The Clearing Fog...Part 3 of 4
Attrition through the first eight (alphabetically speaking) teams was primarily graduation/end of eligibility. If Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe and Samardo Samuels left early for the NBA, Stanley Robinson & Jerome Dyson, Edgar Sosa, Luke Harangody and Lazar Hayward finished out their college eligibility and helped their teams earn NCAA invitations. The teams in this, the third (alphabetically speaking) share a common thread of loss through transfer, draft and dismissal.
Providence
The Friars, without the inside presence provided by the Class of 2009, struggled to a 12-19 (4-14) record last season. Coach Davis sacrificed scouting and preparation time for teaching fundamentals and installing his system. Ray Hall, Brian McKenzie and Sharaud Curry's departures were known (and no doubt planned for), but losing two transfers who each spent a single season in the program, given they were Davis' recruits, is troubling. It is one thing to clean out your predessors' recruits, quite another to see players you invested time and effort to recruit to the school and program, leave so quickly. Lacy and Still were arrested after allegedly assaulting another Providence student in early April. Lacy, who had previously announced his intent to transfer, was, along with power forward James Still, suspended pending the school's investigation. Still's status remains "suspended" for the time being. Jamine Peterson was dismissed last week after an undisclosed violation of team rules. Greedy's departure, unanticipated, was painful given his emergence last season as the team's leading scorer and rebounder. Coming on the heals of the April incident are making Davis' early years reminiscent of his predessor's first years.
Rutgers
The Fred Hill Experiment in Piscataway is over. His departure was not enough to deter all-purpose scorer Mike Rosario from transferring to Florida where he will sit next season before resuming play in 2012. Robert Morris head coach Mike Rice has stepped in and assembled a staff for next season. Rice has picked up a few recruits in the last two weeks and has, in the long run, a good opportunity to build a program at Rutgers. But in the short run, the Scarlet Knights will be hard pressed to replace N'Diaye and Rosario.
Seton Hall
The Pirate list is dominated by the names not present, rather than John Garcia, a good, but often injured center, whose eligibility ran out last season. Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez will not be back. He was fired following the Pirates' first round loss to Texas Tech in the NIT. Iona Head Coach Kevin Willard hired in early April, has a staff in place and several recruits in the fold already. After a brief flirtation with the NBA draft, prolific scorer Jeremy Hazell and mobile forward Jeff Robinson decided to give the South Orange school another season. Herb Pope, a talented if erratic, #4 continues to rehabilitate from a collapse (and subsequent hospitalization) during a pre-draft workout. He too pulled his name from the draft pool and will, pending a recovery, return to the Hall next fall.
South Florida
Jones, co-winner of the Big East Rookie of the Year in 2008 and named to the Big East All First Team last March, will be missed. Chris Howard, once he was healthy, started for four seasons, dishing 485 (or so) assists over his career. He averaged 10.3 points per game in 35.8 minutes in his senior season. Mike Mercer, a Georgia transfer played a single season for the Bulls (plus four games in 2009 before he was injured), logging 944 minutes in 33 games. Advertised as a prolific scorer, he never found the groove with the Tampa school, averaging 9.2 points per game while hitting 20% of his 3 point attempts. Alex Rivas, a JUCO with two years of eligibility, was a fixture in the rotation who provided rebounding and depth.
Attrition through the first eight (alphabetically speaking) teams was primarily graduation/end of eligibility. If Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe and Samardo Samuels left early for the NBA, Stanley Robinson & Jerome Dyson, Edgar Sosa, Luke Harangody and Lazar Hayward finished out their college eligibility and helped their teams earn NCAA invitations. The teams in this, the third (alphabetically speaking) share a common thread of loss through transfer, draft and dismissal.
Providence
| Player | Class | Pos | Status |
| Sharaud Curry | SR | G | Grad |
| Ray Hall | SR | C | Grad |
| Johnnie Lacy | FR | G | Transf |
| Brian McKenzie | SR | G | Grad |
| Russ Permenter | JR | F | Transf |
| Jamine Peterson | JR | F | Dismsd |
| James Still | FR | F | Suspd |
The Friars, without the inside presence provided by the Class of 2009, struggled to a 12-19 (4-14) record last season. Coach Davis sacrificed scouting and preparation time for teaching fundamentals and installing his system. Ray Hall, Brian McKenzie and Sharaud Curry's departures were known (and no doubt planned for), but losing two transfers who each spent a single season in the program, given they were Davis' recruits, is troubling. It is one thing to clean out your predessors' recruits, quite another to see players you invested time and effort to recruit to the school and program, leave so quickly. Lacy and Still were arrested after allegedly assaulting another Providence student in early April. Lacy, who had previously announced his intent to transfer, was, along with power forward James Still, suspended pending the school's investigation. Still's status remains "suspended" for the time being. Jamine Peterson was dismissed last week after an undisclosed violation of team rules. Greedy's departure, unanticipated, was painful given his emergence last season as the team's leading scorer and rebounder. Coming on the heals of the April incident are making Davis' early years reminiscent of his predessor's first years.
Rutgers
| Player | Class | Pos | Status |
| Patrick Jackson | SO | F | Transf |
| Hamady Ndiaye | SR | C | Grad |
| Mike Rosario | SO | G | Transf |
The Fred Hill Experiment in Piscataway is over. His departure was not enough to deter all-purpose scorer Mike Rosario from transferring to Florida where he will sit next season before resuming play in 2012. Robert Morris head coach Mike Rice has stepped in and assembled a staff for next season. Rice has picked up a few recruits in the last two weeks and has, in the long run, a good opportunity to build a program at Rutgers. But in the short run, the Scarlet Knights will be hard pressed to replace N'Diaye and Rosario.
Seton Hall
| Player | Class | Pos | Status |
| John Garcia | 5 SR | F/C | Grad |
The Pirate list is dominated by the names not present, rather than John Garcia, a good, but often injured center, whose eligibility ran out last season. Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez will not be back. He was fired following the Pirates' first round loss to Texas Tech in the NIT. Iona Head Coach Kevin Willard hired in early April, has a staff in place and several recruits in the fold already. After a brief flirtation with the NBA draft, prolific scorer Jeremy Hazell and mobile forward Jeff Robinson decided to give the South Orange school another season. Herb Pope, a talented if erratic, #4 continues to rehabilitate from a collapse (and subsequent hospitalization) during a pre-draft workout. He too pulled his name from the draft pool and will, pending a recovery, return to the Hall next fall.
South Florida
| Player | Class | Pos | Status |
| Chris Howard | SR | G | Grad |
| Dominique Jones | JR | G | NBA-In |
| Ryan Kardok | SR | G | Grad |
| Mike Mercer | SR | G | Grad |
| Alex Rivas | SR | C | Grad |
Jones, co-winner of the Big East Rookie of the Year in 2008 and named to the Big East All First Team last March, will be missed. Chris Howard, once he was healthy, started for four seasons, dishing 485 (or so) assists over his career. He averaged 10.3 points per game in 35.8 minutes in his senior season. Mike Mercer, a Georgia transfer played a single season for the Bulls (plus four games in 2009 before he was injured), logging 944 minutes in 33 games. Advertised as a prolific scorer, he never found the groove with the Tampa school, averaging 9.2 points per game while hitting 20% of his 3 point attempts. Alex Rivas, a JUCO with two years of eligibility, was a fixture in the rotation who provided rebounding and depth.
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