MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

There are very, very few players out there, nationally, who are good enough to make an impact for Williams on the court, not QUITE good enough to get a D1 scholarship (at least one from a desirable destination) or get snagged by an Ivy, and have the academics to get admitted to Williams.  So it makes sense to cast a wide net, given that there may only be a few guys each year in New England who are even going to be on the Ephs' radar.  I can't think of many New England players who the Ephs went after hard, but who chose another school ...

I will note that the two best D3 New England recruits during the last three decades -- Mike Nogelo and Duncan Robinson -- both picked Williams.  And Ben Coffin, James Wang, and Mike Crotty are surely right there in the next group.  So when the Ephs take a recruit from New England, they usually make it count.  Hopefully Karpowicz ends up in the category of "making it count" as well ...

Further supporting the limited pool theory ... Amherst's best ever recruits, Andrew Olson and Aaron Toomey, both also hailed from outside New England ... as did many of their other great players like Baskauskas, Bedford, etc., and most of the top Amherst recruits from New England have had some sort of tie to the school, e.g., Workman and Zieja playing right in the Jeffs' backyard or McCarthy who was a legacy.  So I just think there aren't that many players out there who fit the bill.   

[P'bearfan]

The Williams roster certainly underscores the Ephs' ability to recruit on a national basis....3 kids from Ohio, 2 from Indiana, 2 from California, plus kids from Idaho, Tennessee and Washington state.

Interesting point.  Bowdoin's roster has traditionally been stocked with players from New England and the Mid-Atlantic.  This year they are bringing in 4-5 players plus one transfer student.  The roster will have more geographic diversity than the last few years with players from CA, IL, GA and Switzerland.   Still not the truly national / international recruiting pool that other schools have  (e.g. Williams, Amherst, MIT) but it's great to see their reach increasing. 

Looking forward to the start of the season!

[P'bearfan]

Notwithstanding the geographic diversity of the upcoming Williams roster, I would hesitate to draw any conclusions from this small sample set, however, as there are a lot of variables involved, from coach's preferences to alumni networks to the fact that it may be a lot easier to recruit outside of New England given the competition for New England kids among Ivies, NESCAC, NEWMAC and Patriot league schools.

Agree with the points above, but I wonder if there are big differences in the travel budgets for different NESCAC schools.  Almost all the coaches attend local / regional basketball camp each June (e.g. Harvard) but if you have the budget to travel to similar camps across the country you're in much better shape to identify and recruit the players you want / need.

Anyone have insight in how big the travel budgets are for the coaches? (assume this becomes the assistants job)

[nescac1]

Where did Bowdoin pick up a transfer from?

[P'bearfan]

Where did Bowdoin pick up a transfer from?

Not sure I have all the facts....my understanding is that he played on the Swiss Jr National team (uncertain if he attended HS in the US or not), attended Lafayette for his FY year but didn't play there.  Took a gap year last year and is now at Bowdoin.  Pretty good shooter from what I've heard.

[nescac1]

Gotcha.  Bowdoin has the best returning player in the league, but Swords and Hurley are huge losses so I imagine they will counting on a lot of production from a few of the new players, otherwise it's going to be the Hausman show every night ...

[P'bearfan]

Agreed.  Bowdoin will need to have a more balanced attack that includes consistent outside shooting to open up the lane for Hausman.  If they can do that they'll be in good shape. 

[Old Guy]

Williams has its roster posted -- no surprises.  Only nine returning players, and of those nine, only four played major minutes last year, while three others saw sporadic action.  The six anticipated frosh are all on the roster, and they certainly bring size ... average height of 6'7 among the six.  It will certainly be an unpredictable beginning of the season for the Ephs, with lots of new faces, especially up front. 

http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mbkb/2015-16/roster

So am I to assume there's no such thing anymore of "tryouts." The roster can be posted before the first practice? We made much here of Nolan Thompson's "walk-on" status a few years back. Is it no longer possible that a player can slip through the cracks? Maybe a kid who was cut the year before from a deep roster and worked and worked and matured physically and is now deserving of a spot?

I guess I'm livin' in the past. The captain's practices before Nov. 1 are hardly informal.

[toad22]

I don't think walk-ons succeed very often anymore. I am aware of four students who have tried since I moved to Williamstown in 2006. They played in the preseason with the team, and had a tryout, but none succeeded in making the team. We have had several football players, who played on the JV, who were asked to play on the varsity. I believe those guys were all recruited football players, and the basketball coach was well aware of them before they came to school. It sure would be great to find a Nolan Thompson.

[quicksilver]

Where did Bowdoin pick up a transfer from?

Not sure I have all the facts....my understanding is that he played on the Swiss Jr National team (uncertain if he attended HS in the US or not), attended Lafayette for his FY year but didn't play there.  Took a gap year last year and is now at Bowdoin.  Pretty good shooter from what I've heard.

Mystery solved (I think). The Bowdoin transfer is Richard McAllister, a 6-5 SG, who played for the Swiss junior team and also played a year for Andover (2012-13). Here is a little video from his Andover days that provides some sense of his skill level. He looks to be a dual national (Swiss-American).

[P'bearfan]

Basketball season is finally here as today is the first day of official practices!  Good luck to the Polar Bears as they start the season with an early morning practice. 

Lots of big shoes to fill with the departure of Swords, Pieri, and Hurley.  My only prediction is that this team will be much better at the end of the season than the start.   We will have more new faces on the court than at any other time in the last two years.  It will take some time for tHem to adjust to each other.  I'm also interested to see what type of offense Coach Gilbride installs.

[P'bearfan]

Quote from: nescac1 on October 30, 2015, 08:32:57 pm
Williams has its roster posted -- no surprises.  Only nine returning players, and of those nine, only four played major minutes last year, while three others saw sporadic action.  The six anticipated frosh are all on the roster, and they certainly bring size ... average height of 6'7 among the six.  It will certainly be an unpredictable beginning of the season for the Ephs, with lots of new faces, especially up front. 

http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mbkb/2015-16/roster

So am I to assume there's no such thing anymore of "tryouts." The roster can be posted before the first practice? We made much here of Nolan Thompson's "walk-on" status a few years back. Is it no longer possible that a player can slip through the cracks? Maybe a kid who was cut the year before from a deep roster and worked and worked and matured physically and is now deserving of a spot?

I guess I'm livin' in the past. The captain's practices before Nov. 1 are hardly informal.

Overall I think it's very difficult for walk ons to join a team let alone have a real impact.  The players who reach even the D3 level have generally been playing basketball for years.  If you want to play in college you almost certainly have to play AAU tournaments and play at college camps which means it's difficult to play another sport like baseball (at least not at a high level).

Last year Stephen Girolamo, a baseball player at Bowdoin, was able to walk on and he saw the floor in a few games.  My understanding is that another student will try to walk on this year as well. I admire the drive of these players and wish them the best of luck.

[P'bearfan]

Mystery solved (I think). The Bowdoin transfer is Richard McAllister, a 6-5 SG, who played for the Swiss junior team and also played a year for Andover (2012-13).

Yes you're right.  I just couldn't think of his name when I was posting.  I haven't seen him play but hopefully with his size he can create some match challenges for opponents.

[nescac1]

Williams has its roster posted -- no surprises.  Only nine returning players, and of those nine, only four played major minutes last year, while three others saw sporadic action.  The six anticipated frosh are all on the roster, and they certainly bring size ... average height of 6'7 among the six.  It will certainly be an unpredictable beginning of the season for the Ephs, with lots of new faces, especially up front. 

http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mbkb/2015-16/roster

No doubt that the frosh bring some much needed height but I'm curious as to how much they will be able to contribute this year (based on nothing more than the roster info).  At 6'-10" and only 215 lbs,  6'-9" and only 210 lbs and 6'-8" and only 205 lbs,  I'm not sure either Kempton, Porath or Soto will be able to hold their own in the paint - at least not for long stretches. 

Give them a year or two and they're likely to be a fearsome front line but it looks like they need some time in the weight room.  Of course they could be all be very athletic or great outside shooters but what Williams lacked last year was an inside presence and rebounding.

Get them on the Duncan Robinson program, stat!!

[nescac1]

Congrats to Lucas Hausman (first team) and Connor Green (fourth team) on their pre-season all-America selections:

http://www.d3hoops.com/awards/all-americans/men/preseason-2016