Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Woah you got a stud of a center to come to your school! Hes gonna be a true baller by the time he gets to his junior and senior year.

Definitely a pleasant surprise to get Haywood to come to UNH. No debate now, he will be the starter and play as many minutes as humanly possible. Hopefully with some training, he can become a beast in the middle. His defense and rebounding is leaps and bounds ahead of Chris Matagrano's, so that alone will be huge. To be able to bring Matagrano's scoring off the bench will be a huge boost to my second unit. I hope to be around to see Haywood grow, but we'll see.

[Deuce2223]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Will be interesting to see what lineup you go with. Doesn't seem like your team lives by the 3ball, so going with 3 bigs in the lineup might be the way to go, assuming you got some depth behind the Big-3.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Will be interesting to see what lineup you go with. Doesn't seem like your team lives by the 3ball, so going with 3 bigs in the lineup might be the way to go, assuming you got some depth behind the Big-3.

I'm going to start Finley and Haywood with Matagrano coming off the bench. After thinking about starting all three, I realized that my depth for bigs off the bench was paper thin, so it wouldn't have been the smartest idea. Also, Finley and Haywood are better defenders and rebounders, and that's what I'm trying to build around.

[delija66]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

VCU #23 and George Mason #24... colonial gettin some love

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

VCU #23 and George Mason #24... colonial gettin some love

Yes they are. Not sure if you saw the earlier posts, but VCU signed the #1 center in the recruiting class and is an instant starter for them. I love looking at the top-25 recruits and seeing them all spread out. The powerhouses all got their studs, but the lower teams grabbed one here and there like VCU and Pepperdine.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

New Assistants To Play Pivotal Role

With the success of the past season, AJ Rizzo lost both of his assistant coaches to head coaching jobs at the D-2 level, meaning two new faces on the bench. The first guy brought in is Sid Day. Day is 37 years old and is always looking to secure a job as a D-1 head coach. His strengths are the intangibles: teaching, scouting and charisma. He'll do a lot of the dirty work on the recruiting trail as well as in practice.

The other assistant Rizzo brought in Phil Shavies. Shavies, like Day, has ambitions to coach his own D-1 program, but he's still very young and has plenty of time to make that move. He specializes in offense, which is just what this coaching staff needs. In practice, he runs of the offense while Coach Rizzo runs the defense.

This trio, together, should be a great unit and could bring UNH to yet another NCAA tournament berth. Although eager to get the games started, they will look to make their mark recruiting first.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Recruiting Round-Up: UNH Target List

Rivals.com got their hands on UNH's target list before the season began. Word is that coach AJ Rizzo has been working on all of these recruits since their junior seasons. With five scholarships to offer, there is plenty of work for the UNH coaching staff. Here's the list:

NAME	YR	POS	RATING	LOCATION	INTEREST
Travis Zachery	SR	SF	3*	Lynn, MA	6th
Ken McCray	SR	PG	3*	Vancouver, CN	5th
Harvey Schiffner	SR	PG	3*	Brooklyn, NY	6th
Randolph Deren	SR	PG	3*	Staten Island, NY	6th
Armando Newby	SR	PF	3*	Baltimore, MD	5th
Dee Shakur	SR	PF	3*	Trenton, NJ	3rd
Channing Rollins	SR	C	3*	Norwalk, CT	2nd
Kim Parker	SR	SG	3*	France	3rd
Herschel Orfini	JC FR	SF	3*	Boston, MA	11th
Renaldo Vasquez	SR	C	2*	Brazil	7th

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11



Here is Ryan Gregg, our America East Conference recruiting insider, with some information on Coach Rizzo and his staff on the recruiting trail:

10/20/12 - Coach Rizzo drove to Lynn, MA to visit Travis Zachery. Meeting went well, but #UNH still trails five other schools.

10/21/12 - AC Sid Day scouted Dee Shakur in Trenton, NJ. Day loved what he saw and is convinced #UNH needs to sign him.

10/26/12 - Rizzo makes 2nd home visit to Zachery. Still an uphill battle. Killed 2 birds w/1 stone as Rizzo's older bro celebrated bday in Revere on same day.

11/1/12 - PF Dee Shakur takes official visit to #UNH campus. Loved it and now could sign early with the Wildcats.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Nov 6, 2012 - UNH at RMU
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
New Hampshire (1-0)	33	23	56
Robert Morris (0-1)	27	22	49

The Wildcats open with a win over Robert Morris. Although allowing senior PG Karon Abraham to score 25 points, UNH forced 13 turnovers and held their opponent to 33% shooting from the floor. Chandler Rhoads led the way with 17 points and 4 assists. Freshman Tommy Haywood added six points and one board.

Nov 8, 2012 - UNH at SFPA
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
New Hampshire (2-0)	29	33	62
St. Francis (PA) (0-1)	19	25	44

Another road game, another road win for the Wildcats, but they did suffer a loss in the process. Senior power forward Jerrod Finley suffered a strained Achilles and will miss 3-4 weeks with the injury. Losing Finley last year would have been devastating, but with Tommy Haywood on the roster, there is enough depth to make up for it. Chris Matagrano will start in Finley's place. In the win, Chandler Rhoads scored nine points and dished seven assists, Haywood had seven points and four boards and Matagrano poured in nine off the bench. Other newcomer, Bernie Diame, added eight points, four boards and a steal on 3-4 shooting including 2-2 from deep.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11



Ryan Gregg has some more info on UNH recruiting...

11/8/12 - Channing Rollins, 6'9" 3* center from Norwalk, CT, took his official visit to the #UNH campus.

Rollins is very interested in #UNH and seems to have narrowed his choices down to the Wildcats and Hofstra.

11/9/12 - Rizzo makes 3rd and final home visit to 6'7" SF Travis Zachery. Widely known he is #UNH's No. 1 priority

11/10/12 - Sid Day was seen in Norwalk, CT scouting Channing Rollins. Coach Rizzo wanted one more look before extending scholly.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Nov 11, 2012 - QU at UNH
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Quinnipiac (0-3)	25	26	51
New Hampshire (3-0)	24	29	53

Wildcats eek out a win in their home opener against a feisty Quinnipiac squad. Chandler Rhoads had 13 points, four boards, eight assists and a steal while Chris Matagrano scored a game-high 17 points in his first start of the season. Tommy Haywood had a very good game with five points, five boards, but it was his defense (3 blocks) that was key to the win. UNH shooting 2-12 from deep is what kept the Bobcats in the game.

Nov 14, 2012 - UNH at DEP
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
New Hampshire (3-1)	24	26	50
DePaul (1-0)	31	26	57

Playing against a Big East team, many would not expect New Hampshire to win, but that's not how Coach Rizzo approaches a game. He expects to win every time on the court, and tonight was no different. In a tough 7-point loss to DePaul, rebounding and turnovers were key to the loss. Also, putting DePaul on the line all night allowed them to shoot 25-32 from the stripe. The 15-point discrepancy at the charity stripe was a huge reason for the loss. Tommy Haywood scored a career high 11 points along with four rebounds and three assists.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Nov 16, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	2	Texas	1-0
2	3	Duke	1-0
3	4	Kansas	3-0
4	5	Florida	2-0
5	1	North Carolina	2-1
6	6	Michigan State	1-0
7	9	Memphis	0-0
8	12	Indiana	3-0
9	17	NC State	4-1
10	18	Michigan	1-0
11	21	West Virginia	4-0
12	20	South Carolina	2--0
13	19	Illinois	2-0
14	23	Virginia Commonwealth	3-0
15	13	Marquette	2-1
16	8	Alabama	2-1
17	11	Louisville	2-1
18	10	Connecticut	3-2
19	24	George Mason	1-0
20	25	Arizona	3-0
21	--	UCLA	5-0
22	7	Tennessee	1-2
23	--	Miami (FL)	1-0
24	--	New Mexico	4-0
25	--	Oklahoma	1-0

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11



Ryan Gregg is loving what the New Hampshire coaching staff has done thus far in their recruiting efforts. They have tried to monopolize the local talent while scout some untapped talents internationally. This week is no different with one home visit and two more games to scout on the schedule.

11/16/12 - Coach Rizzo visited center Channing Rollins in Norwalk, CT with scholarship in hand. Rollins expected to be Wildcats by many sources.

11/18/12 - Sid Day in Trenton to scout PF Dee Shakur again. Just doing their due diligence on their No. 2 target.

11/19/12 - Coach Day goes from Trenton to Lynn, MA to visit No. 1 target Travis Zachery. Still uphill battle for #UNH.

International scholarship offered by #UNH: Kim Parker - 6'2" SG from France. Considered 3* prospect.

Another international scholarship offered by #UNH: Esa Suotamo - 6'3" PG from Finland. Considered 4* prospect.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11

Nov 17, 2012 - UNH at MASS
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
New Hampshire (4-1)	36	22	58
Massachusetts (4-2)	35	19	54

In Coach Rizzo's trip back to his alma mata, the Wildcats leave with a four-point victory. Three players scored in double digits for UNH in Chris Matagrano (14), Chandler Rhoads (11) and Ryan Herrion (14). Herrion's four three-pointers were what sparked the Wildcats to their win. Tommy Haywood added three points, five boards and three more blocks.

Nov 20, 2012 - UNH at JSU
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
New Hampshire (5-1)	35	29	64
Jackson State (1-5)	24	16	40

Coach Rizzo's squad outplays new Jackson State head coach Josh Pastner's team in all facets of the games and wins the opening round of the Blackjack Shootout B tournament. UNH will now take on Niagara at the Thomas & Mack Center tomorrow for the tournament championship. Eleven of the twelve active Wildcats scored in this one, led by Chris Matagrano's 13 points, five boards, two steals and a block.

Nov 21, 2012 - NIA at UNH
TEAM	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Niagara (1-5)	21	26	47
New Hampshire (6-1)	34	18	52

Coach Rizzo and the UNH Wildcats hang on in the 2nd half to win the Blackjack Shootout B 52-47 over Niagara! Everyone loves winning a tournament, so the fans in Durham can celebrate this one. The surprise boost off the bench came from DeAndray Buckley who scored an efficient 10 points on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from deep) and 5-6 from the FT line.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Career Legacy of AJ Rizzo - CH2k11



November 25, 2012

Durham, NY - Today, the Wildcats got a pleasant surprise at practice. Senior power forward Jerrod Finley returned from his Achilles injury and was cleared to play in their game at home against Holy Cross tomorrow. Finley, who was originally a starter coming into the season, got hurt in just the 2nd game of the season. Since then, Chris Matagrano and Tommy Haywood have played so well together that Coach Rizzo is not looking to mess with that chemistry. Tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future, Jerrod Finley will be the first man off the bench. His rebounding and scoring touch in the post will be a great addition to the second unit.