Kenner League Check-in: Out with the old, in with the new

THIS POST was originally meant to air on Connect2Mason.com, but they've been getting busy as of late. Not like that ... with this. Without further ado, here's your mid-offseason check-in:


For yet another year, many of the players on the men’s basketball are playing in the Kenner League held on the campus of Georgetown University at McDonough Arena.

It is the first tangible opportunity to see the newest Patriots take the court and their first opportunity to play against high-level competition.

Sophomore guard Bryon Allen knows how they will fit in and fit together.

“They’re coming together,” Allen said. “Corey [Edwards] is real good with the ball, and ball-handling. Vaughn [Gray] is a good defender. Erik [Copes] has got good moves from his back. So I think we’re looking real good for next year.”

Edwards sees the league as a growing opportunity for his fellow recruits as they make the transition to a faster, more athletic level of competition. He is playing with Copes and Gray as well as senior forward Mike Morrison.

“Playing against pros, that always helps, gets you better, gets your mind focused on different aspects of the game,” Edwards said. “It can’t hurt you, only help you.”

They have been around their new teammates, mostly due to the fact that campus is fairly empty during the summer months, but they do not have on-court experience with the college and professional athletes playing in the Kenner League.

“They’re getting a feel for college basketball,” Morrison said. “It’s a lot more physical, faster and you can see the difference out there. So it’s not exactly the same but it’s better than playing pickup every day.”

It is also the first time that banged-up players can get on the court. Morrison had surgery at the end of last season on a knee that already had pins in it.

One of his teammates thinks he favoring the leg, but his play seems normal, other than the fact that he has missed playing time because of the knee, according to another source. Cam Long has been seen filling in for him as a way to prepare for playing in Lithuania.

“Surgery is going well,” Morrison said. “[It] started out slow, but my rehab picked up. [It] felt good today.”

Sherrod Wright also had work done to repair the cartilage in his shoulder and missed all of last season to the injury. With his work last season, coupled with his work ethic this offseason, he could be a breakout player in the CAA.

“We’ll see. I’m working hard to help my team in many ways,” he said. “I’m out there doing everything I have to do and hard work always pays off so we’ll see.”

Wright is not playing in this league, preferring to play further north during the summer, but he has the opportunity to see how his teammates will do.

“I think the guys are playing real well,” Wright said. “Mike is playing real well, coming off of surgery, starting to get full motion back in his knee. Corey showed some good things, point guard ability … So I think they’re playing well so far.”

Allen, playing in D.C.’s Goodman League, thinks that playing in offseason leagues is a big help, especially for freshmen.

“Everybody feels like it is going to be a good help,” Allen said. “It’s something new to the freshmen, they aren’t used to playing, so they are kind of anxious, but it’s coming along real good.”

Rashad Whack, who transferred after last season to Mount St. Mary’s primarily due a lack of playing time, is also playing in the Kenner League.

He left because of a lack of playing time under the Larranaga regime, looking to get more use as a point guard.

“I feel like it will be a good fit. I can be a strong guard to help their program try to make a run in their league,” Whack said. “Hopefully, after the experience in the NCAA tournament, that can give me an advantage.”

They all show a favorable opinion of the Patriots’ new head coach, Paul Hewitt, who is entering his first season after leaving Georgia Tech on poor terms. Sherrod Wright knows Hewitt from when he was being recruited.

“Paul Hewitt and I had a good relationship already,” Wright said. “He recruited me before I came here. He offered me a scholarship to Georgia Tech, so I already knew him.”

Copes said he had the impression that Hewitt looks for hard work and that his teammates will hold him accountable to that.

“You’ve got to play hard. That’s how I play anyways,” Copes said. “You’ve always got to play harder.”

With a turnover of four players and an entire coaching staff, there was a question of whether or not the team could bond. Erik Copes has the solution:

“We’ve got to hang out together, we’re teammates. We’ve got to get into trouble together, we’ve got to have fun with each other and support ourselves.”

The Kenner League runs through Sunday, August 7, when the championship game is played. The remaining schedule is located online here.

Live-Blogging from the Kenner League

5:00 - Now I'm heading home to work on the story for Connect2Mason. Look for it tonight. 

4:00 - The 4-Patriot team took the loss to the Georgetown rookie squad. After talking to Eric, Vaughn and Corey, I'm starting  to see just how they will fit in with the current roster. Also, Mike Morrison had a 5-foul game by my count.

2:44 - 65 seconds into the game and we see Mike Morrison's first foul.

1:48 - Good to see Whack getting quality minutes. Vertrail Laughs is supposed to be here, but he hasn't suited up. Paris tells me he's okay.

1:15 - Sherrod's team takes a double-digit loss in their game. If traffic getting to DC was better, I would have seen more than Sherrod's scoreless 60 seconds.

Fan Friday

This week's Fan Friday is a video to give a fans a little different perspective on Ryan Pearson. The Post did a great job with the story, I just never saw this video interview. Ryan really puts it all on the line. He's a hoss.



Also, I'll be at the Keener League getting a look at some guys. Expect live blogging, hopefully...

Before he even coaches...

If you were looking for positive comments about the last few days, you've come to the wrong place. 


The U.S. U19 team took a close 78-77 win over Australia on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was for fifth place in the tournament where the Americans were expected to take gold. Jump to this link to see the USA Basketball recap of the game. 


And all in the last 12 hours, the Georgia Tech campus, where Hewitt last coached, has been buzzing (pardon the pun) with the news that not only will the football team vacate their 2009 ACC trophy, but that the basketball team will be hit for recruiting violations. 


The NCAA alleges that an academic advisor and a grad assistant were at an AAU event on campus and that gave them a recruiting edge. Four of the high schoolers with the Atlanta Celtics program eventually played for Tech. None of the players from the 2009 or 2010 incidents played for the university though.


Sucks for them due to the restrictions they have now.


Here's where it gets interesting for Mason fans (scroll down to 3:56 p.m.). It could give Georgia Tech the right to stop paying Hewitt the rest of his salary, but probably won't. The link has the specific terms of the contract and SB Nation Atlanta does not think that anything will come out of this, financially speaking. 


That's good news for you. Georgia Tech will keep paying Hewitt to coach at Mason. 


According to CBSSports.com, Hewitt said, "My staff and I have always had a record of compliance with the rules. And we’re proud of that record.”


Too bad that record is now tarnished. 


In the spirit of the video the GMU Sports Information Directors made last winter, here's one that encapsulates the ire of GTech fans:



I really do hope he can turn everything around.

A look at the 2011 men's soccer schedule

I told you all this wasn't just about basketball.


Last year was disappointing to say the least. After a fairly successful 2009 season, the 2010 year never really materialized. The Patriots finished with a 4-5-2 mark in the CAA, good for seventh place. Six teams make the playoffs. The team just could not find any way to beat teams higher than themselves in the standings. 


From covering the team myself, which I hope to do a lot more of this year, Victor Freeman's absence during the 5-game winless streak basically killed the season. Even though there was a statistical chance that they could make the postseason, a double-overtime loss killed those chances. So hopefully, they are out for blood this year.


Head Coach Greg Andrulis is excited: 

"The 2011 schedule is extremely exciting on many levels," said Mason head coach Greg Andrulis. "First we maintain our philosophy of challenging ourselves with the best possible non-conference schedule that features Top 20 teams with NCAA tournament experience. Second, we are able to provide our team and fans with quality home games against nationally-recognized opponents. And third, we have a schedule that will help prepare the team for a very strong conference schedule. On paper the 2011 schedule appears to be one of the most exciting and challenging schedules for Mason soccer in recent history."

The first big thing for the Patriots is the D.C. College Cup, hosted in Fairfax, with American, GW and Howard all participating. The Patriots took both games last year with a 3-1 winner over GW and a 1-0 win over American. Hopefully this can get the season off on the right foot again.


Only one of the five conference losses can be avenged in Fairfax. And that's Drexel. Sorry fans. You might have to take a little trip to see the other good games. 


With all three goalkeepers on the team taking turns in the box due to injury and performance, maybe we can get a little bit of clarity this year on who is the clear starter. Dustin Butcher and his shaved head tallied two shutouts in the offseason with the Premier Developmental League.


Speaking of the PDL, Ryan Gracia was named to the league's Team of the Week in late May. Good to know that he doesn't lose any of his motivation going to see the Washington Wizards play like crap during  the winter.


Also, there's an ESPN All-American and a WVU transfer on the team this year. And don't forget that Andrulis was a pro coach. Big things are coming.


Finally, I'm getting sick of tying with ODU every freaking year...

New segment: Fan Friday

In the future, the Mason Sports Bog will introduce a segment called Fan Friday. It's a straightforward concept: on Fridays, there will be a fan video, a post from a fan or something of the sort.

However, in the spirit of Jon Arledge posting this on his Facebook page today, I didn't want to wait.

So here's a fun reaction to the Villanova game.

Where has your head coach been?

Paul Hewitt has taken to Europe in the same fashion that last year's Gerge Mason men's basketball team did. Finally, Hewitt fans have gotten to see the first of his coaching since signing on with the Patriots.

Unfortunately, it didn't go too well. The US U19 team, which Hewitt coaches, lost an exhibition matchup to the Lithuania U20 team by a 101-72 margin. After the Lithuanians jumped out to a 32-8 lead after the first quarter, there wasn't much hope for a comeback. At least they only outscored the Americans by three points for the rest of the game, right?

The percentages of the players doesn't matter too much in a situation where head coaching performance is the key aspect of the situation, as it is for Mason fans. According to Hewitt, the game was won by screens. Like Mike Morrison learned last year, sometimes the European style of play is more physical with college-aged players.

Hewitt's squad plays again on Tuesday against Lithuania's U19 team at noon eastern time.

In a format similar to the World Cup in soccer, the US team is in a 4-team group with China, Egypt and Serbia. They play Egypt on June 30, Syrbia on July 1 and China on July 2. The top three teams go to the second round. The quarterfinals are on July 8, semifinals on July 9 and the finals are on the tenth.

On a brighter note, the Paul Hewitt Basketball Camps are underway. The elite camp, just for high schoolers, already happened in early June. If I recall, the players will be helping, as will Scott Lombardi. Lombardi is the director of basketball operations for the team and will probably be one of the guys in charge especially since the camp's namesake is in Europe.

Information from the Butler University Athletics Department was used in this report.