New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.com and AExtra, will recap the previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

If you watched the Boston U.-Villanova game on ESPN2 Tuesday, you probably heard the high praises Jeff Van Gundy had for Terrier point guard D.J. Irving.

The Pennsylvania native, Irving played in front of former coaches, teammates and family members at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly. Christopher Vito, a reporter for the Daily Times, wrote a great feature on Irving and his seemingly uncanny ability to always prove people wrong.

“At this time two years ago, in his senior year at Archbishop Carroll, Irving was underwhelmed by the recruiting interest he was receiving,” Vito says. “A number of coaches from schools in mid-major conferences — including at least two from this neck of the woods — traipsed through the Patriots’ gym, watched Irving do his thing, then passed on the 6-0 point guard.”

Now, after an all-rookie season, Irving has established himself as one of the top players in the league running the show for the reigning conference champs.  But that, according to Irving, is just an invitation to play every game with something else to prove.

“I know I can’t take a game off because I don’t have that luxury,” Irving says in the article. “I like to be pushed, anyway. That’s when I play my best.”

Read the rest of Vito’s article on Irving, here.

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