NCDS: Kevin App, Asst. Coach - Cornell

By: Kevin App, Asst. Coach - Cornell

As a recent Cornell graduate, the success of the 2009-10 Big Red team has been amazing to be a part of. The chance to return to my alma mater under a great coach like Steve Donahue and work with a special group of players, seven of which I played with my senior year, was too good to pass up. This program gave so much to me as a player, and now I have a chance to give back.

Former teammates and players from all generations of Cornell basketball have reached out as our success grabbed headlines. Our first national ranking in nearly 60 years, the most non-conference wins by any team in the storied tradition of the Ivy League and an NCAA-best 14 wins away from home have helped our program garner unprecedented attention. In recruiting, we don't need to explain who we are and what we do as much anymore. Kids and coaches have seen us play, whether it was our near-miss at No. 1 Kansas or our buzzer-beating win over Davidson at Madison Square Garden where Ryan Wittman's 35-foot shot in overtime made ESPN's top plays. Right now, that's the biggest difference.

This weekend is a big one for many reasons. Penn and Princeton have long been the standard-bearers in the Ivy League, taking home the NCAA tournament bid in 47 of 53 seasons before we finished on top the last two years. They come to town in what will be an exciting weekend (By Monday afternoon both games were totally sold-out).  We can clinch at least a share of our third straight Ancient Eight title with a pair of wins. Nearly as important, we'll celebrate the careers of eight seniors who have played huge parts in the transformation of Big Red basketball from Ivy League contender to a nationally ranked and respected opponent.

I remember the emotions coming into my own Senior Week and the distractions that come with it, but as a coaching staff I don't think we'll need to do much to keep our guys focused on two big games. Princeton comes into Friday's game in second place in the conference and took us to the wire two weeks ago in a hard-fought 48-45 win.  Penn, meanwhile, handed us our only league loss in the famed Palestra the night before our big win at Princeton. With the feelings of that night still fresh in our minds, coupled with the excitement of Senior Night, I expect we'll have no problems motivating this group to play well.

Go Big Red!