MBB: Conference of New England

[backboard]

Graduating Seniors for every team:

Gordon - Mike Herr and Jerry Logan (huge loses)
Endicott - Nemanja Marinkovic, Tom Connor, and Mike Sullivan (losing a lot of size)
Wentworth - Bryan Gaine (senior captain)
Colby-Sawyer - Nate Truncellito Tyler Fournier (save veterans)
NEC - Ryan Jaziri, Pat Quinn, and Antoine Sylvia (a majority of their scoring and a tough inside presence)
UNE - Mike Floyd, Nick Farynaz, and Tom Button (two bigs and a shooter)
Curry- Stephen Prescod, Toby Brittian, Marvin Lamarre, Christopher Landford (a lot of talent but they're still pretty deep)
RWU - Brandon Parrish and Ryan McGovern (still have their key parts intact)
Nichols - not losing anyone
Salve - Matt Grendal, Jon Hazzard, and Mike Walsh (losing a good amount of size)
Anna Maria - Tristan Burrell, Bryan Porcaro, and Dan Sadlowski (um yea)
EN - Christian Corey, Ryan Seaberg, and Dave Duda
WNEC - Peter Stathakis, Deon Thomas, and Malik Champlain (figured we should include them)

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Jaziri's a Junior, unless he's graduating early, he's going to be back for one more go 'round.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Shouldn't Gordon focus on winning the CCC before the move on to a better conference?  Or is it a regional decision?

I think their decision (and this is really still just rumor at this point) is based more on their overall athletic program than just basketball.  Some of the elites (CSC, GC, etc) have been trying to split the CCC apart for a little while.  This may be Gordon's way out.

The NEWMAC schools have similar mission/vision outlooks.  GC would fit well there overall.  I'm just not sure the NEWMAC wants them.

Things may change a lot this summer, if the independents ever get their act together and form a new conference.  There's been some big time rumblings; I'm just not sure if anything will come together.

[backboard]

Jaziri's a Junior, unless he's graduating early, he's going to be back for one more go 'round.

You're right, I read wrong

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

PBJ makes the third team all-region this year.  Congrats to him.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Not that anyone reads this at all, but former Endicott Powergull, Jeremy Currier has been named Head Coach at Daniel Webster.  He was a great player (and even better three point shooter) with a strong basketball sense.  I think he will do well, so long as he can get some recruits to actually go to Daniel Webster.  I wonder how long it will take before a CCC school comes calling to bring him home?

[mattapn02126]

He actually brought in two solid kids so far. Two Salem (MA) High 6'2'' swingmen: Chris Hanson and Nick Linear. Hanson is a little more talented, Linear plays a little harder, and both will see minutes as freshmen. Neither is a top of the line type of recruit, but certainly a step in the right direction for the Daniel Webster program.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

He should be a fantastic fit at EC once Millette jumps to a higher profile gig in a few years.

[CCC Talk]

Lets see Millette bring in a couple of players of his own that can contribute before we give him the URI job.

I think unless he has an impact class this year the Gulls could be in deep.

[Maq Diesel]

Here is something interesting I learned in the past week.  With the addition of Western New England College to the CCC there will no longer be divisions in basketball.  At least for men.  So this means two things, the best teams will be rewarded in the playoffs, no protection for weaker teams in one division.  Secondly, more out of conference games for CCC teams.  Only playing 12 conference games will let teams beef up out of conference schedules.  This is an interesting change and I like it a lot.

[Maq Diesel]

With the elimination of division here is how the playoffs would have looked.  You could have easily seen some different outcomes.

Gordon #1 vs Salve #8
Endicott #2 vs Colby-Sawyer#7
Curry #3 vs Nichols #6
RWU #4 vs WIT #5

Gordon second round game would have been the same either way but the Endicott vs Curry game would have been at the Post Center instead of down at Curry.  I would bet money on Endicott winning at home.  Not a huge difference but switch around a few home games and things can change quickly.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Why are they getting rid of the divisions when they're adding teams?  There's going to be 14 men's teams playing?  That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

It will be interesting to see what it all looks like when the revised Constitution comes out next fall.


Do you have copies of the new plan?  I didn't think there had been an official vote on any changes yet.

[Maq Diesel]

Again I am just going off of what I heard.  Secondly it make perfect sense to me that they would not have divisions with 14 teams.  For one thing with the current format that would mean an additional 3 conference games for each team.  This reduces both the number of games and travel.  19 games is far to many for league play.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Yeah, that's cool Maq; it's good to have info coming in over the summer.  I'd just like to have a little more concrete evidence before we jump on that train.

[backboard]

Report off the Wentworth Athletics Site:

Senior forward Bryan Gaine (Braintree, Mass.) of the men's basketball team was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2007 New England Basketball Coaches Association Division III Senior All-Star Game, held Sunday at Babson College. In 13 minutes of action, Gaine scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds as the "road" team, consisting of representatives from the Commonwealth Coast Conference, NESCAC, and NAC defeated the "home" team, which was comprised of representatives from the NEWMAC, Little East, MASCAC, GNAC, and Independents, 104-95.