MBB: NEWMAC

[BaboNation]

NEWMAC Preseason Rankings are out:

2023-24 NEWMAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Rank   School (first-place votes)   Points
1   WPI (5)   60
2   Babson (3)   58
3   Clark (1)   52
4   Emerson   38
5   MIT   26
6   Springfield   24
7   Coast Guard   22
7   Wheaton   22
9   Salve Regina   21

I don't know how much the coaches know about the off-season changes of their foes, but what strikes me about this list is that (knowing only about subtractions) Wheaton looks to have dropped to about where I expected, but Emerson (decimated by losses) clings to the 4th spot.  Emerson has only 8 players listed on their roster (returning upperclassmen) before adding FYs and any xfers.  I'd expect a minimum of 5 additions;  but 7-8 is conceivable.

Some of the league teams have cleared out last year's grads, but we are probably still a day away from full roster lists (other than Clark's, which is out).

[BaboNation]

Springfield's roster is out

https://springfieldcollegepride.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/roster

This feels like a preliminary list with walk-ons before finalization, because it has 24 guys, including 10 FYs.  Or maybe they're starting a JV program.  I don't think I've ever seen a basketball team go into a season with 24.  For comparison the 22-23 roster had 17.

Anyway, they return the 2-5 top scorers from last year, losing only Costa.

And they have a GR xfer, Joe Hoch, from Trinity.

[BaboNation]

MIT's roster is out

https://mitathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

I think MIT may be on the rise again, after the deep slide of the last few years, bottoming out at 4-19 last year on a team that had no seniors.

Notably the roster size goes from 13-21, and some of the tape on the 9 FYs (yeah, it's only tape, so we need to see it in a D3 setting) looks like a very strong class.  This should mark the end of the days of dressing 7-8 and 4 guys playing 39+ minutes.

[BaboNation]

Babson's roster is out

https://babsonathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

At 15 players (same as last year) it's suddenly the smallest of conference teams published so far.

They are losing the 2-4 scorers from last year.  3 FYs and 1 xfer grad (Baxter from Bates) new to the team.  Just 2 seniors: Gorgol, who has gone down to season-ending injuries 2 consecutive years; and Watson, who hasn't played much.

Early guess at the starting 5: Amado, Baxter, Mason, Lauder, and Gorgol.

Mason (much heralded as a recruit) has been plagued by injuries both years.

Concerns:

Someone needs to step up as a consistent #3 scorer after Amado & Baxter.

One of the sophomore /junior bigs (Mason, Woolhouse, or Lauder) needs to show improvement as inside scorers.

Can someone other than Amado/Baxter handle PG responsibilities?  They will likely have trouble with ball pressure from teams with defensive quickness.  For all their other talents, neither Amado nor Baxter excel at ball handling.  I expect Cross, Chalumeau, Watson, and Flaks to battle for the PG role, but all are likely to do so as subs, at least initially.

At least 2 of the 3 FY players are going to need to be contributors, both for this year and continuity into the future.

Strengths:

They should be very good on the defensive glass.

If healthy, and not burdened with carrying the whole team on his back, Amado has AA potential.

Strong coaching team remains intact.

[BaboNation]

Coast Guard's roster is out

https://coastguardathletics.com/sports/mbball/roster

Reversing the NEWMAC trend, only 12 players listed.

They return the top 3 scorers from last year's 4-21 2-12 (conf) team, including their top scorer Rooney, who blossomed 13.9 as a soph on a very young team.  No seniors on this year's roster and they don't list 2 of their top 3 rebounding bigs (who were just sophs), Cameron Brown and Countryman.  The loss of these bigs (who I believe were at the CG height limit) really hurts. 

But it's CG.  No team will play harder.

[BaboNation]

Emerson's roster is out

https://emersonlions.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2023-24

They lose their top 4 scorers, top 4 rebounders, and 4 starters, including Jared Houston.  Massive losses, including Beckwith who transferred.

No one over 6'5" listed.

And maybe this was posted elsewhere, but top long-term assistant coach and recruiter, Jack Barrett has joined Ryan Cain @ Johns Hopkins.  In this modern age it's rare to see just one assistant coach (Sean Coman) listed.  That's all Emerson shows for Bill Curley.  And Coman just graduated last year after transferring to Emerson.  So, a huge coaching loss as well.

2 Grad xfers, Jerry Lawson, by way of UC Santa Barbara and Irvine Valley College (although I don't think he played ball at UCSB); and Allen Li from the South China University of Technology.  They also have a FY from Spain so they win the NEWMAC award for who traveled the farthest.

[BaboNation]

Salve Regina's roster is out

https://www.salveathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/roster

First year in the NEWMAC.

They lose their all-time top scorer in Mikey Spencer (2068 pts.)

They have 2 xfers:  Sean Seymour, a soph guard who hardly played at D2 St. Rose; and Stefanos Spassof, a senior guard who likewise played a little D2 ball at St. Michael's.
The roster also lists 2 other "grads", but I think they're actually freshmen;  easy mistake with "F" and "G" adjacent on the keyboard.

[BaboNation]

WPI's roster is (finally) out

Maybe WPI89 can provide some insight

https://athletics.wpi.edu/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Wheaton is the only NEWMAC team that has yet to post

[BaboNation]

And Wheaton's roster completes the conference

https://wheatoncollegelyons.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

15 players; Just 1 senior with no career starts.

[WPI89]

Babo - I do not have much yet.  I know coach is pumped about the incoming Freshman - I am excited to see some reach out of the state of Mass!  Will be back to you when I know anything substantive.

One thing about the early schedule is that we "chose" Willimas for first round game of our Coughlin Tourney - The other game is now Dickinson v St Joe's (Maine) - No offense to St Joe's - but I would have expected The Red Devils vs Williams in one game with us hopefully getting the winner.

I am sure is has tot do with the SOS issue we had last year and being left out of tourney.

[BaboNation]

Babo - I do not have much yet.  I know coach is pumped about the incoming Freshman - I am excited to see some reach out of the state of Mass!  Will be back to you when I know anything substantive.

One thing about the early schedule is that we "chose" Willimas for first round game of our Coughlin Tourney - The other game is now Dickinson v St Joe's (Maine) - No offense to St Joe's - but I would have expected The Red Devils vs Williams in one game with us hopefully getting the winner.

I am sure is has tot do with the SOS issue we had last year and being left out of tourney.

Yes, the number of FYs outside of New England caught my eye;  then again, some played prep ball in NE or were at camps.
Given the number of returning upperclassmen who played regular rotation minutes I expect one or 2 FYs will see significant minutes like Newman did last year.
For sure the guarantee of a match against Williams will be critical to SOS.

[BaboNation]

Just one man's stab at the conference records for the 23-24 season

I see 4 teams as pretty clear favorites to make the 5-team conference playoffs:

WPI, Babson, Clark, and Springfield.

And I see 4 teams likely to miss the playoffs:

Salve Regina, Coast Guard, Emerson, and Wheaton.

The wild card for me is MIT.  I expect a huge rebound off last year's 2-12, and 4-19 overall record.  The slide that began after the graduation of Jurko, Jomard, et al is likely over.  I see a strong recruiting class and roster depth that will keep players fresh and permit them to stay in games for 40 minutes.  I can see them finishing as high as 3rd, or as low as 5th, which gives them a playoff berth.

The biggest discrepancy I have with the NEWMAC preseason poll is Emerson.  Maybe the coaches didn't have awareness of competitors' rosters at the time of voting.

I think you can flip a coin between WPI and Babson for the #1 seed.  If everything breaks perfectly, Clark is a dark horse.

Conference prediction on the expanded (9-team, 16 game) schedule:

WPI 13-3
Babson 13-3
Clark 11-5
MIT 9-7
Springfield 8-8
Coast Guard 6-10
Salve Regina 4-12
Emerson 4-12
Wheaton 4-12

[WPI89]

Big test and early indicator right away for WPI tomorrow.  This is not your father's Worcester State team!  From what I can tell, everyone back from the 22-win tourney team last year - certainly, most of their points are back.  Should be very interesting.

[SKUD]

Thanks, Jason, please stick to basketball!

[WPI89]

Not sure who Jason is?  Maybe wrong region chat?

In any case. Pleased to be 1-0. Had a really strong stretch end of first half and never were really challenged. 2nd half was sloppy. State sort of sold out and pressure did not bother WPI much. Lots of missed open 3s. Will need to knock those down presumably to hang with Williams on Saturday. 12 players took a shot or free throw. Will be a search for shorter rotation pre-conference games.