MBB: NESCAC

[lumbercat]

Our prayers go out to Jack Allard. 26 years old with no underlying conditions. This takes the perception of this awful plague in a different direction at least for me. Let's pray for his recovery.

[SpringSt7]

Luke Rogers is d3hoops.com 3rd-Team All-American and Sam Jefferson is an Honorable Mention All-American. Congrats to both, especially Jefferson who now gets to call himself an All-American, much deserved after a season limited by injury.

https://www.d3hoops.com/awards/all-americans/men/2020

They both get to call themselves All-Americans.

Rogers had already received All-American honors from the NABC, but point made

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Oh I realize ... but not from D3hoops. And it was just funny the way you wrote it.

[nescac1]

JL Cauvin '01 is now the second most famous Eph hoops alum thanks to this viral video ... certainly the best Trump impersonation I've seen!   Four million views and counting ...

https://twitter.com/jlcauvin/status/1242515702688485376?s=21

[jayhawk]

Amherst College recruit Mohammed Alausa from New Hampton School
Did prep year was a captain  at same school as Grant Robinson

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/423864/5e7003e2d45ff0137c6edbd2

[nescac1]

Andover post-grad Noah Dinkins (H.S. teammate of current Eph Brandon Arnold) commits to Williams:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Uh6g1hV9x/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

NERR has him ranked 40th in MA ... to date, the only Nescac-bound ranked MA / CT players are both headed to Williams, as Coach App continues to bring in strong recruiting classes.

The Ephs will have four North Carolina players on the roster for the next few years ...

[SpringSt7]

Conn College lands what appears to be a potential difference maker, G Jarron Flynn from Kimball Union Academy (NH).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-VeEuIJkJ2/

Flynn missed his senior year with a knee injury, but was the #4 prospect in Maine as a junior. Looks like a pretty big time athlete. If he can return to his pre-injury form, could be a serious addition for the Camels, and will probably contribute immediately regardless. A smart piece of recruiting from Coach Sweeney.

[nescac1]

Current list of announced NESCAC recruits.  The numbers seem a bit low considering we are almost in April, but I imagine COVID may have delayed some recruits' final decisions. 

Bobby Sommers, 6'3 G/F, Amherst
Mohammad Alausa, 6'4 G/F, Amherst
Trace Gotham, 6'5 F, Bates
Stephen Ward, 6'6 F, Bates
Simon McCormick, 5'6 G, Bates
David Basich, 6'0 G, Colby
Henry Westrich, 6'4 G/F, Colby
Liam O'Connell, 6'4 G, Colby
Lucas Green, 6'5 F, Colby
Eric Baier, 6'3 G, Colby
Jarron Flynn, 6'3 G, Conn College
Billy Whelan, 6'0 G, Conn College
Julius Nagin, 6'3 G, Hamilton
Ryan Michaels, 6'6 F, Hamilton
David Brennan, 6'5 F, Middlebury
Jay Dieterle, 6'4 G, Tufts
Liam Murphy, 6'5 F, Tufts
Will Dorion, 6'1 G, Trinity
Charlie Campbell, 6'2 G/F, Trinity
Garrett Kirk, 6'2 G, Trinity
Kiran Kling, 6'9 C, Wesleyan
Olu Oladitan, 6'6 F, Wesleyan
Brandon Roughley, 6'8 F, Williams
Noah Dinkins, 6'4 G, Williams

Some thoughts: not a lot of guys who seem like instant impact types on the list to date, especially as compared to last year's very strong frosh class, but who knows.  Often some of the best recruits commit very late, as they hold out for D1 until the last minute.  Maybe this year moreso than ever.

Roughley, Dorion, Dieterle, Flynn, and O'Connell seem like the most likely to be in the ROY conversation ... the teams with the biggest holes are Bowdoin and Conn, and only one recruit announced between them so far, so I imagine we will be seeing a lot more names for both (especially Conn, as new coaches tend to bring in big classes in their first full recruiting seasons).  NESCAC continues to trend smaller -- only two big guys on the list so far, and Kling seems like more of a project type recruit. 

Finally, Middlebury really could use a big-time recruit (or two), especially up front.  Midd's rising senior class is of course beyond loaded.  But between the frosh and sophomore classes, only Sobel (whose status remains a bit up in the air) and Charlie Moore (2 ppg in 20 games) even played in the regular rotation.  Midd will be in serious rebuilding mode after next season, when the Panthers will graduate probably 6 of their top 8 players, including their top 4 perhaps 5, but it would sure help to have a few frosh in the pipeline who can step right in as sophomores. Even Jeff Brown can't work his magic without a few stars!

Edit: Thanks to a tip, added Baier to Colby.  Looks like another good one for the Mules, put up big numbers against solid competition.  Strahorn continues his very strong recruiting.

[SpringSt7]

A couple big offseason questions for each NESCAC team heading into next season. Bear in mind that a lot of these might sound a little repetitive, such is the nature of a strong conference where teams are graduating great players year in and year out. Also tried to avoid some of the obvious (Injuries, individual improvements, Sobel, etc.)

Amherst: Grant Robinson's health is the big question mark, how much he is able to return to his sophomore year form will make or break their season, but what can they do to find easier buckets inside with a seeming lack of interior offensive presence after Eric Sellew's graduation?

Bates: How much can their rising sophomore class take a leap to replace their outgoing senior guards' production? Is Stephon Baxter ready to lead the offense, but can they find any help from their upperclassmen?

Bowdoin: Who replaces David Reynolds, on a team that already struggled to score? What will Xavier Rucker look like returning from a season-ending knee injury?

Colby: A ton of questions for a still very talented Mules team. Who will be the best player? How similar or dissimilar will they look without Jefferson at the 5, or will they return to a more traditional lineup, despite still lacking size?

Conn College: How many recruits does Tim Sweeney bring in in his first recruiting class, and how much can they learn on the fly? Are Draffan and McPherron good enough to get this team going?

Hamilton:Who's going to put the ball in the hoop? None of their returners averaged more than double digits. Is there any potential star power on this roster, and will it reveal itself?

Middlebury: A lot of mouths to feed next year, can they strike the right balance between Farrell, Eastman, and Bosco? How big of a loss is Matt Folger?

Trinity: Can they find the wings to replace Padmore and Seretta and still play the way that Coach Cosgrove wants to play? How far can they go with Donovan and Jorden, and how much help do they need?

Tufts: Look loaded coming back, but Eric Savage is still a big loss. Who can steady the backcourt and be the do-it-all guard that he was for them this year?

Wesleyan: Another team returning just about everyone, but is that enough? Can Antone Walker be the guy, or does the ball need to be in someone else's hands a little bit more, like Sam Peek?

Williams: Who's the guy on this team, is it Cole Prowitt-Smith? How much can the freshmen and sophomores step up, or will it be another year of growing pains?

[nescac1]

Lots of good thoughts, SpringSt7!  Just a few responses:

A healthy Robinson will make Amherst quite scary, indeed.  The bad news for the rest of the league is that one would not expect a shoulder injury, unless it's been aggravated, to linger on into a second season.  Moreover, I thought he actually seemed more skilled (just much less explosive getting to the rim and finishing) than in past years, his shooting and passing in particular looked very good.  The center position is a big , but Amherst does return FIVE centers next year, many of whom played a fair amount this season and several of whom were highly regarded recruits.  They should figure out, at worst, a capable center-by-committee rotation.

Bates: I'd note, in particular, who is gonna shoot the ball from the outside???  They return only 54 total three pointers made, and they didn't shoot that ball all that well from deep last season. 

Midd: I'd add will Sobel return and will he play the entire season?  With him, the team seems not to have any real holes in the roster. 

Trinity: they do indeed lose a lot of firepower and experience at wing and guard.  But it sure does seem like they've brought in two straight classes (including the incoming group) that are loaded with well-regarded wings and guards.  They will have plenty of talented, albeit inexperienced, replacements to choose from ... I think where they really are going to hurt is on the defensive end, as Seretta, Bell and especially Padmore could really terrorize opposing guards on defense with their size, strength and ferocity. 

[JEFFFAN]

https://www.gazettenet.com/Northampton-native-Willy-Workman-has-6th-pro-basketball-season-end-prematurely-due-to-COVID-19-pandemic-33654914

[Colby Hoops]

Good stuff from both SpringSt7 and nescac1. On the incoming FY front for Colby, both O'Connell and Baier seem like they'll have a very good chance to be in the rotation right away. 

Outside of the obvious four, the only guys on the current Colby roster who seem like locks to play regular minutes next year are Alec McGovern and Jonah Obi. I'm pretty confident that McGovern will be a reliable player, he made some big plays in clutch situations toward the end of the year in his limited minutes. Obi has a ton of talent -- strong, athletic and a fairly good ballhandler for his size. He got to the rim easily whenever he was on the court. His finishing around the rim and outside jumper both need some improvement and he's got a ways to go on the defensive end. If he can put it together, I think he has a chance to be a very impactful player -- might be another year away though.

Regarding how the offense will look, I think it will change somewhat. They'll still definitely play very small and fast and won't be shy about taking threes, but the volume of threes will decline without Jefferson and Dorion. The other part is that Jefferson and Dorion were both more effective moving off the ball than with it, where King and Tucker are kind of the opposite. I expect a bit more pick and roll/dribble handoff type action to be featured.

A few other random things. Roughley looks really good, should be an instant impact freshman. I think I'm still more optimistic than most on Hamilton, I like some of the talent they have and perhaps the old Bill Simmons Ewing Theory will be in play. It's hard not to defer to Gilmour all the time, should be more freedom for some of those players. I'm probably slightly lower on Wesleyan than some -- hard to see Walker all of a sudden taking care of the ball and shooting it efficiently. I like a lot of the other players though.

[nescac1]

Obi in his few minutes against Williams looked like he belonged athletically.  I imagine he will contend for the starting center role.  Between him and Will King, that's two 6'5 guys, and Tyson plays a lot bigger than his size, so Colby should be OK up front, even if they won't present the same type of massive match up issues for opposing bigs without Jefferson. 

Fun-looking local Bates recruit, only 5'6 but impressive H.S. stats, maybe a spark plug off the bench behind Baxter? 

https://www.centralmaine.com/2020/03/31/central-maine-boys-basketball-player-of-the-year-simon-mccormick-cony/

[nescac1]

Cool:

Duncan Robinson is partnering with Dunkin' (Duncan and Dunkin', get it?) to bring coffee and donuts to medical workers and first responders at Miami-era COVID-19 testing sites and hospitals over the next 3 weeks.

https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/1246083451134115840?s=20

[NEhoops]

The coaching carousel is rather quiet at the D3 level, particularly in the Northeast. Credit to the current coaches in place and the seemingly positive direction of their respective programs.

One change is at UMaine-Farmington, where Coach Meader recently retired. In 44 years of college coaching he amassed over 500 wins – kudos to a great career.