A-10 Hoops Tourney Moving To Brooklyn

The Atlantic 10 is moving its men’s basketball tournament to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., beginning in 2013, according to multiple media outlets.

The league has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday in the Barclays Center with A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade, Rhode Island coach Jim Baron (a Brooklyn native), Fordham coach Tom Pecora and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark.

The league’s annual media day also will be held in Brooklyn on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

The A-10 has played its tourney at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., the past five seasons and is committed to holding it there this year. But the event has had trouble finding a niche. The University of Dayton played Richmond before just 5, 602 fans in the A-10 final last season.

The A-10 sent a memo to league schools telling them not to comment about the move, and UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler didn’t return a phone message.

When it’s completed, the Barclays Center will be home to the New Jersey Nets and have 18, 000 seats and 100 luxury suites. The Atlantic Coast Conference reportedly also is looking to include the arena as part of a rotation for its league tourney with Syracuse and Pittsburgh coming aboard.

The A-10 has wanted to raise its profile in New York City, and the shift could help create more college basketball buzz in the Big Apple with the Big East holding its league tourney in Madison Square Garden through 2016.

The A-10 also has a contract with CBS TV to televise the league final the next two years.

Checking out Auburn: Deontae Hawkins, a senior wing from Dunbar High School, just completed a weekend visit to Auburn and has another official visit scheduled to Wichita State this weekend.

Asked about his trip to SEC country, Hawkins said: “It was great. It was terrific. They treated me like I was one of their own.”

The 6-7 Hawkins is believed to be Dayton’s top recruiting priority in the 2012 class. He hasn’t ruled out making more visits, but he’s raved about the Flyers. He planned to play in an open gym at UD this week.

He also lit up when talking about the possibility of former AAU teammate Devon Scott coming to UD. Hawkins, Scott and Jalen Robinson, who already has committed to the Flyers, played for All-Ohio Red, which won an AAU national title this summer.

“He’s an awesome player, Hawkins said. He’s strong. He’s not scared to post up or go after the defender. He just plays hard.

“In the championship game, he was a monster.”

Another top UD target, Eron Harris, a 6-3 guard from Lawrence North High School in Indiana, visited Loyola last weekend and will take a trip to West Virginia this weekend, according to the Indianapolis Star.

UD women add one: Four-star prospect Bre Elder, a senior wing at Marion County High School, has committed to the Dayton women’s basketball program over Xavier and Western Kentucky.

She averaged 14.9 points and 6.8 rebounds last season, helping her team to a state semifinal trip. And while she visited Xavier, which has dominated the A-10 and has been a top-10 program nationally, Elder said she clicked more with UD coaches and players.

“I made the decision when I visited the campus. It’s all family oriented. I love the coaches, and I got along with the team really well too, she said. The campus wasn’t too big. I feel like there, you have to try to fail (in order) to fail.”

The Flyers also have verbal commitments in the backcourt from senior Lexi Carpenter of Woodbridge, Va., a three-star prospect, and junior Celeste Edwards of Indianapolis, a top-50 recruit nationally.

Reports on ESPN.com called Elder “a legitimate steal” and said the trio “sets up the Flyers’ future backcourt with serious depth.”

A-10 Hoops Tourney Moving To Brooklyn

DaytonDailyNews.com, Doug Harris

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/a-10-tournament-to-get-new-home-1259998.html

The Atlantic 10 is moving its men’s basketball tournament to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., beginning in 2013, according to multiple media outlets.

The league has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday in the Barclays Center with A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade, Rhode Island coach Jim Baron (a Brooklyn native), Fordham coach Tom Pecora and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark.

The league’s annual media day also will be held in Brooklyn on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

The A-10 has played its tourney at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., the past five seasons and is committed to holding it there this year. But the event has had trouble finding a niche. The University of Dayton played Richmond before just 5, 602 fans in the A-10 final last season.

The A-10 sent a memo to league schools telling them not to comment about the move, and UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler didn’t return a phone message.

When it’s completed, the Barclays Center will be home to the New Jersey Nets and have 18, 000 seats and 100 luxury suites. The Atlantic Coast Conference reportedly also is looking to include the arena as part of a rotation for its league tourney with Syracuse and Pittsburgh coming aboard.

The A-10 has wanted to raise its profile in New York City, and the shift could help create more college basketball buzz in the Big Apple with the Big East holding its league tourney in Madison Square Garden through 2016.

The A-10 also has a contract with CBS TV to televise the league final the next two years.

Checking out Auburn: Deontae Hawkins, a senior wing from Dunbar High School, just completed a weekend visit to Auburn and has another official visit scheduled to Wichita State this weekend.

Asked about his trip to SEC country, Hawkins said: “It was great. It was terrific. They treated me like I was one of their own.”

The 6-7 Hawkins is believed to be Dayton’s top recruiting priority in the 2012 class. He hasn’t ruled out making more visits, but he’s raved about the Flyers. He planned to play in an open gym at UD this week.

He also lit up when talking about the possibility of former AAU teammate Devon Scott coming to UD. Hawkins, Scott and Jalen Robinson, who already has committed to the Flyers, played for All-Ohio Red, which won an AAU national title this summer.

“He’s an awesome player, Hawkins said. He’s strong. He’s not scared to post up or go after the defender. He just plays hard.

“In the championship game, he was a monster.”

Another top UD target, Eron Harris, a 6-3 guard from Lawrence North High School in Indiana, visited Loyola last weekend and will take a trip to West Virginia this weekend, according to the Indianapolis Star.

UD women add one: Four-star prospect Bre Elder, a senior wing at Marion County High School, has committed to the Dayton women’s basketball program over Xavier and Western Kentucky.

She averaged 14.9 points and 6.8 rebounds last season, helping her team to a state semifinal trip. And while she visited Xavier, which has dominated the A-10 and has been a top-10 program nationally, Elder said she clicked more with UD coaches and players.

“I made the decision when I visited the campus. It’s all family oriented. I love the coaches, and I got along with the team really well too, she said. The campus wasn’t too big. I feel like there, you have to try to fail (in order) to fail.”

The Flyers also have verbal commitments in the backcourt from senior Lexi Carpenter of Woodbridge, Va., a three-star prospect, and junior Celeste Edwards of Indianapolis, a top-50 recruit nationally.

Reports on ESPN.com called Elder “a legitimate steal” and said the trio “sets up the Flyers’ future backcourt with serious depth.”