MBB: NEWMAC

[BBallers]

MIT's not going to lack for size, that's for sure!

Assuming everyone plays, there will be 2 6'10" (Lampros Tsontzos, Tim Higgins) and 5 6'8" (Matt Redfield, Dennis Levene, Miles Nolting, Andrew Acker, and Tim Butala).  Redfield is surely going to anchor the frontcourt; he caught fire the second half of last season.  But they're short on experienced guards.  Paul Dawson is an excellent ballhandler and on-ball defender, but he's not Mitch Kates (then again, there aren't a lot of guys who are, at least in D3).  Ryan Frankel is going to be the backup PG.  Justin Pedley's natural position is forward, and I think he was power forward in HS, but he's got a good outside touch, is mobile, and I suspect he's going to be called upon to play a lot of 2.  Todd Cramer (who was a star at Caltech, but got very little playing time last season after he transferred) and Nicholas Prus are the only other returning guards.

I have heard that Nicholas Prus is taking advantage of the exchange student program and will be studying this year at Cambridge University in England, but hopefully he returns next season.  Pasted below is MIT's roster:
2013-14 MIT Men's Basketball Roster


No.  Name  Pos.  Cl.  Ht.  Wt.  Hometown/High School 
11  David Bender  G  Jr.  6-6  190  The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands College Park 
12  Paul Dawson  G  Jr.  5-10  160  Stone Mountain, Ga. / Greater Atlanta Christian 
14  Ryan Frankel  G  So.  5-11  175  New York, N.Y. / Collegiate School 
20  Justin Pedley  F  So.  6-6  210  Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin 
22  Todd Cramer  G  Sr.  6-4  210  Philadelphia, Pa. / Chestnut Hill Academy 
23  Nicholas Prus  G  Jr.  6-4  200  Arlington Heights, Ill. / Buffalo Grove 
24  Matt Redfield  F  Jr.  6-8  210  Los Altos, Calif. / Gunn 
25  Dennis Levene  SF  Jr.  6-8  230  Weston, Conn. / Choate Rosemary Hall 
31  Russell Johnson  SF  So.  6-6  210  New York, N.Y. / Riverdale Country School 
42  Reinier Strobos  F  Jr.  6-7  205  New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon 
45  Andrew Acker  F  Jr.  6-8  235  Merion Station, Pa. / The Haverford School 
50  Miles Nolting  F  So.  6-8  235  Fort Lauderdale, Fla. / Pine Crest 
52  Lampros Tsontzos  C  So.  6-10  225  Amarousion, Greece / 3rd Lyceum 
   Tim Butala  F  Fr.  6-8  225  Monroe, Conn. / Fairfield College Prep 
   Hunter Gatewood  G  Fr.  6-5  190  Tomball, Texas / Concordia Lutheran 
   Tim Higgins  C  Fr.  6-10  225  Great Falls, Va. / Paul VI Catholic 
   Garrett House  F  Fr.  6-4  200  Lathrup Village, Mich. / The Roeper School 
   Phillip Ou  G  Fr.  6-3  190  Rosemead, Calif. / Polytechnic School 
   Dakota Pierce  G  Fr.  6-3  190  Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Thousdand Oaks 

[rlk]

An interview with Kates and Tashman about their Maccabiah experience: http://mitbasketball.blogspot.com/2013/09/kates-and-tashman-bring-home-gold-medal.html

[madzillagd]

A little last minute coaching news, Rob Southall leaves WPI and takes the head job at Elms.

http://hoopdirt.com/blog/82ca4950/daily-dirt-10-15-13/

[mass_d3fan]

I was going to ask if anyone had any insight into incoming freshmen and their possible impact on the various teams, but madzillagd has the big news.

Due to changes in my personal life, I am no longer in the greater Worcester area and had not heard anything at all about Coach Southall leaving WPI.  He certainly appeared to me to be a very important factor in their recruiting and player development.  Congradulations to him on getting an opportunity to run his own program.

Any hints on who steps into the #2 seat for the Engineers?  The website shows Bill Gibbons and former players Ryan Cain & David Brown as the other coaches.

[rlk]

It's starting!

http://www.mitbasketball.blogspot.com/2013/10/mit-basketball-day-1.html

[middhoops]

On the NESCAC board there is beginning to be some talk about New England pre-season ratings. Of course we have the usual 3,  Amherst, Williams and Middlebury with a strong sense that Tufts is emerging.
The NEWMAC, and especially its 'Tech' Schools, have been as good or better than our league recently.  What do you think the region looks like going into November?

[mass_d3fan]

Congrats to WPI for starting the year off at #9 in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll.

I believe this is the highest ever preseason ranking for the Engineers.

I dont think their schedule presents any real threats to having another 20+ win season.  If they find a viable presence for the 5, they should be in a great position to finally crack through and get to the Sweet 16.  MIT may be their only real test until March.

[BBallers]

Congrats to WPI for starting the year off at #9 in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll.

I believe this is the highest ever preseason ranking for the Engineers.

I dont think their schedule presents any real threats to having another 20+ win season.  If they find a viable presence for the 5, they should be in a great position to finally crack through and get to the Sweet 16.  MIT may be their only real test until March.

Congratulations to WPI for topping the NEWMAC preseason poll, although not unexpected.  Rankings are pasted below:

2013-14 NEWMAC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll (first-place votes)

1. WPI (7)

2. MIT

3. Babson (1)

4. Springfield

5. Clark

T6. Coast Guard

T6. Wheaton

8. Emerson

[madzillagd]

I'm assuming the WPI folks already know this but here's an article on the 'new' assistant Ryan Flynn...

http://hoopdirt.com/news/89f2ff32/wpi-hires-assistant/

[mass_d3fan]

Big news out of Worcester is that WPI's Marco Coppola is out for the year due to an ankle injury. According to an article in today's Worcester Telegram, he will be undergoing surgery on Friday.  The article features the Engineer's Ryan Kolb who will now be WPI's top scoring option.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20131113/NEWS/311149823/1009/SPORTS

Also, the Engineer's roster is up and it reveals that Kolb may be having to defend opposition centers as WPI did not pick up any big men in the recruiting class of 6 freshmen.  They only have two players(6'7"Chad LaBove and 7'3"Mark Overdevest) on the roster bigger than Kolb.  Neither has played many minutes during their time with the Engineers. Ryan stepped up his game in a big way last year, especially down the stretch.  He is a strong player who can also has good range making 36 3-pointers last year.  It will be interesting to see how he adapts to having to play the 5.  WPI has had 2 very good defensive centers during Kolb's previous 3 seasons that allowed him to match up with players his size or smaller.  The good news is that he did play well against MIT's front line including Wil Tashman.

From the article, it would appear the Engineers will also rely on 6'5" Dom Mastascusa in the front court.  I would guess that Zach Karalis would move into Coppola's starting position at guard.  I would expect that it will be Aaron Davis (PG) and Sam Longwell will to round out the starting lineup.

I wonder how much the new emphasis on the hand check will affect Engineers. Anyone know if this is going to have the impact in D3 that it appears to be having at the D1 level?

[WPI89]

Wow that is devastating.  I was coming on here to write how I thought Coppola was likely just outside the All American list and then I read MASS D3's news.

I would think that takes WPI's upside from "NEWMAC undefeated - sweet 16 type team" - to  "compete for the NEWMAC auto bid with at least MIT and Babson".

[middhoops]

Sorry to hear about Coppola.
WPI has been so strong lately.  Teams with quality depth seem to come through these setbacks surprisingly well.  You may be pleasantly surprised.  I hope so.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Sorry to hear about Coppola.
WPI has been so strong lately.  Teams with quality depth seem to come through these setbacks surprisingly well.  You may be pleasantly surprised.  I hope so.

Even high quality programs with traditional depth can't always overcome such setbacks.  In 2012 I saw IWU vs. UWSP (a traditional power and multiple national champion).  Without Ty Tillema, UWSP was not even a decent tourney team, much less a threat.  I was never worried about the game after 2-3 minutes.  (Without their star, UWSP was a distant 4th in that first-round foursome (even though one of the teams was from the overall vastly inferior SLIAC).

Last season, IWU (a perennial power in the CCIW) lost their QB in the 7th game of the fball season; we immediately dropped from 6-0 to 6-4.  The new QB looks promising eventually, but was definitely not ready for prime time.  Sometimes losses of key players are irreplaceable.

[marketherrien]

A cheap plug if you will -

The Worcester Area College Basketball (coaches) Association revived its awards program last year and, for the second consecutive year, is  complimented with a Twitter account - @WACBAHoops https://twitter.com/wacbahoops

The feed features daily news, scores, recaps and more for all nine NCAA men's and women's basketball programs in Worcester County: Anna Maria, Assumption (DII), Becker, Clark, Fitchburg State, Holy Cross (DI), Nichols, WPI and Worcester State.

Matt Noonan (@NoontimeSports), as heard on Hoopsville, selects the weekly men's and women's players of the week and an honor roll for each gender. Along with the weekly release there will be standings and statistical leaders for points, rebounds and assists. Both will are slated to be released on Monday afternoons.

[middhoops]

WPI put up 100 on RPI.  No overtime.  Whoa!