MBB: NESCAC

[ephoops]

Question for Pat and other long-time followers of D3 hoops:

With Midd making the Final Four this year, five different NESCAC teams (Wiliams, Amherst, Midd, Conn College and Trinity) have reached the Final Four since NESCAC allowed teams to participate in the NCAA tournament.

  Does any other conference boast five different members making the Final Four in a similar time frame?

[Old Guy]

I expended most of my post-season basketball energy, quite happily so, on the Panthers' run to the Final Four. As I read these two thought-provoking pieces from last Sunday's Boston Globe on March Madness, I reflected on my experience in the middle of last week, when I found myself in a carrel in the Middlebury library next to Andrew Locke who was working on a Philosophy paper. D3 hoops!

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2011/03/20/no_dancing_around_the_seamier_side/?page=full

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/03/20/put_obama_in_the_game/

[lefrakenstein]

Too early to discuss favorites for next year?

Let's look at who is staying for each team:

Amherst (25-4, 7-2)

Rotation Players Returning:
Toomey (Rookie of the Year)
Barrise
Workman
Waller
Kaasila
Holmes
Williamson

Rotation Players Graduated:
Conor Meehan (First Team All-Nescac)

Middlebury (28-2, 8-1)

Returning:
Sharry (First Team)
Thompson
Wolfin
Kizel
Lynch

Graduated:
Locke (Second Team)
Wholey
Davis

Williams (29-3, 9-0)

Returning:
Wang (First Team)
Robertson
Epley
Rooke-Ley
Emerson
Klemm
Mickens

Graduated:
Whittington (First Team)
Dodson

Bates (12-13, 3-6)

Returning;
Brust
Squires
Christian
Weston
Matarazzo
Philbrook

Graduated:
Ellis (Second Team)
Schiemann
Gallant
Deegan

Bowdoin (14-10, 3-6)

Returning:
Hanley (First Team)
Mathias
Nowell
Madlinger
O'Connell
Littles
Carter
Staiger

Graduated:
DeFeo

Colby (11-13, 2-7)

Returning:
Fischer
Foreman
Orchingwa
Beaulieu
Donovan

Graduated:
Russell (Second Team)
Van Loenen
David

Trinity (14-12, 4-5)

Returning:
Dean
DiStasio
Sutton
Applegate
Skaggs
Lubin

Graduated:
Pimm
Fels
Ford
MacDougall (Second Team)

Tufts (13-12, 4-5)
Anderson
Quezada
Goldfarb
Orchowski
Long
Firempong
Cohen
Lanchantin
Folliard
Mason

Graduated:
none

Wesleyan (11-13, 2-7)

Returning:
Brown (Second Team)
Mendell
Callaghan
Beresford
Thomas
Fogel
Hagan
LaBove
Callori
St. Jean

Graduated:
Poisson
Maltz

Conn 13-13, 3-6)

Returning:
Vadas
Bellotti
Hanson
Mahoney
Jeremic
Anilus
Lopez
Harrigan
Banos

Graduated:
none

[lefrakenstein]

Way too early predictions and thoughts:

#1: Amherst

The top three will be incredibly close again next year. I have the Jeffs at #1 because, in addition to my bias, they will get both Williams and Midd at home next year. The Jeffs do graduate their senior leader in Meehan, but they have Toomey to take over his minutes at the point. Also, coach Hixon seems pleased with his sophomores and incoming freshman. Look for either Killian or Mussachia or possibly both to get into the rotation next year.

#2: Williams

Really hard to choose between Williams and Midd. Yes, Williams loses all-everything T-Whit. (or just 'that bleeping twit' as i like to call him as he dunks on us) Nevertheless, Wang is back with Robertson, Rooke-Lay and Klemm. That means that Williams should be plenty nasty on the peremiter as their bigs get comfortable. Emerson is better than people give him credit for, I think he'll do a good job starting at center.


#3: Middlebury
I feel like I'm disrespecting Midd by putting them third. They will be nasty and probably a national contender next year. I'm just not sure that they'll be as incredible defensively without Locke and Davis in the middle. A lot more of the load down low will fall on Sharry. The guard play should be fantastic though, with Kizel, Wolfin and Thompson forming quite the formidable trio.

#4: Tufts
Tufts brings everybody back from a team that went 4-5 and seemed to get stronger down the stretch. Quezada brings a defensive presence that has been lacking for a very long time. They won't catch the top three, but they should be the best of the rest.

#5: Bowdoin
Bowdoin has the luxury of returning first-teamer Will Hanley, but they still have to prove that the talent runs deeper than one player. To complicate matters they will be replacing their starting point guard in DeFeo.  He didn't exactly light it up though, so if someone can fill the point position adequately and they can find a second option behind Hanley (a much bigger question) they could be pretty good.

#6: Wesleyan
Since the arrival of coach Reilly we keep waiting for the Cards to make the jump into contender status. It's true that they've been plagued by injuries, but I can't help but feel they should be better by now. In my opinion, Reilly's teams are limited by their offensive reliance on one player, in this case Brown. Even at Bates, Ray's name was called on nearly every play. Although Stockwell scored plenty, a lot of that was off of offensive rebounds and put-backs. Brown has players who can help; Beresford, Mendell and St. Jean are a solid supporting cast who should be able to help carry the load.

#7: Conn
I almost put Conn ahead of Wesleyan. They had a surprisingly good year last year after losing many key players to defection. Vadas was among the best of a very solid group of freshman in the league last year. You never know who will actually be back though.

#8: Bates
After Conn I think there will be another gap into a clear bottom three. Bates loses a great senior class, including Brian Ellis who really carried the team since he was a freshman. Brust is going to need a great year to keep them competitive.

#9: Trinity
Trinity played well last year, especially toward the end of the season, but they will be graduating four of their best five players from that squad. The bright spot is the potential of Eric Dean, who played very well as a freshman last year and could emerge into a star as a go-to player for the Bantams.

#10: Colby
Yeah, Colby. It's going to be interesting.  They weren't very good last year and now they're losing their two best players from that squad. I don't see them going winless, but they're not going to beat anybody good either.

[nescac1]

I think we need to get a better picture of who the incoming frosh will be, as well as some of this year's talented frosh who didn't see the court much but showed promise (Jensen, Mayer, Killian all come to mind). 

Williams, for example, will be in much better shape if they can get a big-time four who can share the load early with Epley (so far, they haven't, so far as I know).  I think the Ephs, while missing Troy tremendously, will be in better shape than people expect with the Emerson/Mayer/Hoffmann combo at the five, so long as they put in the work to get stronger in the off-season.  Amherst needs a second a ball-handler (supposedly they got one?), but will have a loaded and super-deep front court.   Midd, I am curious if athletic sophs Jensen and Roberts can step in for major minutes up front.  And so on ...

I think your list looks pretty good.  I do think Bowdoin will be very tough.  Nowell and O'Connell each had some big games, and both should be very strong second/third options as seniors if they can be just a little more consistent.  Hanley is right there in the top three guys in the league and will be tough to deal with.  Bowdoin has a ton of length with 6'10 center Hall and incoming 7'0 sharing the paint, plus Hanley at the four.  Bowdoin also has a few other rising seniors in the rotation, and I like senior-laden squads.  They are always well-coached and it seemed like they had a few tough-luck losses this year.  But I still can't see them above fourth.

Hamilton will be in NESCAC next year as well.  They return most of their key guys from a young, talented team.  I'd slide them in somewhere in the middle of the conference. 

I think I'd go with, until I hear more about any impact frosh or sophs ready to explode onto the scene, 1. Amherst, 2. Williams, 3. Midd, 4. Bowdoin, 5. Tufts, 6. Wesleyan, 7. Hamilton, 8. Trinity (already four incoming frosh, and likely more to come with the new coach), 9. Conn, 10. Bates, 11. Colby.  Colby loses not only its two stars, but also its coach, could be a LONG year in Waterville ... I don't expect the big three to be as dominant next year considering each loses a major star and teams like Conn, Tufts, Hamilton, Wesleyan should all be much tougher. 

 

[Bucket]

I think we need to get a better picture of who the incoming frosh will be, as well as some of this year's talented frosh who didn't see the court much but showed promise (Jensen, Mayer, Killian all come to mind). 

 Midd, I am curious if athletic sophs Jensen and Roberts can step in for major minutes up front.  And so on
 

Pure speculation, but I expect Jensen to play major minutes next year. Roberts will certainly get more time, too.

And in addition to Wolfin, Thompson, and Kizel, Luis Alvarez will also be a big factor in Midd's backcourt production next year.

[7express]

From a neutral perspective:

The surprize team would have to be Tufts.  Even though they probably won't finish in the top 3 (still think it should go Amherst, Midd, Williams not neccessarily in that order) they could surprize with at least a top 4 finish.  Saw them a few times during the season (once at Bowdoin, the other at Amherst) great defense team and they got some players.  Don't know for sure what the NESCAC tournament will look like next year with Hamilton comming in, but I'd venture to guess Wesleyan, Bowdoin & Colby would be the 3 teams who don't make it if they still take the top 8.  Bowdoin and Colby will be interesting to say the least.

[cantdothat]

Expectations are close to 300 applicants for the Colby Head Coach position. A decision will probably made by late May or early June.

[amh63]

Old posters never die...they just fade away!  Since it is still acting like winter in my area and the Div.1 march madness is still going on, I thought I would post some comments while awaiting more "news", if any, of incoming players into the conference.
After watching the games going on in Div. 1 and the finish of the Div3 games, three factors come into notice for winning the critical games during the tournaments...as well as in the regular season.  They are, defense, guard play and team leadership.
These should not surprise the posters on this board.  I bring them up here as key evaluation factors when projecting the conference teams for next year and in considering the "recruits" that will arrive in the fall.
IMO, to review what the conference teams lost in players and who will replace the graduating seniors..emphasis should be on the guards (in particular, the point guards) and the leadership brought to teams by the departing players.  Though, Amherst lost only one starter..Conor Meehan....he was the point guard and one of the key leaders ..along with Kurt Bennett...on the team.  A. Toomey may replace him in the 1 position; but who will replace his leadership?  I felt that the team last season('09-'10) did not have the leadership to bring the team together to play thru tough periods.  Therefore, I think Amherst lost a great deal. 
If one looks at the "top three" teams, Williams and Midd. may have the advantage.  Their returning point guards and guards in general are very good.  I think Midd. may have the best players to provide leadership, among returning players and their players know how to play defense.
I think news of new players are interesting.  However, FY players should be evaluated after January, IMO, and do not help much in team projections now or even in the Fall.   Having say that, I want to note that Ben Ferris, a 6'3" guard for Essex high in Vermont was voted the top player in the state by some key panel.  Mr. Ferris is going to Tufts.  This news can be found on NERR.

[nescac1]

Nice Slate article by a Middlebury alum about his brother, VCU head coach and Kenyon alum Shaka Smart:

http://www.slate.com/id/2289440/

[grabtherim]

Nice Slate article by a Middlebury alum about his brother, VCU head coach and Kenyon alum Shaka Smart:

http://www.slate.com/id/2289440/

Great article.  Two excellent coaches and teams against each other Saturday in Butler and VCU.  Alot easier to pull for than the carpetbagger at KY and the know-it-all at CT.  Wish these two coaches could meet in an all good guy final. 

[toad22]

I think Trinity is going to get very good, very fast. They have an excellent coach, and a mandate to be good (I'm told). They lose a lot to graduation, but my bet is that they will bring in a big class of excellent players, and should be challenging for a top three spot in a year or two. Their defense at the end of the year was as good as anyone's (excluding Andrew Locke, who made Middlebury the best).

I am surprised that Wesleyan had a tough year, though injuries can indeed do that. My bet is that Joe Reilly was able to bring in two year's worth of recruits two years ago, and was not given much in his second class. They will likely will be given more leeway this year. I still look for Wesleyan to get much better from here on in.

Competitiveness will be the name of the game next year. A lot of teams look to be better (Wesleyan, Trinity, Bowdoin, Conn, Tufts). Williams, Middlebury, and especially Amherst look to be very strong again. It is going to be a lot of fun.

[jayhawk]

Indeed Trinity is recruiting heavily in the northeast. They have 3 players alone in NH -see link
They have recruiting a good shooter from Conn and maybe one more from MA
I think the Trinity is one of the most intense coaches I have seen- He must wear out a pair of shoes each game walking back and forth

[jayhawk]

sorry here is link:  http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/rankings/new_hampshire.php

[amh63]

For Amherst, the accepted students for the Class of 2015 were notified by mail on the 31th of March and all applicants were notified by email on the first of April.  Most BB playing students would have been in the ED pool and were notified last winter.  However, there can be some surprises this month.  This month is when the accepted students must weigh their offers and tell the school of their decisions.  I had posted that I believe Amherst will not recruit any more than the one player.  Amherst has Mr. Bryant, a post player and classmate of P. Kaasila returning from an ACL injury.  Mr Bryant was listed by NERR as 6'9" his prep year but Amherst listed him as 6'7" his FY.  Whatever his height, he is very long and is a post player that can block shots.  Also returning as a point guard is Mr. Noon.  More talented as a soccer player in H.S. (and at Amherst), Spencer Noon was ranked in NERR as a BB player.....and he did play a nice game against Miidd. in his first game when he was given extensive playing time (i.e. 14 points).  This year, Mr. Landrus Lewis was a walk on and showed his talents as a point guard.  Mr Lewis is a starting DB on the football team, but he does have the quickness and strength and skill set to be a backup point guard.
Who knows what the Spring will bring.  A surprise player, David Kalema of Virginia, joined the team this year.  He is a scorer and very quick....but more of a #2 guard.  He has a relative on his H.S. team that is a local star BB player in the prep ranks.  Maybe his relative will also be a surprise player.
A point of note....Amherst acccepted only 13% of its applicants this year.