Penn rivals make coaching changes

Ex-Quaker Pitts aEx-Quaker Pitts acandidate at Cornell The brain trust that is Big 5 basketball coaches got a little younger Monday, when La Salle announced the hiring of ex-Duke guard Ken Blakeney as assistant men's basketball coach. Blakeney, 24, played on both of Duke's national championship teams in the early 90s before captaining the squad during the 1994-95 campaign. He has played his entire career under highly respected coaches, first Morgan Wootten at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., then playing collegiately for Mike Krzyzewski. He followed that by spending a year working as an assistant to famed coach Lefty Driesell at James Madison. "I was extremely impressed with Ken Blakeney during his interview, and something told me, `He's the guy,'" coach Speedy Morris said in a statement . "I believe Ken will be a terrific asset to our university and the basketball program." The Explorers' assistant coaching position became available when Joe Bryant resigned in order to manage the career of his son, Kobe, the Lower Merion High School star who is jumping to the NBA straight out of high school. Bryant, a former 76er, left La Salle in early May. Despite a rich basketball tradition, La Salle experienced difficulties after joining the competitive Atlantic 10 conference last season. Last season, the Explorers came in last in the A-10's West Division with a 3-13 league mark and 6-23 record overall, including a 68-66 overtime loss to Penn at the Corestates Spectrum in late January. · In other coaching news, former Penn star Tyrone Pitts is a candidate for the vacant head basketball coaching position at Cornell. The job became available when Al Walker resigned on April 29. Pitts started for the Quakers from 1984 to 1988 at the forward position, leading the team in scoring and rebounding his senior year. He then competed professionally in such exotic locales as Cyprus and the Phillipines before returning home. Pitts, now 30, came to Cornell with Walker before the 1993-94 season. Although he expects the Athletic Department to make a decision on the job "early next week", others indicate that the new man may not be known for several more weeks. Until a hiring is made, Pitts is the only permanent coach on Cornell's staff. Walker's three years as the head of the Big Red program were marked by an inability to bring in the top-level recruits needed to bring Cornell into line with perennial Ivy League contenders Penn and Princeton. His best season was 1995-96 when Cornell posted a 5-9 mark in Ivy competition. He compiled an overall record of 27-51 and 12-30 in conference play.