MBB: NESCAC

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 10, 2011, 09:26:18 AM

You gotta be careful with your wording, nescac1, some of the top NESCAC players turn down d1 offers to attend academically superior schools.

dman · February 10, 2011, 09:56:06 AM

in 1999, conn college went undefeated until the national semifinals-i think their final record was 28-1.....

nescac1 · February 10, 2011, 10:13:13 AM

I wasn't suggesting otherwise, Hoops Fan! Wang, for example, got one D-1 scholarship offer, at least. But I bet a lot more D-1 schools, in hindsight, would have recruited / made offers to a few of the top NESCAC guys listed. Some guys are late bloomers, some guys are overlooked because of lack of height or bulk, but each year, a few slip through the cracks that, even if they receive some D-1 looks, don't get as much attention as they should have in retrospect.

Thanks dman, totally forgot about conn college! Pretty amazing how fast things went up, then came back down, for the Camels.

Old Guy · February 10, 2011, 11:50:03 AM

Don't know Coach Hixon's political leanings....though I do lean towards the Tuft's mascot. Just hit the wrong row/letter. (amh63)

I think confusing Coach Hixon, even in a typo, with Dick "I have a plan to end the Vietnam War" Nixon is an affront of the first rank. That lie cost the lives of three of my friends and countless other contemporaries. Old animosities die hard. I prefer to think Amh63 subliminally meant Norm or Otis - or even Russ (for you vintage Sox fans).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Nixon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Nixon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Nixon

booyakasha · February 10, 2011, 01:27:45 PM

no love for Trot Nixon Old Guy?

lemonjello · February 10, 2011, 01:31:43 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 10, 2011, 10:13:13 AM
I wasn't suggesting otherwise, Hoops Fan! Wang, for example, got one D-1 scholarship offer, at least. But I bet a lot more D-1 schools, in hindsight, would have recruited / made offers to a few of the top NESCAC guys listed. Some guys are late bloomers, some guys are overlooked because of lack of height or bulk, but each year, a few slip through the cracks that, even if they receive some D-1 looks, don't get as much attention as they should have in retrospect.

Thanks dman, totally forgot about conn college! Pretty amazing how fast things went up, then came back down, for the Camels.

I seem to remember David Waller getting some D-1 interest as well, but I could be misremembering.

jayhawk · February 10, 2011, 01:45:42 PM

Peter Kaasila definitely had D-1 possibilites. I am not sure that Whittington could actually be a D-I player he is perfect for being a great D-3 player. I have never seen him take a jumpshot.

Gene Garay the recruit from Oceanside is probably a football recruit. He was All-Long Island as a wide receiver

He had very impressive credentials, see:http://www.empirechallenge.com/inthenews.asp?page=111

nescac1 · February 10, 2011, 02:02:49 PM

I am confident that Whittington could be a back-to-the-basket four in D-1 (probably too short to handle the five), certainly at the Patriot / Ivy level he would be a very good player, and Maker has on several occasions referred ot him as a D-1 player, and Maker would know.

He does not attempt outside shots, true, and he is only 6'6 (and that may be generous). But his long arms and tremendous strength make up for his height, and he has plus quickness and jumping ability for even a low-level D-1 frontcourt player. He can definitely get to the basket from 12 feet out using his quickness, he usually posts up, but he has done that on a number of occasions this year, and is very difficult to guard in the post with a nice array of most and a high release point. He definitely has the length and foot speed to guard D-1 fours on the other end.

He has great touch around the basket and I wouldn't be suprised if he could extend that a bit if asked to do so -- remember, the Eph offense is geared around threes and layups, very few guys really attempt many shots in the area between 5 and 20 feet from the basket, so it is hard to know who capable Troy is in that range. He is also an excellent passer with a high hoops IQ. I'd be stunned if there were not Patriot and Ivy teams with less talented starting fours than Whittington.

Speaking of which I would love Williams to schedule a game against an Ivy or a Holy Cross type school again. May not be possible considering it is basically is a lose-lose proposition for those schools, since if they lose, it looks pretty bad. But seeing Williams play Holy Cross back in 2004 you could definitely see which guys could have been big contributors at a higher level. Maybe Sheehy would be up for a Dartmouth -- Willaims game? That might spell trouble for Dartmouth though

.

Colby Hoops · February 10, 2011, 02:25:44 PM

I have no doubt that quite a few of these players could make an impact at the D-1 level. Nescac seems to get a few D-1 transfers and most of them don't end up doing much. Abdo for Trinity was decent, Orchowski for Tufts is solid, but I don't remember a whole lot of D-1 transfers becoming stars in the Nescac. I think Pat Martin for Trinity a few years back was from BU and he was very good. Still, it seems to indicate that the difference between the low-level of Division 1 and the high levels of Division 3 isn't quite as great some would you lead to believe. Most top Nescac players seem to have one thing that prevents them from being heavily recruited out of high school, and usually its size, ie Whittington, Toomey, etc.

Major Hoople · February 10, 2011, 08:56:59 PM

Add level of talent to Colby Hoops' list. We should be pleased that all of the men mentioned have elevated the level of play in the NESCAC, giving its participating schools athletic as well as scholastic credibility. Enjoy the weekend.

amh63 · February 10, 2011, 10:23:53 PM

About four to five years ago, there was a transfer from Brown Un. that arrived at Amherst with high expectations. He was an athletic 6'5" player with a sweet jump shot. In his three years he was primarily a bench player, with his time diminishing on the floor as the years passed. He is among many conference players with Div. 1 talent that for whatever reason never stepped up.

walzy31 · February 11, 2011, 03:07:13 AM

Quote from: amh63 on February 10, 2011, 10:23:53 PM
About four to five years ago, there was a transfer from Brown Un. that arrived at Amherst with high expectations. He was an athletic 6'5" player with a sweet jump shot. In his three years he was primarily a bench player, with his time diminishing on the floor as the years passed. He is among many conference players with Div. 1 talent that for whatever reason never stepped up.

He was a legend.

jayhawk · February 11, 2011, 07:07:17 AM

Nice article and praise about Amherst recruit Mussachia:http://mass-nh-highschoolbasketballreport.blogspot.com/2011/02/joe-mussachia-manchester-making-their.html

Both Williams and Amherst as well as some schools are trying to recruit David Burton, a 6'7" forward on Hollywood Westlake.
Hollywod-Westlake has a big time frontcourt who are going D-I so Burton comes off the bench

nescac1 · February 11, 2011, 07:41:01 AM

Wonder what the Midd folks think of Walzy tabbing Middlebury as a 3.5 point home dog? If Workman isn't playing, I like Middlebury in that one ... if he is, I think it's a pick 'em.

Colby Hoops · February 11, 2011, 09:19:24 AM

Quote from: amh63 on February 10, 2011, 10:23:53 PM
About four to five years ago, there was a transfer from Brown Un. that arrived at Amherst with high expectations. He was an athletic 6'5" player with a sweet jump shot. In his three years he was primarily a bench player, with his time diminishing on the floor as the years passed. He is among many conference players with Div. 1 talent that for whatever reason never stepped up.

Good call, amh63, Adolph Coulibaly started at Brown as a freshman and ended up as a role player at Amherst.