Owls Finish Year Ranked No. 4 In Two National Polls
A trip to the national semifinals has earned the Southern Connecticut State University baseball team a No. 4 final national ranking in both the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the College Baseball Lineup polls. The Owls finished the 2011 season with a final mark of 45-9-1, setting a new single-season record for victories.
The Owls also won their first College World Series games in school history, finished No. 1 in New England and won the Northeast-10 Conference regular season title for the second consecutive year.

Yale's Mangano invited to Jr. National Team tryouts
Greg Mangano has already enjoyed one successful trip to China this offseason. Now, he’s hoping to return later this summer.

Mangano is one of 22 of the nation’s top collegiate athletes who have accepted invitations from the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee to attend the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s World University Games Team training camp.

The training camp, which will be held July 29-Aug. 7 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the USA at the 2011 World University Games men’s basketball competition Aug. 13-23 in Shenzhen, China.

“The opportunity to try out for the USA team is a tremendous honor,” said Mangano, who averaged 21.5 points in four games during Yale’s 10-day visit to China in May. “I'm excited to have the chance to play against some of the best players in the country. My goal is to make the team and have an opportunity to represent our country in the world games. If nothing else, the tryout will help me improve my game by playing against the best competition which will only help me for my last season at Yale.”

Joining Mangano at the camp will be Notre Dame’s Tim Abromaitis, VCU’s Bradford Burgess, Missouri’s Marcus Denmon, Missouri’s Kim English, Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs, Michigan State’s Draymond Greem, Alabama’s JaMychal Green, Xavier’s Tu Holloway, Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine, Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins, UC Santa Barbara’s Orlando Johnson, Minnesota’s Trevor Mbakwe, Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum, Texas A&M’s Khris Middleton, Kentucky’s Darius Miller, Alabama’s Tony Mitchell, West Virginia’s Aaric Murray, UConn’s Alex Oriakhi, Northwestern’s John Shurna and Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor.

“After a lot of thought and consideration of potential players, the committee has put together a very strong roster for the training camp,” said USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee Chair Jim Boeheim, the head coach at Syracuse. “As always, the committee will be looking for not only the most talented players, but also players that will work well as a team.”
Mangano, an Orange, Conn., native, is coming off a season in which he finished ninth in the nation in blocked shots (3.0 per game) and 24th in rebounding (10.0 rpg.). He averaged 16.3 points and was a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection and earned all-district honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Mangano led the Ivy League in rebounding and blocked shots and was second in scoring. He is the first Ivy player to average a double-double for the season since Harvard’s Kyle Snowden in 1995-96. His numbers were even more impressive in Ivy games where he averaged 18.6 points and 10.4 rebounds, which both led the league.
Mangano, a four-time Ivy League Player of the Week selection, was dominant on both ends of the floor. His 85 blocks were the most in a season in school history and the third most in Ivy history. In addition, his 51 blocks in league games were a new Ivy record. He scored 20 points or more in nine games this season, including tallying a career-high 30 in a victory at Dartmouth. He led the Bulldogs in rebounding in all but four games and grabbed a career-high 17 at Brown.
In addition, he became the first Yale player since Chris Dudley in 1986-87 to average a double-double for the season.
Purdue University head coach Matt Painter, who previously assisted the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team to a gold medal, is the head coach of the 2011 USA Men’s World University Games Team, while collegiate head coaches Cuonzo Martin of the University of Tennessee and Brad Stevens of Butler University will serve as assistant coaches.
The World University Games are held every other year and are organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The United States, which has claimed a medal in every World University Games since beginning play in 1965, has captured a record 13 golds, three silvers and three bronze medals in the 19 WUGs in which a USA Basketball men’s squad has competed.

SCSU third in NE-10 in President's Cup standings:
The Southern Connecticut State University athletic department has placed third out of 16 institutions in the 2010-11 Northeast-10 Conference Presidents’ Cup race. The Owls totaled 161 points to match their highest finish and post their highest point total since joining the league. In the process, Southern Connecticut placed in the top three in the Presidents’ Cup for the second time in the past three years. The Presidents’ Cup is presented annually to signify overall athletic excellence in the Northeast-10 Conference and is awarded to the institution that compiles the most points based on the placement at the conclusion of the regular season of each of its programs which compete in league championships. SCSU is one of only public institutions in the conference.