Friars make some noise on the hoop recruiting trail

Friday, September 09, 2011

John Rooke, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

PC men’s basketball made big news this past week with the addition of local recruit Ricardo Ledo to their incoming Class of 2012.

With Ledo’s verbal agreement to attend PC starting next year, the Friars have a class of hoop recruits ranked as high as #2 in the nation (by Rivals.com), and perhaps their best overall incoming class in almost 40 years. In 1974, incoming recruits Bruce “Soup” Campbell and Bob Misevicius were both Top 10 players according to Street & Smith magazine. This year, Rivals.com has Ledo ranked as the nation’s 8th best player, with Connecticut guard Kris Dunn 10th, and Virginia guard Josh Fortune considered one of the top shooters coming out of high school.

What else is happening around the state? Here’s a featured snapshot of who is winning, and who is making headlines on our college campuses:

Providence College:

Providence College athletics and the men's basketball Vision Team have announced they will hold the first annual Vision Cup Golf Tournament on Tuesday, October 4th at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, RI. The Vision Cup will be an annual event in which all the proceeds will go to supporting the men's basketball program. For information, contact Steve Napolillo at (401) 865-2677…the field hockey team got its first win of the season on Wednesday, with a 3-2 win over UC-Davis. 15th ranked Iowa is on campus to take on the Friars Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm…volleyball hosts the 8th annual Friar Classic, defending their title against St. Francis (NY) Friday night, Coppin State and Lafayette this weekend...men’s soccer had senior goalkeeper Jhojan Obando named to the Soccer America Team of the Week. PC is ranked 24th nationally, and hosts Sacred Heart Saturday at 1:00 pm…it was also announced by the school that Athletic Director Bob Driscoll has been given a two-year contract extension, retaining his services through the 2017-18 academic year…

University of Rhode Island:

URI football kicks off Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY, facing the Big East’s Syracuse Orange. The two teams have met only one time previously, and it didn’t go well for the Rams in the first one…losing at Syracuse 63-17 in 2002. Rhody is 0-3 all time against Big East teams…URI’s women’s soccer is ranked sixth regionally in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America rankings. The Rams are 3-0-1 and face New Hampshire Friday night at home, then travel to Maine for a Sunday match…volleyball had senior Kayla Wilson named Atlantic-10 Co-player of the week, after helping the Rams sweep through to the championship of the Stony Brook Holiday Inn Express Tournament last week. Wilson was named tournament MVP, and the Rams host the Art Carmichael Invitational in Keaney Gym this weekend against Columbia, Wisconsin and Boston College…

Brown:

Women’s soccer moved to 3-0 on the young season with a 2-0 win this week over Providence, while the volleyball team also got a 3-1 win over the Friars on Wednesday…the men’s basketball team released its schedule that features a record 15 home games at the Pizzitola Center. Highlights on the schedule include playing in the NIT season Tip-Off at Syracuse, road games at the Dunkin Donuts Center against PC, at Iowa of the Big 10, and a home game against URI…Brown freshman volleyball player Maddie Lord was named Rookie of the Week in the Ivy League. Lord was named to the all-tournament team at the Sacred Heart Invitational…Brown’s 11th ranked men’s soccer team hosts the Dunkin Donuts Soccer Classic, presented by Academy Bus, on campus this weekend with George Mason, Holy Cross and Temple as the opposition…field hockey, volleyball, water polo, cross country, golf, men’s and women’s soccer are all in action this weekend…

Bryant:

It’s a big weekend at Bryant, with the football home opener against former Northeast-10 foe American International College. The Bulldogs lost their season opener 28-13 at Maine last Saturday, but outscored the Black Bears 13-7 and outgained them 205-99 in the second half. Junior running back Jordan Brown (Glastonbury, CT) led the way with two touchdowns, and 128 yards rushing…men’s golf plays at Central Connecticut, field hockey hosts Georgetown, volleyball hosts the Bryant Invitational against Harvard and Maryland, cross country hosts the Bryant Invitational and women’s soccer plays at Navy, all this weekend…former Bryant men's tennis standout Jose Rodriguez (Trujillo, Peru) has joined the team as an assistant coach for the 2011-12 season, sixth-year head coach Ron Gendron announced Thursday…

CCRI:

The CCRI women's soccer team opened the 2011 season last Saturday in Lincoln with a 2-1 victory over the Cougars of Manchester Community College from Manchester, CT…the Lady Knights' volleyball team traveled to Columbia, MD to compete in the Howard Community College Dragon Invitational last Saturday and Sunday, getting wins over Community College of Baltimore County-Essex, Potomac State College of West Virginia and Howard. They lost in the finals to Montgomery-Rockville…

Rhode Island College:

RIC’s women’s soccer team had its two-game winning streak to start the season stopped by Springfield College 6-0 on Tuesday. The Anchorwomen will play at Mitchell College Saturday afternoon…last Sunday, men’s soccer beat Castleton State 2-1 in overtime, while dropping a 1-0 decision to Norwich at the RWU Turfer Classic. The Anchormen played at Roger Williams last night, losing 3-1…Bob Nannig has been hired as the new women's gymnastics coach, returning to the position he held from 2003-07. He has run the boys' program at Aim High Academy in East Greenwich, and teaches physical education at Cranston West...

Roger Williams University:

Women’s volleyball swept Emmanuel 3-0 this week to improve to 4-2 on the season

…men’s soccer beat Norwich University last Sunday 2-1 to claim the championship of the 7th Annual RWU Turfer Athletic Classic. The Hawks tied Castleton State 2-2 in the opener...they defeated RIC 3-1 last night on campus...men’s cross country claimed the 3rd Annual Fens Classic at Emmanuel College, placing six runners in the top 10 of the 5K race. The Hawks will host the RWU Invitational this weekend…women’s cross country placed second at Emmanuel…women’s tennis took an 8-1 win over RIC on Saturday…

Salve Regina University:

Junior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference women's soccer player of the week. Birrell led the Seahawks to a 2-1 record while helping the team win the 8th annual Erinn K. Brozman Cup…women’s soccer also beat UMass Dartmouth 5-4 on Tuesday night, improving to 3-1 on the season…men’s soccer won its first game of the year by blasting the University of Southern Maine 7-1 last Saturday…in field hockey, Alexandra Rizzo was selected as the CCC rookie and player of the week, scoring two goals in each of her first two games in two Seahawks’ wins. It’s the first 2-0 start for field hockey since 2000…

Johnson & Wales:

Sophomore volleyball standout Giselle Cram-Ortiz was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the week. Cram-Ortiz was named to the All-Tournament team at the Western Connecticut State University Invitational last weekend, as she averaged 17.5 digs per game for the Wildcats…men’s soccer dropped a 3-0 decision to the Coast Guard, while women’s soccer also fell at Coast Guard 2-1…volleyball hosts the JWU Invitational this weekend with Keane State, Wheaton, Springfield and Connecticut College…women’s tennis plays at Curry College, women’s soccer hosts Anna Maria, men’s soccer plays at Emmanuel, cross country competes at the RWU Invitational and the sailing team is at Roger Williams as well…