News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History.  Cornell's regular season and postseason media guides for Cornell's three-time NCAA Tournament participant and defending Ivy League championship teams of 2008, 2009 and 2010.  The Ivy League teams ceased publication of hardcopy regular season media guides during the 2009-2010 season.  Below, news and notes for Thursday...Reviewing the Brooklyn Nets' season, TheBrooklynGame.com writes, "The Summer League also brought us Swamp People extra Adam Morrison scoring the first-ever points for an incarnation of the Brooklyn Nets and the only 7-footer doofier than Brook Lopez, Cornell grad Jeff Foote." Foote did not play with his professional club, Zalgiris' (Lithuania) opening win in the quarterfinals last night against Novgorod (Russia) in the Eastern Europe VTB League Playoffs.  Zalgiris, which now leads the series 1-0, picked up a 75-63 win.  Foote will likely miss the remainder of the season with back pains.Below, continuing coverage of Errick Peck's enrollment at Purdue following his graduation from Cornell.  Under Ivy League rules, Peck is not eligible to play in the Ivy League as a graduate student. Listen to an ESPN Radio podcast interview of Errick Peck. On Errick Peck, the Ft. Wayne Journal writes:Errick Peck has made a decision, and the former Indianapolis Cathedral standout and high school teammate of former Boilermaker Kelsey Barlow will play his final season of college basketball at Purdue. The 6-foot-6 forward will receive his undergraduate degree from Cornell on May 26 after spending four years at the Ivy League school. He missed the 2011-2012 season with a knee injury and has one season of college eligibility remaining. Because he will receive his bachelor’s degree in four years, the NCAA will allow Peck to play one more season as a graduate student at another university. Peck visited Purdue and Xavier, selecting the Boilermakers on Wednesday. Peck is a near-perfect fit for the Boilermakers’ 2013-2014 roster. He will give Matt Painter a fifth-year player on a roster that until Wednesday had two scholarship seniors and no scholarship juniors. Everyone else on the 2013-2014 roster will have freshman or sophomore athletic eligibility. Peck will add a mature voice and a dedicated approach to the game. And, he likes to play defense, which will get him on the floor in Painter’s world. West Lafayette High School’s David Wood, a former Purdue assistant, coached Peck during the 2009 Indiana All-Star team’s sweep of Kentucky. While Peck was one of the final two selected for that All-Star team, Wood said Indiana would not have won twice without him. Wood told me Wednesday that he would take Peck on any roster at any time. Wood said Peck is a great human being and is a player “you win with.” While Peck’s 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds averages weren’t eye-opening during Cornell’s 2012-2013 season, he was a solid player who did what he was asked. A player like that will add stability to next season’s Purdue roster. He is capable of playing small forward or power forward and is confident he can guard three different positions. Peck also said he has worked hard to improve his perimeter shot, a skill the 2013-2014 Boilermakers need. Last summer, Painter went after Julius Mays, a Marion High School product who had played at North Carolina State and Wright State and had a season of eligibility remaining after picking up his diploma at Wright State. Mays picked Kentucky instead of Purdue, and it was evident last year’s young Purdue team could have used his wise, poised leadership. This time, Painter got his “voice of reason” in Pack, a guy who will help the Boilermakers in practice, during games and in the locker room. If you are a Purdue basketball fan, you should be excited about Errick Peck’s decision to attend Purdue. As David Wood says, Peck is a guy “you win with. The Ft. Wayne Journal writes:The guy you win with. That’s the way 2009 Indiana All-Star boys basketball team coach David Wood of West Lafayette describes Errick Peck, a strong 6-foot-6 forward who played three seasons at Ivy League member Cornell and now will use his final year of athletic eligibility at Purdue. Peck, an Indianapolis Cathedral graduate who led Indiana to a two-game sweep of Kentucky in 2009, is taking second-semester final examinations this week at Cornell and will receive his undergraduate degr...