Men's Basketball Notebook 11-23-09

All Hail the Pope

Sophomore forward Herb Pope provided Seton Hall with its first two points of the night following an early 8-0 deficit. Pope, a transfer from New Mexico State University, was ineligible to play games in 2008-09 due to NCAA transfer regulations, but was still allowed to practice with the team.

In three contests with the Pirates, Pope has been averaging a double-double with 10.7 points and 12 rebounds per game. Last Sunday, he picked up 15 points and 17 rebounds at Monmouth. According to Cornell head coach Steve Donahue, Pope is “a very good player in terms of basketball IQ,” and is particularly dangerous when it comes to passing.

Donahue went on to say that Pope is someone Seton Hall hasn’t had for awhile, in that the team has tended to be small and undersized in recent years. Indeed, the 6-8, 236-pound Pope brings height and much-needed physicality to the Pirates. On Friday, he was able to effectively match up with Cornell center Jeff Foote, and notched six offensive rebounds in a winning effort.

The wave of the future?

Newman Nation got its first look at what could very well be the future of the Red, as freshman forward Errick Peck made his home debut on Friday. In only four minutes of play off the bench, Peck drained a 3-pointer to bring Cornell within nine with just under two minutes remaining. He added a layup for good measure on an offensive rebound one minute later to finish with five points on the night.

Prior to coming to Cornell, Peck averaged 14.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game as a senior at Cathedral High School, receiving first-team all-city and honorable mention all-state accolades. He was also named the most valuable player of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Classic and was selected to participate in the North-South Indiana All-Star game in 2009.