SUPER BOWL 2012

• As one of the biggest universities in the country, Cornell basketball has traditionally "traveled well" with large alumni groups supporting the team at road games. This season is no exception as alumni groups such as The Cornell Club of Washington, D.C. make plans to support the Big Red. The D.C. Club will attend Cornell's road game at Maryland on January 3.
  

• Above, our Tweets of the Day from the weekend and into Tuesday in the world of Cornell Basketball on the twittersphere.

• Duke Basketball Report writes, "mid-majors have been less than adept lately at retaining their coaches in the face of ACC overtures. In a two-year span Cornell lost Steve Donahue to BC, Brad Brownell went from Wright State to Clemson, Dayton donated Brian Gregory to Georgia Tech, and Larranaga, 62, fulfilled a career goal of coaching in the ACC by moving to Miami."

• The Daily Pennsylvanian is calling for Penn Athletics to end the program's tired tradition of holding a "line" for ticket sales. Less than fifty people attended Penn's event this year and was described as follows, "[t]he scene Friday night at the Palestra was aptly described as an awkward birthday party for children — people standing around with not much to do."
  

• Previewing the ACC, the Bleacher Report notes of Steve Donahue and Boston College, "Second year head coach Steve Donahue will look to utilize his unconventional offense to aid the inexperienced Eagles, which look to open up space for three-point shooters. This was his approach at Cornell in 2009. But this Boston College team does not have the talent to compare with Donahue's best in Ithaca and will really struggle to find their way in the ACC this season."
  

• ESPN writes, "The college hoops blogosphere has a unique tradition, the kind of thing that makes you whimsically proud to be a college basketball blogger: Each year, a few sites -- notably Rush The Court, Ballin' Is A Habit, and Storming The Floor, among others -- comb through the thousands of college basketball players on new rosters in the interests of compiling a comprehensive list of the best names in the sport. This is the All-Name Team, and it is always fun. The first batch of 2011-12 names -- put together by Ballin' Is A Habit's Troy Machir -- is no different." The list includes two selected Cornellians to Habit's All-Name Teams. Freshman Galal Cancer was named an Honorable Mention for the nation's All-Name Team, while Dwight Tarwater was given special mention to the All-Awesome Last Name Team. Congrats to both Galal and Dwight.
  

• Basketball-stream.de interviewed Louis Dale (Cornell '11). Below is the complete Q&A:

Louis Dale is currently playing for Gottingen in the BBL in Germany. This is his second professional season and second season here in Germany as well. He is off to a great start this season by averaging 13.8 points and 2.6 assist. He is also shooting close to 95 percent from the free throw line as well. Thank you for doing the interview and good luck next week against Giessen.

1. If I`m not mistaking you grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, what was it like growing up in the south and what could we find you doing as a youngster?

I loved growing up in the south because of the weather, and I think it is a more relaxed atmosphere. When I was a kid, you could find me in the gym or playing video games with my friends (Madden is my favorite).

2. Who were some of your role models growing up and do you have any siblings as well?

My parents were my role models; they made it easy for me to see how I needed to behave in order to make it somewhere. I have two older sisters who are both married now.

3. Did you play any other sports growing up or in high school?

I started playing sports when I was 8 years old. I played soccer, basketball, and baseball until high school. I started to focus on basketball once I got to high school, but I also did the triple jump and high jump in track and field when basketball season was over.

4. You took your game to the Ivy League at Cornell University, what other schools were you interested in and what made you chose Cornell?

I wanted to play in the ACC so bad but I had zero interest from any of those schools so I made a highlight tape and sent it to various schools across the country. It was my mom’s idea to send it to Cornell and they were pretty much the only school to get back to me, so my college decision was easy from there.

5. Was it tough to separate your athletics and academics going to such a prestigious school known more for there education?

I think the first semester of freshmen year was the hardest to balance the academics and athletics. It is just one of those things you have to figure out what works best for you when you can get both things done. Our coaches were also great about giving us time if we needed it to get some academic work done.

6. What are some of your best memories about going to school at Cornell?

My best memory is making it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament my senior year. My teammates were some of my best friends so that was really great to achieve that level of success with great friends.

7. You came to Germany last season and played for Gottingen what was the biggest challenge taking your game from college to the BBL here in Germany?

I think the biggest challenge is adjusting to being a professional. Realizing that you are no longer in college and that things are different and you must take on more responsibility as an individual is a big difference for guys coming out of school.

8. You also got a chance to play in the Eurocup as well.. what was that experience like and being able to see different countries and getting to see different styles of basketball played by different leagues?

Playing Eurocup was a great experience. The different styles of play really gives you a chance to become a student of the game and formulate the best strategy to give your team the best chance to win. Not only that, but you get to play against some good players who are not in the German league.

9. On an off day what could we find you doing in Gottingen?

On an off day I really try to talk to my family from back home, and I watch a ton of tv shows…I really like Boardwalk Empire and Dexter right now. Also, I’ll try to learn some more german.

10. What is on continious play on your ipod and what type of music do you like?

J. Cole is always on my ipod…I like everything but I mainly listen to hip hop.

• The brand new blog, Ivy Hoops Online, previews Yale and writes, "The 2007-2008 Yale squad was coming off a surprising 10-4 season the year before... Things were looking up for Yale, and with Princeton down and Penn losing [Mark] Zoller and [Ibrahim] Jaaber, there was an opening for a program that was not traditionally a powerhouse to step up and take control of the conference. That program was… Cornell...[In 2011-2012] [w]ill they be able to avoid the pitfalls of the 14-game tournament without dropping a game to team in the bottom half like they did to sharpshooting Cornell[?]"