MBB: NESCAC

[met_fan]

I grew up in Maine - even that long ago schools like MCI (Maine Central Institute) and Bridgton Academy had powerhouse pg sports programs, that was their signature purpose. Then other schools too in NE - Cushing Academy and Brewster come to mind - emphasized pg sports. My question is when did the "rich and famous" (Choate, Taft, Deerfield, Mt Hermon, etc) decide to go this route - and why? And has the pg prep year become something of a "red shirt freshman" concept, a year to get bigger and stronger before entering the college fray? Seems something of a violation of the D3 ethos, no?

We have adopted too the lexicon of D1: we talk about "recruits" and "walk-ons." We have programs that put out their rosters before the season starts and "tryouts" are held. Seems like we might want to celebrate on this board those players who were lightly recruited or "walked-on" and made an impact on their squads (Nolan Thompson at Middlebury).

Not only are post grad students somewhat of a red shirt concept, a lot of students who come to school as a freshman, sophmore, or junior simply repeat the year they just did in public school.  So a kid who just finished his sophmore year at his local high school goes to prep school and enrolls as a sophmore again.

[magicman]

Pat Sullivan who graduated from Hamilton College this past year and was a 2nd team NECSAC All Conference selection is playing in Ireland on the Moycullen Basketball Club in Ireland's Superleague. After 3 games Sullivan is the 5th leading scorer (21 ppg) and 3rd leading rebounder (12 rpg). He's recorded a double-double in each game. Here's a link to the story from the Hamilton website:

http://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/men-s-basketball-alum-playing-professionally-in-ireland

It looks like this Irish lad has found a home.

[Old Guy]

Hamilton Coach Stockwell is right - playing hoops abroad is a wonderful way to "experience a different culture, . . . and explore the world."

Middlebury's Ryan Sharry is playing in Luxembourg, as has been reported here. His season has started. His team, T 71 Dudelange, has played five games, winning two. Ryan is playing his usual productive and efficient game, averaging 19.4 points a game on 74% shooting from the field (31-44) and 41% from three (7-17) and is averaging ten rebounds a game. He leads his team in minutes (31 per game) and is second in scoring. His team is a mix of Americans and Luxembourgians. The team's leading scorer is a 25 year-old 6'3" point guard from Cal Baptist (21.6 ppg), Tom Schumacher, fifth year on the team, and the other American starter, 6'5" Kevin Smith, 33, is from Richmond and played last year in Japan.

http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=LUX&Team=1232

[quicksilver]

And we have Bowdoin's Will Hanley playing for Oviedo in Spain. It turns out that Will is a dual citizen of the US and Ireland.

[madzillagd]

Here's a little tidbit for the Williams folks that would be fun to see...

The NCAA requires a minimum of 5 years to include coaches in their records, Coach Maker is heading into his 5th year which will make him eligible after this season.  Here's a link to the full list (http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2012/coaches.pdf)  According to the Williams site, Maker is 93-22 in his 4 years putting him at an .809 winning %. 

The current active winningest coaches in the NCAA are...
DI:  Roy Williams  .798
DII: Jim Crutchfield  .814
DIII: Bob Smelling  .815

Williams has 24 games on the schedule this year and with the assumption they are going to play a minimum of 25 games, if the Ephs were to win at least 22 games Maker would enter the list with a record of 115-25 or .821.   

Obviously the other coaches on the list will go up/down as well and who knows what coaches are out there sitting on 4 years that could come in even higher.  However, it's possible that Maker could enter the list as the winningest coach in college basketball.  Seems unlikely after a 17-8 year last year but given that the Ephs followed up a 17-9 record 4 years ago with a 30-2 mark the following year you never know. 

[madzillagd]

Yet another Duncan Robinson story, this one with a video. 

Here's a link to the story...  http://ballastv.com/profiles/blogs/duncan-robinson-william-mary

Here's the video embedded....  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJBRmTAEOKg&feature=player_embedded

[Old Guy]

You sure it's not David Robinson (or Jackie Robinson)?

[nescac1]

You never want to hype an incoming frosh too much, but I will say, the Robinson video is really impressive.  He needs about 15-20 pounds of muscle to play in the front court in college, but his quickness, handle, and coordination are all well above average for his height, plus he can shoot.  He looks like a guy who could earn some minutes as frosh. 

More Williams recruiting news, of course, pending actually getting admitted:

http://ehoopsohio.blogspot.com/2012/10/columbus-academy-g-aronowitz-decides-on.html

[amh63]

Having little to add to this board at this time.....when the Amherst website does not list the new players or even list the schools in the kick-off tournament.  Stuck on the football board more.....since there are three players on the football team....contributing players including the starting QB Lippe who is listed at 5 lbs heavier this year.  One concern is that L. Lewis, the all conference CB is injured and this may limit his time/play on the hardwood.  The third player. Garay, is playing WR and his speed and quickness is showing as he is getting more playing time at WR in each game.....not a total surprise since he was all-state twice in NY in football.
Late update.....Garay caught 10 passes for 93 yards in the game this weekend against Tufts.  Many of the passes from BB teammate Lippe.  Guess I should state that Garay was all-Long Island in BB.

[madzillagd]

Some more filler as we inch closer to the season starting this week. One place I'd love to be today is Fairfield at this coaches clinic. Coach Maker and legend Pete Carrill are both key speakers.  What a great way to spend a Sunday.

http://www.fairfieldstags.com/news/2012/8/23/MBB_0823120707.aspx

[amh63]

Madz.....nice.  Where do you find this stuff?  Special search engine?

[madzillagd]

Madz.....nice.  Where do you find this stuff?  Special search engine?

Well the first thing you'd have to do is get that 'Amherst' that you had specially hard-coded into your search field removed...   

Honestly, probably the best tool I've found so far for getting info about what's going on is twitter.  I definitely use google etc. as well but once you've established a good network of folks to follow on twitter you get a lot of information dropped into your lap as soon as it happens.  You've got to sift through a lot of junk too but if you're using lists etc. it makes it pretty easy to find things.

[amh63]

Madz...thanks.   I do not do " twitter" much or use the social network.  Sort of "dense" with this new internet stuff....to the amusement of my grown kids, two who work in the IT fields.  Basically it is by choice as I prefer hard copy and fountain pens after more than three decades in technical professions.  Then again, maybe its lack of ability?

[amh63]

Interesting story posted on the Amherst athletic website.  Two persons associated with the basketball program in 2008 are featured. Kolby Altman and Glenn Wong....one an assistant coach (and a Middlebury grad.) and one an Amherst player, are now working for NBA teams.

[maineman]

Practice starts tomorrow, 11-1-12?