MBB: NESCAC

[senatorfrost]

 I have no doubt that Furbush separated himself from the very strong candidate pool. However, like most people my IQ has three digits so I don't believe for a second that this 'Search' was legitimate.
  This was a done deal long before the first interview. I guess they wanted to show the world how desirable Bates was by having innocent souls apply and perform  their 'please like me' bits and then figuratively spit in their faces by going with the alumni lad of 25.
  I am not saying he shouldn't have gotten the job. They know what they want and like and it's their team. I simply think the world could have lived without the fraudulent show they produced and without the claptrap that followed.

[Pat Coleman]

If it was such a done deal, why did it take so long?

[formerbant10]

Senator,

Do you know who else was a finalist or anyone else that interviewed?

[toad22]

I have heard that several candidates turned down the Bates job before Furbush got the call.

[senatorfrost]

 Former Bant: I've heard no names. 
Toad: I doubt very much that what you heard is correct. However perhaps some head coaches were offered the job at what a 4th year coaching person would be paid. I doubt that's the case but I will check into it. If that's what happened then it's a rigging in my book.
    Pat: It reminds me of one of those hollywood movies where Cinderella (OR)The Prince has been in town all along and all of a sudden people 'see' the glory and the wonder of what was right in  front of them for the longest time.
Furbush played 3 years there and coached for two. He grew up there and so I believe they were smart enough to see him for what he is a long time ago.
   He's an alum, he's from Maine, and he's probably cheap. (3 yrs. exp) I can see why they might want to take a shot and hope enthusiasm can effectively sub for experience, especially since he saves Bates $$$
   If you're staging a production you want to do it right. I heard they interviewed 5-7 people. It takes a while for people to respond to ads. It takes a while for a committee to read apps. Then you have to set up appointments.
  Then when there's a fix the AD twists and turns and manipulates until his/her favorite is chosen. I know of two other fixes and that's what happened. Each time the candidate who looked weakest was chosen and that doesn't even count all the people who never got called in for an interview.

[Mr. Ypsi]

SF,

I of course have no inside info on whether your scenario is true, but I can testify that it is entirely plausible.  A couple of decades ago I applied for a local CC position.  A colleague at EMU was a graduate of the CC and retained close ties.  He said my app was almost certainly #1, with a couple others close behind; none of us were in the final pool.  Instead they had their candidate plus 4 others who barely met the minimum qualifications.

Since only the final round is at all open to public scrutiny, there is plenty of room for 'hanky-panky' in the 'qualifying rounds'.  (And, yes, they took several months to reach their foregone conclusion - looks much more 'honest' that way!)

[ac08]

IMHO,
Roberson is very good, but there is certainly less pressure to perform well (both internally and externally) being the back up. I am sure he will do well but I don't know that him as a starter plus the "new" back up is better than kwame + roberson...at least not yet.

some of the players who haven't been mentioned for amherst may be the best kept secret as far as talent goes. not too many members of the LJN saw the explosion of fletcher walters coming.

'deis v the 'herst will be a war. Coach Meehan is good ...but so is that other coach.

[nescac1]

Radio silence re: the Williams coaching search -- Toad et. al., hear of any rumored candidates? 

AC08, I don't know, a lot of folks at least on here were talking about Walters being very talented and just not having a chance to play much as early as his Sophomore year as I recall.   Wheeler is certainly set to explode but beyond that?  The fact that Meehan leaped ahead of the rising senior guards in the rotation, when Hixon is loathe to play frosh in general, shows that Meehan is either really, really, really good, or those guards are unlikely to make anything close to a Walters-level impact.  Holsey is a known quantity -- amazing athlete / defender but never will be a huge scorer.  That pretty much leaves Bennett as the big unknown, by far the most hyped guy on the Amherst bench (supposedly Hixon said the best big man recruit ever at Amherst) but supposedly needs work on his strength and shooting form.  I think it is more likely for Waller or one of the other frosh big guys to make an immediate impact than for anyone other than Wheeler or possibly Bennett to make a Walters-like leap.  (And didn't Hixon supposedly say they might have two frosh starters next year, which again speaks volumes of the talent of the incoming class vs. the returning bench guys ....)? 

In general, anyone else in the league likely to have a real break-out year? 

[toad22]

I don't have names in the Eph coaching search, but I do know that 125+ candidates applied, among those, at least 15 are considered to be very strong. Interviews start this week & there will be a new coach early in July. The expectation is that the new coach will immediately hit the road recruiting, as July is the prime month. Cutting the list to 3-4 for on campus interviews is said to be the most difficult part.

[nescac1]

Thanks for the update, Toad.  If you hear any names of finalists, please let us know!  Glad to hear the job is attracting a lot of interest (no huge shock there, of course ...).  If there is one thing Sheehy knows it is basketball coaching talent, so I have confidence he'll find someone great. 

[eclinchy]

On paper 'Deis is tough and they will be a top 3 team in New England wire to wire.
Amherst & Trinity will finish atop the NESCAC and be the other two top teams in the region (unless you want to count MASCAC teams...).

Middlebury could easily be better than them both -- they do have two of the top five players in the league, after all.

My early picks for the New England top 5 are Brandeis, Midd, Amherst, Trinity and RIC, in that order.  Honorable mention to the two NEWMAC squads (MIT and Wheaton).

It might be a little bit of a down year for the NESCAC, but there are still several really talented seniors left (most notably Pierce, Baskauskas, Smith/Rudin).  Should be a good season.

A quick Tufts update: recruit James Long (6-4, 235-pound center out of Norwell High School) was named to the Globe's Richard Phelps Scholar-Athletes team.  The complete team, along with some photos and a link to extended bios:

http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/allscholastics/spring2008/scholar_athletes/

[ac08]

nescac1, i mispoke before. I just meant that while many people thought that maybe fletch could be a 1st team caliber player, not too many people outside of amherst fans were confident. for the information you are given, i agree with the lion's share of your assement on amherst talent. all i am saying is that the in tandem that is marcus bradley/ glenn wong, one of the two will garner attention for a walter's-eque leap in production.

[Agent_Zero]

eclinchy, pierce will be playing his junior season. he didnt play his freshman year, still has two years of eligibility left and last i heard, plans on using them both

[Clark Basketball]

Why is all the talk about MIT and Wheaton in the NEWMAC.  They finished tied for last in the league for the past two years.  It is the same talk every year about these teams, yet they have never gone to the dance.  I would be talking about WPI.  And Clark finished second in the league last year with all coming back plus probably the best recruiting class in the league coming in.  I would agree with the top teams in NE next year as stated above, but just thrown off with people putting MIT and Wheaton in the mix.

[Pat Coleman]

Perhaps because you're the only Clark poster and you have 16 posts since September 22, 2005.

Plus, this is the NESCAC board. They're not as likely to be NEWMAC experts.