From left, Freshmen Errick Peck, Eitan Chemerinski and senior Andre Wilkins practice Wednesday night in Newman Arena.Basketball Notes:
What: NCAA Division I Selection Show
When: 6 p.m. Sunday. TV: CBS
Of note: Tickets still remain to watch the Selection Show live with the Cornell's men's basketball team at Newman Arena. Admission is free, but a ticket is required.
By Brian Delaney
Ithaca Journal
March 13, 2010
Peck stands 6-foot-6, Casey 6-foot-7. Both can drive to the basket, shoot the 3-pointer, rebound and block shots. Moreover, their leaping ability sets them apart from typical players in the Ivy.
Although easily overlooked at the time, the league's future was on display that Friday night. Defended by Casey on the perimeter, Peck exploded past Casey for a layup, just after knocking down a 3-pointer from the wing.
But almost as soon as the duel started, it ended. The two players were simply in different roles on programs at different stages of development, and Peck gave way to one of the eight seniors on Cornell's roster. Casey played 37 minutes in a 79-70 loss. Peck, however, walked off the Lavietes Pavilion floor knowing he's not far away, if at all, from Casey's level.
"Internally, I know that I can play at that particular level," Peck said. "And if I went to Harvard, if we switched shoes, things might be the same. I'm not really sure. Honestly, I wish him the best of luck and I'll see him the next three years."
On Wednesday, Casey was named the league's rookie of the year. On Sunday, Peck will be -- for the second year in a row -- taking in the scenery of the NCAA Selection Show with his teammates, when Cornell learns its pairing for the 2010 tournament at 6 p.m. at Newman Arena.
Last March, Peck and current teammate Miles Asafo-Adjei visited Cornell on selection weekend. As the Big Red celebrated the announcement of its first-round matchup with Missouri, the pair watched from a table in the back of the Moakley House at Robert Trent Jones Golf Course.
They were important pieces for a recruiting class that, based on timing, has been tasked with sustaining Cornell basketball's emergence as an Ivy power.
The class of five included 6-7 small forward Pete McMillan and two versatile big men: 6-8 Eitan Chemerinski and 6-9 Josh Figini. Johnathan Gray, a 6-3 guard, was promoted from manager in January.
It was a group that largely understood that the 2009-10 season would be spent as students in three areas -- the classroom, the court and the weight room.
That understanding didn't make the adjustment seamless. Going from the No. 1 option in high school to near-zero playing time in college is an ego-bruising transition.
Not every player makes it through their sophomore, or even freshman, season. Attrition across the Ivy League is a yearly occurrence, and it’s never if. It’s how many.
Still, this group has made strides despite its tough position.
“I think it helps when you’re 27-4 and you’re not below .500,” Cornell assistant coach Woody Kampmann said. “It makes it a little easier to be a part of that. They’re all good guys. They’re not going to complain, and they’re going to keep working hard at it and they’ve accepted it. Not that they’re settled or happy with it.”
The 'high-profile' recruit adjusts
Early in his senior year of high school, Peck was viewed as a ‘tweener’ by major college programs he hoped would offer him a scholarship — too short to play power forward, not quick enough to play small forward.
“I think that kind of hurt a little bit, saying you’re 6-6 and we’re not sure where we’d play you,” said Peck, a native of basketball-rich Indianapolis. “Coming here, I really came for the academics and the coaching staff was really nice and the players were really cool.”
His stock soared late last spring after earning Most Valuable Player in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Basketball Series. Despite whispers of renewed interest from bigger programs, he stuck with his commitment.
He learned a few tough lessons along the way. As good as Peck is, Donahue didn’t necessarily need him to do what he does best — create and score — as the fourth or fifth guy off the bench. He needed Peck to set sound screens, make good decisions with the ball and play consistent defense in short stretches.
In the first semester, Peck at times looked aloof in practice and on the bench during games, his body language suggesting frustration. Donahue’s assistants would occasionally pull him aside, encourage him to keep working hard and remind him that his day will come.
Peck also drew strength from his senior teammates, whom he connected with quickly.
“He’s a little bit of a mama’s boy, but he knows that,” Kampmann said. “It’s something that we’re being positive with him. He’s been great about getting in here and working on his game. He’s a great kid when we have recruits, he’s really positive and he’s a great kid. It’s harder for him, maybe, because he was such a high-level recruit for us and (the playing time) hasn’t always been what he’d like.”
Peck turned a corner when the coaching staff switched him from the first string to the second. Instead of getting limited repetitions in 5-on-5 drills, Peck became the go-to player on the scout team.
“Him playing a lot versus the first team and really trying to score has made him a much better player,” Donahue said. “And we have a difficult time guarding him. There’s no one like him in our program. When he gets it going, we can’t stop him.”
Defensively, he continues to make strides.
“I’ve had to guard (Ryan) Wittman in practice,” Peck said, smiling, “and it’s been hell.”
20's a crowd
Unique to the Ivy League, which doesn’t offer athletic scholarships, is roster size.
Including Centenary transfer Anthony Gatlin, who’s sitting out this season per NCAA rules, Donahue has 20 players active daily at practice. He dresses 19 for home games. Practice is, to put it mildly, intense.
To get the freshmen additional practice reps during the Ivy League home schedule, Donahue’s assistants worked the group out for about a half hour before Friday night games, and for an hour after Saturday morning’s film sessions.
Road weekends were a challenge, too. NCAA rules stipulate a team can only dress 15 players at a road game, meaning Chemerinski, Figini and McMillan were left to rotate as the team’s manager on weekends. McMillan, Figini, Gray and Gatlin were in Ithaca when Cornell clinched the league title outright on March 5 at Brown.
“The days that we were (in Ithaca), we came and had workouts,” said McMillan, a 6-7 forward with a sweet 3-point stroke. “So we played a little bit, then we tried to listen to the games or watch on ESPN.com. So it was definitely a little tough not being there.”A diverse group
The unique and miscellaneous talents of Chemerinski first surfaced in a video on the school’s athletics Web site.
During the team’s trip through Kansas and South Dakota in January, he was filmed solving a Rubik’s Cube in less than three minutes. He’s also a proficient juggler and fluent in five languages — English, Spanish, Hebrew, French and Mandarin. He’s hoping to add Chinese to the mix.
“He’s just a personality,” Figini said. “He’s a smart kid. He’s always fun to have around. He can always make some interesting comments now and then about some random facts.”
Chemerinski and Figini both arrived undersized for the college game. Under the guidance of strength and conditioning coach Jay Andrews, Chemerinski has added 10 pounds of muscle and Figini 15.
Each understood that patience would be asked of them as freshmen. Because all six have shared the same highs and lows, a bond has formed.
“We’re a pretty close-knit class,” Figini said. “We hang out a lot together. We’re excited for these next couple years because we feel that we have a connection as a freshman class, going through the same thing together.”
The future
Asafo-Adjei, a defensive-minded guard, said playing against the likes of seniors Wittman, Jeff Foote and Louis Dale has only helped the freshmen’s progress.
“This being one of the best teams the Ivy League’s ever seen, it’s a great opportunity for me and the other freshmen to learn,” he said. “I think we’ve accepted the role of trying to push them as hard as we can in practice every day.”
Not that there isn’t the occasional daydream.
Like Peck did with Casey, Figini said he and his teammates, sitting at the end of the bench, often found themselves comparing their skill sets against freshmen playing real minutes for Ivy opponents.
Foote has said Cornell’s White Team is tougher than “some of the Ivy League teams we’ve played.” In less than a year, the program will find out if their collective instincts — Donahue’s included — are correct about the Class of 2013.
“They’ve worked as hard as any freshmen group we’ve ever had,” Donahue said. “They’re in the weight room, they’re constantly doing individual (workouts) with the assistant coaches. They did great. I have great feelings that that group is going to be terrific. It has good size, good toughness, good skill, good athleticism.“Combined with the guys that are coming back, it’s a very talented group.”
2 comments:
Casey played a lot more minutes (as it says) and seemed to be exhausted. At the end of the first half, he was bending over with his hands on his knees.
No one has really said much about McMillan, but watching him warm up, you can tell he's got a stroke that's almost as good as Wittman and Groebe. I don't know how athletic he is or what else he brings to the table, but he can definitely shoot the long ball consistently. I hope to see him get more minutes this year.
Post a Comment