Thursday, February 5, 2009

Former MAACers Making National News

There have been a few happenings on the upper levels of college basketball of late that involve some well-known individuals who were once affiliated with MAAC school.

For this segment, it all relates to former Loyola coach Dino Gaudio, some of it good and some of it not so good in terms of results.

Gaudio is currentlly in his second season as head coach at Wake Forest. Not that long ago, his Deacon Demons knocked off nationally ranked No. 1 Duke. That pushed Wake's record to 17-1 and a No. 6 national ranking in the AP's Top 25 poll.

And, then, some other MAAC connections have had roles in Wake's back-to-back losses since it reached that lofty height.

On January 31st, Wake dropped a 76-74 decision at Georgia Tech, which is coached by former Siena coach Paul Hewitt. The victory was Georgia Tech's first in Atlantic Coast Conference competition this season.

Four days later (Feb. 4), Wake lost again, this time dropping a 79-52 decision at ACC opponent Miami.

Another Siena connection, guard Jack McClinton (he played as a freshman at Siena in the 2004-05 season before transferring) had a season-high 32 points in the victory on 11-of-19 shooting including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

On the season, McClinton averages 19.0 points per contest. His 45.8 percentage on three-pointers is eighth-best nationally, and his 3.1 treys made per game is 25th best nationally.

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