UAlbany Men's Basketball Conducts First Practice; Will Harris Granted Eligibility Waiver By NCAA

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. -- UAlbany held its first official men's basketball practice at SEFCU Arena on Friday, Oct. 17 in preparation for the season opener with Villanova. The Great Danes have finished among the America East Conference's elite the last three years with two league championships and a combined 36 conference victories. But UAlbany is no longer defending the crown and is faced with a shaping a roster that is dominated by inexperience at the collegiate level.

"We need to go out and create our own identity and memories," explains UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team returns five letterwinners, including three starters, from a group that tied for second in last year's regular-season standings. "These guys have to understand the amount of hard work that goes into being successful. If we rest on our laurels, we are going to struggle."

The roster features three seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen. But with eight new faces, the coaches will be trying to keep things uncomplicated while concentrating on solid fundamentals.

"Our main focus is to become a good defensive team," Brown states. "We prided ourselves on being a good rebounding team last year. If we can keep it simple and really focus on defending and rebounding and making sure that we get a shot every time down the floor, then we will have a chance to be pretty good."

Brian Connelly, a 6-foot-8 forward, is the top returning scorer (10.1 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 pg). Jerel Hastings (6’5”) started 22 of 30 games last season after transferring from the junior college level. He averaged 4.9 points and 3.2 rebounds. Jimmie Covington, a 6’7” post player, has appeared in 93 games as a collegian. Tim Ambrose (7.2 ppg) was a member of last year’s America East All-Rookie Team.

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UAlbany’s Will Harris has been granted immediate eligibility in men’s basketball by the NCAA Subcommittee for Legislative Relief, as announced on Friday, Oct. 17 by Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy. Harris, who transferred from the University of Virginia two months ago, will be a junior and have two years of eligibility, beginning with the 2008-09 season.

UAlbany applied for a waiver and submitted all the appropriate information that was relevant to the request. Harris, who transferred from Virginia in good academic standing, asked for relief due to family hardship. Both institutions supported his request for a waiver.

Harris, who earned two varsity letters with the Cavalier program, made 15 appearances as a sophomore before an injury ended his season. He averaged 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds. Harris played in all 32 games as a freshman on a team that shared the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. He scored at a 3.6 clip and grabbed 3.2 rebounds per game.

A first-team all-conference standout in his final prep season, Harris accounted for 21.0 points and 11.0 rebounds at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.

(Coach Brown on Will Harris as a player)

“He makes us better now. He is a bigger and stronger version of Brian Lillis (former UAlbany star) offensively. He can play positions two through five on offense and defense and is a matchup problem. If he does not have a major impact as someone coming from the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), I would be shocked.”