Bucknell's Bryan Cohen to Play for U.S. Team at Maccabiah Games in Israel
6/17/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 17, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell guard Bryan Cohen (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington Friends), one of the Patriot League's top newcomers last season, has been named to the United States men's open division team for the 18th Maccabiah Games, which will be held in Israel July 12-23. Cohen is one of seven current college players on the 12-man team, which will be coached by Tennessee's Bruce Pearl.
Cohen started all 30 games for the Bison as a freshman in 2008-09 and was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team at season's end. He averaged 11.8 points per game, second-most among all Patriot League rookies, and also averaged 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Cohen quickly became one of the team's best defensive players, and after the season he earned the team's Thomas A. Thompson Award for spirit, intensity and outstanding defensive play. Throughout the course of the season he marked everyone from point guards to power forwards, and he was a strong candidate for the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Award even as a rookie.
Cohen's 353 points were fourth-most in Bucknell history for a freshman, trailing only Gerald Purnell (467 in 1974-75), Bob Barry (441 in 1976-77) and Al Leslie (367 in 1977-78). He scored in double figures 22 times and had a pair of 20-point games.
In four seasons at Tennessee, Pearl has led the Vols to an average of 24.5 wins per year, three SEC Eastern Division titles, an overall SEC championship, the school's first No. 1 national ranking, a school record 31 wins in 2007-08 and four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament -- including back-to-back appearances in the Sweet 16. He has been named SEC Coach of the Year twice (2006 and 2008) and earned national coach of the year honors two times as well.
Assisting Pearl will be La Salle assistant coach Harris Adler, as well as former Oklahoma State guard and current ESPN personality Doug Gottlieb.
The U.S. team figures to have plenty of talent. In addition to Cohen, active college players on the roster include Derek Glasser, a starting guard and the assists leader for an Arizona State team that was nationally ranked and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season; Ivy League assists leader and 2009 Big 5 Rookie of the Year Zach Rosen of Penn; Dane DiLiegro, a 6-8 junior center at New Hampshire; Brett Harvey, who scored 12.4 points per game and was the NCAA leader in free-throw percentage (.910) last season for Loyola (Md.); Steve Pearl, the son of Bruce Pearl who is a reserve forward at Tennessee; and Brown guard Steven Gruber.
Also on the team are Todd Golden, a three-year starter at St. Mary's (Calif.) who now plays for Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Premier League; Dan Grunfeld, the son of former NBA player and current Washington Wizards president Ernie Grunfield, who was a former First Team All-Pac 10 player at Stanford and is now playing professionally in Europe; Dustin Villapigue, a former UNLV and Gonzaga forward who spent the 2008-09 season in the Czech Republic; Jeffrey Horowitz, a 6-9 forward/center who played last year in Sweden after a college career at College of Charleston and UNC Wilmington; and Andrew Fogel, a guard who has played professionally in both Israel and Greece.
Bucknell will also have a pair of alums playing for the U.S. in water polo. Brad Roslyn and Aaron Platshon, the team's two senior co-captains in 2005, will be competing in Israel next month. Both were three-time All-CWPA performers, and both shared the 2005 Scott Schulte Award, which is given to "the individuals who contribute the most to Bucknell water polo." Platshon's two brothers, Scott and Kevin, will also be on the U.S. Team.
Sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics," the Maccabiah Games are held every four years in Israel, attracting the most outstanding Jewish athletes from around the world. As one of the largest elite competitions, the Maccabiah has grown to over 9,000 athletes from over 50 countries making it the third largest sports event in the world.