Nov. 7, 2007
The 2007-08 men's basketball season is underway, and all eight Patriot League teams are on the floor for non-League action on the opening weekend. Colgate, Lafayette, Bucknell and Holy Cross will start the season at home, with Navy, Army, American and Lehigh on the road. Navy has road contests on Friday and Sunday.
Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 11.7.07 
Patriot League Men's Basketball Teams Set for Multiple Television Appearances
Patriot League Men's Basketball Back on the Floor
Three teams hit the floor on Friday night, as Colgate hosts Monmouth at 7 p.m., Navy is at Longwood and Lafayette hosts Wagner. On Saturday, Army travels to Minnesota, Bucknell hosts Albany, American is at Saint Francis (Pa.), Holy Cross hosts Hofstra and Lehigh goes to Cornell. Navy also plays a second game of the weekend when it travels to Drexel on Sunday afternoon.
Holy Cross Picked to Repeat in Patriot League
Defending Patriot League men's basketball champion Holy Cross has been selected to repeat in 2008 in a poll of the League's coaches and sports information directors. Holy Cross topped the poll with 91 points and 10 first-place votes. Bucknell garnered 85 points and five first-place votes. Colgate (62 points) edged Lehigh (56) for third place. American came in fifth place with 49 points, followed by Army, Navy and Lafayette.
Patriot League Notebook
10 Patriot League Games Featured on ESPN Networks
The 2007-08 Patriot League men's basketball schedule will feature eight regular-season men's games on ESPNU and one on ESPN2, as well as the Championship game March 14 at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The League's men's basketball season opens up on ESPNU, with Navy traveling to Bucknell for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Jan. 11. Bucknell and Holy Cross will face off on the ESPN networks for both of their regular-season matchups, with a Jan. 18 game in Worcester at 9 p.m. on ESPNU and a Feb. 16 contest in Lewisburg at 6 p.m on ESPN2. The ESPNU schedule features three Friday night games, four Sunday tip-offs at Noon and one Saturday contest. Two weekends will include a pair of Patriot League matchups. Lehigh visits Holy Cross on Feb. 2 at Noon and Army travels to Bucknell on Feb. 3 at Noon, while American is at Colgate at Noon on Feb. 17, one day after the Holy Cross/Bucknell tilt on ESPN2.
More Broadcast Exposure For The League
Patriot League teams can be seen nationally and regionally on a number of cable networks. Sixteen non-League games and 17 Patriot League games will be televised in addition to the ESPN package, giving the Patriot League 43 scheduled appearances on broadcast television to date. Networks such as CSTV, Comcast SportsNet, CN8 and MASN will cover Patriot League teams, and Navy will travel to Army for a contest shown on CBS on Feb. 23. Two games will also be streamed free, with Army's visit to Minnesota on Nov. 10 on Big Ten Network.com, and Colgate's trip to Penn State on Dec. 23 on ESPN360. The Patriot League also returns to Sirius Radio, with the League package beginning on Nov. 10 when Holy Cross hosts Hofstra.
One seat over on the bench
Lehigh didn't have to look far to find its new head basketball coach. The Mountain Hawks promoted assistant Brett Reed as the new Murray H. Goodman `48 head basketball coach on August 10. Reed had been an assistant at Lehigh for the past five seasons, and served as the associate head coach in 2006-07. Reed helped lead the Mountain Hawks to the 2004 Patriot League title. A 1995 graduate of Eckerd College, Reed (Ph.D.) will embark on his first head coaching opportunity, with the season opener on Saturday at Cornell.
300 Club
Three Patriot League coaches enter the 2007-08 campaign in exclusive company in the Division I head coaching ranks. Army's Jim Crews, Bucknell's Pat Flannery and Holy Cross' Ralph Willard are three of the 54 Division I coaches that have more than 300 career wins to their credit. Crews has a career mark of 329-313, followed by Flannery's record of 317-200 and Willard's mark of 303-213. Willard is the most recent entrant into the 300 club, picking up the milestone victory in the last game of the 2006-07 regular season with a 62-50 triumph at Lehigh. The ACC, Big East, Big 10 and Atlantic 10 were the only other leagues with more coaches in the 300-win club than the Patriot League.
Returning All-League Stars
While all of the 2007 First-Team All-Patriot League honorees have graduated, three Second-Team selections will return to the court. Navy's Greg Sprink and Army's Jarelle Brown are back after tying for the league lead in scoring (along with Holy Cross' Keith Simmons) with 16.9 ppg last year. Holy Cross' Tim Clifford led all players with 64 blocked shots a year ago. All three players were preseason All-League selections in 2007-08.
Bracket Busting
The Patriot League enters its third consecutive season with O'Reilly ESPNU Bracketbusters, and Holy Cross and Bucknell will step on the floor on Feb. 22 or 23. The Bison have participated in each of the three campaigns to date, and came away with a 73-63 victory over Towson a year ago to score the Patriot League's first victory in the annual event. Holy Cross was nipped, 65-64, at Hofstra, while Colgate dropped its game at Marist a year ago. All three teams will take on rematches with last year's opponent in November.
Holy Cross Ranked No. 16 in Mid-Major Top 25
Holy Cross debuted as the No. 16 ranked team in the College Insider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Crusaders earned 224 points to claim the No. 16 spot, just one point behind Kent State. Bucknell finished just outside the top 25 with 61 points. The CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 is made up of teams from 21 conferences, as well as Independents. Holy Cross Head Coach Ralph Willard serves as the Patriot League representative on the poll's voting panel.
Home Cooking
Syracuse, Duke and North Carolina fall among more than 300 programs that aren't as dominant at home as Bucknell. The Bison place 18th in the country in overall home record, with a 49-9 (.845) mark in five seasons at Sojka Pavilion after going 10-2 a year ago. Holy Cross has the next best home-winning percentage in the Patriot League with a 290-105 (.734) record in 32 seasons at the Hart Recreation Center.
Former Stars Moving On
Some of the top players in Patriot League history completed their collegiate careers in 2007, but four players from last year's class have already moved on with opportunities in professional basketball. Former Holy Cross teammates Keith Simmons and Torrey Thomas are still enjoying each other's company, as both players are competing professionally in Turkey for Kepez, which is located in Antalya and competes in the Turkish First Division. American's Andre Ingram and Bucknell's Abe Badmus have a chance to stay in the United States after they were chosen in the NBA Developmental League Draft. Ingram was selected in the seventh round by the Utah Flash, while Badmus went in the eighth round to the Tulsa 66ers.
Patriot League All-Access
Watch the majority of Patriot League Men's and Women's Basketball regular-season and tournament games on high-speed Broadband. For $7.95 a month, this cutting-edge technology takes your from your seat to the sideline with multi-camera coverage. Visit your school's website or www.PatriotLeague.com for more information.
2008 Patriot League Tournament
The Patriot League Tournament will once again be played on campus sites. The quarterfinal rounds are set for March 5, the semifinals will take place on March 9 and the Patriot League Championship will be decided on Friday, March 14 and shown on ESPN2.
Team Notebooks
American Eagles
The Eagles open the 2007-08 season at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday...They beat Saint Francis, 73-63, at home a year ago...American Head Coach Jeff Jones has a 104-101 record and 52-32 Patriot League mark in eight seasons at American...Jones has a 250-205 overall mark going into his 16th season as a head coach...2006 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Derrick Mercer is back for his junior season...Nine of American's 14 players are juniors...The Eagle roster features players from Russia, Croatia and Mozambique, as well as nine different U.S. states.
Army Black Knights
The Black Knights tip off their 2007-08 campaign at Minnesota on Saturday...The game will be shown at Big Ten Network.com at 3 p.m...Senior guard Jarell Brown was named to the Patriot League Preseason All-League team...Brown tied for the Patriot League lead with 16.9 ppg in 2006-07, and led the League with 87 three-point field goals made...His 39.8 career three-point field-goal percentage is seventh in Patriot League history...Army went 15-16 a year ago after going 5-22 in 2005-06, good for an eight-game improvement that was 16th in the NCAA...Army Head Coach Jim Crews has a 329-313 mark in 22 seasons as a head coach, giving him the most career wins among the Patriot League head coaches.
Bucknell Bison
The Bison begin their season at home, with Albany visiting on Saturday...They lost at Albany, 55-49, to open the 2006-07 season...The Bison embark on a three-game road trip after the home opener...Bucknell won its last 11 Patriot League regular season games in 2006-07, and had a 13-game overall win streak before losing to Holy Cross in the Patriot League Championship game...They have posted three consecutive 20-win seasons...Senior guard John Griffin was named to the Patriot League Preseason All-League team after notching 10.5 ppg a year ago...Head Coach Pat Flannery has an overall mark of 317-202 in 18 seasons, and a 222-159 record in 13 seasons at Bucknell...Flannery is 119-51 against Patriot League opponents.
Colgate Raiders
The Raiders host Monmouth to begin the season on Friday night...They lost their home opener against Stony Brook last season...They finished 5-9 in the Patriot League a year ago, but had five losses by five points or less or in overtime...Triplet senior brothers Kendall and Kyle Chones are Colgate's top two returning scorers...Colgate Head Coach Emmett Davis enters his 10th season with a 120-136 mark and a 57-63 record in the Patriot League
Holy Cross Crusaders
The defending Patriot League champions open the season at home against Hofstra on Saturday...The game will be broadcast on Sirius Radio Channel 158...It is a rematch of last year's BracketBusters game, which Holy Cross lost, 65-64, at Hofstra...Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Tim Clifford enters the season ninth in League history with 143 blocks...Head Coach Ralph Willard has won four Patriot League titles in eight seasons, and has a 159-89 record in his tenure at Holy Cross...Willard boasts a 303-213 career mark in 17 seasons...Holy Cross has 12 letterwinners return from last year's team, but lost Patriot League Player of the Year Keith Simmons and Defensive Player of the Year Torey Thomas.
Lafayette Leopards
The Leopards start the 2007-08 season at home against Wagner on Friday night...They won the season opener at Wagner, 76-60, a year ago...Lafayette travels to Stony Brook on Monday, then plays five consecutive home games in November before embarking on an eight-game road trip to conlcude the non-League schedule...The Lafayette roster features players from Ireland, Poland and Canada, as well as eight different U.S. states...Lafayette Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon has a 171-175 mark in his career in Easton, and an 81-75 record in Patriot League play.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks
First-year Head Coach Brett Reed begins his head coaching career when the Mountain Hawks visit Cornell on Saturday...Reed was an assistant at Lehigh for the past five seasons, and served as an associate head coach in 2006-07...Lehigh beat Cornell, 90-71, at home a year ago...The Mountain Hawks play four of their first five games on the road...Lehigh sophomore guard Marquis Hall earned Preseason All-League honors after notching 10.9 ppg and 4.3 apg and earning Rookie of the Year recognition in 2006-07.
Navy Midshipmen
The Midshipmen are the only Patriot League team to play twice this weekend, as they travel to Longwood on Friday and Drexel on Sunday...They beat Longwood in overtime a year ago, and also play them at home on Jan. 5...Senior Greg Sprink was named to the Patriot League Preseason All-League team after sharing the League lead with 16.9 ppg a year ago...Head Coach Billy Lange led Navy to its best record (14-16) since the 2000-01 season a year ago...Lange has a 73-71 career mark, and is 34-52 in three seasons at Navy.
