It may not be the toughest schedule in coach John Giannini’s seven-year tenure with the University of Maine men’s basketball team, but it certainly is far from the easiest.

“I think we have far more games that could go either way and less games where we either had a clear advantage or clear disadvantage,” Giannini said. “I think that string of eight games after our opener are ones that could go either way.

“There are no pushovers in that group. It’s probably the most balanced schedule we’ve had since I’ve been here. I think when you evaluate it as a whole, it ends up a schedule where you have to play well each night to have a good record.”

Maine’s schedule also features some new wrinkles, the most major of which is the presence of two home tournaments.

“We just haven’t been in a position to do this until this year,” Giannini said.

That’s because before this coming season, America East prohibited its teams by rule from scheduling non-Division I teams. That rule was eliminated this year.

The NCAA allows Division I teams to schedule no more than four non-Division I teams.

“First of all, the home team in college basketball wins nearly 70 percent of the time and we’re a team that’s always had difficulty to get people to come up and play us,” Giannini explained. “So to have this one rule be able to deliver four games is a godsend. Not only does it allow you to get more home games, it’s also a great financial thing for our budget.”

Giannini said the rules change means less time away from classes for student-athletes and more home games for Maine, thereby meaning more ticket revenue coming and less expenditures for food, lodging and travel

“That’s why the top conference teams in the country pay teams $40,000-60,000 to play home games so they can enjoy home court, make money and not miss classes,” he said.

Maine will see several of those top conference teams up close and personal this season as the 2002-2003 schedule features such notable names as Clemson (away), Rhode Island, Tulane, and Weber State.

“In the big picture of college basketball, three of the top 10 conferences are the ACC [Atlantic Coast Conference], the Atlantic-10 and Conference USA. We’ll be playing teams from each of those conferences,” Giannini said.

Giannini points to a particularly tough stretch in which the Bears, the America East 2001-02 runners-up, will play eight games against teams coming off conference championships and/or NCAA tournament appearances or are at least one to two years removed from NCAA tourney seasons.

“The most difficult stretch in our schedule is following our opener,” Giannini said.

That stretch includes Georgia Southern, tied for first in the Southland Conference; Tulane (Conference USA); Central Florida, top-three Atlantic Sun Conference team; and Indiana State or Southeast Missouri State, NCAA tourney participants within last three seasons. Also: Clemson (ACC); Morgan State; Rhode Island (Atlantic-10); Husson College; Jacksonville State, a preseason Atlantic Sun Conference favorite; and Weber State, Big Sky Conference favorite; and – if the Bears get by Weber State – the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Southern Conference contender. After that, it’s on to the America East schedule.

If that’s not enough, the Bears must wait for Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov, a 6-foot-2 guard from Sofia, Bulgaria, who transferred to UMaine from Boston College before the spring 2002 semester, to become eligible to join the team at the conclusion of the fall 2002 semester.

I think Udo, if we can get his grades posted before Dec. 21st, he would be eligible at that point because the semester ends the previous day,” Giannini said.

Diamond in the Bruff

Chris Bruff, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior shooting guard at Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, Conn., has verbally committed to attend the University of Maine next fall.

Bruff, a slasher with a strong drive to the basket who was the team’s sixth man his first two years in high school, helped lead his teams to two state titles as a freshman and junior and the No. 1 ranking in Connecticut last season. Last season’s Class M tournament MVP averaged 17 points and eight rebounds per game.

The middle son of Leroy and Hope Bruff said the players, coaches, and campus sold him on the Black Bears, one of two finalists he was considering.

“I visited two weeks ago and I really like the players up there. I was comparing it to my high school experience,” said Bruff, whose older brother Joshua plays football at Hamilton College.

Bruff, who was one of the top 40 players at the Eastern Invitational in New Jersey this summer and also played in the Adidas Big Time tourney in Las Vegas, said Maine’s Giannini became interested in him after coming to see a teammate of his play last year.

Bruff’s team, which runs and presses a lot, was poised to win a second state title his sophomore year after going 24-1, but was upset in the semifinals. With four of the top six players back, Northwest Catholic is once again a top contender even after moving up in class from M (medium) to L (large), the second-largest school class.

College coaches are prohibited by NCAA rules from commenting on incoming recruits until after they have signed a letter of intent.

Clippers get Footer in the door

NEWS All-Maine third-team selection and conference all-star Joe Footer will play basketball for the University of Maine-Machias Clippers this winter.

Footer, a 6-foot-6 center who led Calais to an Eastern Maine Class C title and came within 1.4 seconds of leading them to a gold ball, made UMM his official choice late last month.

Clippers head coach Matt Lash is excited to have the Class C Eastern Maine tourney MVP on board.

“When college coaches recruit players, they know they can play,” said Lash. “The intangibles, work ethic, commitment and leadership set them apart. Joe had them all.

“For his size, he has some of the best passing skills I have seen.”

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or aneff@bangordailynews.net