College Sports

Yes. This a very big weekend in college basketball. In fact, the UAlbany Great Danes women's hoops team will be playing Louisville on Friday. However, that's not the only Great Danes team that will be competing in a tournament this weekend. Plenty of teams will be competing in downtown Albany Saturday and Sunday and you can too!

Spring break always brings to light the heart-breaking dangers of young people indulging in large amounts of alcohol and drugs. Many of these situations get worse in party hot-beds like Ft. Lauderdale, where there are predators looking to take advantage of the unsuspecting, inebriated college students. However, sometimes you don't expect the issues to involve student from particular colleges or universities.

The University at Albany has nice tradition over the past decade. For six of those years in the month of March, the Great Danes women's basketball team has won the America East Conference and gone to the NCAA tournament. In that time span, a few of the head coaches benefitted from the Danes good fortune. UAlbany's head coach Colleen Mullen isn't worried about things like that. She has her team poised to cut down the nets on Maine's home floor.

Things went from bad to worse for Wagner College last night. As they were losing to Bryant in the NEC Title game, a fight broke out among their fans in the stands.

For the second time in the last six years, rumors are circulating that Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim will be retiring soon. Here's what we know so far.

A scary scene unfolded at Destiny USA in Syracuse yesterday afternoon, as Juli Boeheim, wife of 'Cuse men's basketball coach Jim, was robbed at gunpoint.

Sunday was a special day for the Bethlehem Eagles and one of their alumni. The Syracuse University Athletic Department held a special ceremony retiring the jersey of Bethlehem High School graduate and University at Albany women’s lacrosse head coach Katie (Rowan) Thomson. Thompson wore #21 during her four-year career with the Syracuse Orange.

Sometimes you come across advice that rings a bell in your head, even though the words of wisdom were not intended for you. Early in my college administration career was sitting at a media table at a tournament shoot-around. One of the top seeds in the tournament was wrapping up their practice. The team was huddled around their coach, who most would say had earned legendary status. As he wrapped up his instructions, he roared, 'now Buddy Up 24-7. No one goes alone.'

As a Division I college administrator for nearly two decades, I know better than to judge a situation based on a press release. Friday, Rick Bennett "resigned" his position as head men's ice hockey coach, effective immediately at Union College. Bennett had been on paid-administrative leave since January 20th, as a result of an allegation.

The new coach of the Broncos may have plenty of orange in his closet. As reported on Thursday by ESPN, Denver is working to finalize a deal to hire Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as their new head coach. The Broncos have had five consecutive losing seasons. The last three had been orchestrated under former head coach Vic Fangio, who was fired in early January. Now Denver is hoping that the former Syracuse assistant coach can help bring that franchise back to the Super Bowl.

Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) commissioner Joey D'Antonio announced that Stony Brook University, Monmouth University and Hampton University will join the CAA as 'full members' next season. Stony Brook and Albany are currently 'associate members' of the CAA for football only. Starting next year, Stony Brook will become a full member and compete against the likes of Charleston, William & Mary, Delaware and Long Island rival Hofstra, instead of NJIT, Maine and the rest of America East.

April has become a more important month than January for New York Giants and Jets fans. Neither groups has a team playing this weekend in the NFL Divisional Championships. Once again, the April draft will bring Giants and Jets fans the anticipation and excitement that other team's enthusiasts enjoy during the playoffs in January. On Wednesday, ESPN's NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. released his first version of a first round mock draft. Let's see who he has going to the two New York teams with their first picks.