MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Williams posters are watching some odd videos!  At least I watched basketball videos.   The Bates' video was school produced and seems to me was made to increase applications.  The one wrt Middlebury...IMO.. people living in VT should not RAp.

[P'bearfan]

And that instantly moves into the pantheon of videos that best encapsulate NESCAC in under three minutes, along with prior classics such as:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZzCHcMKyDc

[I'm sure that I am forgetting a few ...]

Oh my.....the season really needs to start soon!

[amh63]

Pbear.Fan...well stated!  Plus Karma

[nescac1]

Wesleyan has the first NESCAC season preview posted:

http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/news/2013/10/mbballpreview102513.html

With no one back who averaged more than five points a game, it could be a long season in Middletown, even with a strong recruiting class.  It appears based on this preview that Avery Robinson, Obama's nephew, is no longer playing hoops.   

On the plus side, the Cards did snag an intriguing transfer: Joe Edmonds, a big guard who originally signed with D-1 University of San Francisco:

http://bayarea.sbnation.com/2011/11/9/2550627/national-signing-day-college-basketball-san-francisco-dons-basketball-recruits-rex-walters

[Panthernation]

Happy November 1st, all.

[nescac1]

Interesting note from Joe Edmonds on his transfer to Wesleyan:

I have been meaning to post on the board to update the fans on my future plans, but to also thank the staff and fans for my time at USF. Although I have taken longer than I meant to, this seems like the appropriate time after I noticed an inquiry regarding my future plans in the Frank Rogers thread. Next year I will be attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. I chose Wesleyan over Amherst and Colby along with Ivy League and Patriot League options. I narrowed my search to Division 3 to avoid sitting out another year and was looking for the best situation for me as a student-athlete, which I have found at Wesleyan.

My time at USF was nothing but a good experience and my relationship with the coaching staff and my former teammates was nothing but positive. Unfortunately, I was looking to focus more on my academics and post-graduate opportunities outside of basketball that sometimes are not made available to Division 1 athletes. I am confident that I would have found my way at USF athletically and academically, but in the end it just was not the best fit. With that being said, I would encourage all current and future recruits to strongly consider USF- just because it wasn't the perfect fit for me does not mean you will not have a great experience on the Hilltop.

I look forward to supporting the Dons this year and hope that come Selection Sunday I will be glued to the T.V. watching my former teammates celebrate their destination for March Madness. Thank you again for all of the support you showed me and for your continued support of the the program. Speaking from experience, we players took kindly to the positive support from the fans. The amount of time and effort the players and coaches put in should be recognized by the fans and for those of you who always stood behind us- thank you.

Best of luck in 2013-2014. Go Dons!

Best,

Joe Edmonds

http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?46414-What-it-s-all-about-%28w-link-to-DC%29

[Jumbo Fan]

A well spoken and mature young man!

[madzillagd]

The future has arrived.  The NBA has already launched some of the new stats being grabbed by the SportVu system. 

http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingSpeed.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25

[P'bearfan]

Just a note: I changed my username - long story but P'bearfan reflects my allegiances - and is easier to type

A couple of thoughts on the team after my visit to Bowdoin last week:

Team is dealing with a couple of injuries - one is serious (Hurley) and this will definitely impact their chances this year

Pieri is listed at 6'-6" but is a solid 6'-7"

One of the seniors who had seen limited playing time (Evan Kulak) has decided not continue with the team; wish him the best

Another, senior Grant While didn't play football this year and has had a good pre-season.  He could turn into a nice surprise this year

Bowdoin had 3 freshman commits but only 2 are enrolled.  Liam Farley, and ED commit, decided to take a PG year (Loomis Chaffee??).  Not sure the reasoning behind this but this certainly makes for a small class.

Remaining freshmen - Fuller and Hewit - both have good size.  Will be interesting to see if they can contribute.

Team looked good in pick up play - lots of good chemistry. 

Looking forward to the opening tournaments!!

[P'bearfan]

Another, senior Grant While didn't play football this year and has had a good pre-season.  He could turn into a nice surprise this year

That should be "Grant White"

[madzillagd]

Bummed to hear Hurley has been a victim of injury this year.  What originally was going to be very intriguing year to see if some of the second tier teams could push their way into the top three, is now dampened a bit by all the injuries to key players.  I had originally picked Tufts to get by Midd but with Palleschi out I don't think that is going to happen.  I may have picked Bowdoin to pass up Tufts as a result too of his absence but if Hurley is unable to go for awhile (or at all - not sure how serious) I'm not sure they can accomplish that.  Let's hope for no more injuries as we finally get to start up the season today.

[Old Guy]

Happy November 1st, all. Panther Nation

I'm here, so far away, desperate for NESCAC hoop news and analysis, and Panther Nation provides a four-word post? The world is upside-down indeed.

[nescac1]

Old Guy, I'm guessing that Panther Nation will in a week or so have plenty more words to share ... so hang tough!

Agree with Madzillagd re: the Big Three now looking more and more likely to remain the dominant forces in NESCAC for yet another year.  Tufts without Palleschi and Bowdoin without Hurley for some extended period of time are very, very different animals. Clearly heading into the season, those were the two most indispensible guys for each team, and neither has the depth of talent to overcome those losses (Amherst minus Toomey, Midd minus Kizell, and Williams minus Mayer would all be dramatatically diminished as well, but all would still be top-25 caliber teams, possibly excepting Midd).  Hard to see either Bowdoin or Tufts competing for a NESCAC crown this year in light of the injury developments. 

Colby (in particular), Trinity, and Bates all have promising futures and talented young cores, but all are at least a year away from being competitive with the big dogs.  Wesleyan and Hamilton are in the midst of full-on rebuilding mode, and Conn College is in perpetual rebuilding mode.  Next year, with Toomey, Mayer/Epley, and Kizell all graduated, perhaps a different story, and we may see more competitive balance ...

[amh63]

Nescac1....thanks for providing "food" to Old Guy's hunger.   I hoping that this weekend will generate other schools' rosters, etc.  My comments will follow when such info provided....at least more meaningful posts.

[middhoops]

Nescac1 said, " Next year, with Toomey, Mayer/Epley, and Kizell all graduated, perhaps a different story, and we may see more competitive balance ..."
Tufts has a big chance to jump into the mix next year (if not this) but as you look at the recruiting classes and all the excess talent on the bench, it's still hard to argue with the Big 3 looking out a year or two.
Having said that, I truly hope that I am wrong.