MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Thanks jayhawk for the article.  Interesting.  I think that once a school makes a connection to a HS around the country/world and a player arrives on campus and has a positive experience, etc., then more potential recruits are available. 
Amherst has three football players from Columbus, Ohio presently.  Watched the Wesleyan football game with a classmate.  He and his older brother both played football at Amherst.  There were three players from Columbus, Ohio on the team in the 60's...one was my classmate who pointed out that starters were expected to play both defense and offense.
The present volleyball team has a girl from Hawaii and many, many players from California.  The volleyball coach doesn't have to travel to California or Hawaii often if at all lately....have chatted with the HC on the subject. 

[amh63]

A quick post here before the start of basketball for the conference.
Amherst has added two assistant coaches to support Toomey this season.  One is the former big guard I saw at Homecoming...class of '18..from Coastal Va.

[maineman]

What happened to Joey Leighton on Midd?  I thought he would be playing as a senior this year.  Did he take a year off?

[middhoops]

Joey Leighton has a broken foot.  He is unable to play this season.

[toad22]

Injuries are a part of athletics. They are an unwanted one! In the past ten years, Williams has had one team with no significant injuries. That was Mike Maker's first Final 4 team in 2010. They played 32 games with the same starting lineup. Very unusual. This year, the Ephs start with just one player injured, Marc Taylor, who is recovering very nicely from a snapped Achilles' tendon last season. He should be back soon. This season is especially interesting to me because the team is mostly new. It wil be great fun to see how they do.

[nescac1]

A few interesting notes on the Conn College roster: https://camelathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/roster

I still expect Conn to have a rough year in this rebuilding season, but considering how late in the process he was hired (long after regular recruiting had ended), Tim Sweeney (who I do think was a very strong hire) was able to make a few interesting roster additions.  First, frosh Ben McPherron, who back in the fall was listed as a Bowdoin recruit.  I think he could make an impact as a frosh, especially for Conn, which was really devoid of perimeter playmaking last year.  Definitely a guy to watch for potential ROY in NESCAC.  Second, Jeff Allen, a 6'7 forward who can shoot and who was a D2 scholarship player at St. Rose the last two years.  Third, Austin Lavitt transferred him from Case Western, where he played in the rotation as a frosh before getting hurt.

An Omslaer (a 7 footer who figures to improve over time)-Draffan-Allen frontcourt would certainly be huge, and not without talent.  Draffan at least is legit.  If McPherron and/or Lavitt can contribute as a frosh next to returning guards Jeff Zimmerman and Matt Carlin, that's at least a strong core to build from (none of the players I mentioned are seniors) for the future.  If nothing else, Conn will be huge 1-5 this year.  If Sweeney can bring in a very strong class of recruits in his first season, and I bet that he will since he can sell immediately playing time and I would think would get support from admissions, things may be looking up for Conn as soon as the 2020-21 season ...

And really, I do think Conn is a team that should be able to be at least competitive in NESCAC with the right leadership (which it seems like it has lacked for quite some time).  It was 20 years ago that Conn was absolutely loaded and even made a Final Four.  It's in the middle of a great area for recruiting, as it can draw on CT and NYC players as well as other New England players.  And without a football team, I would think that basketball would have more flexibility to bring in recruits than other NESCAC programs, where so many male athlete slots are allocated to football. 

Most of the NESCAC teams do have rosters up now.  While a few unexpected faces from come or gone, I haven't seen anyone who is an obvious difference-maker either added, or missing, who was not previously discussed here.   I still see the likely picture of the league as Amherst and Midd clearly on top as national contenders, and Colby, Tufts, Trinity, Williams and Hamilton in the middle group fighting for NCAA bids (maybe Wesleyan too, depending on how much of a jump their sophomores make, but they are more of a long shot and I think will struggle to find points at times).  Bates, Bowdoin, and Conn seem on paper to be the teams most likely to struggle, but all at least have some interesting players and could certainly surprise some teams ...

[JEFFFAN]

Which teams bring the most back in terms of minutes, points, rebounds, etc.?  Not too many Duncan Robinsons out there that are going to make a huge impact coming in so it is hard for frosh to make much of a difference.

[nescac1]

There is a pretty clear top echelon of teams in terms of who brings everyone or nearly everyone back: Amherst, Midd, Tufts, Colby, Trinity.  Everyone else suffered some significant losses.  Of course, Amherst, followed by Midd, were the best of that group last year, hence why they are the favorites this year.

But I do think in addition to first-years, rising sophomores are always important to watch, as they can dramatically change a team's fortunes.  Amherst and Midd are great examples of teams who succeeded last year thanks to dramatic leaps forward by several members of their respective sophomore classes.  Tufts also succeeded late in the season thanks to a tremendous sophomore class that made strides throughout the year. 

Wesleyan, Hamilton, and Williams are to me three teams that suffered huge losses but who may be able to still succeed through promising sophomore classes making much bigger impacts, combined with some help from well-regarded frosh.  But time will tell ...

[Bucket]

Which teams bring the most back in terms of minutes, points, rebounds, etc.?  Not too many Duncan Robinsons out there that are going to make a huge impact coming in so it is hard for frosh to make much of a difference.

In addition to returnees for Middlebury (well documented), I'm expecting Tommy Eastman to be a high-impact addition as a transfer. He averaged a double double as a sophomore at Geneseo, earning second-team All SUNYAC honors.

[SpringSt7]

While we are just a few days out from our first games of the season, I think these games won't tell us a lot about each team's ability, but will tell us a lot about their individual compositions. Here are a few key questions I think we might get answered this weekend:

Amherst--How does their frontcourt look with the graduations of Schneider and Bachmann? If Sellew moves to the 5, who slots in on the perimeter? And who is his backup?

Bates--Who else can this team rely on to make shots besides Jeff Spellman?

Bowdoin--Who steps up to be the #2 option after Reynolds? Can Rucker provide more of an offensive spark as a junior? One player I have my eye on: Sam Grad.

Colby: How does Dean Weiner fix into what Coach Strahorn was building in his absence?

Conn: Will the minutes be spread out? Will it be mostly younger guys? How does transfer Jeff Allen fit into the mix?

Hamilton: Who replaces Grassey and Hoffmann's scoring? I have my best guess in Nick Osarenren but can guys like Lutz, Denloye, and Kendall also contribute to filling the void left next to Kena Gilmour?

Middlebury: Can Tommy Eastman live up to hype? How does he fit in with their pace and space guards?

Trinity: Can one or more of their guards step up and become better playmakers and scorers, or does Donald Jorden have it in him to carry this team to where they want to go?

Tufts: Everyone returns but is that a good thing? How do the roles on this team work--especially with Savage, Rogers, and Aronson

Wesleyan: Can Antone Walker be efficient enough as a lead guard to put them in a position to win games defensively, and who amongst their sophomore class will also take steps up?

Williams: So much to replace scoring wise, where to begin? Can Karpowicz be a true first-team guy, and who from their crop of young talent can help him out?

[Colby Hoops]

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to teams outside the NESCAC, but it looks like Colby-Ramapo and Tufts-Emerson should be good games on Saturday. And I believe if Trinity wins they are likely to play UMass-Dartmouth, which should be a decent game as well.

Most of the other games look like the NESCAC teams should be favored by a bit. Strangely, Bates doesn't play a game this weekend.

[amh63]

Amherst's roster has been posted.  A big roster both in number of players and the size of the new players.  The two earlier transfer players posted plus three FYs'.  Harlan, a junior, is slotted as a center.  The other transfer is a Soph and a guard....uniform no.10...replaces a front court player that has not returned.  There is a FY listed as a center at 6'10".   
Do not believe Sellew has to move to 5 position .

[bhm390]

Three non-graduation losses for Trinity. Anthony Kelley and Francis Uzorh are not enrolled this year (don't know why), and 6'9" Jared Whitt tore his ACL in the preseason. The Bantams should still be improved as they return a strong senior class, but all three of these guys began to get pretty solid minutes last year, especially Kelley (buzzer beater to beat Colby) and Whitt. This hurts given that Coach Cosgrove frequently likes to rotate 10 or so guys in and out.

[nescac1]

Tough break for Whitt and Trinity, that's a bummer.   I think Trinity should be able to replace Kelley this season, between the strong crop of returning guards on hand plus what seems like a really good group of incoming guards / wings.  Tough loss for the future though, since Trinity has a lot of seniors.  Whitt could be a big loss because other than Jorden, it's unclear who will play for Trinity up front.  Connor Merinder did a lot of the dirty work on the inside and he was lost to graduation, unclear who will rebound and defend bigs besides Jorden, and he can't do everything.  Uzorh I recall being a well-regarded recruit, but he never seemed to crack the rotation.  I would guess Jadikas Brooks backs up Jorden, as the two other returning centers did not see any action, and Trinity goes with four small guys around the center position.  Bants figure now to be undersized, but tough, quick and very athletic. 

The most interesting start to the schedule is for Hamilton I'd say, with two (potentially) very tough games on the road in New Jersey to open the season, first vs. TCNJ and then vs. potentially tourney host Drew.  Usually Hamilton plays a terrible early schedule, and this is an interesting year to change that up for a team with four new starters. 

[jayhawk]

Isa Maguire 6'10" forward center from Northfield Mt Hermon may have an opportunity to play significant minutes
Comes from a powerhouse prep school be interesting to see if he gets the minutes.
Thin but fluid and move very well for such a big man