All Americans

[nescac1]

There is a really great group of rising senior forwards in New England next year ... the thing is, they are all fairly even so they will likely cancel themselves out on the national scene, at least pre-season: Adam Choice, Jon Pierce, Blake Schultz, Steven Wheeler (if he can stay healthy), Brandon Shelton, Maurice Horton -- any of those guys would not be out of place on one of the pre-season all american teams. 

New England is far weaker at the guard and center spots and I don't think will offer anyone worthy of consideration ... G Meehan at Amherst really came on late in the year, and C Geoghegan at Williams could have a huge senior year if he is finally healthy, but neither did enough overall this season to warrant pre-season all-american status.

[Titan Q]

Here is my All-Freshmen team from 2008-09, based only on players I saw in person...

G Georgio Milligan (6-2), Franklin & Marshall - 13.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.2 apg
G Dylan Richter (6-3), Wash U - 5.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F John Koschnitzky (6-6), Illinois Wesleyan - 9.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg
F Tim McCrary (6-6), Wheaton - 9.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C Jason Spinder (6-10), Manchester - 9.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg


It wouldn't surprise me if any of these guys develop into All-Americans down the road.

[WAS A PLAYER]

Nate Novosel of the University of Rochester needs to be mentioned on  an All Freshman team.

I didn't see Bartolotta play but if you are going to throw defensive ability into the mix, and why not, then you have to start bringing Aaron Thompson into the discussion. I saw the matchup between the two and was not impressed with Raymond on the defensive end. Tell me this. If you had $1000 on the table and had to pick at team to win, who would you go with?

[nescac1]

NESCAC had a pretty sweet (unofficial) all-rookie team this year -- few years have seen so many frosh make this type of impact in the league (granted, a down year for upperclassmen in the league overall which helped).  All are guys to watch in the future.  Key stats:

PG, James Wang, Williams, 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.5 asp, .7 spg, 50 percent fgp in only 12 minutes pg (when he finally got PT late in the season, he really came on ... in his last four games, he average 13 ppg)

G/F, Jason Mendell, Wesleyan, 14.5 ppg, 5 rpg, .1.5 asp, .45/.39/.82 shooting

F, Demetrius Porter, Conn College, 14 ppg, 5 rpg, 2 apg, 1 bpg, 1 spg, conference ROY

F, David Waller, Amherst, 7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1 apg, .5 bpg, over 40 percent from 3  (probably the most upside of any of the frosh in NESCAC, his numbers will rise dramatically next year and I'd bet he is an all-american by the time he graduates -- the only other frosh starter in recent memory at Amherst is Andrew Olson)

C, Ryan Sharry, Middlebury, 8 ppg, 5 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 57% fgp, only 18 mpg (he will also put up huge numbers once he is a starter next year)

[r.w. mcnickels]

So who are the candidates for preseason All-American in '09-10?

I think Gettysburg's Andrew Powers, the Centennial and D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year, should get some serious consideration. I was surprised he wasn't on any of this year's AA teams after the regional POY honor.

Here is my All-Freshmen team from 2008-09, based only on players I saw in person...

G Georgio Milligan (6-2), Franklin & Marshall - 13.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.2 apg
G Dylan Richter (6-3), Wash U - 5.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F John Koschnitzky (6-6), Illinois Wesleyan - 9.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg
F Tim McCrary (6-6), Wheaton - 9.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C Jason Spinder (6-10), Manchester - 9.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg

It wouldn't surprise me if any of these guys develop into All-Americans down the road.

I'm glad you got to see Georgio Milligan, even if he did turn it over a bit too often against Stockton. He had the best freshman season I've ever seen from a player in the CC, especially given all he was asked to do in running Glenn Robinson's system from day one. Gettysburg coach George Petrie said Milligan was the key to F&M's turnaround this year, and I definitely agree with that.

[CCIWchamps]

I did get to see both players via video this year and while I'm in awe at the shooting touch of both, it seemed like Bartolotta was the better all-around player, certainly the one with better pro prospects.  He was more nimble and a surer ball handler.  Neither one was challenged too much at this level, but it seemed like Bartolotta has a higher ceiling.

Sorry, last post on the topic, but I'm not sure that the "more nimble and surer ball handler" would be the one with more turnovers.  And less assists.

There.  Done.  Still haven't seen him play. 

I know I won't get a better argument than those thus far, so thank you all for the cathartic discussion of this POY race between Raymond and Bartolotta. 

[Ethelred the Unready]

I did get to see both players via video this year and while I'm in awe at the shooting touch of both, it seemed like Bartolotta was the better all-around player, certainly the one with better pro prospects.  He was more nimble and a surer ball handler.  Neither one was challenged too much at this level, but it seemed like Bartolotta has a higher ceiling.

Sorry, last post on the topic, but I'm not sure that the "more nimble and surer ball handler" would be the one with more turnovers.  And less assists.

There.  Done.  Still haven't seen him play. 

I know I won't get a better argument than those thus far, so thank you all for the cathartic discussion of this POY race between Raymond and Bartolotta. 

It's not really a race if the winner is already known, is it?   

[Ralph Turner]

So who are the candidates for preseason All-American in '09-10?  Returnees are...


Aaron Thompson (G), Jr., Wash U - 1st Team

Sean Wallis (G), Jr., Wash U - 2nd Team

Steve Djurickovic (G), So., Carthage - 3rd Team

D.J. Marsh (F), Jr., UW-Oshkosh - 3rd Team

Richard Jean-Baptiste (F), Jr., Brooklyn - 4th Team

Tyler Sanborn (C), Jr., Guilford - 4th Team



I'm not sure the CCIW has a legitimate candidate right now outside of Djurickovic (who will probably be in the discussion for national P.O.Y. next season).  There are a few CCIW guys who could develop into AA types though.

We will need some help to evaluate Jean-Baptiste on a national level.  Will there be any streaming video of his games?

Can we get Rhodes Scholar to post his impressions?   

[BJ - DSU SID]

So who are the candidates for preseason All-American in '09-10?  Returnees are...

I'll throw junior Darnell Braswell (DeSales) onto this list.

Led DeSales to a Freedom Conference Title and the NCAA "Elite 8".  Named Conference Player of the Year, NABC Regional Player of the Year, NABC First-Team All-American, and in the NCAA 2nd Round match-up with D3hoops.com 4th-Team All-American Sean Burton scored a career-high 27 points and held Burton seven below his average (15 points) with seven turnovers.

Enjoy the off-season everyone.

[David Collinge]

Coming into this season, Wooster's Brandon Johnson was considered by many to be a potential All-American at point guard.  He suffered a knee injury in the offseason, however, and missed the entire season.  Brandon took a medical redshirt, and will return for his "super-senior" season next year, and assuming all of his mobility is regained (I am led to believe that it is), he's a candidate for A-A honors--and one that may be overlooked because of his lost season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

What about Wooster's young big guy; is he good enough to be a pre-season AA candidate next year (even if it's not first team)?

His stats were very good.

[David Collinge]

What about Wooster's young big guy; is he good enough to be a pre-season AA candidate next year (even if it's not first team)?

His stats were very good.

Justin Hallowell, the D3Hoops.com national Rookie of the Year, has a lot of potential.  This year, despite being 6'7", he mostly used his incredible shooting eye to pour in a school-record number of threes (94) at a .514 clip (4th in D3).  He's deadly from 26 feet in, and it's very difficult to guard a 6'7" guy who is not afraid to shoot from 26'.  Still, his game this year was largely one-dimensional, even if that one dimension was pretty amazing.  Towards the end of the year, he started getting more aggressive both on offense (driving the lane) and on defense (rebounding).  If he continues to develop these aspects of his game, he could be a very, very special player before he's through. 

I actually think there was a better (read: more talented, more well-rounded) freshman in the NCAC this season, that being 6'6" forward/post Pat Pellerite from Ohio Wesleyan.  He's not a shooter, but he's got potential as a scorer.  He's very athletic and skilled in the post on both ends, and is a dynamic rebounder.  The OWU offense was perimeter-based, so most of his scoring opportunities were on putbacks, but with the top two perimeter players graduating, Coach Mike DeWitt may reconfigure his offense into more of an outside-in orientation, and if that happens, Pellerite could have a very strong sophomore campaign. 

I would not expect either Hallowell or Pellerite to emerge as All-Americans next season, but I do anticipate that both may be at that level as upperclassmen.

[Knightstalker]

Swingman Rashawn Smalls of NJCU should receive consideration next year for AA.  He was the NJAC Rookie of the Year, the Atlantic Rookie of the Year and was 2nd team all region I believe, I will double check and I will try to post his stats if I get the time.

##  SUMMARY             GP  GS  Min/G  FG%  3PT%  FT%  Reb/G  Ast/G  Stl  Blk  Pts/G 
21  Rashawn Smalls      24   24  29.0   .429  .378    .522   8.5      1.4    38  18  16.3 

[Ethelred the Unready]

Last year I purchased a cable package that includes a lot of Fox Sports College channels so I could get the DIII title game on CBS-College, which was also part of the package.  It has been interesting over the last year watching some of those channels, though I think replaying every PAC-10 basketball game 50-100 times might be overkill.  Even saw some DIII regular season games, mostly featuring the Wisconsin schools.  I remember thinking it is unfortunate that Wisconsin-Stout couldn't put something other than "Stout" across the front of their jerseys, especially the women's.  Anyway, it seems that with all these channels somebody could broadcast a game or two a week from around the various regions.  The top matchups if you will, so that people in the Mid-West can see MIT and the Mainers can see what up in Texas.  There must be colleges/universities that could provide feeds.

[Gregory Sager]

I remember thinking it is unfortunate that Wisconsin-Stout couldn't put something other than "Stout" across the front of their jerseys, especially the women's.

LOL!