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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Opens At NABC Classic
November 10, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 10, 1999
Princeton vs. Syracuse
The site The Carrier Dome • Syracuse, N.Y. The date Friday, Nov. 12, 1999 •?9:00 p.m. The records Princeton: 0-0 Syracuse: 0-0 The coaches Princeton: Bill Carmody (fourth season, 73-14) Syracuse: Jim Boeheim (24th season, 549-193) The series Syracuse leads 22-9 Last meeting Syracuse defeated Princeton 67-65 in OT • Dec. 17, 1994 The storyline Princeton meets Syracuse in the opening round of the NABC Classic
Probable Starters
SYRACUSE* 25 Damon Brown 9.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg Jr., 6-9, 200, Buffalo, N.Y. 32 Ryan Blackwell 11.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg Sr., 6-7, 225, Pittsford, N.Y. 33 Etan Thomas 12.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg Sr., 6-9, 255, Tulsa, Okla. 4 Tony Bland 4.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg So., 6-4, 195, Los Angeles, Calif. 5 Jason Hart 13.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg Sr., 6-3, 180, Los Angeles, Calif.
PRINCETON* 21 Eugene Baah 1.9 ppg, 0.8 rpg So., 6-5, 195, New York, N.Y. 45 Mason Rocca 7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg Sr., 6-9, 235, Evanston, Ill. 55 Chris Young 12.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg So., 6-11, 255, Dallas, Texas 22 C.J. Chapman 4.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg Jr., 6-1, 170, Aurora, Colo. 4 Spencer Gloger n/a ppg, n/a rpg Fr., 6-6, 195, Santa Margarita, Calif. * 1998-99 stats
Tonight's Note of the Night Size matters — The average height of the 1999-2000 Princeton basketball team is 6' 6.2”, its tallest ever.
Five more notes no media person should be without More size — The average height of the 1999-2000 Princeton basketball team is 6' 6.2”. The average height of the 1995-96 Princeton basketball team, which won the Ivy League and defeated UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, was 6' 3.9”.
Middle man — Bill Carmody is 1-5 (.167) in the first and last games of the season and 72-9 (.889) in the games in the middle.
Fresh start — Spencer Gloger figures to start against Syracuse. If he does, he will become the ninth Tiger in the '90s to start the first game of his freshman year, joining Rick Hielscher, Chris Mooney, Steve Goodrich, Mitch Henderson, James Mastaglio, Brian Earl, Chris Krug and Chris Young. That group combined earned two Ivy League Player of the Year awards, two Ivy League Rookie of the Year awards and All-Ivy honors 14 times.
Pomp and circumstance — Princeton graduated Ivy League Player of the Year Brian Earl and first-team All-Ivy League selection Gabe Lewullis. Earl finished in fifth place all-time at Princeton with 1,428 points, Lewullis finished in 10th with 1,191 points. Every returning Tiger combined has 1,126 career points.
Block party — Chris Young blocked 55 shots a year ago to set a Princeton single-season record. Etan Thomas blocked 131 shots a year ago, but did not set a Syracuse single-season record.
Others receiving votes Conference call — Bill Carmody is 3-1 against the Big East (2-1 against Rutgers and 1-0 against Georgetown).
Big cy — As a freshman Chris Young had a higher assists per game average (2.87) than he did earned run average (2.38).
Money talks — Bill Carmody has a 26-9 record against scholarship schools in his three years at Princeton.
Youth movement — Princeton has one senior, three juniors, six sophomores and three freshmen.
Windex — Princeton outrebounded its opponents 893-863 a year ago, marking the first time in 30 years that Princeton outrebounded its opponents.
God save the Queen — Eugene Baah played for England in last summer's World University Games.
The whammy — Princeton has not been swept in an in-season tournament since the 1979 Rainbow Classic, a span of 35 such events.
More pomp — Brian Earl and Gabe Lewullis made 493 three-pointers between them in their careers to finish first and third in school history. Every returning Princeton player combined has 93 career three-pointers.
Young gun — Chris Young was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in both basketball and baseball a year ago, becoming the first male athlete in league history to be honored in two sports.
More Young — Chris Young was in double figures in each of the final 11 games a year ago.
No place like Dome — Princeton is 1-3 at the Carrier Dome since 1991, but the Tigers have only played Syracuse once in that time. Princeton lost to Villanova in the 1991 NCAA tournament, lost to Vanderbilt and defeated Boston University in the 1993 Carrier Classic and lost to Syracuse in overtime in a 1994 regular-season game.
Swish — Chris Young shot 53.6% from the field last year. Princeton's starting center has shot at least 50% from the field every year except one since 1980-81.
Center of attention — Princeton has used five starting centers (Kit Mueller, Jesse Rosenfeld, Rick Hielscher, Steve Goodrich, Chris Young) in its last 12 seasons, a span of 329 games dating to the start of 1987-88.
The play's the thing — Phil Jackman played the title role of Othello in a recent campus production of the Shakespeare play.
Bombs away — C.J. Chapman made 4 of 5 three-pointers in the final two NIT games last year at North Carolina State and Xavier after making two of his previous 26 prior to that.
California dreamin' — Four of Princeton's 13 players are from California.
More California — Former Princeton players Mitch Henderson and Gabe Lewullis were part of the California AAU team that lost to Syracuse in an exhibition game.
Mason-ry — Mason Rocca shot 50.6% from the field last year after shooting 41.5% the two years prior to that.
The glass menagerie — Mason Rocca's 18 rebounds against Georgetown in last year's NIT were the most in one game by a Princeton player since Bill Bradley had 23 against Columbia in 1965.
Welcome back — Nate Walton returns to Princeton this season after having foot surgery after five games a year ago. Under Princeton rules, Walton withdrew from school after injuring his foot to maintain his extra year of eligibility, so he is now a junior.
When last we left — Nate Walton averaged 4.2 points and 4.0 rebounds for his five games a year ago after averaging 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds for his first two years.
Krug update — Chris Krug, who started 27 games a year ago as a freshman, is taking this year off from school for personal and medical reasons. He will return next year as a sophomore.
Welcome back — Junior Terence Rozier-Byrd is back on the varsity team this year after spending last year with the junior varsity.
Sugar, sugar — Ray Robins was the first Princeton player off the bench in the exhibition game against Athletes in Action.
Ah, Ahmed — Ahmed El-Nokali averaged 34.4 minutes per game for the final eight games of last year after averaging 12.9 minutes the first 22 games.
Walking wounded — Princeton is healthier now than it has been at any point in the preseason. Only Eugene Baah, C.J. Chapman, Ahmed El-Nokali and Mike Bechtold went the entire preseason without missing a practice due to injury.
Stop, thief — Freshman Kyle Wente is third all-time in Illinois state high school history with 314 steals.
Reverse psychology — Chris Young, Princeton's center a year ago, had more than twice as many assists as guards C.J. Chapman and Ahmed El-Nokali combined (86-41).