MBB: Liberty League

[stlawus]

Massive choke job by SLU to lose the league title and home court advantage.  Up 6 with a minute and they missed 3 free throws including the front end of a 1 and 1.   Missed 6 free throws in a row.   Absolutely terrible.

[d3d3d3]

Saturday

Skidmore 65, SLU 54 (OT)
Bard 62, RIT 54
Ithaca 89, Vassar 62
Hobart 76, Union 74
RPI 78, Clarkson 64

Playoffs
Tuesday
#6 Bard at #3 Hobart
#5 RPI at #4 Ithaca

Saturday at Skidmore
Bard/Hobart winner vs. #2 St. Lawrence
RPI/Ithaca winner vs. #1 Skidmore

Sunday at Skidmore
Semifinal winners

[LibertyLeagueGuru]

Not 100% but I think LL re-seeds after the first round. So if Bard were to beat Hobart then they would play Skidmore as the lowest remaining seed.

[stlawus]

Not 100% but I think LL re-seeds after the first round. So if Bard were to beat Hobart then they would play Skidmore as the lowest remaining seed.

I'm pretty sure you're right.   This year in soccer SLU was the 1 seed and played #4 Hobart in the semifinal after they beat #5 Vassar.  Ithaca was the 3 seed and played #2 RPI in the semis as they beat the 6th seeded Skidmore. 

[d3d3d3]

This from the league office:

First-Round Games (Tuesday, February 19)
#6 Bard at #3 Hobart, 8 p.m. (part of M/W doubleheader)
#5 RPI at #4 Ithaca, 7 p.m.

Semifinals (Saturday, February 23 – at Skidmore College)
2:00 p.m. - #4/#5 winner vs. #1 Skidmore
4:30 p.m. - #3/#6 winner vs. #2 St. Lawrence

Championship (Sunday, February 24 – at Skidmore College)
2:00 p.m. – semifinal winners

[d3d3d3]

Ithaca 88, RPI 74
Hobart 89, Bard 72

Saturday
Hobart vs. No 2 SLU
Ithaca vs No 1 Skidmore

[jmcozenlaw]

If you were a parent, of a 6-6 to 6-10 smart, decently athletic kid, who while a good player, wasn't getting a lot of Mid-Major D-I love, and had decent grades.  If a top 50 liberal arts college recruited that kid, most of those schools have nice endowments, and probably special talent admissions, and possibly scholarships; not to mention great alumni conenctions, then of course that kid is going to go to either the NESCAC or the UAA...  Is a student athlete going to have better post college career opportunities going to a Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Wash U, Emory, or Middlebury vs. riding the bench at Siena or Iona, on probably less than full scholarship.

Hmmm.

My third largest client (I've got over $12 million of his assets) is an Iona graduate, so I have a different look at these types of things having hired and fired people, and managed tjhe assets of folks from all different types of institutions of higher learning, from the on paper, "elite" colleges and universities, to run-of-the-mill state schools. But specific to your question, substitute the Patriot League as a mid-major option, for Siena and Iona.

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Boston U, Colgate, American, along with West Point and the Naval Academy are all very much on par with the NESCAC schools, the service academies probably even more so, if he/she can cut the mustard. Certainly the Ivies, as a D-1 Mid-major conference speaks for itself, nor would he go wrong at mid-major schools such as Binghamton, Duquense, George Washington, Fordham, Hofstra, William & Mary, Drexel and Rider. If he's right on the cusp of mid-major love...................I hope that his coach is working hard on his behalf as their are a lot of excellent schools with solid basketball programs, especially in the Northeast. Have you considered (or been told to consider) a PG year? A good friend of mine has a son who was a four year starter at PG for Villanova. He's on an NBA roster and might stick for years as a glue guy. The younger son lit it up in high school and was getting offers, but a smidge below where they all had hoped. He is doing a PG year. He's bigger, stronger, quicker and the offers have come from schools that weren't around a year ago. It's going to save dad about $220K+ depending on his final decision. Good luck to your boy!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The third public NCAA Division III regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/02/men-regional-rankings-third

[stlawus]

SLU looks pretty well done for.  Can't hit a shot to save their lives against Hobart, and teams rarely beat a team 3 times in the same season.   Very disappointing final 2 weeks.

[stlawus]

And as I fully expected, SLU ends their season with a pathetic wimper.   What an extremely disappointing finish to what was a great turn around season.  The seniors did not show up the last 2 weeks of the season.  All started when they blew a 6 point lead with less than a minute left against Skidmore.    Hobart seniors showed the SLU seniors how it's done.   

[Bartman]

Happy to see the Statesmen with a chance today to avenge last year's 63-60 loss to Skidmore in Geneva in the LL tournament to end a great 21-5 regular season without an expected NCAA appearance. Perhaps it is the Statesmen's turn for a road upset and an NCAA berth. We will see. Great game by the seniors as they tamped down any spurt by the Saints. I have to admit I was not optimistic against the length of SLU as they played tough D against Hobart in the earlier games. Tables were turned today as the Saints had a bad shooting day and the Hobart team came out fired up with a "will not be denied" look in their eyes( I took an unplanned drive to see the game live and the Statesmen had quite the fan support for a road game).
  Hopefully the intensity will continue today against Skidmore, and the Statesmen can even the score a year later in the Horses' house.

[With Age Comes Wisdom?]

If you were a parent, of a 6-6 to 6-10 smart, decently athletic kid, who while a good player, wasn't getting a lot of Mid-Major D-I love, and had decent grades.  If a top 50 liberal arts college recruited that kid, most of those schools have nice endowments, and probably special talent admissions, and possibly scholarships; not to mention great alumni conenctions, then of course that kid is going to go to either the NESCAC or the UAA...  Is a student athlete going to have better post college career opportunities going to a Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Wash U, Emory, or Middlebury vs. riding the bench at Siena or Iona, on probably less than full scholarship.

Hmmm.

My third largest client (I've got over $12 million of his assets) is an Iona graduate, so I have a different look at these types of things having hired and fired people, and managed tjhe assets of folks from all different types of institutions of higher learning, from the on paper, "elite" colleges and universities, to run-of-the-mill state schools. But specific to your question, substitute the Patriot League as a mid-major option, for Siena and Iona.

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Boston U, Colgate, American, along with West Point and the Naval Academy are all very much on par with the NESCAC schools, the service academies probably even more so, if he/she can cut the mustard. Certainly the Ivies, as a D-1 Mid-major conference speaks for itself, nor would he go wrong at mid-major schools such as Binghamton, Duquense, George Washington, Fordham, Hofstra, William & Mary, Drexel and Rider. If he's right on the cusp of mid-major love...................I hope that his coach is working hard on his behalf as their are a lot of excellent schools with solid basketball programs, especially in the Northeast. Have you considered (or been told to consider) a PG year? A good friend of mine has a son who was a four year starter at PG for Villanova. He's on an NBA roster and might stick for years as a glue guy. The younger son lit it up in high school and was getting offers, but a smidge below where they all had hoped. He is doing a PG year. He's bigger, stronger, quicker and the offers have come from schools that weren't around a year ago. It's going to save dad about $220K+ depending on his final decision. Good luck to your boy!

jmcozenlaw u took the words right out of my mouth...  great schools, great connections, and still maybe a chance to play at the dome or the garden or the palestra??  You can't teach 6'10" ... lol  ( Might have added Holy Cross to your list?)

[Caz Bombers]

Skidmore beat Hobart easily to win the LL title. At least we'll send our best team out there, even if it's our only one.

Still hoping for 3 bids from the women's side, btw. Ithaca auto, RIT should be solid at-large and I'm still thinking Vassar has a chance, even if their own website doesn't. VC's recap of the semifinal loss to RIT had a decided air of finality to it that seemed a tad cynical to me.

[Bartman]

Congrats to Skidmore, they left no doubt today .  You deserve the NCAA spot and have the best chance to represent the LL this year! Good luck.

[Oline89]

I like the first round draw of MIT for Skidmore.  Nice test of LL team vs one of the better teams in NE