Coaching Legacy of James Frizzell (CH 2K8)

[superjames1992]

Princeton's Magical Run Ends With Loss to Texas

4/6 vs. #1 seed Texas - Final Four

Final: 79-82

Princeton had its magical run in this year's NCAA Tournament abruptly ended in Albany by the #1 seeded Texas Longhorns. Texas led most of the game and led by 10 points with 1:30 left. Then Princeton embarked on what would have been one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history as Princeton got all the way back to within three points with 20 seconds left and the ball. Princeton's Wendell Lalugba missed the final shot of his career, however, with five seconds left, as the Tigers fell by three points. "We put on quite a fight today and we showed a lot of heart to never give up there at the end. We didn't quite pull off the comeback, but we made quite and effort of it," stated Coach Frizzell. In his final collegiate game, Wendell Lalugba struggled mightily from beyond the arc, where he only went 1-8, but he still ended with 19 points and 3 rebounds. Cassiand Swift ended with 17 points and 15 rebounds while Cedric Tchana went a perfect 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from downtown to end with 11 points. Reynold Gross didn't exactly impress in his final game, but he still ended with 8 points and 4 assists.

Princeton finishes the season at 32-5 (14-0).
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Press Conference

Coach Frizzell held a press conference today to talk about yesterday's loss to the Texas Longhorns in the Final Four. "We made a great run deep into the Big Dance, so I don't think we have anything to be ashamed of. Sure, we'd have loved to beat Texas, but we didn't. We still had a heck of a run and only made it to the second Final Four in school history. We'll use this as something to build on for next year."
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Final Four News

The #2 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (31-6) knocked off the #6 seeded Marquette Golden Eagles (24-12) by a score of 92-83 to advance to the Championship Game against the #1 seeded Texas Longhorns (32-4). Texas would go on to cruise past North Carolina by a score of 99-79 to win their first ever NCAA Basketball Title.
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Princeton Senior News

This year's senior class consists of two very talented players in Wendell Lalugba and Reynold Gross, both of which have played a huge role in bringing this team up to the peak of success and their Final Four appearance. Coach Frizzell commented, "These two young men have had decorated careers here at Princeton and we are glad to have had them. They really helped to propel us to never-before-seen heights here at Princeton and have helped to establish us as an elite team. Last year's class began that process, but this year's class was the one that really got it cranking."

Wendell Laugba was a diamond in the rough, so to speak, but he was the most highly rated recruit Coach Frizzell had at the time. He was the 136th overall player and the 40th overall small forward coming out of high school and was a three-star prospect. He has collected numerous awards in his career and is a two-time Ivy League Conference Player of the Year. His best year statistically is his freshman year when he averaged 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. His stats have declined since then, but this is only due to the fact that he has a lot more talent surrounding him than before. He is no doubt a more pollished player now. He boasts career averages of 16.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game and has 346 career three-pointers made in his career, blowing away the previous school record. He has shot 41.7% from downtown in his career.

Reynold Gross, a four-star prospect, originally committed to UCLA as the #79 overall player and the #33 point guard in the nation, but he was forced to be a bench player there, so he decided to transfer to Princeton following his sophomore season. At Princeton, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game in his junior year. His numbers declined a bit this year, but that is mostly due to the fact that there is more talent around now, so not as much is asked of him. His career averages are a bit skewed since he rode the pine the first two years of his career at UCLA, but he has averaged 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game over the course of his career. He is a lifetime 36.4% three-point shooter. He also was First-Team All-Conference in his junior and senior years.
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National Awards

National Champions - Texas Longhorns (33-4, 12-4 Big Twelve)
NIT Champions - Illinois Fighting Illini (25-11, 11-7 Big Ten)
National Coach of the Year - Rick Barnes (Texas)
National Player of the Year - D.J. Werch (Baylor)
National Defensive Player of the Year - Cassiand Swift (Princeton)
National Freshman of the Year - Cassiand Swift (Princeton)

Ivy League Awards

Ivy League Champions - Princeton Tigers (32-5, 14-0)
Ivy League Coach of the Year - James Frizzell (Princeton)
Ivy League Player of the Year - Cassiand Swift (Princeton)
Ivy League Freshman of the Year - Cassiand Swift (Princeton)
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Princeton 2012-2013 Recap

Record: 32-5 (14-0)
Ivy League Conference Champions
National Defensive Player of the Year - Cassiand Swift
National Freshman of the Year - Cassiand Swift
First Team All-Freshman - Cassiand Swift
Ivy League Coach of the Year - James Frizzell
Ivy League Player of the Year - Cassiand Swift
Ivy League Freshman of the Year - Cassiand Swift
First Team All-Ivy League - Reynold Gross, Wendell Lalugba, Cassiand Swift
Freshman All-Conference - C.J. Harrington, Cassiand Swift

2012-2013 Princeton Roster

Starters
PG #11 Reynold Gross 6'5 191 (Fullerton, CA) 85 overall SR
SG #14 Cedric Tchana 6'5 212 (Cameroon) 75 overall JR
SF #25 Wendell Lalugba 6'8 216 (New Bedford, MA) 82 overall SR
PF #50 C.J. Harrington 6'9 214 (Chicago, IL) 72 overall FR
C #41 Cassiand Swift 7'0 267 (Moreno Valley, CA) 82 overall FR

Bench
PG #10 Marin Collins 6'2 187 (New Zealand) 72 overall JR
PG #3 Vernon Dodd 6'1 192 (Milwaukee, WI) 63 overall JR
SG #32 Benjamin McBridle 6'2 198 (Charlotte, NC) 74 overall FR
SG #1 Tremmell Christensen 6'7 212 (Detroit, MI) 70 overall RS-FR
SF #31 Timon Michaud 6'6 212 (Baltimore, MD) 75 overall JR
SF #21 Kirby Guzman 6'8 216 (Boston, MA) 71 overall FR
C #54 Francis Waleskowski 7'1 283 (Philadelphia, PA) 55 overall JR

Redshirting
PG #23 Wesley French 6'0 207 (Baltimore, MD) 76 overall FR

Coaches
James Frizzell: B overall (6th year)
Everett Dearmon: C overall (6th year)
Dragutin Torres: C overall (6th year)

Player Stats

Player                 PT/G  R/G  A/G  S/G  B/G  M/G    FG%   3P%   FT%
Wendell Lalugba        15.1  3.5  1.6  1.3  0.3  20.9  .505  .372  .589
Cassiand Swift         14.9  11.9 1.3  1.3  1.4  19.3  .494  .667  .838
Reynold Gross          11.7  2.3  5.1  1.6  0.2  20.5  .506  .336  .802
Cedric Tchana          9.0   1.8  1.8  1.2  0.2  21.3  .414  .301  ,734
C.J. Harrington        6.8   5.2  1.4  1.2  0.4  19.3  .534  .000  .745
Benjamin McBridle      6.2   1.3  1.2  0.5  0.0  9.3   .436  .293  .793
Timon Michaud          6.0   4.0  1.4  0.8  0.1  13.4  .437  .302  .642
Marin Collins          4.5   1.2  2.0  0.7  0.0  10.5  .511  .324  .862
Kirby Guzman           4.0   1.9  0.6  0.4  0.1  6.7   .647  .000  .580
Tremmell Christensen   3.3   1.0  0.6  0.3  0.0  4.1   .428  .300  .700
Francis Waleskowski    2.1   5.7  0.7  0.7  0.5  13.4  .523  .000  .529
Vernon Dodd            1.0   0.4  0.4  0.1  0.0  2.8   .642  .000  .000
Totals                 79.0  36.8 17.2 9.5  3.1  ---   .486  .326  .745

Coaching Stats

Coaching Record:

Season     School         Record     NCAA Tournament Results
2007-2008  Princeton       18-11     N/A
2008-2009  Princeton       21-9      1st Round (#12 Seed)
2009-2010  Princeton       25-9      Sweet Sixteen (#9 Seed)
2010-2011  Princeton       22-8      1st Round (#8 Seed)
2011-2012  Princeton       26-6      2nd Round (#8 Seed)
2012-2013  Princeton       32-5      Final Four (#3 Seed)
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6 years                   144-48

NCAA Tournament Record: 7-5
NIT Record: 0-0
Conference Record: 73-11

[doncoryell]

That was a tremendous effort by PU this season, going to the Final Four! Congrats on getting them that far.

With Coach Frizzell averaging 20+ wins a season with the Tigers, it looks like he is ready for a new challenge.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by doncoryell

That was a tremendous effort by PU this season, going to the Final Four! Congrats on getting them that far. With Coach Frizzell averaging 20+ wins a season with the Tigers, it looks like he is ready for a new challenge.

Thanks. We'll see about moving on. It all depends on what job offers I get. I'm not going to just move on just for the sake of getting a better job; I'm only going to go to a school where I'd like to coach at. We'll see if those open up!

[superjames1992]

Off-Season News

After going to the Final Four this past year with this talent-laden Princeton team, it was no surprise when a couple of power conference schools came calling. Still, Coach Frizzell was passed over for job offers at Duke and Florida State. Coach Frizzell was offered the job at UConn, who struggled to a sub-.500 record last year. He also was offered the head coaching position of the Georgia Bulldogs and the Temple Owls out of the Atlantic Ten. In the end, however, Coach Frizzell decided to turn all the offers down and to come back to Princeton for yet another year. "I was flattered by the job offers, but the truth is that I have no desire to coach at UConn or Georgia," he said.

There is speculation that Frizzell would have easily accepted the Duke job if he had been offered, but that is all speculation and didn't come to fruition. It is still suspected that Frizzell is waiting for Coach Bob Huggins of West Virginia to retire, so he can take his place as the head man in Morgantown.
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Press Conference

This off-season also saw Coach Frizzell fire both of his previous assistant coaches for supposed poor performance. and hire better ones for the first time in his career. Coach Frizzell stated, "It was hard to let coaches Dearmon and Torres go, but I feel that we needed to do so to keep this program moving forward. I wish them the best of luck in their futures, but as we move into becoming a perennial NCAA Tournament team, we need to improve our coaching staff and I felt that this was made for the good of the team, the players, and the program."

The selection committee has interviewed dozens of candidates this off-season and has came up with their selections. Coach Frizzell announced at a press conference, "Let me introduce you all to our new assistant coaches for the 2013-2014 season. Will Brown has shown to be a capable head coach as he has compiled a 110-150 overall record in his coaching career and now he will be joining us here in Princeton. His strength is his offensive genius and that is why he was hired. I feel that he can really help improve our guys' offensive game and he should do well here. I really love his enthusiasm and his passion for the game, so it's great to have him here.

"Also, let me introduce you all to Marion Brown. Brown has never had a Division I head coaching job, but he is widely known as a very good assistant coach around the country. His strength is that he is a good scout and should help us effectively scout our upcoming opponents well and should help us to find those diamonds in the rough when recruiting. He also has quite a defensive mind, so he should help us in that aspect of our game and help make us a better overall defensive team."
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Recruiting News

4/14 - First Day of Spring Signing Period

Coach Frizzell filled both scholarships in this year's recruiting class with two players who are highly regarded around the country as Princeton continues to make huge strides in the recruiting department. 2Khoops.com analyst Lee Williamson commented, "This class isn't quite as impressive as last season's for the Princeton Tigers, but it is still pretty impressive. Coach Frizzell only had two scholarships to offer this season and I feel that he did a pretty good job at it."

Coach Frizzell is beginning to establish a foothold in the New York City area as he reeled in both of this year's recruits from there, including the 38th ranked overall recruit of this year's class in Romain Bright, a four-star recruit out of Brooklyn, New York. Bright is the seventh-ranked small forward in this year's class and stands at 6'6 and 218 pounds. He is a decent shooter and can hopefully replace the legendary Wendell Lalugba in the comint years.

Coach Frizzell also secured a junior college prospect out of the Bronx in Denis Graham. Princeton was short on big men this past season, so Graham, who was one of the better JUCO power forwards available in this year's class, was offered a scholarship which he immediately accepted. Analyst Lee Williamson said, "Graham is probably the biggest recruit of this year's class for Coach Frizzell. Bright is probably the better player, but Graham is a guy that was needed badly. He is only a junior college freshman, so he'll be able to stay at Princeton for three years and be an effective backup for Swift and Harrington, something the Tigers lacked this past season."

Here is a look at Princeton's 2013 recruiting class:
1. Romain Bright 6'6 218 (Brooklyn, NY - #38 overall, #7 SF) 4*
2. Denis Graham 6'8 229 (Bronx, NY - NR, NR SF) 3* - JUCO

This class is ranked as the 138th class in the nation accordint to 2khoops.com. However, that number is skewed since Princeton only had two scholarships available to offer. In reality, this was about as good as Princeton could have hoped for.

[superjames1992]

2013-2014 Princeton Roster

Starters
PG #23 Wesley French 6'0 215 (Baltimore, MD) 77 overall FR (RS)
SG #14 Cedric Tchana 6'5 216 (Cameroon) 76 overall SR
SF #22 Romain Bright 6'6 220 (Brooklyn, NY) 78 overall FR
PF #50 C.J. Harrington 6'9 225 (Chicago, IL) 73 overall SO
C #41 Cassiand Swift 7'0 275 (Moreno Valley, CA) 84 overall SO

Bench
PG #10 Marin Collins 6'2 194 (New Zealand) 73 overall SR
SG #32 Benjamin McBridle 6'2 208 (Charlotte, NC) 76 overall SO
SG #1 Tremmell Christensen 6'7 218 (Detroit, MI) 72 overall SO (RS)
SF #31 Timon Michaud 6'6 211 (Baltimore, MD) 75 overall SR
SF #21 Kirby Guzman 6'8 220 (Boston, MA) 72 overall SO
PF Denis Graham 6'8 229 (Bronx, NY) 67 overall FR
C #54 Francis Waleskowski 7'1 291 (Philidelphia, PA) 57 overall SR

Reserves
PG #3 Vernon Dodd 6'1 196 (Milwaukee, WI) 64 overall SR

Coaches
James Frizzell: B+ overall (7th year)
Will Brown: B- overall (1st year)
Marion Brown: B- overall (1st year)
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The Replacements

Romain Bright (#38 overall, #7 SF) stepped onto campus in better shape than ever and really excelled in his preseason workouts, outplaying senior Timon Michaud for the starting small forward role. Michaud was expected by almost everyone to be the starter, but Bright has wowed the coaches with his play so far. He can shoot, rebounds, drive, and do whatever the coaches ask of him. He looks to be even better than Wendell Lalugba was at this point, though we'll see how he progresses over the coming years.

There was some disappointment surrounding JUCO signee Denis Graham when he stepped onto campus. Some thought he would beat out C.J. Harrington for the starting power forward spot, but that has been far from the case. He is struggling to adjust to college ball, but he'll probably turn out fine. For now, he's the backup for Swift and Harrington, so he'll get plenty of minutes.

Wesley French was an All-American coming out of high school and Princeton's first five-star recruit a year ago. With Reynold Gross commanding the starting role last year, Coach Frizzell thought it was best to let Gross start and rather than waste a year of French's eligibility as a backup, Frizzell decided to redshirt French. It appears to have paid off as French has looked great so far in practice and has most of the same strengths as Gross had in that he can shoot, drive, and pass the ball with great efficiency.
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Recruiting News

2khoops.com anaylst Lee Williamson has given us an update on the senior recruits Coach Frizzell has been recruiting over the summer. Princeton's #1 priority recruit is Ashley Acasio, who could take over with Cedric Tchana's graduation. Coach Frizzell is focusing on three-star player this year as he has five scholarships to give out. It appears that he doesn't want to shoot to high and miss. Below is a list of the high school seniors Coach Frizzell is currently recruiting according to priority.

1. Ashley Acasio 6'4 186 (Brooklyn, NY - #155 overall, #32 SG) 3*
2. Nikola Tolic 6'5 204 (Croatia - NR overall, NR SG) 3*
3. Jarrad Lemons 6'8 224 (Cape Coral, FL - #213 overall, #40 SG) 3*
4. Elliah Townsend 6'10 239 (Inglewood, CA - #206 overall, #33 PF) 3*
5. Rylan Sommerville 6'4 193 (Chicago, IL - #194 overall, #39 SF) 3*
6. Vladimir Dumbliauskas 6'10 232 (Lithuania - NR overall, NR C) 3*
7. Aaron Diame 6'9 209 (Senegal - NR overall, SR C) 3*
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2013-2014 Princeton Schedule

11/4 vs Samford (NIT Season Tip-Off B)
11/8 at Arizona State
11/9 at Cal Poly
11/19 at Lafayette
11/20 vs New Orleans (Great Alaska Shootout)
11/27 vs Rutgers
11/30 vs Iowa
12/7 at Holy Cross
12/12 vs Gonzaga
12/15 vs Boise State
12/18 at Drexel
12/28 at Seton Hall
12/29 vs Long Beach State
1/4 vs Penn
1/7 vs Lehigh
1/10 at Penn
1/31 at Harvard
2/1 at Cornell
2/7 at Brown
2/8 at Dartmouth
2/14 vs Columbia
2/15 vs Yale
2/21 vs Cornell
2/22 vs Harvard
2/28 at Yale
3/1 at Columbia
3/7 vs Dartmouth
3/8 vs Brown
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Projected Ivy League Conference Standings

1. Princeton
2. Cornell
3. Yale
4. Dartmouth
5. Harvard
6. Penn
7. Brown
8. Columbia

[superjames1992]

Princeton Rallies Past Samford

11/4 vs. Samford - NIT Season Tip-Off B - First Round

Final: 78-62

Despite the final score, this was quite a close game. Samford held the lead early on and led by as much as 10 at one point. Princeton rallied back, though, and seized a 33-28 halftime lead. Princeton would lead most of the second half, but would not pull away until the final minutes of the game. Coach Frizzell commented, "Quite frankly, we didn't play well. We didn't make our jumpshots, we weren't very good defensively, and we just weren't very efficient." Freshman small forward Romain Bright showed flashes of Wendell Lalugba as he led the team with 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Wesley French also made quite a debut with 15 points and 6 assists. Cedric Tchana added 14 points while C.J. Harrington tallied 13 points and 5 rebounds. Cassiand Swift was only 4-11 from the field, but still managed 9 points and 13 rebounds in the 16 point win.

Princeton is now 1-0.
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La Salle Moves On

11/5 vs. La Salle - NIT Season Tip-Off B - Final Round

Final: 84-90

"We didn't shoot well, we didn't execute well, and we played horendous defense. That's all I have to say about this game." Those were the words of a very frustrated Coach Frizzell following his team's six point loss to La Salle. He had a right to be angry. Princeton shot a miserable 4-21 from three-point range and was all-over-the-place on the defensive end as La Salle had wide open men all game long. Romain Bright hit 8 free throws in the game to end with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Cassiand Swift managed his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Benjamin came off the bench to add 10 points in Princeton's first loss of the season.

Princeton is now 1-1.

[MillardMavs]

nice run last season superjames. Good luck the rest of this season man.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by MillardMavs

nice run last season superjames. Good luck the rest of this season man.

Thanks, as always, Millard!