Man, what happened to Cornell? | Syracusefan.com

Man, what happened to Cornell?

Eric15

Living Legend
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Messages
29,227
Like
108,267
In 2010, they were playing Kentucky in the Dome in the Sweet 16 and holding their own very admirably.

They are currently 0-10 with an RPI of 334.
 
In 2010, they were playing Kentucky in the Dome in the Sweet 16 and holding their own very admirably.

They are currently 0-10 with an RPI of 334.

In 2010, they had two pro-caliber [not necessarily quite NBA caliber] senior talents in Wittman / Foote. And Foote was a legitimate 7-footer who was big, strong, and athletic--the inside piece of the puzzle that most mid-majors lack, that enabled them to compete with bigger, more athletic teams. Wittman was a 6-7 SF with tremendous shooting range. A third senior, guard Dale, was an above average player.

Having that type of talent is rare in the Ivys, and catapulted them to the top of the league, and made them a team that could match up with the likes of Kansas [they got screwed by the refs AT Kansas, and screwed out of a win against the Jayhawks that they deserved] and other elite programs.

After that year, the three seniors graduated and their coach left for BC, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sustain / replicate the success he had with that group [especially Foote / Wittman]. After their departures, Cornell slipped back to equilibrium--which for the Big Red in general is being a middle of the pack Ivy League program. Their results this year are worse than the norm.
 
In 2010, they had two pro-caliber [not necessarily quite NBA caliber] senior talents in Wittman / Foote. And Foote was a legitimate 7-footer who was big, strong, and athletic--the inside piece of the puzzle that most mid-majors lack, that enabled them to compete with bigger, more athletic teams. Wittman was a 6-7 SF with tremendous shooting range. A third senior, guard Dale, was an above average player.

Having that type of talent is rare in the Ivys, and catapulted them to the top of the league, and made them a team that could match up with the likes of Kansas [they got screwed by the refs AT Kansas, and screwed out of a win against the Jayhawks that they deserved] and other elite programs.

After that year, the three seniors graduated and their coach left for BC, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sustain / replicate the success he had with that group [especially Foote / Wittman]. After their departures, Cornell slipped back to equilibrium--which for the Big Red in general is being a middle of the pack Ivy League program. Their results this year are worse than the norm.

Losing their coach to BC hurt big time. Harvard passed them with talent and coaching and now are the big dogs in that conference. That Cornell team that lost to Kentucky could have gone to the final four had they been in any other bracket.
 
The good news for Cornell is that Donahue will most likely be available this spring, so they can bring him back to Ithaca. Can't see him surviving another poor season at BC, especially with UMass' success and his inability to land any of the Mass recruits currently starting at top 20 programs.
 
Their guards are very young (Hatter and Cressler). Also, their early schedule included SU, Louisville and ND. That's tough. However, getting blown out by Colgate is not good.

When conference games start, they will get their share of wins.
 
When we played them they did not look like a prospective 0 and 10 team. What happened?

Foote is an nice story. Coach was in the hospital visiting an injured player and Foote's Mom was in the hospital (a nurse I think). She button holed the coach saying that her son was big and pretty good but not playing organized ball. To his credit, the Coach listened and the rest is history.
 
Last edited:
In 2010, they had two pro-caliber [not necessarily quite NBA caliber] senior talents in Wittman / Foote. And Foote was a legitimate 7-footer who was big, strong, and athletic--the inside piece of the puzzle that most mid-majors lack, that enabled them to compete with bigger, more athletic teams. Wittman was a 6-7 SF with tremendous shooting range. A third senior, guard Dale, was an above average player.

Having that type of talent is rare in the Ivys, and catapulted them to the top of the league, and made them a team that could match up with the likes of Kansas [they got screwed by the refs AT Kansas, and screwed out of a win against the Jayhawks that they deserved] and other elite programs.

After that year, the three seniors graduated and their coach left for BC, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sustain / replicate the success he had with that group [especially Foote / Wittman]. After their departures, Cornell slipped back to equilibrium--which for the Big Red in general is being a middle of the pack Ivy League program. Their results this year are worse than the norm.
rf, the cornell at kansas game was my biggest game to ever bet the house on. Cornell was getting 22 pts and I thought going in to the game that it was a pick game. You are correct about the refs. Cornell had that game for 39 minutes.
 
Talk about cashing out at the right time. Donahue basically hit the lottery. I thought he would be able to turn around BC, but doesn't look to be happening. This looks like where one of those cases where talent and not coaching was the reason for success
 
Talk about cashing out at the right time. Donahue basically hit the lottery. I thought he would be able to turn around BC, but doesn't look to be happening. This looks like where one of those cases where talent and not coaching was the reason for success
BC should rehire Skinner and Cornell should rehire Donahue. Both were stupid moves.
 
At any given time there can only be one decent team in the Ivy League. Currently, Cornell is not that team.
 
BC should rehire Skinner and Cornell should rehire Donahue. Both were stupid moves.
that'll happen as soon as one of them finds Zuzu's petals in his coat pocket
 

Forum statistics

Threads
167,127
Messages
4,681,571
Members
5,900
Latest member
DizzyNY

Online statistics

Members online
47
Guests online
1,697
Total visitors
1,744


Top Bottom