BULLDOGS OPEN 2010-11 CAMPAIGN AT WORLD VISION CLASSIC; START OFF WITH HOST CLEVELAND STATE FRIDAY AT 7:30 P.M.

November 11, 2010

BULLDOGS OPEN 2010-11 CAMPAIGN AT WORLD VISION CLASSIC; START OFF WITH HOST CLEVELAND STATE FRIDAY AT 7:30 P.M.

Game Notes

CLEVELAND – The Bryant University men's basketball team is ready to kick off its 2010-11 campaign, and the Bulldogs will do so this weekend, taking on a trio of opponents from three different conferences at the World Vision Basketball Classic, hosted by Cleveland State University, Nov. 12-14. 

Bryant will open its third season at the Division I level against the host Vikings at the Wolstein Center Friday at 7:30 p.m. before facing off against Kent State Saturday (3:30 p.m.) and Iona Sunday (3:30 p.m.) on neutral ground to wrap up the three-day tournament. This is the first-ever meeting between Bryant and any of its opening weekend opponents.

MEET THE 2010-2011 BULLDOGS
After a 2009-10 campaign that saw the team lose its leading scorer just eight games into the season and rely on its young ranks to carry the load, the Bulldogs are poised for a dramatic turnaround in 2010-11. Now in his third year at the helm of the Bryant program, head coach Tim O'Shea not only returns a healthy 1000-point scorer in fifth-year senior Cecil Gresham at small forward, but also a pair of battle-tested sophomores in Raphael Jordan and All-Rookie Teamer Vlad Kondratyev, both of whom had an immediate impact in their first year of collegiate ball. But that isn't all O'Shea and his Bulldogs boast in their new campaign. The Bulldogs bring in a talented freshman class, led by highly touted recruits Alex Francis and Corey Maynard, who are projected to compete among the top rookies in the Northeast Conference. Bryant also adds an incredible amount of depth and skill with the eligibility of sophomore point guard Frankie Dobbs, who sat out the 2009-10 season due to NCAA transfer rules after following the coach who recruited him at Ohio University to Bryant after his rookie season. Despite the additions, the Bulldogs remain one of the youngest teams in the nation, suiting up just four upperclassmen on a 16-man roster. 

YEAR THREE BEGINS
Tim O'Shea (Boston College '84) enters his third season at the helm of the Bryant University men's basketball program. O'Shea helped to usher in a new era in Bryant Athletics and for Bryant basketball in 2008-09, guiding the team into Division I competition for the first time with a full DI slate, against which the Bulldogs went 8-21 on the year. In 2010-11, Bryant is in its third year of a five-year transition process to full Division I membership and will officially become the 12th member of the Northeast Conference in 2012-13. The Bulldogs will not be eligible for the conference postseason or the NCAA tournament until that time.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State finished fifth in the Horizon League a year ago with a 16-17 overall record and a 10-8 conference mark, but is slated to finish third according to the 2010-11 Preseason Coaches Poll. Senior guard Norris Cole was named a preseason all-conference first team selection after finishing his junior season second in the league in scoring (16.3 ppg) and third in both assists (4.4) and steals (1.8). Cole has nearly 1200 career points entering the 2010-11 season and was one of just two 33-game starters from a year ago. Juniors Jeremy Montgomery and Trevon Harmon return 12.8 and 10.5 points per game to the Viking lineup, respectively, and the team returns its top five scorers from a season ago. The Vikings advanced to the second round of the Horizon League Tournament before being eliminated.

BRYANT vs. THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Bulldogs have never before faced off against a team from the Horizon League entering Friday's game. Bryant will not face off against the conference again this season.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State loses six seniors and 60 percent of its offensive production from a team that won its second MAC title in the last three years in 2009-10. Eight newcomers and redshirts will be activated on the 2010-11 edition of third-year head coach Geno Ford's squad, but Kent State will not be a young bunch, with eight upperclassmen in its ranks. Rodriguez Sherman returns as the lone senior for the Golden Flashes, having averaged 10.6 points per game as a redshirt-junior last season. But it is Justin Greene who stands to be KSU's real offensive weapon, averaging a team-leading 13.6 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per outing on the 2009-10 season. Greene was the only player in the nation last year to increase his production by more than 10 points from the previous season and earned Second Team All-MAC accolades and an NABC District 14 selection as a result. He is a preseason East Division All-MAC selection in 2010-11. The Golden Flashes were picked to finish second in the MAC's East Division and earned six votes to repeat as the MAC Champion. 

BRYANT vs. THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE (MAC)
While the Bulldogs have never faced off against an opponent from the MAC, for third-year head coach Tim O'Shea, it is a conference with which he is quite familiar. O'Shea spent seven seasons at the helm of MAC member Ohio University before arriving at Bryant, compiling a 120-95 record during his tenure. O'Shea led the Bobcats to wins over such notable opponents as North Carolina, Maryland, DePaul and Virginia while in Athens and won a MAC title as well. Redshirt-sophomore Frankie Dobbs also has a year of experience against MAC opponents, having played in the league as a freshman with Ohio University, appearing in 31-of-32 games over the 2008-09 season.

SCOUTING THE GAELS
Iona returns all five of its starters from a year ago in 2010-11 and retains three additional letterwinners after finishing the 2009-10 season 21-10 and third within the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Gaels went 12-6 in league action a year ago but were tabbed fourth in this year's preseason coaches poll. After leading the team with 12.5 points per game and 3.9 assists per outing in 2009-10, returning All-MAAC Second Team selection Scott Machado was named a Preseason All-MAAC First Team prediction in 2010-11, while senior forward Alejo Rodriguez was a Third Team All-MAAC preseason pick after pacing Iona on the glass (7.5 rpg) and chipping in 9.0 points per contest. Sophomore shooting guard Kyle Smyth returns from an all-rookie team season as the team's third-leading scorer, averaging 8.1 points per game, with an impressive 51 made 3-pointers last year.

BRYANT vs. THE METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (MAAC)
Sunday's game against Iona will mark the first time Bryant has competed against a member of the MAAC. Bryant will not face off against the conference again this season. 

OPENING NIGHT
Since the inception of the Bryant men's basketball program in 1963-64, Bulldog teams have done fairly well in season openers, going 27-20 (.574) all-time in the first game of the year. Bryant took the win in the program's first eight season tips, not suffering an opening-day loss until the 1971-72 season. But the Bulldogs haven't been as hot as of late and haven't taken a victory in the season's first contest since 2005-06, when they topped Adelphi, 70-62. Bryant is 6-5 in its last 11 season openers and is winless in its first outing in the program's short Division I history. The Black and Gold begin the year on the road for the second-straight season. Bryant was defeated by Providence College, 96-53, in the 2009-10 season opener at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

LUCKY NO. 13
Sophomore forward/center and returning leading scorer Vlad Kondratyev spent much of the summer in Croatia playing in the 2010 FIBA U20 European Championships as a member of the Ukrainian National Team. One of just two collegiate NCAA players to make the Ukrainian National Team, Kondratyev averaged over 19 minutes per game, 4.2 rebounds per outing and 3.8 points per contest, serving as a crucial role player for the squad. Kondratyev earned starts in four of the nine games to help lead the Ukraine to an eighth-place finish, falling in the quarterfinals to eventual champion France. Kondratyev went 12-for-28 (.429) from inside the arc and shot better than 70 percent (10-of-14) from the free throw line. 

As a result of his strong showing at the international tournament, Kondratyev earned a No. 13 ranking on SI.com's list of top-20 NCAA participants at the 2010 FIBA U20 European Championships. He was praised by Sports Illustrated College Basketball writer Luke Winn as a bright spot for the Ukraine in a productive summer playing internationally. Kondratyev, who finished the Championships ranked 21st in defensive rebounds, was joined on SI.com's list by just one other Northeast Conference player in Quinnipiac's Raheem May-Thompson, who claimed the No. 19 spot.

BABY GRAND
Four points was all 2009-10 senior captain Cecil Gresham needed to become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in Bryant men's basketball history, and four points was exactly what he got December 23 against St. John's. With the front end of a pair of free throws falling in for a point with 7:15 to play in the game, Gresham broke the career threshold he had been working toward for nearly three-and-a-half years.

It was the last game Gresham would play in last season, being sidelined for the remainder of the year due to injury. But he is back in 2010-11 for his final year of eligibility, and the fifth-year senior forward needs just 18 points more to move up to 30th on the all-time scoring list. 

Gresham was the team's leading scorer and rebounder as a junior in 2008-09, and this Bulldog has been at the top of the game for his entire Bryant career. Over his three-plus years in Smithfield so far, Gresham has appeared in 98 games, starting in 77, and averages over 26 minutes per outing. He has also racked up 391 rebounds, 30 blocks, 91 assists and 54 steals.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
After a slow start to his rookie season, Russian-born Vlad Kondratyev emerged as one of the NEC's top freshmen in conference play, serving as the Bulldogs' saving grace after the loss of senior 1,000-point scorer Cecil Gresham, en route to a Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team selection. The all-rookie bid was the first-ever Division I postseason accolade for the Bryant men's basketball program since joining the DI ranks in 2008-09. 

Kondratyev paced the Black and Gold in points scored nine times last season, the most of any Bulldog, and recorded double-digit scoring outputs in 12 of the last 18 contests. In the last 18 games of the 2009-10 campaign, the frosh forward lifted his scoring average from 4.4 points per outing to 8.9 points per game. Kondratyev finished the season ranked seventh among all Northeast Conference players with a .498 field goal percentage and led all NEC rookies in the category. His 22 blocks also ranked in the conference's top-15. Kondratyev performed consistently well from the floor all season, posting a shooting percentage of .500 or better in 10 of the last 17 games and 16 times on the 2009-10 campaign. He collected 13 total double-digit point performances on the year.

FRANKIE GOES TO SMITHFIELD
Redshirt-sophomore guard Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) joins the Bryant basketball team on the floor in 2010-11 despite having joined the Bulldog roster in 2009-10. After a successful freshman campaign at Ohio University —  the former home of current head coach Tim O'Shea — Dobbs, who was recruited to Ohio by O'Shea but arrived in Athens after his departure, followed the coach he originally agreed to play for to Bryant. NCAA transfer rules required Dobbs to sit out the 2009-10 season, but the highly touted point guard is now ready and eligible to make a difference on the Bryant side. 

Dobbs enjoyed significant success in his year with the Bobcats (2008-09), appearing in all 32 games and averaging 13.7 minutes per outing while collecting 60 points, 37 rebounds and 47 assists. At Ohio, Dobbs shot .308 from the floor in a rookie season highlighted by strong outings against Indiana State (7 assists, 4 points, 4 rebounds), William & Mary (7p, 3a) and No. 11/11 Louisville (6p, 5a, 5r).

WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES
The Bulldogs' five-man recruiting class won't be eased into collegiate ball, as Bryant opens the season against the top of three strong conferences this weekend at the World Vision Basketball Classic. Of the six Bulldogs who have yet to make their collegiate debut — rookies Troy Robinson (Roslindale, Mass.), Matt Lee (Bloomfield, N.J.), Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia), Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) and Tim McKinney (Duxbury, Mass.) and redshirt-frosh Alex Herzing (Lynchburg, Va.) — who will see floor time for the Black and Gold?

BULLDOGS WON'T BACK DOWN
Bryant continues to play a tough non-conference slate in 2010-11, as it has in the program's first two years at the Division I level. The Bulldogs will face off against eight different conferences, including the ACC (Boston College), the Big Ten (Michigan), the Horizon League (Cleveland State), the MAC (Kent State), the MAAC (Iona), the Patriot League (Army, Lehigh), the Ivy League (Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown) and all 11 members of the Northeast Conference. Bryant will be included in the NEC standings despite being ineligible for postseason play.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
In addition to being streamed online at www.bryantbulldogs.tv, for the third-consecutive season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. Veteran sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns to call the action as the voice of the Bulldogs.