Freshman year Locke:



Senior year Locke:

Couldn't avoid the siren's call... Just bought my tickets. Planning on making the 714-mile trek by car on Friday starting early enough to hopefully catch the Williams-Wooster game. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Wow! I was without internet all weekend and was reduced to text updates (on my dumb-phone) from my father. Very proud of this team, and I've talked to several recent Midd bball alums who are thrilled to see the team's success.

Other Middlebury supporters... I'm pondering a trip to Salem but am concerned about the prohibitive flight cost ($500+) and considerable driving distance (12 hours). What are the odds the college puts together a bus to get some fans to the game? These are uncharted waters, and I can't recall the school doing anything like that for past NCAA tourneys in other sports in recent years (cross-country, tennis, lacrosse, soccer... the list goes on).

Congrats to Williams, as well! An all-NESCAC final would be incredible, but obviously Wooster and St. Thomas must be handled first. Congrats as well to a TOUGH Amherst team. The upside on the Jeffs is incredible, with Toomey poised to fill Meehan's large shoes. What a fantastic run for the conference. Go Panthers!

Speaking of highlights... anyone have video of Locke's alley-oop from Saturday night? One of the best dunks he's had in Pepin, for sure.

Agreed on Whittington needing more touches, too. I was shocked he only had 7 FGAs in the NESCAC final.

Well, my two cents can't add much. A travesty that Midd doesn't get to host. The crowd Saturday was the best I've seen in six years of announcing games. It was also my last game announcing for my alma mater, as I am 99.9% leaving Vermont after this season. Watching Brooks get absolutely shut down was amazing from up close. Luis Alvarez has been a pest all year to opposing guards and he put on a clinic in the round of 32 in his limited minutes. Also, Locke's dunk was his best of the year in Pepin, thanks to Joey Kizel's continued excellence in the late season.

Bucket, I hope the whole family can make it to Rochester, especially the little guy. The Panthers need their number 1 fan! Sadly, unless Rochester or Salem need a PA announcer, it's unlikely I can front gas and hotels to make it to either site. I was really hoping for Sweet 16 and Elite 8 hosting rights with our 26-1 record, including wins over the #1 and #8 teams in the country on consecutive nights, but it isn't meant to be, apparently. Pat, any idea if the NCAA is looking for a PA announcer for the Final 4?

Midd held their three NESCAC tourney opponents to 30.5% shooting. I don't think Western Conn is going to be dropping 89 on us like they did on Salve Regina.

Another fun Panther fact as I browse season stats... Middlebury averaged 967 fans in our five regular season home NESCAC games this year, leading the conference. An astonishing number for A) a 1200-seat gym and B) a town where hockey was KING as recently as three years ago.

The next post in this thread will be #10,000. 10,000 thoughts on our little conference. Nice!

Congratulations Coach Brown! A friend told me recently that when Russ Reilly hired Jeff, he called our mutual friend to say, "I've just hired a coach that's going to take this program to the next level." Very true.

Congrats to Locke as well for DPOY honors; three in a row for Middlebury with Timmy Edwards 2x and now Andrew. Maybe Nolan Thompson in '11-'12?

No surprise on Sharry making first team all-NESCAC. A little surprised to not see Wolfin on the second team, given that he lead in assists, but every one both teams is deserving.

I only saw Toomey once this year, in their game at Middlebury. He was 1-10 that day and took the loss as hard as I've seen anyone in a regular season game, towel over his head, crying, etc. He'd never lost in his college career! A very talented player who should improve next year with more PT. Matt Vadas for Conn should have gotten some votes, and will be a first-team player in a couple of years. And I have to put a plug in for Joey Kizel, who's been huge off the bench in the postseason so far.

Howdy y'all, I've been lurking this site for the past two seasons and figured I'd finally create an account. I'm the PA announcer for Middlebury (hence the handle) and I'm excited about hosting a second-round game this weekend. Although I DO have to tone down my usual homer-ism since we're technically a "neutral site."

Thoughts from watching most of the Williams-Midd game on their free webcast: Jamal hit his stride at the right time of the season. He started peaking somewhere mid-way through NESCAC play this year and has kept it up. I like that on one night, Jamal can eat up minutes when we need athleticism, and Big Pete Lynch can dominate another night when we need size. Joey has come on like crazy as well, and when we play Wolfin/Thompson/Kizel in the backcourt together it is a fun game to watch.

Also, someone commented on Luis Alvarez getting used sparingly; the kid is an infuriating defender. His match-ups get flustered enough that it throws off their own defense. Great fun to watch from courtside.

Best of luck to all three NESCAC representatives in the NCAAs. I'm rooting for a Williams-Middlebury rubber match in Salem!