MBB: NESCAC

[stlawus]

Bittersweet news about Hixon, much deserved retirement, but the league won't be the same without him. Amherst will have plenty of qualified options for his replacement.

Congrats to Brian Baptiste, head coach at UMass-Dartmouth, who now takes the reins as winningest active coach in New England (among all three divisions).

Nescac1, thanks for sharing the article on first Final Four run for Williams. Interesting to see what New England teams have appeared in the Final Four - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_III_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament

Note that in our story it mentions that Baptiste is the winningest active coach in Division III overall as well.

Note that we get it, d3hoops wrote the story.   The guy was just making an observation, you don't have a monopoly on knowing who the current leader in wins is.   I have no idea why there's been so much gatekeeping from the d3 hoops staff this year. 

[grabtherim]

If you have learned anything from reading this forum, it should be there is no paper as thin as this guy's skin.  The need to correct, note what he has previously said, and to pontificate are his hallmarks and have been for years.  No one and I mean no one knows more or is beyond being told, actually better said corrected, on what he has written, said or knows, and finally to remind us ad nauseam in a condescending way that he said, knew or wrote it first.   

[Pat Coleman]

Grabtherim is perfectly channeling 2012. I don't think I've done nearly as much of that in the past decade as you are suggesting.

Stlawus: I was pointing out a slightly different fact. Both observations are relevant! Winningest active coach in D-III overall, and winningest active coach in New England across all divisions.

[Pat Coleman]

That having been said, though, if I'm going to be honest -- it is definitely important to us that people read D3hoops.com and D3football.com. Those page views, and the ads that display when those page views occur, are what allow us to have websites and publish news and all the rest. We definitely like to have people read our sites so that they continue to exist.

[SpringSt7]

A couple quick Hixon stats, courtesy of a very deep quarantine dive:

-In his 42 year tenure as Amherst's HC, the rest of the NESCAC made 45 coaching changes. He coached against 42 different head coaches--Jeff Brown and Joe Reilly both left Bates for their current HC jobs at Middlebury and Wesleyan. (As an aside, kind of funny to think that the last three Bates HCs are still in the league.)

-Bates and Conn College have had 8 different HCs since Hixon took over at Amherst, followed by Trinity and Williams with 6.

-Tim Gilbride is now the longest tenured HC in the league, having completed 35 seasons at Bowdoin, followed by Bob Sheldon's 32 and Jeff Brown's 23. Joe Reilly has also spent 23 years as a NESCAC HC as well.

-Hixon coached John McCarthy, who played at Amherst from 1984-1988. More than 20 years later, he coached his sons, Johnny and Tim.

[jayhawk]

Tim Gilbride's son Mark spent a year as assistant to Hixon at Amherst
'Now a very successful coach at RPI-

[NEhoops]

Interesting to think about the two former Bates head coaches in the NESCAC.

Jeff Brown was 30-41 (Win% of .423) in his three seasons at Bates. His best (and only winning season) was in 1994-95 when the team posted a record of 12-11. During his 23 years at Middlebury he has compiled a record of 396-210 (Win% of .653) and has had much success in both NESCAC and NCAA play.

Joe Reilly was 154-121 (Win% of .560) in his 11 seasons at Bates. His top two seasons were in 2004-05 when the team won 19 games and lost to Amherst in the NESCAC final. The following year the team won 20 games and lost to Amherst in the semifinal. Bates went to the NESCAC tournament in Reilly’s final six seasons and during that time, despite winning 18 (twice), 19 and 20 games, they never received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Some would make the claim that his final years at Bates were as good as it was ever going to get for the basketball program. During his 12 years at Wesleyan he has compiled a record of 180-125 (Win% of .590) and has definitely raised the profile of the program.

For perspective, Jon Furbush is 150-151 (Win% of .498) through 12 seasons at Bates. He has led the team to the NESCAC tournament eight times, including multiple trips to the semifinals. His best, and only season with more than 15 wins was in 2014-15. The team won 21 games, received an at-large bid and made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament.

With that said, a few questions to ponder:

-   Why did Middlebury take a chance on Jeff Brown after his three less than stellar seasons at Bates? Middlebury, even at that time, was one of the premier collegiate athletic programs in the country at the Division III level.

-   What do you think are the main reasons for the success of Brown and Reilly in their current positions? Some of their struggles at Bates?

-   What is the ceiling for the Bates basketball program?

There is a lot of respect for the coaches and/or programs that I have mentioned, and in no way is this a slight. Like SpringSt7 mentioned, just a deep quarantine dive.

[JEFFFAN]

https://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-College-basketball-coach-Dave-Hixon-retires-after-42-seasons-33856605

[ronk]

 Just listened to an extensive podcast of D3 player David Dixon with Scranton WBB HC Nick DiPillo. There's a set of other podcasts of NESCAC HCs from March - Aaron Toomey(Episode 69), Kevin App(68), Damien Strahorn(72).

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-double-double/id1451996810

[SpringSt7]

Joe Reilly was 154-121 (Win% of .560) in his 11 seasons at Bates. His top two seasons were in 2004-05 when the team won 19 games and lost to Amherst in the NESCAC final. The following year the team won 20 games and lost to Amherst in the semifinal. Bates went to the NESCAC tournament in Reilly's final six seasons and during that time, despite winning 18 (twice), 19 and 20 games, they never received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Some would make the claim that his final years at Bates were as good as it was ever going to get for the basketball program. During his 12 years at Wesleyan he has compiled a record of 180-125 (Win% of .590) and has definitely raised the profile of the program.

I'll preface this by saying I think Joe Reilly is a top 3 coach in the league now that Hixon is gone, and while there are so many different measures to evaluate a coach and so many different factors to consider, the fact that he has had success at two programs with little previous winning before he got there tells you all you need to know.

What Reilly has been terrific at is finding ways to win with less talent---duh. Bates clearly has a lower ceiling than most other NESCACs, as long as they are in Maine it's going to be really hard to recruit, plain and simple. When you look at Wesleyan more recently, his teams have carved out a reputation for being tough, physical, and hard-nosed great defensive teams. Guys like Krill, Bonner, Kuo, O'Brien, etc., all built out that identity. I know as a Williams fan those games are rock fights every time no matter what, I'll never feel confident in penciling in a win against Wesleyan.

But how far does that all get you? Recent results would say a NESCAC championship and a NESCAC runner up, but also only a second round appearance in the NCAA tournament to show for it. At some point, you have to translate that into being able to recruit more talented athletes who can put the ball in the hoop and score to be truly nationally competitive. The obvious push back to that would be to say that a guy like Austin Hutcherson helped out with that a whole lot and his departure definitely didn't help in taking that next step. Being able to recruit a kid of his caliber shows that they're trending in the right direction.

But on the flipside, Reilly and Wesleyan are now stuck in a spot where they no longer necessarily need to recruit the Krills and Bonners to be successful, which might not be their wheelhouse for success. They now have guys with more offensive talent--Walker, Peek, Ravetz, to name a few. But this past year, with or without Hutcherson, was always going to be a struggle defensively. Where do they go from here?

Reilly is trying to find a way to raise the ceiling of the program, which as you mentioned, he eventually ran out of room to do so at Bates, but will it end up helping or hurting? There are worse things to do than come in 4th in the NESCAC every year and play in the NCAA tournament.

[SpringSt7]

Tim Gilbride's son Mark spent a year as assistant to Hixon at Amherst
'Now a very successful coach at RPI-

Piggy backing off of this because it is definitely something worth noting. Other former Hixon assistants who have had success as HCs that should definitely be in the mix for the job:

-Mark Gilbride, RPI

• 5 year record of 75-51 at Clarkson, most wins in first five years in the history of the program
• 86-69 record at RPI since joining in 2014, 24-5 record this year was tops in school history, 2nd time they reached the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament

-Luke Flockerzi, Rochester

• 159-77 in 9 years at Rochester
• 2 UAA conference championships, 4 NCAA tournament appearances, including an Elite 8 (2017) and Sweet 16 (2011)

-Kevin Hopkins, Muhlenberg

• Improved record from 11-12 to 19-8 in 3 seasons at Muhlenberg
• 5 seasons as an AC at Amherst, 126-23 record, 3 Final Fours, 2013 National Champions

-Matt Goldsmith, TCNJ

• 86-49 record in 5 years
• 2020 NJAC Champions, 2nd round appearance in NCAA Tournament,

-Connor Johnson, Delaware Blue Coats HC (76ers G-League affliate)

• 4 year player at Amherst, did not coach on Hixon's staff
• Graduate Assistant at Villanova, spent 3 years on 76ers staff in video coordination and player development before taking Bluecoats HC job in 2018

Toomey is probably the favorite for the job, but there are some really good options within the Hixon tree. It's hard to say a guy like Flockerzi doesn't deserve a really good look.

[nescac1]

Regarding Bates, I wonder if that gym (which for the record I LOVE) is a hindrance, just because not only is there no real track record of sustained success, but there isn't even the possibility of ever hosting (I believe) an NCAA game due to its size.  Colby and Bates are similarly-situated geographically, but Colby has clearly been doing massive investments in its athletics program, including what will be easily the best facilities for indoor sports in NESCAC, and the results are starting to show as football and hoops are clearly trending up ...

On the other hand, Bates did bring in a HECK of a frosh class this year.  Another group like that this year or next, and they will be cooking with gas ...

[NEhoops]

If I needed to pick one NESCAC coach to win me one game, I'd pick Reilly. It is extremely hard for a DIII team to recover from losing a player early, particularly someone at Hutcherson's level. I think it is a fair expectation to think that Wesleyan should finish in the top half of the league each year and be battling for an at-large bid.

It's always tough following a legend, but Amherst supporters would feel really good with Flockerzi taking the reins. I'm sure there has been some recent conversations between the Gilbride's about how many more years Tim is planning to be at Bowdoin.   

[amh63]

Several comments wrt possible HC candidates at Amherst.  All the former Amherst players listed are solid candidates.  Luke has done well at Rochester and succeeded in the UAA...a very tough place to win games.  Why would he want to return to the Nescac?  Like Maker, and another Williams HC, a move would be to D1....more money, etc.  Coach Hixon was also a dept. administrator and was paid accordingly.
Remember Matt Goldsmith's father, a former steady poster on this board and a Georgetown Un. Alum, stated that Matt would start wining at TCNJ when he could recruit solid players as tall as himself.  Matt played BB at a NJ private school.   Recruiting top student-athletes to Amherst around the country/world will be a key requirement for any Amherst HC,imho.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

You also have to factor in how many great, experienced coaches outside the Amherst family will be applying for this job.  I don't know that the Amherst athletic department has the same reputation as WashU's across the country, but WashU was selecting from the absolute cream of the crop in D3.  Hixon has had Amherst's MBB program on that level, for sure; it's yet to be seen if they'll be selecting from a similarly impressive group of finalists.