Basketball

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Steve Addazio called the three proposals on divisional alignment presented to the Big East football coaches and athletic directors at the conference's spring meetings a win-win-win situation for Temple. One proposal would split the league into East and West divisions beginning in 2013. Another called for North and South divisions. And the third would have a non-geographic alignment, splitting the West Coast schools, the Texas schools, and the Florida schools.

When Elena Delle Donne, the leading scorer in the nation in women's college basketball, couldn't sink a shot against Drexel on Feb. 19, she kept hitting the tattoo of her sister, Lizzie, on her rib, saying to herself, "You've got to help me. " She rubbed the tattoo with her shooting hand. "Come on, Lizzie, help me!" Finally, Lizzie did. After having missed 15 of her first 18 shots from the field, Elena hit the game-winner with two seconds left, and the University of Delaware beat Drexel, 40-39.

Player             School    Class             Major Adewale Adefemi   Sciences   Sr.      Pharmaceutical mgmt. Sharif Bray         Cheyney      Sr.    Recreation and leisure Juan Fernandez   Temple      Jr.       Broadcast journalism Steve Weingarten La Salle      Sr.    History and Am. studies Mouphtaou Yarou Villanova   So.    Finance and intl. bus.

Alssene Saintilus is one of the most intriguing basketball players in South Jersey. He also is a lesson in the power of persistence. The 6-foot-6 senior forward for Williamstown can dunk in traffic, knock down three-pointers, block shots, and play defense on the perimeter. He's still scratching the surface of his potential, mainly because he's still learning about varsity competition. But it's not Saintilus' considerable athletic ability that's the secret to his sudden success.

Some of the top scorers in Southeastern Pa. basketball this past season. Boys Player   School   Gms.   Pts.   Avg.    Nadir Matthews   Bodine   17   494   29.1    Savon Goodman   Constitution   31   800   25.8    Larry Webster   Parkway West   20   484   24.2    Jordan Reed   Wissahickon   28   663   23.7    Ben Holl   Friends...

Penn's basketball team received oral commitments from three players for the 2011-12 season, including a pair of international recruits. On Monday, the Quakers received a commitment from Miller Grove (Ga.) forward Henry Brooks, a source told Scout.com's Evan Daniels. Brooks, rated by ESPN as the nation's 74th best power forward, reportedly chose Penn over Minnesota, Tennessee and Missouri. Joining Brooks will be recruits Keelan Cairns of Ireland and Simeon Esprit of England, both of whom committed Sunday night after visiting Penn last week.

Tory Cavalieri, an Inquirer second-team all-South Jersey guard from Atlantic City, has made a commitment to attend the University of Maine on a basketball scholarship. Cavalieri said that he wasn't sure when he would sign a binding letter of intent but that he would be joining the team, which is led by former Rowan coach John Giannini. The NCAA's late signing period for basketball players began yesterday. "Maine is the best situation for me," Cavalieri said. "I knew a few of the players and felt really comfortable there.

Valley Forge Junior College football coach Jim Burner didn't decide to make Dante Coles a wide receiver while watching Conestoga High football games last year. Burner watched Coles play basketball and concluded that the Conestoga senior was just what the Trojans' passing game needed. "I never saw him play football at Conestoga," Burner said. "But he could catch a basketball. If you look at his hands, if you watch him dribble, you knew he could catch a football. " The 6-foot-3 freshman caught eight passes for 107 yards and one touchdown in Valley Forge's 49-42 loss to Navy Prep Saturday.

Former basketball star Melissa Rotz will receive her doctor of Pharmacy degree and deliver the valedictory speech at the University of the Sciences graduation ceremony on Wednesday night at the Mann Center. Rotz, a graduate of Central Dauphin High School, was the women's basketball player of the year on the 2011 Inquirer all-academic team, chosen from the Philadelphia region's Division II and III schools. A four-year starter on the women's basketball team, Rotz has the distinction of graduating from University of the Sciences with the most individual academic honors ever won by a student-athlete at the institution, earning a dozen such awards over her career while performing as the team's starting point guard, the university said.

Boston coach Doc Rivers had high praise for his point guard, Rajon Rondo, before the start of Game 4. Rondo was the starting point guard when the Celtics won the title in 2008. At the time just 22, Rondo displayed skills that were already advanced. Rivers, himself a guard in his playing days, said that Rondo's mind is what makes him special. "He's one of the smartest players that I've ever been around. Sometimes he's too smart," Rivers said. "But when he's right, he's good.

BOSTON - Doug Collins, basketball professor, loves to wax educational when his teams play poorly. So, what's the lesson this time? KG is old? Herb Magee lives? Did the Sixers learn they can coast through the first few minutes, dig a 9-0 hole and still have a chance? That they can blow a second double-digit late lead and still win? That they have 5 seconds - not 6, not 4, but 5 - to inbound the ball? Maybe they learned that any game can be theirs. Maybe they learned that the Celtics cannot defend their guards.

THE IVY LEAGUE athletic directors have decided not to move forward with proposals for conference tournaments in men's and women's basketball, the league announced Thursday. The coaches had proposed a four-team tournament, but it would need to have cleared three stages to be adopted. The first stage was the athletics directors, who discussed the issue at their annual meetings in Red Bank, N.J. "After careful consideration of these proposals, the athletics directors decided that our current method of determining the Ivy League champion and our automatic bid recipient to the NCAA Championship is the best model moving forward," Ivy League executive director Robin Smith said in a statement.

Charles "Buddy" Donnelly, 81, the captain and point guard for La Salle's 1952 NIT champions, died Sunday. Then-freshman Tom Gola was the star and leading scorer for that championship squad, but, in the team picture, Mr. Donnelly is in the middle of the front row, with a basketball in front of him. "He was a very good player and a real nice guy," said Speedy Morris, the winningest coach in La Salle history. After graduation, Mr. Donnelly was the player-coach of the Army's Fort Belvoir (Va.)

Temple's basketball team prides itself on facing tough nonconference opponents. That's why the Owls will play national powers Kansas, Duke, and Syracuse next season. The Kansas game will be part of a home-and-home series. Temple will face the Jayhawks next season at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. The teams will meet again during the 2014-15 season in Philadelphia, most likely at the Wells Fargo Center. Temple also is scheduled to play Duke next season at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. It will mark the third consecutive season the teams will square off. The Owls will face Syracuse in next season's Gotham Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Linda Cimino's heart sank, and so did her mood, but it was only momentarily. The Caldwell College women's basketball coach had been recruiting Camden Catholic senior point guard Nicole Angelo since her sophomore year and had offered her a full scholarship to the Division II school in North Jersey. When Angelo called to reveal her decision, she decided to have a little fun with the coach. "When she called, she played a prank," Cimino recalled, laughing. Angelo told Cimino that she had bad news for her. The coach's initial reaction?

DEERFIELD, Ill. - When the reporters waiting in the front office of the Sheri L. Berto Center received the signal that the Chicago Bulls practice was open, the group of about 20 followed the sound of bouncing basketballs and squeaking sneakers hoping to find reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose ready to discuss his health. But, as was the case in 27 games in the lockout-truncated regular season - which concluded on Thursday with the Bulls locking up home-court advantage through the playoffs with the league's best record - Rose was nowhere to be found.

Dylan Ennis wanted to be closer to home. And he wanted to play in the Big East. So he's coming to Villanova. The 6-2 lead guard, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.1 assists as a freshman starter last season at Rice, is transferring to the Main Line. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining, but is considering applying to the NCAA for a hardship waiver that would make him available immediately. His family lives in Toronto. His brother Brandon plays at the University of the District of Columbia.

DALLAS - Larry Brown is returning to college to get back into coaching. The 71-year-old Hall of Fame coach, who led the 76ers from 1997 to 2003, was hired Thursday at Southern Methodist University. It is his first college job in nearly a quarter century, and comes with a struggling program that is headed to the Big East after next season. Brown, the only coach to win both an NBA championship and NCAA title, hasn't coached since leaving the Charlotte Bobcats in December 2010 after the NBA's team's 9-19 start.