Quinnipiac University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tom Moore has announced the addition of Terrance Bobb-Jones (Delcastle, Del.) to the Bobcats’ incoming recruiting class. Bobb-Jones joins Marquis Barnett (Bronx, N.Y.), Evan Conti (Bayside, N.Y.), Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.), Nate Gause (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Justin Harris (Paterson, N.J.), Zaid Hearst (Bethesda, Md.) and Alex Jackson (Baltimore, Md.) in comprising Quinnipiac’s incoming 2011-12 class.

"We are happy to add Terrance Bobb-Jones to our Quinnipiac Basketball family," said Moore. “Terrance is a very tough, physical wing who plays with great intensity. He has the potential to be a high level defender and rebounder as well as an explosive scorer attacking the basket. We have followed his career closely and we're excited to have him join us."

Bobb-Jones is a 6-foot-4 wing who played four years of varsity basketball at Delcastle Vo-Tech in Delcastle, Del. He averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocks per game as a senior for Coach Paul Brown’s Cougars. He was a three-year captain, earning first-team all-state in his junior and senior seasons after taking second-team honors as a sophomore. He was noted within the top 10 players in the state of Delaware in his junior and senior seasons, while scoring 1,000 career points. Bobb-Jones also earned the Team Sportsmanship Award in his sophomore and junior years, as well as the Team “We Spirit” Award in his senior season.

This comes from a source down south:

Brentwood point guard Jack Montague, who averaged 16 points and seven assists last season, has committed to Yale.
Belmont, Lipscomb and Columbia also showed interest in the 6-foot senior.
“I just got along great with the coach (James Jones) and I went up there for an elite camp,” Montague said. “I loved the campus, I loved the lifestyle. It just felt like I fit there. I just felt like it was the place for me and I couldn’t give up the opportunity to go to Yale.”
At least two Brentwood graduates are Ivy League athletes: Harvard wrestler Cameron Croy and Brown football player Jordan Evans.
“I knew them both,” Montague said. “I was actually pretty good friends with Cameron Croy. I talked to Cameron a little bit about it and he said, ‘Don’t overestimate the schoolwork. It’s not as hard as you think. It’s a great lifestyle even though people think it’s prestigious.’ ”
The two friends will be going from schoolmates in high school to archrivals in college.
“I guess we’re going to start joking about it now,” Montague said.
Yale went 15-13 last season. Montague, an honor student with a 3.8 grade point average, led Brentwood (25-9) to a Class AAA sectional last season.

Senior Greg Mangano will be with some elite company this weekend. Mangano is one of 22 of the nation’s top collegiate athletes attending the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s World University Games Team training camp.

The camp, which starts on Friday 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.

“My goal is to make the team and be a valuable asset in the world games,” Mangano said. “I think my ability to stretch the floor and play away from the basket could be helpful to the team, especially playing with international rules.”

Since accepting the invitation to the camp in early June, Mangano, an Orange, Conn., native, has been working hard with the Yale strength coaches and training with teammates who remained in New Haven for the summer. He knows regardless of whether or not he makes Team USA, the camp will be a positive experience.

“The opportunity to play against some of the best players in the country will certainly benefit me as I prepare for my last season at Yale,” Mangano said.

One of those players is Notre Dame’s Tim Abromaitis, who hails from Unionville, Conn. Abromaitis and Mangano were teammates for the Connecticut Gold AAU team before college. Abromaitis’s older brother Jason played at Yale, graduating in 2007.

Mangano 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 was 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.

Mangano has already made one trip to China this offseason. He and his Yale teammates went 3-1 on a 10-day tour of Chengdu and Shanghai in late May. Mangano averaged 21.5 points in the four games.

Purdue University head coach Matt Painter 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.

Quinnipiac University Director of Athletics and Recreation Jack McDonald has announced that Women's Ice Hockey Head Coach Rick Seeley has signed a contract extension through the 2015-16 season. Terms of the contract have not been disclosed. In his third season at Quinnipiac, Seeley was a finalist for ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honors as the Bobcats won a program-record 22 games.

"I am thrilled with my contract extension. Quinnipiac University has quickly become home for my family," Seeley said. "I feel so fortunate to enjoy the incredible support President John Lahey and Director of Athletics Jack McDonald have shown me and my program since I arrived here three years ago. I am excited about the direction our program is taking as we continue to establish Quinnipiac as one of the elite programs in ECAC Hockey, and the nation."

In 2010-11, the Bobcats experienced one of the most successful seasons in program-history, finishing with a record of 22-12-3 including a 12-9-1 mark in ECAC Hockey play. Quinnipiac was ranked 10th, the program’s highest-ranking of all-time, in the USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll on January 17, 2011, a spot it held for two-consecutive weeks. In addition, Quinnipiac also captured its second Nutmeg Classic Championship in the history of the mid-season tournament.



"Rick and his staff have done a wonderful job in making the women's ice hockey team a success by elevating the athletic, academic and community service aspects of the program," McDonald said. " "This past season Rick, his staff and team brought Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey to new levels by winning the Nutmeg Classic Championship and advancing to the ECAC Hockey "Final Four" for the first time in program history. The entire campus and surrounding communities look forward to continued success of our women's ice hockey team."



With a 2-0 series sweep against Princeton in the best-of-three format of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, Seeley led Quinnipiac to the program’s first-ever semifinals appearance. The Bobcats fell to the eventual ECAC Hockey Tournament Champion, Cornell, 4-3, to conclude their remarkable season.



In 2009-10, Seeley, was named the ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year after leading the Bobcats to their best overall record (19-10-8) in team history and the best conference record (11-4-5) since the team's inception. Since Quinnipiac established a women's ice hockey program in 2001-02, no other Division I program has improved by as many games.. In three seasons at Quinnipiac, Seeley has compiled a 44-48-16 record; however, the squad has made drastic improvements in the past two years especially, accumulating a 41-22-11 overall mark during that span. In 12 seasons as a head coach, Seeley holds a career record of 206-131-38 and a 152-115-34 in Division I action.



Seeley is the first coach in U.S. college hockey history, dating back to 1895, to lead his team, from one season to the next, to at least a 16-game improvement in both the win and loss columns (3-26-5 in 2008-09 to 19-10-8 in 2009-10).The University of Wisconsin men's program equaled this feat in the 1976-77 season, but head coach "Badger Bob" Johnson had taken a leave of absence the previous season to coach the U.S. Olympic team, bringing a few of his best players with him.



In the second half of the 2009-10 season, the Bobcats saw six consecutive weeks of votes in the USCHO.com and USA Today National Polls before ranking tenth in the poll on Mar. 1. The team also ranked first nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 1.38 goals per game, and saw the least amount of time in the penalty box, averaging 6.5 penalty minutes per game.

Quinnipiac University Director of Athletics Jack McDonald has announced that Women's Basketball Head Coach Tricia Fabbri has signed a contract extension through the 2015-16 season. Terms of the contract have not been disclosed. The Bobcats are coming off their 11th consecutive trip to the Northeast Conference Tournament in 2011. The Bobcats entered the 2010-11 post-season as the No. 7 seed and took on second-seeded Monmouth University in the NEC Tournament Quarterfinals.

"The confidence that President Lahey, Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Mark Thompson and Jack McDonald have shown is extremely gratifying," Fabbri said. "To know that they believe in the things that our program has done and will continue to do, both on the court and, more importantly, in the classroom, reinforce the fact that Quinnipiac Unversity is a tremendous community to be a part of. "

On January 25, 2011, the Bobcats made their debut on the Omni Rankings’ top Division I "Teams On The Rise", holding down the No. 2 spot. Omni Rankings is a free, independent fan site that uses a mathematical formula to determine which teams are among the top 25, top 25 mid-majors, and "teams on the rise" in collegiate basketball. The Bobcats received the honor after winning four-straight Northeast Conference games in January to reach a 7-1 record in conference play and rank first with Robert Morris and Saint Francis (Pa.) in the NEC standings.

Fabbri recorded her 200th career victory on Dec. 29, 2009 with an 11-point win, 90-79, against Central Michigan in the Consolation Game at the Wyndham Miami Holiday Tournament. Fabbri was honored with the 2010 RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA Victory Club Award. The award is presented to members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) who achieved career wins of 200, 300, 400, 500 or more in increments of 100 this past season. Fabbri also became just the fifth head coach in Quinnipiac Athletics history to win 200 games for their careers, joining former athletic director and men's basketball head coach Burt Kahn, as well as current men's and women's tennis head coach Mike Quitko, baseball head coach Dan Gooley, and men's ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold.

"Tricia Fabbri and her staff have brought the Quinnipiac women's basketball program to be one of the best in the Northeast Conference and in the region," McDonald said. "We look forward to continued success for Coach Fabbri on the court, in the post-season, in the classroom and in the community for many more years at Quinnipiac."

Late in the 2009-10 season, Fabbri guided the Bobcats to two wins in the final weekend of the regular season against Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson. The wins gave Quinnipiac a berth in the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament. Making it to the conference tournament for the 10th straight season, the Bobcats earned a No. 7 seed with a 7-11 NEC record.

Fabbri was named the 2000-01 and 2005-06 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year and, in 2007-08, Fabbri led the Bobcats to a berth in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The WNIT bid marked the first national postseason tournament appearance in Quinnipiac women's basketball Division I history. She led the Bobcats to 25 wins in the historic season, the most by Quinnipiac since joining the Division I ranks.

For her career, Fabbri has brought some of the finest players in recent Northeast Conference and Quinnipiac University to Mt. Carmel since the Bobcats joined the Division I ranks. Fabbri has coached 17 All-League honorees, five NEC All-Rookie picks, while also placing three players on the 2006-07 All-NEC teams, a first in Quinnipiac history. Fabbri has also coached a Rookie of the Year honoree in Erin Kerner and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year honoree in Brianna Rooney.

The first full-time coach, and first-ever female head coach in Quinnipiac history, Fabbri has also mentored a number of All-Academic honorees, including a 2003 Verizon Academic All-District I First Team selection in Sara Esidore and a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District University Division Second Team honoree in Kerner.

As a player, Fabbri was named to the MAAC 25th Anniversary Team and was inducted into the Fairfield University Atheltic Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2002, she was also inducted into the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Delran (N.J.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame before being inducted into the Albert Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey Hall of Fame in 2006. That year, she also received the St. Clare Award at the 22nd Annual Franciscan Sports Banquet.

Quinnipiac University Director of Athletics and Recreation Jack McDonald has announced that Men's Basketball Head Coach Tom Moore has signed a contract extension through the 2015-16 season. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

"I am thrilled to receive another contract extension from Quinnipiac University," Moore said. "President John Lahey and Director of Athletics Jack McDonald have been incredibly supportive of me and my program since I arrived here four years ago. I am excited about our future as we continue to establish Quinnipiac as one of the elite programs in the Northeast Conference."

Moore guided the Bobcats to a 22-10 record and a home game in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in 2010-11. Justin Rutty was named to the All-NEC First Team for the third straight year, while James Johnson joined him among the league's top five players, giving Moore back-to-back years guiding a pair of All-NEC First Team members.

Moore led Quinnipiac to an unprecedented 23 victories in 2009-10, guiding the Bobcats to the program's first-ever NEC Regular Season Championship and national postseason tournament berth (NIT). Under Moore's tutelage, Rutty was named the program's first-ever NEC Player of the Year. Rutty and James Feldeine were also named to the all-league first team under Moore's direction.

A large part of the Bobcats' success in 2009-10 and 2010-11 was their prowess on the boards. The Bobcats led the nation in offensive rebounds per game (16.3) in 2010-11, while finishing second in rebounds per game (42.5) and fourth in rebounding margin (+9.3). Under Moore's direction, Rutty finished his career as the Northeast Conference's all-time leading rebounder (1,032).

Quinnipiac was one of four teams - Kansas, Kentucky and Radford - to finish the year in the top 10 in the country in both rebounding margin and rebounds per game in 2009-10, before repeating the feat in 2010-11, joining Pittsburgh and Old Dominion. Quinnipiac finished 2009-10 behind only Michigan State (+8.6) in rebound margin at +8.5, while taking 10th in the nation in rebounds per game at 40.4. Individually, Rutty finished second in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.9) for the second consecutive year in 2009-10.

Over the last two years, the Bobcats' 28-8 record against NEC opponents is the best in the league, while the excitement Coach Moore has brought to Hamden has resulted in the conference's top average attendance at home games.

In the classroom, Moore led the greatest turnaround of any team in NCAA Division I during his first three years as head coach. According to a study prepared by FoxSports.com's Jason Belzer, the Bobcats increased their Academic Progress Rate (APR), as compiled by the NCAA, by 219 points, more than any other program in the nation in that time.

Yale
Christine Glandorf had tremendous success as a student and rower at Yale. Two years after graduating, she is returning as an assistant coach to help ensure that the next generation of Yale rowers has a similar positive experience.
Glandorf was a four-year letterwinner and sat in the bow seat of the varsity eight for three years, helping the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA titles. In her sophomore year, Yale went undefeated, winning both the Ivy League and NCAA crowns. The Bulldogs repeated as NCAA champions in her junior year and won the Ivy League title again in her senior year. She also helped Yale win the 2009 Women’s Henley Elite Eight championship in a course record time and finish second to the British National Team in the Remenham Cup at the 2009 Royal Henley Regatta.
SCSU
Trumbull’s Alison Ditolla and North Haven’s Jacquelyn Fede will serve as team captains for the Owls women’s soccer team this year.
Ditolla will serve as captain for the second straight season. She has been a key component to the team throughout her career and has taken part in 52 matches in her career.
Fede, a goalkeeper, transferred to SCSU a year ago from the University of Rhode Island.
The SCSU women’s swim team has announced the addition of four student-athletes — Nina Brandi (Hamden), Aldona Kopera (Carteret, N.J.), Courtney Silva (Minnetonka, Minn.), and Rachel Smolensky (Norwalk) — for the upcoming 2011-12 campaign. The Owls will be in search of their ninth consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Championship this winter.
Guilford’s Kelsey Proctor was named captain of the women’s cross country team. Last year, the Owls were ranked as high as No. 24 in the nation and No. 2 in the region and placed third at the NCAA Regionals. Previously, Proctor captured All-Northeast-10 Conference laurels during her freshman season with the Owls in 2009.
UCONN
Senior defensive tackle Kendall Reyes and senior center Moe Petrus have been named to the Official Watch List for the 2011 Rotary Lombardi Award. This is the 42nd year that the Rotary Lombardi Award has named the nation’s college lineman of the year.
Reyes has played in 37 games over the past three seasons with 29 starts. He was a First Team All-Big East selection last season and a team captain who started all 13 games alternating between end and tackle and started final three games at tackle. He tied for third on the team with 10 tackles for a loss and also had 2.5 sacks.
New Haven
The Chargers are in the process of interviewing candidates to replace Raphael Cerrato as head baseball coach.
Cerrato resigned last week after five seasons to take a job as an assistant under Jim Foster at Rhode Island, his alma mater. Shelton’s Chris Smith, a volunteer assistant at New Haven, will also join the staff at Rhode Island in the same capacity.
New Haven must also replace assistant coach Jeff Hourigan, who was hired by UConn coach Jim Penders as his top assistant in late June. Hourigan replaces Justin Blood, who left UConn to become head coach at Hartford.
Cerrato joined the New Haven coaching staff in 2005 as an assistant, and became just the second head coach in program history when Frank “Porky” Vieira retired after 44 seasons in 2006. He leaves with a career record of 131-97 (.574) and one NCAA Division II tournament berth (2010).

Eight games against teams that played in the post season last year highlight the 2011-12 Yale men's basketball schedule. In all, the Bulldogs will play 28 games – 12 at home in the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater, 15 on the road and one at a neutral site. The biggest challenge figures to come on New Year's Eve at Florida. The Gators are ranked in most of the preseason top-25 polls and lost to Butler in the Elite Eight last season.

Here are some schedule notes

The other opponents that reached the post season last year are Quinnipiac (CollegeInsider.com), Vermont (NIT), Rhode Island (CBI), Harvard (NIT) and Princeton (NCAA).
The season begins on Nov. 11 against Central Connecticut as part of the Connecticut 6 Classic tripleheader at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Sacred Heart plays Hartford and Quinnipiac takes on Fairfield in the other games in the classic.
The Bulldogs will play their second game in Newark's Prudential Center when they face Seton Hall on Nov. 22. Yale defeated NJIT 80-51 in the building in 2009. Yale and Seton Hall will be playing for the first time since 1943.
Defending America East regular season champion Vermont visits the John J. Lee Amphitheater on Dec. 3, one of only three home games in the 2011 portion of the schedule. The Catamounts will be under the direction of first-year coach John Becker.
Yale and Rhode Island renew a rivalry that dates back to 1925 on Dec. 18. The teams will be playing for the first time since 2004.
Yale will have the opportunity to knock off an ACC school for the second straight year. The Bulldogs travel to Wake Forest on Dec. 29. Yale won at Boston College last year. The game at Wake Forest will be a homecoming for junior guard Michael Grace, a Winston-Salem, N.C., native who played at Mt. Tabor High School.
The game with Florida will be Yale's first against the Gators.
The Bulldogs will play only one road game in the month of January – at Brown on Jan. 21
Ivy League plays kicks off on Jan. 14 at home against Brown. Five of Yale's first six Ivy games are in Lee Amphitheater.
Defending Ivy League champion Princeton visits New Haven on Feb. 4. The Bulldogs play at Princeton on Mar. 2.
The Bulldogs return four starters from last year's team that finished 15-13 overall and 8-6 in the Ivy League.


Here is the slate:

Fri, 11/11/2011 at Central Connecticut State @ Mohegan Sun Arena TBA
Connecticut 6 Classic
Tue, 11/15/2011 at Quinnipiac TBA
Thu, 11/17/2011 Lyndon St. 7:00 PM
Tue, 11/22/2011 at Seton Hall TBA
Sat, 11/26/2011 at Army 1:00 PM
Tue, 11/29/2011 at Hartford 7:00 PM
Sat, 12/03/2011 Vermont 2:00 PM
Mon, 12/05/2011 at Sacred Heart 7:00 PM
Wed, 12/07/2011 Bryant 7:30 PM
Sun, 12/18/2011 at Rhode Island TBA
Thu, 12/29/2011 at Wake Forest TBA
Sat, 12/31/2011 at Florida TBA
Tue, 01/03/2012 Holy Cross 7:00 PM
Sun, 01/08/2012 St. Joseph's (L.I.) 2:00 PM
Sat, 01/14/2012 Brown * 2:00 PM
Sat, 01/21/2012 at Brown * 2:00 PM
Fri, 01/27/2012 Harvard * 7:00 PM
Sat, 01/28/2012 Dartmouth * 7:00 PM
Fri, 02/03/2012 Penn * 7:00 PM
Sat, 02/04/2012 Princeton * 7:00 PM
Fri, 02/10/2012 at Cornell * 7:00 PM
Sat, 02/11/2012 at Columbia * 7:00 PM
Fri, 02/17/2012 at Dartmouth * 7:00 PM
Sat, 02/18/2012 at Harvard * 7:00 PM
Fri, 02/24/2012 Columbia * 7:00 PM
Sat, 02/25/2012 Cornell * 7:00 PM
Fri, 03/02/2012 at Princeton * 7:00 PM
Sat, 03/03/2012 at Penn *

Quinnipiac University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tom Moore has announced five recent written commitments from recruits for the 2011-12 academic year. Marquis Barnett (Bronx, N.Y.), Evan Conti (Bayside, N.Y.), Nate Gause (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Justin Harris (Paterson, N.J.) and Alex Jackson (Baltimore, Md.) join Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) and Zaid Hearst (Silver Spring, Md.) in comprising the Bobcats’ incoming class.

“I am very excited about the group of young men we have been able to add to our Quinnipiac University Men’s Basketball program this Spring,” said Moore. “I think their combination of talent, size, and athleticism will make an immediate impact in the season ahead. Joined by our Fall signees, Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) and Zaid Hearst (Silver Spring, Md.), this group will be the core of our program going forward as we look to make a postseason national tournament for the third straight season.”

Barnett is a 6-foot-8 forward with a reputation for rebounding and shot blocking out of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, N.Y. A third team All-Queens selection by the New York Post, Barnett helped the Judges to an undefeated season in Queens AA and a spot in the PSAL Class AA semifinals. After contributing five points, seven rebounds and four blocks per game as a junior for a Judges team that reached the PSAL Championship Game at Madison Square Garden, Barnett upped his numbers to 8.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.2 blocks per game in helping Coach Ron Naclerio’s team to a 28-3 record as a senior. Barnett also played AAU basketball for New Heights.

“Marquis Barnett will be a welcomed addition to our frontcourt as he has proven himself as one of the better rebounders and low-post players in the New York city high school ranks,” said Moore. “He flourished at Cardozo High School under Coach Ron Naclerio against the highest level of prep competition. He will bring some added size, toughness, and post defense to our program.”

Conti is a 6-foot-3 guard out of Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y. He ranks fifth all-time at Holy Cross with 1,120 career points and grabbed nearly 600 rebounds in his high school career for Coach Paul Gilvary’s Knights. He averaged nearly 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game as a senior, earning Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) First Team recognition while leading the Knights to a 17-12 record. He was also picked to the second team in New York City by the New York Post and New York Daily News and the third team by the New York State Sportswriters Association. Conti earned all-tournament team honors at the Gonzaga D.C. Classic and the Stop DWI Tournament. He was named MVP of the 18th World Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2009. Conti also played AAU basketball for the Rising Stars and Raising Champions. In 2009, Conti led the Rising Stars to the Elite 8 of the AAU D1 Nationals. NYHoops.com ranked Conti the 13th-best player in the area in March 2011.

“Evan Conti is the classic overachiever who can shoot, pass, and handle the ball at a high level,” said Moore. “A first team New York city Catholic League performer, Evan had a storied prep career for Coach Paul Gilvary at Holy Cross High School. In addition to his scoring, I am excited about all the intangibles Evan will bring to our backcourt.”

Gause is a 6-foot-3 guard from Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) High School. He was named all-league, all-section and all-state after averaging 23 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per game as a senior for the Pioneers. The Poughkeepsie Journal honored Gause with its player of the year award after he led Coach Brian Laffin’s Poughkeepsie squad to a 21-1 record. He also earned the MVP of Large Schools Award. A 1,000-point scorer in high school, Gause also played AAU basketball for the BC Eagles, City Rocks and Trac Panthers. NYHoops.com ranked Gause the fourth-best player in the area, behind three players who committed to Big East and Big 12 schools. Gause was also ranked ahead of two players who signed with Big East schools in the NYHoops.com rankings.

“Nate Gause is a very talented guard who is a versatile threat offensively both shooting and distributing the ball,” said Moore.” He led Poughkeepsie High to great success under the tutelage of Coach Brian Laffin. Nate is long, rangy, and very good with the ball. He should make an immediate impact on our backcourt.”

Harris is a 6-foot-8 forward from Paterson, N.J., who was a 1,000-point scorer at Paterson Catholic. He averaged nearly 18 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks per game as a senior, leading Coach Greg Barnes’ Paladins to a league championship and a 15-9 record. Harris was named All-League and All-County in both his junior and senior seasons. He averaged 12.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game in 2009-10, leading Paramus Catholic to the Bergen County and League Championships with a 22-4 overall record. Harris also played AAU basketball for the New Jersey Gym Ratz and the New York Gauchos.

“Justin Harris brings some much-needed size and scoring ability to our frontcourt,” said Moore. “At Paramus Catholic High School under Coach Greg Barnes, Justin established himself as an elite rebounder and scorer. His combination of size, strength, hands, and touch should make him an immediate contributor to our success.”

Jackson is a 6-foot-5 junior college transfer from Frederick (Md.) Community College who will have three years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the past year due to injury. A versatile athlete at 6-foot-5, Jackson is a mismatch against shorter small forwards while his quickness and shooting ability provide problems for bigger power forwards. As a freshman at FCC, Jackson averaged 19.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 32 percent from long range. He was named first team All-Maryland JUCO, first team All-Region XX and honorable mention All-National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Jackson led FCC to the first Region XX Tournament Championship in the history of the school. At Randallstown High School, Jackson led the Rams to the Class 2A State Championship in 2007 and a runner-up finish in 2008.

“Alex Jackson is the most experienced of our newcomers, having spent a year at prep school and two years at Frederick CC under Coach Dave Miller,” said Moore. “Alex is a tough, versatile forward who can play both inside and outside, creating matchup problems for the opponent. He has very good hands, a soft shooting touch, and excellent rebounding ability which should translate to our level right away.”