BIG EAST NEWS NOTES (10/23/2007)

October 23, 2007

Here you go….

Terrence Williams was the star of the show last night, leading Red past White 87-82 before 11,826 fans in Freedom Hall for Louisville’s annual Red-White scrimmage. Even With Williams Bum Ankle, Williams Just a ‘Freak’ (Louisville Courier-Journal) as he registered 24 pts, 19 rebounds and 7 assists. He scored 12 of his team’s 14 points in overtime to secure the victory.

With senior Juan Palacios out with a ligament tear in his right knee and sophomore guard Jerry Smith sidelined due to a thigh bruise, the game was also a conditioning exercise for the players, as 13 participated for the two teams.

Sophomore Earl Clark did his share of stat-stuffing, too, totaling 17 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Derrick Caracter led the White team with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He started at power forward and logged 39 minutes, but coach Rick Pitino wants the large sophomore to shed some more weight before hitting the court:

“We’ve got to play him at the ‘four’ this year, so we want him at 265 and we’ll take it at 270,” Pitino said. “I think he’ll look good in a suit for the first couple exhibition games helping us coach.”

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It is the case of Two Out, One Back In (Cincinnati Enquirer) for Cincinnati. Last year, Adam Hrycaniuk and Mike Williams formed a tight bond as both were sitting out waiting for their chance to help their new Bearcat teammates. Hrycaniuk, a 6′10, 230-pound senior center, was declared ineligible by the NCAA, which ruled that he had played in a Polish league that it considered to be professional. Williams, a 6′7 junior forward, was sitting out the mandated transfer year that all NCAA transfer players must adhere to.

Now, their second year at UC has only one back in the action. Hrycaniuk is expected to be the team’s tarting center when the Bearcats open the season November 9th against Belmont. For Williams, the wait will have to continue as he ruptured his Achilles tendon earlier this month and probably is going to miss the entire season.
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Craig Austrie is taking a new approach to basketball this season as the 6′3 junior guard from Stamford (CT), is trying to focus only on what he can control. His experience and consistent effort this preseason has Austrie Back in the Mix (Hartford Courant) in the UConn guard rotation. Rumors swirled that Austrie could be on his way out of UConn after last season, but he said he never considered transferring after averaging 5.8 points, 2.2 assists and 19.3 minutes as a sophomore. at times, coach Calhoun questioned his ability to push the ball in transition, a must for the guards in the Husky system, but it looks as though they can not discount his ability to shoot the basketball, something that the young team struggled with last season.
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6′7 junior Jamil Wilson is one of the nation’s top 2009 targets from the midwest and the Horlick (WI) High School wing has narrowed his top choices of schools to eight: North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and Marquette. The Great 8 is Willing to Wait for Wilson (Journal Times), who has yet to take any college trips this fall because he has been busy starring in another sport, volleyball.
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The Sabre.com is reporting that Assane Sene, a 7-footer from Senegal, is expected to commit to Virginia after taking recent official visits to Syracuse and Connecticut.
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Brendon Desrochers at SNY.TV finished his countdown of Big East teams from 1-16 as he pegged Louisville #1 in his 2007-2008 conference preview. Here are his other team previews:

16) USF
15) Rutgers
14) St. John’s
13) Cincinnati
12) DePaul
11) Seton Hall
10) Notre Dame
9) West Virginia
Villanova
7) Providence
6) Syracuse
5) Pittsburgh
4) Marquette
3) UConn
2) Georgetown

Desrochers also takes a look at each and every Big East schedule and breaks up the articles by looking at four schools at a time. In It’s All in the Schedules (Part 1) he examines Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul and Georgetown. It’s All in the Schedule (Part 2) looks at Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.
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