A few odds and ends as the summer drags on (Is it October yet?) …

 

The Hampton Roads 7 Cities Pro-Am has folded its tent early this season, with director James Flood calling off postseason.

 

Old Dominion’s four freshmen – Chris Cooper, Marquel De Lancey, Trian Iliadis and Nick Wright – used the league to get to know each other on the court during games at Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk.

 

ODU coach Blaine Taylor had hoped to have his freshmen get court time with their future Monarch teammates, but that ended early on when the NCAA didn’t sanction the league because of a paperwork error. Current Division I players were kept out after that.

 

Flood said the snafu “didn’t have anything to do with” bagging the playoffs.

 

“In order for a league to run everybody has to do their part,” Flood said, “and I had a couple teams that didn’t come up with their end of the bargain. They just didn’t follow through.”

 

Still, Cooper, De Lancey, Iliadis and Wright “got to play a ton of games and enjoyed the experience,” Taylor said Thursday. “So we move on to the next thing.”

 

The next thing is taking a final few breaths before school starts later this month. The freshmen and other ODU players already on-campus will continue to work out and participate in open gyms.

 

 

That’s the question I hear most often, and the one Taylor is probably tired of hearing from me.

 

But don’t hold your breath.

 

As I’ve said before the CAA slate isn’t out yet and won’t be for a few more weeks. Adding to the tedious process of schedule-making is that ODU – along with Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason and Northeastern – is one of the league’s most attractive TV draws.

 

Said Taylor: “We’re dealing a lot with the league and ESPN and our facility. If ESPN wants the ODU game at the Constant Center, we have to make sure we have the arena. We do have other events there that we have to work with.”

 

The Monarchs still are working out a contract to play Marshall this season, and Taylor said for another slot ODU is “dealing with as many as 10 other schools.”

 

In other words: Keep waiting.