Sonoma State
- Thread starter LINY89
- Start date
If you go to the story, it includes the following:
"For its second exhibition, St. John's will welcome the NCAA Division III Concordia Cougars, from Chicago, Ill., and head coach Tyler Jones to Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Jones, a prostate cancer survivor who has told his story on ESPN's "Outside the Lines," has credited Lavin's April 2011 announcement about his battle with the disease as the impetus behind Jones' own diagnosis and successful treatment. The game will have a Coaches vs. Cancer theme, featuring cancer awareness programs and initiatives, and fans are encouraged to "Dress like Coach Lavin" with sport coats and sneakers."
And if you click on the link for head coach "Tyler Jones" (a familiar name to many of us), it says he's a 6'-9" soph at St. John's. Very odd:
"A skilled post player and great athlete who is good shooter, strong rebounder and has good passing skills.
"BEFORE ST. JOHN'S: Averaged 17.0 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Heritage Christian ... Earned first-team all-state honors in 2002-03 ... A McDonald's All-American nominee ... Played AAU ball with Tru-Playaz ... Spent two years at Manual High School ... Class president at Heritage during his senior year ... Selected St. John's over Indiana, Virginia, St. Joseph's, Oklahoma State and Oregon State."
SonomaSeawolves
New member
Hello St. John's Fans!
I work at SSU and I wanted to respond to some of the questions and comments on this board.
The SSU men's basketball team is thrilled to have the opportunity to play in a game like this. We've had exhibitions against schools like Arizona, Stanford, and Cal in the past, but the opportunity to go back east and take on a school like St. John's is a once in a lifetime opportunity for these guys.
In the past, we've hung with some of those bigger schools for a while, but there's no denying it, the talent level is much higher at the D-I level. We trailed a very good Arizona squad by 5 or 6 in the second half a few years ago, but they pulled away and won 105-80. We considered this a very good result. If our team can stay within 25 or 30, that's probably a good day.
As for the SSU team this year.... not that you guys care too much. We have a couple of guys who are D-I caliber. Keep an eye on #35 Justin Herold. He's tremendously athletic. He's a little raw, but he's got the athleticism you'll see at your level. #20 Will Olsem is a streaky three-point shooter. He's got a real sweet stroke...actually hit 12 threes in one game last year. After that... it's kind of a mixed bag for us. We lost a few guys off a pretty good team last year (17-11) and we're missing a few guys to injury.
Again, this is all about the experience for our guys. Coach Lavin and Coach Fuscaldo go way back (Fuscaldo coached Lavin at SF State in the 80s), so it's great this connection was made.
Finally, I hope you are all doing OK in the wake of Sandy. We're so far removed from that out here, but the photos were frightening and I know Queens was one of the hardest hit. We're thinking of you as you begin to recover.
Best of luck this season!
I work at SSU and I wanted to respond to some of the questions and comments on this board.
The SSU men's basketball team is thrilled to have the opportunity to play in a game like this. We've had exhibitions against schools like Arizona, Stanford, and Cal in the past, but the opportunity to go back east and take on a school like St. John's is a once in a lifetime opportunity for these guys.
In the past, we've hung with some of those bigger schools for a while, but there's no denying it, the talent level is much higher at the D-I level. We trailed a very good Arizona squad by 5 or 6 in the second half a few years ago, but they pulled away and won 105-80. We considered this a very good result. If our team can stay within 25 or 30, that's probably a good day.
As for the SSU team this year.... not that you guys care too much. We have a couple of guys who are D-I caliber. Keep an eye on #35 Justin Herold. He's tremendously athletic. He's a little raw, but he's got the athleticism you'll see at your level. #20 Will Olsem is a streaky three-point shooter. He's got a real sweet stroke...actually hit 12 threes in one game last year. After that... it's kind of a mixed bag for us. We lost a few guys off a pretty good team last year (17-11) and we're missing a few guys to injury.
Again, this is all about the experience for our guys. Coach Lavin and Coach Fuscaldo go way back (Fuscaldo coached Lavin at SF State in the 80s), so it's great this connection was made.
Finally, I hope you are all doing OK in the wake of Sandy. We're so far removed from that out here, but the photos were frightening and I know Queens was one of the hardest hit. We're thinking of you as you begin to recover.
Best of luck this season!
Welcome to our board, Sonoma State, and thanks for the information about your team and the Lavin/Fuscaldo connection. (And thanks for the kind thoughts regarding our recovery from Sandy. Much appreciated.)
I'm sure the game will be fun for everyone involved (provided St. John's wins, of course). It's just too bad that, under the circumstances, the team and coaching staff won't get to see and enjoy New York at its best.
And Saturday's game aside, here's hoping you have a standout season.
SonomaSeawolves
New member
In case you have some time to kill, we talked our associate head coach into doing a blog: http://sonomaseawolves.com/news/2012/11/1/MBB_1101125034.aspx
Welcome Sonoma. Not to sound brash, but I would be shocked if SSU was anywhere in the game by the middle of the 2nd half. I would have felt that way even 5 years ago, but now we have 6 ESPN100 players and we are as talented as we have been probably since our heyday in the mid 80's. I just hope no injuries occur on either side and it's a great learning opportunity for both teams. Good luck with your season!
SonomaSeawolves
New member
Hey, you're right...it could be a blowout in the first half. I'm just saying, don't be all the surprised if we stick around for a while. In 2004 we played an Arizona team that was ranked No. 10 in the country, went 30-7 and reached the Elite Eight (featuring several future NBA players including Channing Frye). It was 47-41 near the end of the first half. Pretty fun watching 15,000 in McKale Center squirm a bit... haha.
Coach Olson was using the game to try out some different things. I'm sure Coach Lavin's main goal in a game like this isn't to paste Sonoma State. It's to prepare for the regular season.
Either way, it should be a lot of fun for our guys and, no matter what the score, we leave New York at 0-0 on the season. We get Saint Mary's (CA) on the 10th and then we get to start our regular season.
It's great that you guys have such an active forum here. Wish we had more of a following out here like this. Division II is a bit different, of course, but you don't get the passion for college sports out here that you do on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
Coach Olson was using the game to try out some different things. I'm sure Coach Lavin's main goal in a game like this isn't to paste Sonoma State. It's to prepare for the regular season.
Either way, it should be a lot of fun for our guys and, no matter what the score, we leave New York at 0-0 on the season. We get Saint Mary's (CA) on the 10th and then we get to start our regular season.
It's great that you guys have such an active forum here. Wish we had more of a following out here like this. Division II is a bit different, of course, but you don't get the passion for college sports out here that you do on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
