Shaka Smart, the head coach of the VCU Rams is just 33 years old.

VCU has lost it’s last two coaches to Major College programs.

This is Kansas’ largest halftime defecit in an NCAA tournament game ever.

Is it safe to say every Siena fan is rooting for Butler?

They do a good job pointing out that the Big Ten stands to lose a lot of talent this year. Though they got some bad news last night when Ohio State’s JD Sullinger announced he would return for his sophomore season.

Iowa was 4-11 in games decided by ten points or less. In 2005-06, Fran McCaffery’s first season at Siena, the Saints were 10-10 in those games– leading Siena to a 15-13 (10-8) record.

This season, Iowa finished 11-20 (4-14).

The Stags used an 8-0 run to take a five point halftime lead and took control of the game with a 15-1 run in the second half.

Jonathan Breeden and Trenity Burdine made their first starts as Saints. Breeden scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting while Burdine scored 6 points in 28 minutes.

Warren Edney led the Stags with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting. The Stags shot 63% in the second half on their way to shooting 50% overall for the game.

Senior Clarence Jackson scored a team-high 14 points on 6-10 shooting. Jackson was the only Saint who scored in double-figures.

The Stags shut down MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter, holding Rossiter to 7 points and 7 rebounds. Fairfield dominated the glass, scoring 42 points in the paint compared to the Saints 26.

The Saints turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 23 Fairfield points.

Rakeem Brookins played just 24 minutes scoring 4 points, dishing out 4 assists and turning the ball over 6 times.

This loss gave the Saints their first four game losing streak at home since the 2004-05 season, the season prior to Fran McCaffery’s tenure as Saints coach. The loss also snaps a 28-game win streak at home against MAAC opponents.

The last time the Saints played a meaningful game on the floor of the Times Union Center, fans were rushing on the court as the Saints clinched their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance with an overtime win over Fairfield.

The Saints will be remade under new coach Mitch Buonaguro and will feature new lineups and rotations to replace Edwin Ubiles, Ronald Moore and MAAC Player of the Year Alex Franklin.

Among Buonaguro’s assets include Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter and senior Clarence Jackson. However, the Saints will be without Kyle Downey who hurt himself in practice last week. Downey, who started in the NCAA Tournament game against Purdue last year and scored 6 points on 2 of 10 shooting, was expected to see more playing time after leading the Western New York team to the gold medal of the Empire State Games this past summer.

Siena will have plenty of time to develop younger players this season including sophomore O.D. Anosike who scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Siena’s exhibition win over Adelphi on October 30th. The Saints will allow LaSalle transfer junior Kyle Griffin to run the point who has had a positive assist to turnover ratio in limited playing time at both schools thus far.

Meanwhile the Catamounts, under sixth year head coach Mike Lonergan, lose their top players Marqus Blakely, Maurice Joseph, Nick Vier and Garvey Young in a group that made the NCAA Tournament last year. That depleted experience led to Vermont being picked fifth in their preseason poll. The Catamounts return preseason all-conference senior Evan Fjeld who helped carry the offense late in the season to lead them to their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Fjeld is the only returning starter will be assisted by UMass transfer Matt Glass who scored 20 points in Vermont’s 69-60 win over Division II school St. Michael’s.

Not only has the roster received an adjustment, so has Siena’s home court. Fans will see new video boards and a brand new game presentation – which not only includes new video presentation but includes luxury courtside seats and different Siena student fan placement. Siena has extended its presence at the Times Union Center by two years and will play there until the 2015-16 season according to the Albany Business Review.

Fun Facts: The last time the Saints and Catamounts squared off was January 2, 2006 in Fran McCaffery’s first season. The Saints beat the Catamounts on the road 76-65 behind an 18 point performance by freshman Kenny Hasbrouck. Future Saint Josh Duell, who played for Vermont at the time before transferring to Siena, scored 11 points.

Siena is 18-5 all time against Vermont dating back to their first meeting during the 1946-47 season. The last time Siena lost its home opener was November 29, 2006 to Hofstra 84-80.

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.