, scoring 27 points to go with 10 rebounds in a 56-54 comeback win in the championship game. Holland scored 23 of his points after the intermission, including all of the Terriers points during a 14-0 Terriers’ run which erased a 15-point Stony Brook lead. Holland’s two free-throws with 2.4 seconds left gave the Terriers their first lead of the game as BU punched its ticket to The Big Dance.

After graduating, Holland, spent the summer playing for the Puerto Rican National Team (he was eligible through a Puerto Rican grandparent) before signing his first professional contract to play for Chorale Roanne in the French Pro A league. (more…)

This is the second installment of a multi-part series profiling notable America East Walk-ons. The previous installment can be found here.

On March 2nd, 2002, the Stony Brook Seawolves took the court in Matthews Arena. It was the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament, and the eight-seeded Seawolves were facing top-seed Vermont.

It was a bloodbath.

The Catamounts opened the game shooting six-of-seven from downtown as all five Vermont starters knocked down 3’s in the games first six and a half minutes, effectively ending the game as soon as it had begun.

“I remember them kicking our butts,” laughed Stony Brook assistant coach Dan Rickard, who was a spectator that day.

The late Trevor Gaines scored 16 points, ripped down 11 rebounds and dished out six assists. A young T.J. Sorrentine and an even younger Taylor Coppenrath added 11 and 16 points, respectively, and Grant Anderson added 15 as Vermont cruised to a 74-59 win.

“All I remember is coming up here and Trevor Gaines, and Coppenrath and Sorrentine and that whole crew lighting us up. I just remember T.J. was so good; we had no answer for him – it wasn’t even close,” said Rickard.

On Saturday, the Seawolves returned to Matthews’ hardwood a decade after they first trod the floorboards of the world’s oldest sports arena. But while the ancient arena – its steel support beams, wrought rafters, and darkened corners – remains the same, everything about Stony Brook basketball has changed.

The Seawolves took down the host Huskies of Northeastern 76-69, to improve to 18-8, and remained in a first-place tie with Vermont at 12-2 in conference.

“It’s night and day,” said Rickard, “we’re worlds away from where we used to be.” (more…)

The match-ups for the ESPN BracketBusters (to be played the weekend of February 18th and 19th) were announced today, and the America East (other than the lovely spin/hype job released by the league office) let out a collective yawn that reverberated around the league.

ESPN first launched the BracketBusters tournament in 2003 with the goal of capitalizing on the buzz of promising mid-major programs that could “bust brackets” during the NCAA tournament by upsetting power-conference favorites.

In its first year, the ‘Buster featured a select field of only 18 teams – the “best and brightest” of the mid-majors – that were viewed as having the best chance at shaking up The Big Dance.

Two years later, the America East broke into the ‘Buster, as Vermont – pegged during the preseason by both ESPN the Magazine and Sports Illustrated as a Cinderella in the making, and followed during the season and featured on ESPN’s documentary series “The Season – squared off against Nevada.

2005 was a great year for the AE, as the UVM/Nevada tilt was viewed by many as THE game of the BracketBusters and was featured during a prime-time timeslot on ESPN. UVM eventually fell to a Nevada team featuring several potential/future NBA-ers, but Taylor Coppenrath, T.J. Sorrentine, and the rest of the Catamounts took the heavily-hyped Wolf Pack to the wire.

The Catamounts exposure garnered even more national interest in the program, as a new legion of fans followed the Catamounts through their “Upset City” victory over 4th seeded Syracuse in the NCAA tournament later that year (arguably the greatest win in America East history).

It was everything that the BracketBusters was supposed to be: A showcase of the best of the best of the mid-majors, generating publicity and hype for teams that would later shake up the NCAA tournament.

Then it all went terribly, terribly wrong: Big-time advertisers got involved, ESPN tried to cash in on every single last dime, nickel and penny, and the tournament got so morbidly obese, twisted, and corrupted that virtually every mid-major in the country is now involved. (more…)

In case it’s not clear how absurd the rate at which Gerardo Suero draws fouls is, consider this:

Gerardo Suero has attempted 136 free throws in 14 games.

Let’s assume that he continues to draw fouls at the same rate (which, while regression may play a factor, is a reasonable assumption considering the general quality of AE defenses and the whistle-happy AE refs). Let’s also assume Suero stays healthy and his playing time remains the same. He would then play in at least 17 more games (15 AE regular-season games, the BracketBuster, and one AE tournament game).

Over a total of 31 games, that projects to 301 free throws. Let’s round down to 300 for a nice, even number. (more…)

Gus Johnson’s reaction said it all.

T.J. Sorrentine stood almost 30 feet away from the rim. Dribbling, slowly, back-and-forth, between his legs, for what seemed like an eternity.

30 seconds earlier, Sorrentine’s teammate, Germain Mopa-Njila, had brought Johnson, a CBS announcer known for his ability to describe paint drying as the end-all-be-all of humanity, to the brink of exploding, burying a 3-pointer to put the 13-seeded Vermont Catamounts ahead of the 4-seed Syracuse Orange, 56-55, with just 1:55 remaining in overtime.

Now, with the Catamounts still clinging to their one-point lead, Sorrentine stood near center court, dribbling.

With the shot clock at 14, Vermont head coach Tom Brennan knelt at the edge of the sideline and yelled “Run Red! Run Red!” A play calling for a screen-and-fade by power forward Taylor Coppenrath, one of the nation’s leading scorers, and a player who had scored 30 or more points in three straight games.

Sorrentine turned, and with a quick hand gesture and a shake of his head, waved off his coach, saying calmly “‘Nah, Coach, I got this.” With eight seconds left on the shot clock, he let it fly. (more…)

Boston University small forward/shooting guard John Holland and Maine

power forward Troy Barnies have scored workouts with NBA franchises leading up to the 2011 NBA draft. Holland, the 2011 America East Player of the Year and a three-time first team All-Conference selection, worked out with the New York Knicks on Tuesday and has future workouts scheduled with the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets, while Barnies, who enjoyed a breakout season as a senior and was named to the All-Conference First Team (the first All-Conference selection of his career), has workouts scheduled with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.

Being invited to NBA workouts is a heck of an accomplishment for any player from a low mid-major like the America East and gives Holland and Barnies a chance to show what they can do in front of NBA coaching staff’s and front office personnel.

However, it is important to note that not all pre-draft invites are equal. There are typically two kinds of players invited to pre-draft workouts with NBA teams: true NBA prospects that NBA teams want to take a very long look at to assess, and players to push them through the workouts and bring out the best in them (in essence, practice players).

Among recent America East Alums who scored NBA workouts, Taylor Coppenrath, Jose Juan Barea, Kenny Adeleke, Jamar Wilson, Marqus Blakely, Nick Billings, Trevor Gaines, Rashad Bell, Errick Greene and Justin Rowe were all brought in for true NBA looks. The likes of Muhammad El-Amin, Mike Trimboli, Chris Holm and Kevin Gardner (to name a few) fell into the second category. (more…)

Ryan Butt knows the America East. A four year starter for Boston University, during his career Butt went toe-to-toe in the low-post with Taylor Coppenrath, Trevor Gaines, Ajmal Basit and Nick Billings, and suited up against Jose Juan Barea, T.J. Sorrentine and Jamar Wilson (to name a few). He also knows what it takes to succeed in the AE, having won three regular season titles while leading BU to a pair of NIT appearances and an NCAA berth.

He also knows incoming Vermont freshman Four McGlynn. A student of the game during his playing days, Butt returned to his Pennsylvania roots after graduation and is in his fourth year as the head basketball coach at Donegal High School. At Donegal, Butt coached against McGlynn’s Dallastown team and got to see the UVM recruit first-hand.

While the commitment of some UVM incoming freshmen may be up in the air following former head coach Mike Lonergan’s departure for George Washington, McGlynn recently reaffirmed his decision to attend UVM in the fall no matter who the next head coach is. Butt stopped by OBW recently and was nice enough to share his thoughts and scouting report on McGlynn, as well as an interesting America East comparison:

“Four McGlynn was a kid we played against this year. He is a 6’1″ combo guard who played mostly the point for his high school team but can play either guard spot. He has good range out to 25 feet but is more of a scorer than a pure shooter. Four has pretty good size for a point guard but probably needs to get stronger to be able to finish in the lane more consistently.

“Four’s on court demeanor reminds me of JJ Barea a little. He plays with a swagger and tends to get under his opponent’s skin at times. I think he still needs to work on his overall ball-handling skills if he is going to play the point full time. He does see the floor well and seems to rise to the occasion when his team needs points. I think he will be a contributor for UVM within his first couple of years if he is able to get stronger.”

While Marqus Blakely made headlines recently by signing with the Houston Rockets and becoming the first Vermont Catamount to make the NBA, the player who was supposed to have claimed that title, Taylor Coppenrath, continues to quietly carve out one of the most successful careers of any recent America East alumni in professional basketball. The success continued last week, as Coppenrath helped to lead his club, C.B. Murcia, to a championship.

On April 15, Coppenrath scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds in Murcia’s 112-111 overtime victory. The win clinched the regular season Spanish LEB Gold (also known as the “second division”) title. As is the case throughout Europe, the Spanish divisions are cyclical. The regular-season champion and playoff champion from the second division move up to the first division the following season and, conversely, the bottom two teams from the first division drop down. With the win, Murcia, which finished with a 30-4 record, clinched a spot in the Spanish ACB (first division), widely considered to be the best domestic league in the world outside of the NBA, next season. (more…)