MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

There has been talk on this board of the changes in the roster of Trinity.....especially the large number of recruits.  I guess I was not completely aware of the turnover.  Went to the Trinity website and checked out the pre-season roster of the BB team.  Shocked to see only five....yes five players listed.....three juniors, one soph. and one senior!  Does this surprise any other non Trinity posters.  Was this turnover of players posted earlier?

[centfan]

does trinity have a  special freshman point guard coming in?

[NEBBall25]

New to this blog but long time follower of the league and of high school basketball around the New England Area. Wanted to follow up with the last few comments:

1) To follow up last few writers I think Trinity has more then just a stud PG coming in. On that note who do people think are Top 5 Freshman coming into the league? Any thoughts on Ranking the Teams in-coming classes?

Looking forward to things getting started.

[nescac1]

It's pretty hard to rank incoming classes when (a) we don't know the entirety of most classes and (b) outside of New England recruits, there is little info on how good players are relative to other recruits. But here is a round-up of what has been made public to date: 

It seems like Williams has a top notch recruiting group.  For the second year in a row, they are, at a minimum, bringing in a lot of length, and players from all over the country.  In the hoops newsletter they released the full recruiting class, which consists of 6'9 Florida C Edward Flynn, 6'5 Colorado PF Parker Semin, 6'5 California F/G Daniel Wohl, and 6'4 Missouri G Matt McCreary.  It sounds like all have the potential to contribute early on, especially the big guys.  Semin has the most impressive credentials on paper, as he was second team all-state Colorado.  But again, it is hard to tell -- Flynn was only third team all-county (not terribly impressive on paper), but he has been reported to be very good, and if he is 6'9 and can play, should be an impact guy in NESCAC. 

Middlebury supposedly has a strong group coming in, but so far only two have been made public, a pair of 6'5 forwards,  Dylan Sinnickson and Hunter Merryman, but I am sure there are others. 

Amherst has two potential stars in SF Joe Mussachia and PG Ray Barry, plus a developmental big guy prospect in Alex Levine and one or two dual sport football guys.  Barry at least will likely need to play right away as Amherst loses Conor Meehan and has only one primary ball-handler returning.  Mussachia as good as he is reputed to be may have to wait with all of Amherst's returning depth at forward. 

Bowdoin has a very strong class and well-rounded group in 6'10 John Swords, 6'6 Keegan Pieri, and PG Bryan Hurley. 

Trinity I don't get the sense is quite as strong at the top as Amherst, Williams, and likely Midd, but the tremendous depth of the class (12 guys!) and the opportunity for early playing time will undoubtedly yield a lot of big-time contributions from that group.  Swingmen Jon Seltzer, Mikel Simpson, and Mike O'Loughlin sound like the most acclaimed, but it really is a toss-up as to how it will all turn out.   

Bates loses a ton of scoring and may be counting on the top-rated New England frosh in NESCAC, Graham Safford, to carry the scoring load right away.   

Tufts has a few strong New England guards coming in in Ben Ferris and CJ Moss. Little has been reported on Colby, Hamilton, Wesleyan, or Conn College. 

If I had to guess the top rookies at this point, I would say that Semin, Flynn, Mussachia, Barry, Merryman, Pierri, Swords, Safford, and whoever from Trinity's enormous group of swingmen emerges are the most likely contenders for instant impact guys.  But that is a hugely speculative.  Last year, for example, everyone was high on Aaron Toomey, and he lived up to the hype, but the other two top rookies (Joey Kizel and Matt Vadas) got little or no pre-season acclaim.  And things change as the year goes along -- by the end of the season, for example, Hayden Rooke-Ley and Taylor Epley were two of the key bench players for a Williams team that made the final four, after both were fairly quiet at the start of the season.   

[Major Hoople]

Anyone know how the Middlebury campus and surrounding town fared iln this disaster for Vermont?

[Bucket]

Anyone know how the Middlebury campus and surrounding town fared iln this disaster for Vermont?

The town of Middlebury is fine, though Otter Creek has continued to rise, and yesterday fall athletes were down along the river sandbagging waterfront businesses.

Surrounding communities, unfortunately, were not spared the destruction that is unfolding all across the state. Brandon, Rutland, and Goshen all saw substantial flood damage. Rochester, just over the mountain from the Bread Load campus, has been one of the 11 towns in Vermont completely cut off.

And travel to Middlebury, unless you are coming down Route 7 from Burlington, is difficult. 125 over the mountain is closed; Route 7 south of Rutland is closed; as is route 4 east of Rutland.   

[nescac1]

Thanks for the update, Bucket.  Good to hear the students are helping out.  Hope everyone there remains safe. 

[nescac1]

Speaking of Midd, one other player joining their team this year, adding to the strong NY/NJ pipeline there:

Dean Brierley, Delbarton, 6-4, 200, Senior
The Middlebury-bound forward, known for his superior work ethic, finished with 1,331 points and averaged 24 points and 10.5 rebounds for his 19-7 team. Scored 25 points or more in 12 games, 11 of which were victories.

[amh63]

nescac1.........where do you get this info?  Having another N.J. guard/fwd join the Midd. team is not good for the rest of the conference.  Especially based on what Wolfin '13 and Kizel '14 did last year.  The kid sounds like a player that will add quality minutes by the end of the season.  His prep school has provided top players for Amherst.  Tim McLanghlin '07, a guard/starter for the championship team; Matt Goldsmith '08 a front line player of quality who played in Europe after graduation and Tom Killian '14 a guard/forward who by the end of the season was getting more and more minutes.  Coach Hixon stated that it was getting harder and harder explaining to Killian's father why his son was not getting more time as the season went on.....as Amherst was winning.

[Old Guy]

Just to stir the pot a little as the school year is here......One of the key Midd. assistant has left for Cornell. amh3

Assistants come and go in NESCAC (cf Halas at Amherst). That they go rarely is a story beyond the obvious. The life of a basketball assistant coach, even in D3, is hardly secure. It is not, to say the least, a highly remunerative position. They move, the young ones anyway, when they find a better situation, and the coach and program they leave are happy for them. Such is the case at Middlebury. Arlen Galloway (Kenyon '06) made a lot of friends at Middlebury. Everything I've heard about him was positive. He goes to Cornell with everyone's best wishes:

http://cornellbigred.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1331&path=mbball

[grabtherim]

Interesting how the Cornell release refers to Midd as a D3 hoops "powerhouse".  I'm sure that is music to the ears of long time followers of the program.  That being said, every team starts at 0-0 in November.  Hopefully the Cornell reference still fits months later in March 2012. 

[Old Guy]

Interesting how the Cornell release refers to Midd as a D3 hoops "powerhouse".  I'm sure that is music to the ears of long time followers of the program.  That being said, every team starts at 0-0 in November.  Hopefully the Cornell reference still fits months later in March 2012.  grabtherim

"Interesting" in what sense? Does Cornell misrepresent? The Panthers are 77-10 in the last three years, 32-4 against league (NESCAC) opponents; 111-28 in the past five years (four NCAA tourney selections). I think that qualifies as "powerhouse."

Williams (and maybe Amherst) would be "perennial" powerhouses; Trinity, Ct. College, and Hamilton (perhaps Colby too if you go back far enough) are "former" powerhouses; and Bowdoin and Wesleyan may be "emerging" powerhouses, if there can be such. Trinity may be returning to powerhouse status. We'll see.

I think there's a chance Middlebury will still be regarded a "powerhouse" program in the spring. It was a long time coming and is indeed music to the ears of Panther fans and former players of similar passion to those players on recent teams, if lesser ability.

[grabtherim]

Interesting how the Cornell release refers to Midd as a D3 hoops "powerhouse".  I'm sure that is music to the ears of long time followers of the program.  That being said, every team starts at 0-0 in November.  Hopefully the Cornell reference still fits months later in March 2012.  grabtherim

"Interesting" in what sense? Does Cornell misrepresent? The Panthers are 77-10 in the last three years, 32-4 against league (NESCAC) opponents; 111-28 in the past five years (four NCAA tourney selections). I think that qualifies as "powerhouse."

Williams (and maybe Amherst) would be "perennial" powerhouses; Trinity, Ct. College, and Hamilton (perhaps Colby too if you go back far enough) are "former" powerhouses; and Bowdoin and Wesleyan may be "emerging" powerhouses, if there can be such. Trinity may be returning to powerhouse status. We'll see.

I think there's a chance Middlebury will still be regarded a "powerhouse" program in the spring. It was a long time coming and is indeed music to the ears of Panther fans and former players of similar passion to those players on recent teams, if lesser ability.

I think you might have over reacted to the word interesting.  Perhaps a bit of decaf before you type Old Guy.  Just kidding.  Afterall this is basketball not life and death.  I am in one of the classes of Midd folks you describe, and this type of description is music to my ears.  I am hopeful that the Midd kids can overcome the loss of some quality players/kids from last year, and have another special season.  Time will tell. 

[nescac1]

Learn to coach like Mike Maker ...

http://www.mensbasketballhoopscoop.com/2011/09/mike-maker-winning-with-a-hybrid-princeton-offense-five-star-coaching-clinic/

[amh63]

Interesting piece on the Williams' coach.  Still, is this a marketing item by the school or the coach? Do not fully understand the purpose except a possible self promoting piece.   But, I guess, I am somewhat bias.