MBB: NESCAC

[jayhawk]

This summer camp is one of several which serve as an important starting point for Nescac Basketball Recruitng:
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-21/yourtown/29798757_1_student-athletes-brandeis-academic

[Bengalsrule]

Congrats to Stockwell and Hamilton. The NESCAC is getting the reigning SUNYAC Coach of the Year! Trust me when I tell you he will make Hamilton a top tier team in the NESCAC...THIS YEAR!!

Can't say that we, in the SUNYAC, are sad to see him leave. He made Oswego 1 tough place to win at! He'll do the same for Hamilton!

Please define "top tier." Does that mean he will have a 1st round home game in the NESCAC tournament (top 4 seeds)?

1st round bye by 2013 if not sooner...quote me!

[frank uible]

I believe that as currently constructed there are no byes in the NESCAC post-season basketball playoff.

[met_fan]

I believe that as currently constructed there are no byes in the NESCAC post-season basketball playoff.

Which would make the feat that much more impressive

[thebear]

Bengals, unfortunately I may have to disagree with you on this one.

I have a lot of respect for Adam as a coach and as a person.  That being said, Hamilton is academically middle of the pack in the NESCAC.

That says that they will not be the first choice for the really smart, really talented D-III players (many of whom could have played at low major schools, but chose the academic prestige of the top NESCAC schools) that have made Williams, Amherst, and lately Middlebury dominant in D-III over the past decade. To some extent, they will be getting leftovers from the top 3 or 4 schools, and all of these schools have excellent coaches.  Being in Upstate NY, they will also be competing with UAA's Rochester for the really smart D-III players from their historical geographic area.

Institution    USNWR Category    Rank
Williams College     Liberal Arts    1
Amherst College     Liberal Arts    2
Middlebury College     Liberal Arts    4
Bowdoin College     Liberal Arts    6
Wesleyan University Liberal Arts    12
Hamilton College       Liberal Arts    18
Bates College              Liberal Arts    21
Colby College              Liberal Arts    23
Trinity College              Liberal Arts    36
Connecticut College   Liberal Arts    41

Tufts University      University    28

I think it will be a tough putt for Hamilton in the NESCAC, unless they get some real breaks from the admissions office.

[frank uible]

That "unless" can be the little difference that makes all the difference.

[thebear]

That "unless" can be the little difference that makes all the difference.

But remember, everyone gets a few unlesses, I still think Williams & Amherst win on these as well.  My guess is (Amherst alum) Hixson has more chips accumulated than a first year head coach coming from a state school.

[jayhawk]

However with everything said, it is interesting that probably Rochester's best basketball recruit is not from upstate NY but is probably a guard from Long Island. Also previously Rochester had a great D III center from Newton MA a Boston suburb. There are different reasons students end up at different schools. Plus of course not all students are able to get into all schools. Time will tell here.

[Colby Hoops]

http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/

Hopefully, that idea of recruits going to the top schools gets Colby a few nice recruits.  Ranked #3 in the NESCAC by Forbes in the most recent rankings.  In actuality, I think rankings are a joke, it's impossible to rank these schools. What is different between Colby and Bowdoin, or Amherst and Williams?

[lefrakenstein]

http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/

Hopefully, that idea of recruits going to the top schools gets Colby a few nice recruits.  Ranked #3 in the NESCAC by Forbes in the most recent rankings.  In actuality, I think rankings are a joke, it's impossible to rank these schools. What is different between Colby and Bowdoin, or Amherst and Williams?

Those Forbes rankings, as much as Williams (#1) and Amherst (#4) would like to believe them, are clearly a total joke.

Haverford (#7) is a better college than MIT (#9), Cal Tech (#13), Yale (#14), Brown (#21), Duke (#22), Dartmouth (#30), Columbia (#42), Cornell (#51) and Penn (#52)?


No disrespect to Haverford, which I'm sure is a great school, but it's not better than the top tech schools in the country and half of the ivy league.

An examination of the methodology reveals that the single most heavily weighted factor is student evals from ratemyprofessor.com. LOL. That site is a joke. Its only purpose is to tell students which professors hand out easy As.

Another 5% of the total score goes to alumni listings in the publication Who's Who in America. I would tell you what a stupid publication Who's Who in America is but ironically none other than FORBES has already gone through the trouble.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes-life-magazine/1999/0308/063.html

[amh63]

Here we go with the "ranking" debate again.  Such rankings in today's world has only one value......to make money for the publications that publish them...IMO. 
Lefrak...nice retort to the Forbes' effort.   Since this deals in the end to the interest of students to particular schools....a better indication of what schools are appealing to student athletes is the recent size of the application pools at the conference schools to the size of the student body/class size.

[Colby Hoops]

LeFrak,

Totally agree, all of these rankings systems are an absolute joke, although not entirely sure why you chose Haverford as the example.  To further prove the ridiculousness of this Forbes list is that Norhteastern is ranked 534th because it has a 0% four year graduation rate.  Northeastern is a five year school where it is impossible to graduate in four years.

[frank uible]

The public loves ranked lists because it has the good judgment to know that it lacks the information and the judgment to make good decisions about comparitive quality.

[Old Guy]

Of course these rankings are absurd - frivolous and misleading. We all agree on that.

On the other hand . . .

those publications which rank schools are read, sell a lot of copies. Somebody is reading them. Schools compete for students. You would rather be ranked high than low or middle of the pack. You dismiss the rankings at your own risk, in NESCAC anyway.

With specific regard to athletes: it has been my impression over three decades that it is possible to recruit athletes who are highly qualified academically if your ranking is high. If you also have successful teams - well, that's an effective combination. Bright kids who are good athletes want to come to your school.

If your teams are successful, it may not mean you are cutting corners in admissions - just the opposite actually.

These rankings are influential.

Unfortunately. 

[frank uible]

Does the quality and/or quantity of a college's applications for admission ebb and flow with its recent fortunes in the rankings races? If so, does the flowing cause an improved college? If so, what evidence is there of this causation?