The Siena men’s basketball program honored the most successful senior class in its 70-year history and dished out annual awards at the First Niagara Year-End Celebration Monday night at the Hilton garden Inn in Troy.

With YNN Sports Director Joe Calderone serving as master of ceremonies, Former head Coach Fran McCaffery and current Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro both spoke to an excited audience, and all enjoyed highlight videos and heard from each of the program’s five senior student-athletes.

Coaches and administrators, including Siena vice presidents Linda Richardson and Ned Jones as well as Albany county executive Michael Breslin were in attendance to pay tribute to the senior class and celebrate the Saints’ tremendous season.

Athletic Director John D’Argenio presented former Head Coach Fran McCaffery with the Howard T. Tucker Award for his contributions to Siena Basketball.

Director of Basketball Operations David Matturro began the player awards by presenting the Dan Cunha Defensive Player Award to Edwin Ubiles. He then presented the Billy Harrell Top Rebounder Award to Ryan Rossiter.

Ubiles was a NABC First Team All-District, Second Team All-MAAC and MAAC All-Tournament team selection. He was also one of 21 seniors invited to participate in the Reese’s All-Star Game and one of the top-64 players invited to the Portsmouth Invitation Tournament. Ubiles told the Times Union prior to Tuesday’s event that he expects to be selected in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Rossiter was named to the All-MAAC First Team. He ranked seventh nationally and set a Siena Division I Record with 379 rebounds. Rossiter also led the MAAC in field goal percentage and set a Siena program-record with 22 double-doubles which ranked third nationally

Assistant Coach Adam Chaskin presented the Jim Sullivan Most Improved Player Award to Kyle Downey and the Siena Newcomer Award to OD Anosike.

Downey appeared in 24 games, averaging five points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He played a key role despite missing the entire off-season with a fracture in his back, and battled back from a broken ankle suffered in mid-January to emerge as the team’s sixth man down the stretch. Downey started Siena’s NCAA Tournament game against Purdue when Clarence Jackson could not play because of an ankle injury.

Anosike played in all 34 games, providing great depth and production in the post. He averaged 2.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Anosike shot 51% from the field and played just over 12 minutes per game.

Buonaguro presented the Hustle Award to junior guard Clarence Jackson and the Fr. Benjamin Kuhn Student-Athlete Award to sophomore transfer Kyle Griffin.

Jackson was a Third Team All-MAAC selection and finished second in the conference with 71 3-pointers. He averaged 13.6 points and shot 43% from the field, starting Siena’s first 33 games of the season.

Griffin, a sophomore marketing and management major holds a 3.5 GPA. After sitting out the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, Griffin emerged as a key contributor, appearing in 18 games and averaging 2.2 points per game while shooting 37% from 3-point range.

McCaffery closed the awards portion of the evening by honoring Ronald Moore, Alex Franklin and Ubiles with the Doc Marcelle Most Valuable Player Awards.

Franklin was named MAAC Player of the Year, MAAC Tournament MVP and was a NABC All-District Selection. He led the Saints with 16.1 points and was the only player in the conference to rank in the top-5 in scoring, rebounding (8.1) and field goal percentage (55.5%).

Following the awards presentation the five senior student-athletes spoke at length about their time at Siena and expressed their gratitude to those who helped make their Siena experience a positive one.

The Siena men’s basketball class of 2010 will go down as the greatest in the 70-year history of the program. Their 97 victories are the most in Siena history, and they won three MAAC Championships and two NCAA games. Moreover, the seniors posted 20 wins while reaching the MAAC Championship game in each of their four years.

The nearly four-hour celebration concluded with McCaffery introducing Buonaguro who closed the program by commenting on the state of the program.

I think the administration can’t really go wrong by ‘keeping it in the family’. Fran McCaffery is so well respected around the capital region, once it leaked that he had endorsed Buonaguro, it would have been hard to make another hire.

A person close to the situation has told me that Mitch didn’t really want to leave– his son is a graduating senior at Siena, he recently purchased a home in the Saratoga region, and his family likes this area. I know we heard similar things from Fran, but you had to know in the back of your mind that Fran was a young rising star who was going to take his ticket out when he could. Coach Buonaguro has had a lot of coaching experience, and has even stepped in as the head coach during scrimmages from time to time. I get a different feeling from Buonaguro, let’s hope he’s here to stay.

At Siena’s press conference addressing Fran McCaffery’s departure from the program, Athletic Director John D’Argenio announced the college’s gratitude for all the success McCaffery has brought to the capital region and claimed the coach remains on good terms with the program.

D’Argenio then spoke on the upcoming process of hiring a new coach. He stated that the school will not be hiring a consulting firm to help them find candidates, and there is no timed deadline for when they want to hire a head coach. While the program has been aware of a number of coaches expressed interest in the position, D’Argenio said he has not yet spoken directly to any candidates. However, the Athletic Director did mention Siena assistant coach, Mitch Buonaguro, as a possible option for the job.

“Mitch has been with us and a big part of our success. We need to respect that, and he’s somebody who I’m interested in talking to and I’m sure I will before the week is out.”

Next year’s seniors Ryan Rossiter and Clarence Jackson commented on the team’s reaction of being disappointed, but also realistic. Since McCaffery’s name has been speculated for a number of coaching positions the news didn’t come as a shock to his players. Rossiter talked about his feelings on McCaffery’s decision to leave Siena:

“I was angry, yes, but not at coach McCaffery. I was kind of angry that I wouldn’t be able to play for him my senior year. That’s something I would’ve loved to do. There’s no hard feelings between me and coach McCaffery…I’m just really happy for him.”

Rossiter did acknowledge some of the younger underclassmen players initially took it hard that they won’t be able to play for the man who recruited them. Even though some players may be upset, Jackson said the team veterans have already started to keep up everyone’s concentration toward next season.

“We’re coming to together and just trying to stick together…trying to keep the focus and keep the Siena logo on our chest…I think we’re doing a great job of that right now. Everybody is just trying to get past it, and we’re excited about what’s going to come next.”

According to the Times Union, Mitch Buonaguro would be very interested in the job. The NY Times is reporting that Iona coach Kevin Willard has been hired at Seton Hall. Read More »

Here’s Siena’s offical press release:

Iowa Set to Name McCaffery Men’s Basketball Coach McCaffery to be Introduced at News Conference Monday in Iowa City

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The University of Iowa will name Fran McCaffery as its next head men’s basketball coach in a Monday morning press conference tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. central time (12 p.m. eastern) in Iowa City, according to the university’s website. Siena representatives will be made available at a press event in the Alumni Recreation Center on the Siena College campus Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Siena Director of Athletics John D’Argenio made the following statement. “On behalf of the Siena community I would like to congratulate Fran on being named the head coach at Iowa. I thank him for his dedication and commitment to Siena basketball the past five years and for his commitment to the values and traditions of Siena College. When Fran accepted the opportunity to coach at Siena, we knew that he was a skilled coach, recruiter and mentor and that he could help us bring success back to Siena basketball. His accomplishments brought national recognition to Siena and instilled pride in the campus and Capital District community.”

The Siena administration and student-athletes will make no further comments until Monday’s press event.

McCaffery led the Saints to a 112-51 record in his five seasons at Siena, including three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament and a pair of First Round victories.

McCaffery guided Siena to 27 wins each of the past two seasons, tying the program’s single season record. The 2009-10 team finished 27-7 overall and 17-1 in the MAAC, capturing both the regular season and tournament championships for a third straight season.

A Philadelphia area native, McCaffery previously had head coaching experience at Lehigh and UNC-Greensboro before arriving in Loudonville.

Update 1:33pm–

Siena’s Athletic Director John D’Argenio released an official statement;

There are many questions about Fran and his future and about the course of action Siena may take. Out of respect to him, his family and others we will hold any comments until the appropriate time.

Original Post–

According to Doug Gottlieb at ESPN, Fran McCaffery has accepted the head coaching job at Iowa University. An official announcement is expected tomorrow. Kudos to Pete Iorizzo, who pinpointed earlier in the week that the Big Ten school was on the coach’s radar.

“There are many questions about Fran and his future and about the course of action Siena may take. Out of respect to him, his family and others we will hold any comments until the appropriate time.”

To the fan that doesn’t know Siena all too well, here’s the the thirty thousand foot view– It’s pretty remarkable what Fran McCaffery was able to accomplish in 5 seasons. He took a program that was in the dumps in 2005 and brought the team to 4 MAAC title games, 3 NCAA Tournaments, and 2 second round appearances. He brought the program so much respect that literally nobody wanted to schedule Siena this past off-season.

We polled our readers earlier this week and 61% of you believed that Fran would leave this off-season. Unfortunately, you were right.

I too have said countless times that this would be the year he goes. Think about it from his perspective– his stock will never be higher than it is right now. With three starters leaving, and a bench that probably played a combined average of 40 minutes per game, it will take 2-3 years to build the program’s prestige level back to where it is right now. Granted, the big three always gave us the best chance to win playing 34 minutes a game, but it’s short term gain for long term pain.

I can say one thing for sure– these kids will be fine. Personally, I know they all have great heads on their shoulders, and we should all look forward to an exciting competitive season next year, regardless of who gets the new job. There’s a lot of raw talent on that bench, and it’s going to be an interesting transition year.

Well with that out of the way, let’s get back to reality… let the job search begin. Who should Siena hire? Leave your thoughts in the comments…

Rumor has it that Boston College head coach Al Skinner has been contacted and is talking to St. John’s about their opening. Should Skinner leave, McCaffery might be considered in Chesnut Hill but people in BC believe that McCaffery is the front runner at St. John’s.

Hofstra’s Tom Pecora has been signed to be Fordham’s next head coach, leaving an opening at Hofstra.

Rumors have swirled that McCaffery visited Seton Hall today and are in serious talks with him about their head coaching job. McCaffery met with officials from the South Orange, NJ school on Saturday and The Star-Ledger confirms mutual interest.

However Hewitt has moved into the top candidate to fix St. John’s and might leave an ACC opening, an opening McCaffery might be able to fill according to the Star-Ledger:

Wednesday afternoon, WFAN-AM reported that McCaffery visited Seton Hall earlier in the day and left without signing a contract. The radio station also reported that McCaffery is now expected to speak to Georgia Tech. However Yellow Jackets head coach Paul Hewitt — who met with St. John’s on Tuesday about their vacancy — has not been fired or left Tech.

This story is all over the local NJ papers, though according to Pete, Fran’s interest level is unknown.

I always thought that if he was going to leave, it would be after the Big 3’s tenure, but I don’t think Seton hall is the right job for him. Why would you want to enter that mess in that conference? When he came to Siena, yes he inherited a mess, but it was still a school with a lot to offer– good program prestige, the big stage, and obviously, him.

He has said countless times that his family likes Albany and he still has 7 years on his contract. I do think he’ll leave eventually, but he’s still so young– he’ll hold out for the ND job, which it looks like won’t open up this year.

John D’Argenio, Siena’s Director of Athletics released the following statement;

Fran has had a tremendous amount of success at Siena both in the MAAC and at the national level. I would expect that other schools would be interested in him and his talents as a coach. I don’t think it is appropriate to comment on specific jobs or on another school’s search process.

Meanwhile, is anyone talking about how right Fran was on UNI?

This will be the first meeting between the two schools, and this will be the first time the Saints travel to the west coast since their 2008 BracketBuster 93-70 win at Boise State. The tip is at 2:30 EST, broadcast on CBS and CBS HD.

The Saints will bring their high octane offense against their second straight Big Ten NCAA tournament opponent.  Last year the Saints needed double-overtime to overcome the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament, before losing to #1 Louisville after holding the lead with five minutes left to play.

The Boilermakers will be without Junior All-Big Ten Forward Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL late in the year and will miss the rest of the season.  Hummel was averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game.  Since Hummel’s exit, the Boilermakers have struggled, going 3-2 and culminating in a 27-point loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. Purdue scored 11 points going into halftime, their lowest total since 1950 and the lowest ever in a Big Ten tournament game.

Purdue was ranked in the top 5 for most of the year, and were on their way to a possible #1 seed in the tournament before the loss of Hummel.  They went undefeated in non-conference play with wins over Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, and West Virginia and tied for first in the Big Ten during the regular season with Ohio State.  While the loss of Hummel is significant, this is still a Big Ten team with major conference athletes and experience.

Hummel’s exit won’t mean that they will be without effective scorers.  6′10 Junior C JaJuan Johnson averages 15 points a game while grabbing 7 rebounds per contest, and 6′4 Junior G E’Twaun Moore averages 17 points a game.  It will come down to these two players finding a way to get to their averages, and having others step up, to keep up with the Saints in the scoring column.

While Purdue should still be able to get their points against the Saints, Coach McCaffery has been preaching to his players all week that this Purdue team is most likely the best defensive team they will face all year, if not the best overall team they have met.  The Boilermakers hold their opponents to an average of 60 points per game.  Purdue will play a traditional, slow-it-down/ugly-it-up Big 10 style game, even though they average over 70 points a game.  The biggest difference in both teams, and the one area that may be the deciding factor on Friday, is rebounding margin.

Purdue averages less rebounds per game than their opponents (33), while Siena averages more than 4 boards per game against theirs (38).  It’s going to be on Siena to hold the rebounding edge, and then to get out on the break and create quick scoring opportunities.  If Siena can produce off those breaks, it will allow them to set up their 1-2-2 press, which has been effective across the board at getting teams sideways all year.

Siena will be paced by Ronald Moore at the point, who leads the nation in assists.  The Siena frontcourt is led by MAAC conference player of the year, 6′5 F Alex Franklin who averages 16 points and 8 rebounds per game.  He is joined by Junior C, 6′9 235lb. Ryan Rossiter, who averages 14 points per game and 11 rebounds per game, getting double-doubles in 21 games this year.  While JaJuan Johnson may be the superior athlete, Rossiter has developed in to a player that many experts have said could play in the Big East.  Rossiter’s craftiness and basketball IQ, paired with the athleticism of Franklin in the frontcourt, will go a long way in determining the outcome of the game.  The Saints’ wingman is 6′6 Edwin Ubiles, who is averaging 15 ppg.  Ubiles has battled injury all year, but finished with more than 20 points in the last two regular season contests and a clutch performance in the conference tournament finals scoring 27 against Fairfield.

In last year’s NCAA tournament, Rossiter went for 16 and 15 against Ohio St. while Edwin scored 20, and Edwin led the Saints against the Cardinals with 24 points and 8 rebounds in the losing effort.

One mitigating factor for the Saints on Friday is the possible loss of two guard Clarence Jackson who was averaging 14 points per game, but rolled his ankle in practice over the weekend.  Clarence left Loudonville without crutches, and did practice today, but McCaffery still said that his playing time will be determined on whether or not he can be as explosive defensively and scoring wise as he is capable of being, and not just game ready.  He is the Saints main three point threat, so others like Ubiles, reserve guard Kyle Griffin, and probably starter in Jackson’s place Sophomore Kyle Downey will need to step up.

Neither team is much of a threat from three, though, as they both average 5 or less made per game at a clip of 32% made per team.  Spectators can expect to see a clean, hotly contested game as neither team to turns it over much, each averaging less than 12 turnovers per contest, and fouls should be kept to a minimum – Purdue fouls an average of 19 times a game, but Siena leads the nations in fouls committed with 14 per game.  If outside shooting is not the deciding factor the better rebounding team will be able to impart it’s pace on the other, and in NCAA tournament games, the team that can dictate the pace is the team that usually finds the way to win.

This got the attention of USA Today.

McCaffery voted three teams from outside the power six conferences into the top 10 in his ballot, including Butler (No. 4), Temple (No. 5) and Northern Iowa (No. 8).

Familiar? All three played the Saints this year.

Other mid-majors Fran ranked very highly?

Here’s where McCaffery ranked other non-power conference schools on his ballot, with where they finished in the final Top 25 in parenthesis:
- New Mexico at No. 10 — (10th)
- Brigham Young at No. 11 — (tied for 16th)
- Texas El-Paso at No. 13 — (25th)
- Richmond at No. 22 — (unranked)
- Siena at No. 24 — (unranked)
- Cornell at No. 25 — (unranked)

Also apparently Fran does not like Kansas State, who he ranks 16th but  landed 7th in the poll.

McCaffery ranked Purdue as the #14 team in the nation in his poll.

We found his poll from the poll database at USA Today.

Fran McCaffery – Siena head basketball coach