Hawks in the pros: 2009-2010 season

With the NBA playoffs entering the second round, we figured it would be a good time to catch up with some St. Joe’s basketball’s most illustrious alumni who are continuing their careers on the professional hardwood.

The conversation—much like just about any other discussion of St. Joe’s basketball—starts with its most famous alumni, Jameer Nelson.

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The Orlando Magic point guard had to contend with injuries again this season and saw his numbers drop from last year’s career season. He finished the regular season averaging 12.6 points and 5.4 assists in 28.6 minutes per game over 65 games; all three totals were slightly above his career average.

He was slowed by torn knee cartilage in November that caused him to miss 17 games. But he averaged 13.8 points per in the 47 regular season games since returning to action on Dec. 19 and has assumed his usual role as a vital cog in the sixth-highest scoring offense in the league for the Southeast Division Champs.

Men’s Basketball News and Notes, 9-4

I know we’ve got a little while until basketball season starts officially, but here are this week’s news and notes from Hawk Hill.

After two years as a walk-on, Brown has earned a scholarship. (Photo by Greg Carroccio '02)

-The Athletic Department has just confirmed that C.J. Brown, ’10, has been awarded a scholarship for this year. He walked on the team as a sophomore and junior. He represents the 13th and final scholarship for the team.

In his career, he is averaging 0.3 points per game in 14 games played over two season. He was named the team’s co-Most Improved Player along with Idris Hilliard ’11.

-Ahmad Nivins won’t be the member of the St. Joe’s class of 2009 hooping it up in Europe next year. Last week, Tasheed Carr signed on to play in Israel with Ironi Nahariya in Israel’s premier league. The team has plenty of local flavor, having also signed former Delaware standout and ’09 graduate Marc Egerson, as well as former Atlantic 10 player DeMarco Johnson from Charlotte.

Ironi finished 10-12 in the league last season, good for seventh and an exit in the league quarterfinals.

-Matthew De George ’10

Your late night confidence boost

With the departure of Ahmad Nivins to the greener pastures of…North Spain, its fair to say everyone is expecting a bit of down season from Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball.

ESPN, on the other had, is expecting a meteoric free fall. Last week’s A-10 Shootaround paints a picture bleaker than even my pessimism allows, picking them 12th out of the 14 teams in the Atlantic 10. (For the record, my pessimism tentatively prognosticates 13-17, 6-10 A-10 with one win in Atlantic City).

On the bright side though, the same article has freshman Carl Jones as one of the newcomers to watch in the conference. That’s right, all 5-11, 155 pounds of him (though to be fair, the St. Joe’s athletic website has him at an imposing 6-0, 165).

Hey, the Hagan Arena is nice, right?

-Matthew De George ’10

Adios Ahmad, for now

Ahmad Nivins’ NBA dream will have to wait a little while. Last year’s Atlantic 10 Player of the Year yesterday signed on to play with Basquet Manresa in Spain’s ACB.

Nivins was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 56th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. The Mavs still retain his NBA rights.

Manresa, based in the Barcelona province, finished 14-18 last year, good for 10th out of 17 teams in the ACB, which is considered by many the strongest in the world outside the NBA. Alumni of the ACB include 2009 fifth overall pick Ricky Rubio and NBA All-Star Pau Gasol. The league boasts 10 winners and 14 runners-up in the half-century of the Euroleague and former European Cup.

Nivins is the 28th Hawk drafted in the NBA, and the first to receive the honor since Jameer Nelson and Delonte West in 2004. He is the third-leading scoring in St. Joe’s history (1,789 points), the sixth-leading rebounder (955), and all-time leader in field goal percentage (62.7). He was the A-10 and Big 5 POY last season, and an All-American Honorable Mention.

–Matthew De George ’10