Last season Baron graduated two All Conference players….one of which was his son Jimmy. When over 3,000 career points leave your program, you have to be patient sometimes with the next season. Which is exactly why URI was picked 8th place this year by fellow A-10 coaches in the preseason poll. Fast forward to the present and things couldn’t be better in Rhody Land. Since beating in state rival Providence on December 5th, Baron’s team has lost only two games. Their RPI is 12th in the nation and talk of an ‘At Large’ NCAA Tournament berth is rampant in the Ocean State. In nine years in Kingston, Baron has had plenty of NIT berths….but no NCAA Tournament appearances. The last time URI went ‘dancing’ was the 1998-99 season. Jim Harrick was the head coach and L.A. Laker Lamar Odom was the star player. It has been 11 years since their last dance and to say fans are starving for a tourney berth is the understatement of the year!

URI has been led this season by New Haven natives Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer, and Brooklyn native Delroy James. Tomorrow night’s home game at the Ryan Center vs. Richmond is big for many reasons. It can mark yet another 20 win season for Baron and his Rams have the chance to gain a game on the Spiders.

Pirates Needy for NIT

Entering the season, Bobby Gonzalez was convinced his Seton Hall squad was worthy of NCAA Tournament talk. By the holidays, fans and critics were content with labeling the Pirates a ‘bubble’ team. Now I wonder if Gonzo’s team is going to make the NIT in March. The buzz was back for a minute….back to back home victories against Pitt and Louisville had Pirate fans in Jersey back on the bandwagon. But the last three losses to Villanova, Pitt and South Florida has pretty much killed any NCAA Tournament aspirations.

If you trace it back to late December, Seton Hall has lost 8 out of their last 11 games and are 3-7 in Big East conference play. Gonzalez’s team has more wins than only three other teams in league…..St. John’s, Rutgers and DePaul.

But don’t panic Seton Hall fans….7 of the last 8 games are very winnable and this team has a chance to head into the Big East Tournament with a winning streak. Their home games are Notre Dame, DePaul, Rutgers and Marquette. Their road games are St. John’s, Rutgers, West Virginia and Providence. In this league, it doesn’t get any better than that. Other than the game against WVU, I’m sure Gonzalez and his coaching staff have been waiting for this portion of the schedule since early November!

VP’s Stats of the Week

Did you know?

– that Fairleigh Dickinson is tied for 3rd in the NEC. The school unprofessionally fired Tom Green last summer and named Greg Vetrone interim head coach. FDU was picked to finish in the basement of the NEC this season.

– that Iona has only lost 2 games in the year 2010. The 18-7 Gaels are two wins away from a 20 win season. While
rebuilding, Kevin Willard won 24 games total his first two seasons after taking over a 2-28 team. Iona returns 11 of their 13 scholarship players next season.

– that Fordham freshman Chris Gatson has won four A-10 Rookie of the Week Awards. Gatson had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists against 1st place Charlotte. He then went for 23 point and 9 rebounds against 2nd place Xavier.