By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

Hey folks,

Mel just called me with the breaking news that former star Connecticut recruit Elena Delle Donne, now at Delaware, will announce today that she will join the Blue Hens' women's basketball team for this coming season.

This news was reported earlier this morning by the Wilmington News-Journal, but Mel has confirmed this independently.

There have been rumors about this for some time, but today marks the first official confirmation that it is going to happen.

Delle Donne transferred to Delaware, whose campus in Newark is a short drive from her home town of Wilmington, Del., after not quite fitting in with the Huskies for a variety of reasons. She played varsity volleyball this past academic year.

Mel is rushing around to get more details of this as fast as he can and you should expect more details soon.

UPDATE: Mel just got off the phone with Delle Donne herself, and she admitted that it was actually "homesickness," not burnout, that drove her from the sport of her passion a year ago and from Connecticut to Delaware.

"In the recuritng process I didn't make homesickness a high priority," Delle Donne said. "Homesickness wasn't even a thought at that time."

Then Delle Donne added, "If I had to do it again, I would" have prioritized differently.

Mel told me as well that Delle Donne will receive a basketball scholarship beginning in September and will have four full years of eligibility in basketball.

More coming.

We have some breaking news here on the blog.

Mel just called me with confirmation that the University of Pennsylvania has hired Holy Family head coach Mike McLaughlin to take over its program.

McLaughlin had been the head coach at Holy Family, a Division II program in Northeast Philadelphia, since 1994, compiling a record of 407-61. That included to the Division II NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons.

He succeeds Pat Knapp, who was 48-90 in five seasons at the Palestra, including 28-42 against Ivy League opposition.

I'm sure Mel will be on here later with more information.

The email came into Guru international headquarters, or whatver we call it these days, that the WNBA has invited 15 college players to attend the draft in person on April 9. It will take place in Seacaucus, N.J., starting at 3 p.m. The first round will be televised on ESPN2, with the second and third rounds airing on ESPNU and NBA TV.

Here is the list of invited players, in alphabetical order:

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

You might have seen the selection show on ESPN tonight, but just in case, the field of 64 teams in this year's NCAA Tournament has been announced and we have it right here on the blog.

The No. 1 seeds are not that surprising: superpower Connecticut in the East (Trenton), Duke in the West (Berkeley), ACC champion Maryland in the South (Raleigh) and Big 12 champion Oklahoma in the Midwest (Oklahoma City).

The Final Four games will be Trenton vs. Berkeley and Raleigh vs. Oklahoma City.

The news is quite good for Philadelphia-area fans, as Drexel, Villanova and Temple all made the field. The Dragons did so automatically as the Colonial Athletic Association champions, while the Wildcats and Owls proved worthy of at-large bids.

Drexel received a 12-seed and will face Kansas State in Albequerque, N.M., as part of the Raleigh regional. The winner of that game will play either 4-seed Vanderbilt or 13-seed Western Connecticut.

Villanova receieved an 8-seed and will face Utah in College Park, Md. The winner of that game will almost certainly play the Terrapins, which will face Ivy League champions Dartmouth in the first round. The hedging of terms only exists because of the history of 16-seed Ancient Eight champions knocking off top seeds, but the Terrapins will certainly be expected to roll past the Big Green.

Temple received a 9-seed and will face Florida in Storrs, Conn., as part of the Trenton regional. No need to hedge here: the winner will face Connecticut in the second round. Yes, this means Owls head coach Tonya Cardoza could face her former boss, Geno Auriemma, in only her first season after leaving the Huskies.

I won't overlook Rutgers, whose fan base includes part of the Philadelphia area, and yes, I know many of you read this blog a lot. The Scarlet Knights were given a 7-seed and will face 10-seed Virginia Commonwealth, an at-large big recipient from the CAA.

But while this year's Scarlet Knights were not of the caliber of previous editions, they will surely get a big boost from playing the first two rounds on their home floor: the RAC in Piscataway, N.J.

You wonder what Auburn coach Nell Fortner, whose Tigers drew 15-seed Patriot League champions Lehigh in the first round, thinks of that.

But the Tigers are not the only team that will face a lower seed on its home floor: 10-seed San Diego State gets to play in San Diego, drawing 7-seed DePaul in the first round. The Aztecs could face 2-seed Stanford in the second round.

Top seed Oklahoma could also face 8-seed Iowa in Iowa City, while Angel McCoughtry and 3-seed Louisville will have to beat 6-seed Louisana State in Baton Rouge to reach the Sweet 16.

One more interesting potential second-round matchup: Duke coach Joanne P. McAuley against her former team, 9-seed Michigan State - and on the Spartans' floor.

Here is the schedule of first-round games, sorted by region and seed. First-round games will be played on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22, with second-round games on March 23 and 24. All times are Eastern.

Trenton Regional

Storrs, Conn.
1. Connecticut vs. 16. Vermont (March 22, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)
8. Florida vs. 9. Temple (March 22, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN)

Los Angeles, Calif.
5. Virginia vs. 12. Marist (March 21, approx. 10:30 p.m., ESPN2)
4. California vs. 13. Fresno State (March 21, 8:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Duluth, Minn.
6. Arizona State vs. 11. Georgia (March 21, 1:00 p.m., ESPN2)
3. Florida State vs. 14. North Carolina A&T (March 21, approx. 3:30 p.m., ESPN2)

South Bend, Ind.
7. Notre Dame vs. 10. Texas (March 22, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN)
2. Texas A&M vs. 15. Evansville (March 22, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Berkeley Regional

East Lansing, Mich.
1. Duke vs. 16. Austin Peay (March 22, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN)
8. Middle Tennessee vs. 9. Michigan State (March 22, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Bowling Green, Ohio
5. Tennessee vs. 12. Ball State (March 22, approx. 8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
4. Iowa State vs. 13. East Tennessee State (March 22, 6:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Columbus, Ohio
6. Texas vs. 11. Mississippi State (March 21, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)
3. Ohio State vs. 14. Sacred Heart (March 21, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN2)

San Diego, Calif.
7. DePaul vs. 10. San Diego State (March 21, 8:00 p.m., ESPN2)
2. Stanford vs. 15. UC-Santa Barbara (March 21, approx. 10:30 p.m., ESPN2)

Raleigh Regional

College Park, Md.
1. Maryland vs. 16. Dartmouth (March 22, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN)
8. Villanova vs. 9. Utah (March 22, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Albuquerque, N.M.
5. Kansas State vs. 12. Drexel (March 21, approx. 10:30 p.m., ESPN2)
4. Vanderbilt vs. 13. Western Carolina (March 21, 8:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Baton Rouge, La.
6. Louisiana State vs. 11. Wisconsin-Green Bay (March 22, 7:00 p.m., ESPN2)
3. Louisville vs. 14. Liberty (March 22, approx. 9:30 p.m., ESPN2)

Lubbock, Tex.
7. South Dakota State vs. 10. Texas Christian (March 22, 7:00 p.m., ESPN2)
2. Baylor vs. 15. Texas-San Antonio (March 22, approx. 9:30 p.m., ESPN2)

Oklahoma City Regional

Iowa City, Iowa
1. Oklahoma vs. 16. Prairie View A&M (March 22, 7:00 p.m., ESPN2)
8. Iowa vs. 9. Georgia Tech (March 22, approx. 9:30 p.m., ESPN2)

Seattle, Wash.
5. Xavier vs. 12. Gonzaga (March 21, approx. 10:30 p.m., ESPN2)
4. Pittsburgh vs. 13. Montana (March 21, approx. 8:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Chattanooga, Tenn.
6. Purdue vs. 11. Charlotte (March 21, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN2)
3. North Carolina vs. 14. Central Florida (March 21, approx. 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Piscataway, N.J.
7. Rutgers vs. 10. Virginia Commonwealth (March 21, approx. 2:30 p.m., ESPN2)
2. Auburn vs. 15. Lehigh (March 21, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2)

There has been a lot of debate this season about whether Penn would retain its basketball coach after another season without an Ivy League title.

Well, it appears a decision has been made.

Pat Knapp has been dismissed after five season at the Palestra.

“We are disappointed that we did not attain the levels of success we anticipated,” Penn athletic director Steve Bilsky said in a press release. “We thank Pat for his efforts, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”

What, you were expecting a different name?

Okay, maybe you specifically weren't, because this is a women's basketball blog. But I know of many people who would like to see the Quakers' men's coach leave as well and probably clicked on the headline of this post for that reason. So you took the bait - there's nothing to see here about Glen Miller. But then again, my job is to drive traffic on this site, isn't it?

Back to Knapp. He compiled a 48-90 record in his five years at Penn, and was 28-42 in Ivy League games. His biggest accomplishment came in his first season, when the Quakers set a program record with two Big 5 wins and beat St. Joseph's for the first time in program history.

But he could not do what his predecessor, Kelly Greenberg, did twice: win the Ivy League. In the end, that has always been the first standard by which Penn coaches are judged. It was even more the case with Knapp, because Greenberg is the only Quakers coach to have ever achieved the feat.

It will now be someone else's job to return the program to that level.

Mel will be along later with his thoughts on the nes, so stay tuned.

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

A graduate of Columbia and Harvard has spent much of this basketball season talking about making big changes in the country. Now, as another NCAA Tournament looms, the league in which those schools participate once again finds itself discussing whether it should make a big change in how it operates its basketball season.

The Ivy League is the only conference in Division I that does not award its NCAA Tournament bid by way of a tournament. Instead, the regular season champion is the team that goes to the field of 64.

This setup has long been a topic of much discussion among the league's coaches, administrators and fans, as well as reporters who cover the Ancient Eight hoops scene. Every year, talk of holding a tournament grows louder as March draws closer.

On a trip to Princeton, N.J., last week to see the Tigers' men's team renew its longstanding rivalry with Penn, I stopped by the Ivy League's office to talk about this and other subjects. While that conversation was off the record, it reminded me that I'd been sitting on a set of on-the-record remarks from the league's women's basketball coaches for a few weeks.

They come from a conference call held with the league's women's basketball coaches last month, just as league play was getting started. Between the blog migration, Mel's trip to Indianapolis and my own work here at Philly.com, I hadn't had time to post those quotes until now.

I cover the Ivy League a lot, so the debate over whether the conference should have a tournament is something that I've paid close attention to for a long time. But I think that the league's course of action on this issue can be instructive for other one-bid leagues as they try to improve their chances of winning games in the NCAA Tournament.

If you're interested in reading more about this subject, the league's men's coaches talked about the issue on a conference call before the season started. You can find those quotes at my blog, Soft Pretzel Logic, and also read my own views on the subject.

»  More Is more change coming from the Ivy League?

By Mel Greenberg

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Forgive No. 19 Pittsburgh for the Panthers acting like they were the underdogs in beating unranked Rutgers, 61-53, in overtime Tuesday night in a Big East contest at the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center.
Winning here was a brand new experience for the Panthers (18-4, 8-2) who were 0-for-12 in this building against the Scarlet Knights (13-9, 5-6).

The triumph also broke an overall 13-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 6, 1998.

Furthermore, it took an unlikely player to help the Panthers gain their unlikely achievement.

Sophronia Sallard, a 5-foot-10 junior guard who had been averaging six points a game, reached a career-high with 20 point on a night in which teammate and all-American candidate Shavonte Zellous needed two halves to get to double digits and finish with 15 points.

“We have a bad habit of recognizing the people who do well,” Rutgers coach said about stopping an opponent’s top player while others break free. “And then forget about the other ones. So maybe we should talk about filling in the blanks.”

There certainly were blanks to talk about on the final box score. Pittsburgh overcame not going to the foul line (0-for-0) in regulation, while Rutgers’ outside shooting was a dismal 0-for-10 on three-point attempts. The Scarlet Knights, incidentally, were 11-for-16 on free throw attempts.

But for Pittsburgh coach Agnus Berenato, who grew up in South Jersey, the night was about erasing that string of losses in the series, although she is only in her sixth season with the Panthers.

“I just thought our team never gave up and just kept believing,” Berenato said. “I cannot tell you how much I want my team to enjoy this victory tonight. It’s a great win. We have so much respect for this Rutgers program and Rutgers tradition.”

The Panthers rallied from an eight-point deficit with less than nine minutes in the game and Sallard’s jumper with 1:01 left in regulation tied the score at 45-45, forcing the extra period.

The overtime was all-Pittsburgh, which included two timely three-pointers from Shayla Scott to provide a cushion as the Panthers pulled away.

Scott finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Taneisha Harrison also scored in double figures for Pittsburgh with 12 points.

Epiphanny Prince scored 21 points in 45 minutes for Rutgers and was distraught enough over the loss to leave the media room in tears before the player-interview session concluded.
Senior center Kia Vaughn had 11 points.

Unlike two seasons ago when Rutgers at this point in time had begun to roll from an awful start to march to the NCAA title game, Vaughn noted not all of her teammates are feeling the urgency of needing a similar hot finish.

“I don’t know what’s going on, everyone’s not on high alert, we’re not moving fast, we’re moving a little bit too slow,” Vaughn said. “It could be a variety of different things – whether it’s the freshmen not picking it up fast enough, us not having extra people off the bench – you got (Brittany) Ray and Piph playing 45 minutes, nobody coming in off the bench.

“It’s not good,” she said. “We have to be a team and right now we’re not a team.”

Stringer indicated reinforcements are in short supply for now.

“Those people who were not in the game, weren’t going to be able to do anything – trust me,” she said.

Complicating all this is that Rutgers will be a host site for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament whether or not the Scarlet Knights make the field as an at-large entry.

Rutgers still has a nonconference game Sunday game at No. 11 Maryland and a season-ending encounter with top-ranked Connecticut. And there is also the Big East tournament, itself, where at least one more loss is looming, although it would be less painful if it occurred deep in the playoffs.

The Scarlet Knights’ problem is not as much as the wheels coming off as the wheels seem unable to be assembled.

Needless to say, Stringer is not happy about a team that began the season with five McDonald’s High School All-Americans – one has since transferred – who were expected to see some extra playing time Wednesday night when Rutgers is right back in the building to play SUNY-Farmingdale, a Division III school recently added to the schedule.

“Right now for me coming right back (for the game,),” Stringer said. “I don’t think you’re going to see me tomorrow. Because it is not going to get better.”

Click here to read the rest of the blog.