MBB: NESCAC

[jackson5]

Any idea who Williams brings in for a replacement?

[grabtherim]

Williams is at the top of D3 hoops jobs.  There will be plenty of fantastic guys for the powers that be to consider. 

[hoya73]

Maker did a wonderful job for the Ephs.  I can say that the Amherst staff enjoyed competing with him and liked him personally.  Having watched the LJ Classes of 2007 and 2008 have the size and athleticism to close out on Dave Paulson's three-point motion offense, I remember watching the first Maker teams doing warm-up drills and thinking this is not your mother's motion offense.  He recruited good kids and did a great job.  A loss for the conference.

[middhoops]

Good luck to Mike Maker.  He is a great basketball mind and coach.  Marist is going to get good soon.
Not shedding a tear for Williams, however.  They will get a top flight coach, guaranteed.  You get to recruit great athletes who also happen to be the smartest, and often nicest, kid in the county.  Not an awful gig.
Now maybe DR should consider transferring to, oh, I don't know, maybe a small school in Vermont?
No?
Ok.

[amh63]

Now that it is "real"....I went to the Marist website....nice location...Nice schools adjacent and one I been looking to visit...CIA.  The Culinary Institute of America...not the other one.
Again, I second the earlier posts of others...Hoya73 and Middhoops....wrt to HBC Maker.

In a sense, it was not totally unexpected...the move to Div1.  When you are a coach that has had his name in the BB news....you need to make a move.  There is a coaching move posted today on the Amherst website...one that has very similar aspects.  The head men's' Tennis Coach is taking the job at the Naval Academy.  The tennis coach came from Div 1 coaching ranks...7 years ago and has had great success like Maker durning his tenure.  He leaves with two National titles and two runner-up trophies, with the most recent National Championship  this year.  "Strike when the Iron is hot" is the expression that comes to mind. 

Again, best wishes to all parties.  Expect Williams will surprise all here when they get a new coach.
This board will continue to be lively...for awhile.

[middhoops]

A loyal Midd fan said to me this afternoon, "I'm so glad that Larry  Brown has a coaching job."

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

My big question is whether Robinson goes with him.  Marist is no Williams, but it's a good school.

[jackson5]

Now that it is "real"....I went to the Marist website....nice location...Nice schools adjacent and one I been looking to visit...CIA.  The Culinary Institute of America...not the other one.
Again, I second the earlier posts of others...Hoya73 and Middhoops....wrt to HBC Maker.

In a sense, it was not totally unexpected...the move to Div1.  When you are a coach that has had his name in the BB news....you need to make a move.  There is a coaching move posted today on the Amherst website...one that has very similar aspects.  The head men's' Tennis Coach is taking the job at the Naval Academy.  The tennis coach came from Div 1 coaching ranks...7 years ago and has had great success like Maker durning his tenure.  He leaves with two National titles and two runner-up trophies, with the most recent National Championship  this year.  "Strike when the Iron is hot" is the expression that comes to mind. 

Again, best wishes to all parties.  Expect Williams will surprise all here when they get a new coach.
This board will continue to be lively...for awhile.

They have a dominate women's program who routinely makes it to the sweet sixteen and elite out. Pretty good academics, good enough that they get themselves into the conversation of the Patriot league whenever it tries to expand. Nice campus in a decent location. 

For basketball success, they don't really have any. Won the NEC a couple times 20+ years ago, but in the MAAC the only success they had was under Matt Brady in the mid 2000's who went on to coach at James Madison. Brady never got them to the tournament but did get them to the NIT. Since Brady left the school has been in a lawsuit with him over a breach of contract when recruits followed him to James Madison. Marist then gave a ridiculous contract to a John Calipari assistant Chuck Martin, who then almost got the team put on probation for low APR scores that the school is still trying to clean up. The last two years Martin wasn't allowed to offer scholarships without school approval, Martin then offered a D-3 kid a scholarship, the school then told him to rescind it after seeing the caliber of athlete and student the kid was. Kid ended up not being able to sign anywhere since he didn't find out until late May. The school then fired Martin for terrible performance after the 2012-2013 season. They then brought in Jeff Bower who was a former assistant that went on to be a NBA GM. He lasted one year before leaving to take the Pistons GM job. Their two best basketball alumns are Rik Smits who was a 7'0 forward who was the #2 pick in the 1988 draft and Jared Jordan who played under Brady and got some good time in the NBA D-league.

The school has a huge fan base on the women's side, averaging over 2,500 a game and under Brady used to sell out their gym multiple times a year. Recently remodeled their gym but its still just a glorified D-3 gym. If the right coach can come in and get some momentum, the fans will stay for the men's games to not just the women's. The roster is still 2-3 pieces away from competing for a title but if Maker can get some good recruits in he can easily get the team to the top of the conference.

Here's a good write up of Marist's recent history.

http://www.nycbuckets.com/2014/06/plenty-stake-next-marist-hire/

[magicman]

Congratulations to Mike Maker on his move to Division I. I suspect that in 2 or 3 years Marist will be at or near the top in the MAAC.

[nescac1]

Congrats to Coach Maker.  The job he did in leading Williams to Salem four times in five years, including two title games, was truly amazing.  I'm confident that Marist will thrive under his leadership.  Considering that the last three Williams coaches ended up as AD or head coaches at D1 programs, I'm sure that Williams will attract a tremendous pool of candidates.  There is no clearly better overall D3 job in the nation.  While many great programs are associated with legendary coaches, Williams has a legacy of success that stretches back decades no matter who is at the helm.

  There are lots of recent grads in the coaching profession: Crotty, Dodson, Hardy, Snyder ... although not sure any have the right type of experience yet.  Crotty might be a really interesting choice.  I'm sure some current very successful D3 coaches will also come calling.  I hope the Ephs act quickly as the new coach needs time to implement a system (which I hope is a system that is similar to Maker's) prior to the season and of court to reassure the current players.  Last two times a Williams coach left unexpectedly the program not only survived but thrived and while this is certainly a blow I'm sure the very talented returning core of players will be eager to prove that they can succeed with any coach. 

[bearnation]

I live down the road from Marist and went to SUNY Potsdam graduated in 86 saw the undefeated national champions, true D3 fan.  I like this move for Marist because they hire a coach who has built a winning formula but will not be looking for the next big gig.  This is the same thing that Marist did on the women's side.  They hired the local head girls head coach Brian Giorgis  from Our Lady of Lordes high school who had won multiple state titles,  comes to Marist wins the conference every year and takes his team to the dance year in and year out.  Best finish was a sweet sixteen in 07.  I'm sure this is the same formula that will bring the same kind of success to the men's side in the not to distant future. 

[JustAFan]

The selection of Coach Maker's successor, and the selection of a successor to Williams men's soccer Coach Russo after he retires this fall, will be interesting indicators of the future direction of Williams sports under new president Falk and new athletic director Lisa Melendy. Harry Sheehy always had a list of successor candidates in his desk draw, and he made some very good head coaching decisions (although the jury is still out on the football front).  I don't have a good sense of the qualities that the new AD wants in her coaches, or the level of commitment of the new administration to continue to compete on the national stage in the "major" men's sports (for which Williams success has been mediocre in recent years, especially compared to Amherst). It's my sense that Maker was limited in terms of the number of players that he could bring in thru the slotting process each year, certainly compared to Amherst, and it put him under a lot of pressure not to make any mistakes with the 3-4 recruits he'd bring in each year. I anticipate that many of the candidates that interview for the job will push the AD and administration hard on the extent to which this is the new normal for the Williams basketball program and the degree to which they will be able to succeed based on this level of institutional commitment to the basketball program.  Will Williams get a very good coach to succeed Coach Maker when all is said and done? I think the answer is very likely. But I think it's unrealistic to expect that coach to enjoy the same success as either of his 3 predecessors given my sense of the evolving athletic focus at Williams.

And as much as I loved Coach Maker's offensive system, I would not expect his successor will run it as the number of coaches that understand and have the guts to use the Princeton offense are few and far between.   Maker's Beilin-distilled version of it was a thing to behold, however, and I'll enjoy watching Marist employ it in a few years.

[NEhoops]

I'm not sure about the talk in regard to how coaches are limited in how many players they can bring in. The acceptance ultimately comes down to academics. The athlete part is of course a plus, but they are all students first.

JustAFan, I totally agree that we won't see Maker's system from the next coach. He'll have a strong group returning and has a chance to be very successful. As for the Spurs, Popovich's "system" isn't based on X's and O's, but more on the premise of having his top players buy into what he wants to do. A very difficult task, particularly at the NBA level. 

[Bucket]

Mike Maker's remarks in his introductory press conference at Marist tell you all you need to know about the man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3TBPXF1VqM

Mike's presence in this conference will be greatly missed--obviously, most acutely in Williamstown.

I will miss having my friend right down Route 7, but I couldn't be happier for him, Erica, and Jack.

[amh63]

Bucket...thanks for the link.  On Wednesday the Marist site was "locked" with only the pix of Coach Maker.  The Nescac website had the story of the move as did the Williams site.  Prior to that, the BB site at Williams was blank wrt to coaches....as it is today.  Guess the lone assistant followed Maker?

The bb style of Maker has been of interest to me.  Earlier posters have tried to define it.  Recent posters make it a derivative of the Princeton offense.  If that is so, then present followers of it has had mixed success, IMO.  I take the situation of Georgetown U., where the younger Thompson uses it, I believe....being a player at Princeton..
Whatever the style, it has also been pointed out that the players at Williams under Maker were recruited to fit the style/approach.  If that is the case, then the present Marist team will have a big adjustment period.   Likewise, the new coaching staff at Williams will have to work hard with the players on hand and coming in.   In any case, good coaches will build winning teams with the talent available and the players will likewise adjust.  Just random thoughts...related to the happenings.