Men's Basketball Looks Towards the Future With 2009 Recruiting Class

Men’s basketball head coach Steve Donahue added six players to the program for the 2009-10 season, including five incoming freshman and one transfer. The Red appears poised to contend for a third consecutive Ivy League Championship on the strength of its senior class, which features Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale, Geoff Reeves and Alex Tyler, among others. The incoming recruiting class should have one year to learn from the class of 2010 before taking the burden of extending Cornell’s recent stretch of success.
A staple in this year’s recruiting class is size. Five of the team’s six new players are 6-6 or taller. At 6-9, Josh Figini is the tallest of the bunch. The Minnesota native averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds a game to earn third-team all-state honors.
Maryland’s Eitan Chemerinski stands 6-8 and has a game to match his size. In his senior season, Chemerinski averaged 20 points and nine rebounds per game, won a conference player of the year award, and was a McDonald’s High School All-America nominee.
Forward Errick Peck (6-6) scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds per game as a senior at Indianapolis’ Cathedral High School. Like Chemerinski, Peck was a McDonald’s High School All-America nominee.
Miles Asafo-Adjei, from Tennessee, will look to add athleticism to the Red backcourt. The 6-2 guard was a three-sport athlete in high school. 6-7 California-native Peter McMillan will attempt to apply his toughness on the interior for Cornell.
Anthony Gatlin transferred to Cornell after playing two seasons at Centenary College in Louisiana. In 58 career games, including 28 starts, Gatlin, a Texas native, averaged 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.