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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Cornell and The Ivy League Rookie of the Year Award

Cornell newcomers have won four of the last seven Ivy League Rookie of the Year awards, including three of the last four. These winners include:

2003-Lenny Collins-CORNELL
2006-Adam Gore-CORNELL
2007-Ryan Wittman-CORNELL
2009-Chris Wroblewski-CORNELL

The Cornell run on the award could continue this season. Cornell's incoming freshman recruiting class has several newcomers with Rookie of the Year potential. Three in particular are getting hard looks for immediate playing time.

Errick Peck, a 6'6" 210 lb. combo forward from Indianapolis could be the Ivy League's most athletic newcomer. His high school coach Scott Hicks previously told The Cornell Basketball Blog, "I think Errick is good enough to play at the Big 10 level." After earning MVP of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series, his all-star team coach coach David Wood commented, "I think [Peck is] going to make the biggest impact on [his] college team." While Peck's style of play is more akin to a power forward, his size makes him more suitable for a small forward. Time will tell where Peck fits into Cornell's rotation. He turned down more than a dozen Division I scholarship offers to play for the Big Red.

While Peck can make the case for the Ivy League's most athletic rookie, 6'2" point guard Miles Asafo-Adjei of Nashville, TN may have something to say about it. Known as lightining quick point guard with enough explosiveness and leaping ability to finish above the rim, Asafo-Adjei brings to Ithaca the reputation as Tennessee's top defender. A tenacious ball-hawker who creates turnovers, Asafo-Adjei could be called upon immediately in Cornell's full court pressing schemes.

Josh Figini, a 6'9" 200 lb. combo forward from the greater Minneapolis area could also find his way into the rotation at an early stage. Some insiders in the program believe he could make the most immediate impact because of his combination of size, athleticism and skill. Figini's AAU coach, Charlie Paxson told The Cornell Basketball Blog that the Minnesota Gophers offered Figini a guarateed spot on their roster as a recruited walk-on. Knowing that Figini could likely earn an academic scholarship to the school, the Gophers did not feel the need to utilize a basketball scholarship on him. Ultimately, Figini wanted an Ivy League education and opted to instead enroll in Cornell's prestigious College of Engineering. Nevertheless, Paxson believed Figini is a Big 10 caliber player.

Fellow rookies, 6'7" Pete McMillan (Los Angeles) and 6'8" Eitan Chemerinski (Washington, D.C.) will also get looks during fall practices.

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