MBB: NESCAC

[Vandy74]

Again, good luck to Trinity and Middlebury.  And hopefully tomorrow just good luck to Middlebury.

Salisbury 8 Middlebury 7.  Trinity 8 Cortland 6.  Good luck to Trinity tomorrow repeating as national champions.

I've posted this already on the lacrosse board but I'll add it here.  Salisbury avenged their loss to Trinity in last season's championship game today winning 12-5.  Congratulations to them on their second national championship.  But congratulations also to Trinity on another outstanding season.  Todays loss snapped a 29 game winning streak.  Coach Kate Livesay has made Trinity's women's lacrosse program the elite program in an elite conference in a very short time.  And I think she plans to stick around for a while. 

www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130421/SPORTS01/304210015/At-Middlebury-College-culture-excellence?nclick_check=1

I hope I got that right.

The above link is to a story from Vermont's largest newspaper.  While the focus is, of course, on Middlebury College it seems to me that the same article could have been written about most if not all NESCAC schools.  I'd be interested to hear if any of you agree.

[madzillagd]

Now this is a cool stat put out from the Tufts twitter feed after the softball team won: 

Tufts now has three national championships all-time, and Bri Keenan, left fielder and field hockey goalie, has two.

[amh63]

Vandy...nice article!  Thanks.  It clearly points out the importance of winning the conference title in any of the sports.  Such titles often lead to national ones.  In the tennis NCAA tournies three schools from the conference are battling for national titles...in both women and men...presently.  Amherst's baseball "CAC" title gave it a ticket to the NCAA and once there, it beat two highly ranked teams and almost beat another.   Long way around to say I agree!
Tufts latest title is an indication that it is along with a surging Weselyan program that other conference schools are going to challenge  Williams, Amherst and Middlebury for titles.  Should be a fun basketball season coming up!

[toad22]

Given the players Williams will likely be playing next year, I think that it's very possible that they will go all zone. Much of the time, they will probably have 3-4 6'5"+ players on the floor. Williams played a lot of zone this year, and I believe that the zone was largely responsible for several of our wins, including the unlikely Middlebury win in Williamstown. If they play it all the time they will play it much better. This could be a game-changer for Williams. Going to the Princeton/Georgetown offense when Maker arrived changed to game in the NESCAC, and this could again. I'm just speculating, but Maker would really love to play with five players, all 6'6" or more, all who can dribble, drive, and shoot the 3. That is perfect for the zone.

[amh63]

Toad...most interesting !   I would think that almost any coach would like to have the size and talent of the players you indicated.

[Vandy74]

I'm just speculating, but Maker would really love to play with five players, all 6'6" or more, all who can dribble, drive, and shoot the 3. That is perfect for the zone.

It sounds like it might be a good time to ask Holy Cross if they want a rematch.   

[toad22]

Williams wins men's and women's tennis National Championships. Congratulations to head coaches Dan Greenberg and Allison Swain. By the way, this is Allison's sixth championship in six years as a head coach at Williams. Not bad.

[nescac1]

Congrats to the Ephs!  Swain's record is unreal.  And very cool that both Greenberg and Swain are fairly recent Williams grads.  These two wins also just about locked up the Director's Cup for the Ephs, after Middlebury managed to steal it away for a year. 

[nescac1]

Surprised none of the Jeff posters mentioned this one, Allen Williamson will be playing pro ball in Luxembourg next year.  I imagine his style of play will be suited to pro ball and certainly will be entertaining for fans.  He is a guy who, if he keeps improving and develops a consistent three-point shot, could have a long and productive international career. 

http://www.propartnersports.com/2013/05/20/devin-taylor-and-allen-williamson-sign-with-etzella/

[Bucket]

Surprised none of the Jeff posters mentioned this one, Allen Williamson will be playing pro ball in Luxembourg next year.  I imagine his style of play will be suited to pro ball and certainly will be entertaining for fans.  He is a guy who, if he keeps improving and develops a consistent three-point shot, could have a long and productive international career. 

http://www.propartnersports.com/2013/05/20/devin-taylor-and-allen-williamson-sign-with-etzella/

Joining Ryan Sharry--both w/ Pro Partner and in Luxembourg.

Sharry had a monster year there. He averaged 19 and 13 and was the league's Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, and Import of the Year. He also led his team to the league title.

[amh63]

Congrats to the Williams' tennis teams.
Did not post since I did not look for the info.....only found out that Williamson had the urge to play pro recently.  Seems that Sharry's monster year helped get a Lord Jeff player selected by the same team.  The question is where is Willy going?....he has indicated early that he is interested in playing at another level after returning from a Summer of playing on the D3hoops team last Summer.
Bucket....if you see Sharry, my congrats to him.

[nescac1]

Some more recruiting updates:
http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/3100/Woods-Headlines-Latest-Commitment-Catch-Up.php

Final 2013 NESCAC Recruiting List posted below, lots of additions.  VERY early handicap for NESCAC ROY based on what's been reported so far: (1) Duncan Robinson, Williams; (2) Drew Madsen, Tufts; (3) Hunter Sabety, Tufts; (4) Harry Rafftery, Wesleyan; (5) Matt St. Amour, Middlebury;.  Other potential early-impact guys to watch closely: Nabatoff, Berman and Magana on Amherst, Aronowitz and Greenman on Williams, Smith on Tufts, Jones on Midd.   Probably a few others, but we have limited info due to lack of commentary from Bates/Bowdoin/Colby/Conn/Trinity/Hamilton folks.

A few notes: Amherst once again continues to bring in just a huge number of basketball recruits.  As per many previous years, many of those guys will never see the floor and likely won't stick on the team for more than a year.  Nice luxury to have.  The Jeffs seem to really be loading up on big wings who can shoot, which is no surprise after losing Williamson and Workman this year, with Killian and Gach graduating next year.   

The newish Hamilton coach did a nice job bringing in a ton of badly-needed size.  Colby, after a huge recruiting year last year, had a very quiet year.  Midd reloaded on the perimeter after losing a pair of four-year starters on the perimeter.  Wesleyan will need instant production from what looks like a solid group of recruits.  Hard to ascertain what the Trinity coach is going for, that program seems to be moving in the wrong direction.  Only one NESCAC New England recruit was ranked in the top 100 by NERR, Duncan Robinson (at 47, the first top-50 NESCAC recruit from the region that I can ever recall).  Surprised one or two more (St. Amour or Rafferty) didn't crack that.  Of course, a lot of the top recruits in the conference, especially the Amherst recruits, are from outside the region. 

Given who is returning and who is coming in, there looks like just as big a gap between the top four and the rest of NESCAC for next year, with only Bowdoin with a real shot to make a lot of noise outside of that group.  Colby should improve but is still another year away, while its young nucleus matures. 


AMHERST RECRUITS

Jacob Nabatoff---6'8 C, Charlotte Latin HS,  Charlotte, NC
Reid Berman---  6'0 PG, New Trier, IL
Jeff Racy--- 6'4 G, Ridgefield HS, Ridgefield, CT
Diego Magana -- 6'5 SG, Desert Mountain H.S., Arizona
Christien Wright - 6'5 SF, Bermingham Detroit Country Day 
Brady Holding, -- 6'3 SG, Dartmouth High School

BATES RECRUITS

Connor McLeod ---6'2 G, Needham HS, MA
Max Eaton -- 6'7 F, Phillips Exeter Academy, MA
Kenny Harringon -- 6'5 G St. John's Shrewsbury, MA

BOWDOIN RECRUITS

Jack Hewitt -- 6'7 C, Scarsdale H.S. , NY
Liam Farley -- 6'4", SG, Chicago Latin, Chicago, IL
Neil Fuller -- 6'6", F, Marist School, Atlanta, GA

COLBY RECRUITS
Myles Stephenson -- 6'0 PG, Poly Prep, NY
Andy Fullerton -- G, Tampa Prep

CONNECTICUT COLLEGE RECRUITS

Colin Pasco -- 6'5 F, Suffield Academy
Zuri Pavil -- 6'6 PF, Brewster Academy
Alex Hall -- 6'2 G, Brewster Academy

HAMILTON RECRUITS

Weston Wilbur---6'4 F, Wilton HS, Wilton, CT
Alex Addesi--- 6'8 F/C, Staples HS,  Westport CT
Carlos Fineman -- 6'8 F, College Prep HS, CA
Brett Busscher -- 6'7 F, Loyola Academy, IL
Kyle Pitman -- G, Desert Vista, AZ

MIDDLEBURY RECRUITS

Bryan Jones---6'1 G, Loomis Chaffee/Christian Heritage, CT
Matt St. Amour --6'2 G, Missisquoi HS, VT
Liam Naughton---6'2 G, Darien HS, CT
Jake Brown -- 5'11 PG, Wallenpaupack HS, PA

TRINITY RECRUITS

Ken Yajima - PG, American School (Japan)
Brian Horn - PG, Pascack Hills HS (NJ)
Ed Ogundeko -- 6'5 PF, Proctor Academcy

TUFTS RECRUITS

Hunter Sabety---6'8 C, Oceanside HS, Oceanside, NY
Tarik Smith---- 6'0 PG, Cheshire Academy, Concord, NH
Drew Madsen--- 6'6 F, St. Augustine's HS, San Diego, CA

WESLEYAN RECRUITS

Harry Rafferty---5'11 PG, Berwick/Phillips Exeter, Durham, NH
Joe Connelly---6'2 SG, Beaver Country Day, Boston, MA
Davis Reid---6'2 G, Phillips Exeter, Kansas City, MO
Joseph Kuo---6'9 C, Governors Academy, MA

WILLIAMS RECRUITS

Duncan Robinson---6'7 F, Phillips Exeter/Governors, Newcastle, NH
Daniel Aronowitz---6'5 F, Columbus Academy, Columbus, OH
Mike Greenman--- 5'9 PG , St Augustine Prep, Linwood, NJ

[lumbercat]

Bates Recruits:

Marcus Delpeche- 6'7"  Wilmington, De. -Wilmington Friends School
Malcolm Delpeche- 6'9"  Wilmington, De.  -Wilmington Friends School   
Max Eaton- 6'7"  St Petersburg Fl. -Philips Exeter
Brett Busscher- 6'7"  Winnetka, Il. -Loyola Academy
Kenny Harrington- 6'5" Worcester, Ma. -St Johns
Harrison Brown-  6'4"  Chappaqua, NY -Horace Greeley
Ben Burkey- 6'5"  South Portland, Me. -South Portland
Connor McLeod- 6'2" Needham, Ma.  -Needham
Quin Leary- 6'3" Auburn, Me.  -Edward Little
Jon Patterson-  6'6" Mineola, NY  -Chaminade
Charlie Fay- 6'4" Falmouth, Me.  -Falmouth

[Old Guy]

miscellany:

Talked to Peter Lynch yesterday - he's hoping to play professionally in Ireland next year. Both grandparents on his dad's side were born in Hibernia, the auld sod.

Tim Folan, Captain of the 2003 Williams team, a non starter his senior year but came off the bench to beat Amherst with his outside shooting and was a "star" player that helped win the title game in Salem. amh63

This talk of Folan has me thinking about 6th men at Middlebury, Jamal Davis and James Jensen, athletic swingmen, 6'5" - 6'6", could guard anybody, and make a big bucket. James was crucial down the stretch for Midd this year, and Jamal won games for us in 2010-11.

It will be interesting to see how Coach Brown uses Jensen next year. Most assume he will start, along with Kizel and Roberts, but the game changes when he comes in and he might be best used off the bench again, upping the tempo. He played starter minutes this year (21 mpg). He's fun to watch.

[nescac1]

Thanks, lumbercat.  Wow, Bates is bringing in ELEVEN recruits?  That is insane.  The Bobcats finally got some badly needed size, and how, with four guys who are 6'7 plus.  Busscher was listed elsewhere as going to Hamilton, interesting. 

Although Delaware high school hoops is pretty awful (Ethan Timmins-Schiffman dominated the state and didn't do a ton at Williams, for example), the Delpeche brothers, based on online highlights, look like very interesting prospects -- tall and athletic, certainly, although probably will need some time to develop.  And given Bates' paucity of big guys, they should have some early opportunities. 

I remain particularly interested in seeing if The Highlander can hoop ...