MBB: NESCAC

[grabtherim]

Class act.  Marist is as lucky to have him as Williams is as unlucky to lose him.  Players know when a coach treats it as about "We" versus about "Me".  Marist will be better under Maker.

   

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.

[toad22]

The last six years in Williamstown have been what I have called many times "high summer" for Williams basketball. Having closely followed the team for more than twenty years, the Mike Maker era has been the greatest era in our history. Personally, I have never had more fun with the team. That was all made possible by Mike. He is an offensive genius, but more importantly, a wonderful human being. My sadness is mostly personal, because a great friend has moved away, and on to a really big challenge. Mike had accomplished most of what he could at Williams, and he had to try something bigger and tougher. Marist will be all of that. I wish him well.

[nescac1]

Great tribute, Toad!

In a bit of positive news for Eph hoops, this great feature on Tay Scott, who was the top first-year player on the Williams football team last year, mentions that he will be playing hoops next year.  He was a highly-regarded point guard in Maryland in high school, and while I imagine he may be a bit rusty, he could provide a different dimension off the bench for Williams next year as a quick, athletic (albeit undersized) playmaker.  He instantly joins, I'd expect, Wohl, Sime and Aronowitz as the most athletic guys on the Eph squad. 

http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80573287/

These types of rankings are only worth so much, but Gavan Scanlan, who was ranked right behind him in the D.C. player rankings as a senior in high school, was a solid contributor for a good St. Mary's team as a first-year last season:

http://capitolhoops.com/capitol-hoops-rankings-class-of-2013-top-100/

No matter who the incoming Williams coach he, he will be gifted with a tremendous, deep group of very capable ball-handlers at the 1, 2 and 3 (the Ephs bring in two other recruits who played the point in high school, in addition to the returning talent at those spots). 

[NothingButNESCAC]

We aren't posting much this summer, but we had to do something about Mike Maker leaving for Marist. Hope all the Williams fans find the tribute worthy of what was an amazing run for Maker at Williams.
http://wp.me/p4mKzC-6N

[nescac1]

Tremendous post, NothingButNescac!  One minor correction -- James Wang was in the last class of Paulsen recruits, and he actually played his high school ball in Connecticut.  Paulsen was for the most part not a very effective recruiter -- the class of 2006 through 2009 were not very strong in the aggregate -- but he did leave Maker with three future all-Americans in Schultz, Whittington, and Wang. 

But what you say about Maker's incredibly broad recruiting approach holds true; some of his best players were from North Carolina (Mayer), Kentucky (Epley), California (Wohl), Oregon (Rooke-Ley), Michigan (Robertson), Colorado (Klemm), and New Jersey (Greenman), not to mention the incoming recruits from Indiana.  Robinson is the only top-notch recruit who actually hails from New England.  That will serve him well in D1. 

My pick for the new Williams coach -- Gregg Popovich.  Before you laugh, the guy is probably a year or two away from retirement from the Spurs anyway, he already owns a ton of land in Pownal, Vermont, he previously coached at a similar school to Williams (Pomona) and loved it, and already has connections to the Williams program (Curt Tong was his mentor).  He's always gone against the grain, and this would be the ideal bookend to his career.  What a perfect retirement gig, to keep his competitive juices flowing while enjoying the bucolic lifestyle of the Berkshires and the relative low stress of D3 coaching; he could probably coach for another ten or fifteen years without all the NBA pressure, and what recruit would ever turn him down?  OK, I realize it's never gonna happen, but a man can dream, right ....

[P'bearfan]

We aren't posting much this summer, but we had to do something about Mike Maker leaving for Marist. Hope all the Williams fans find the tribute worthy of what was an amazing run for Maker at Williams.
http://wp.me/p4mKzC-6N

Great job NothingButNESCAC....look forward to your coverage of NESCAC basketball next season (which can't come fast enough)

[madzillagd]

I've posted in the past about the Sac Kings doing things a bit differently with their new ownership group.  Here's a fun video to watch on how far they are going to think differently.  They are looking to NBA fans to help come up with their draft strategy.

http://grantland.com/features/sacramento-kings-2014-nba-draft-crowdsourcing/

[amh63]

NothingButNESCAC....informatIve article wrt to Coach Maker.  However, need to point out that Amherst's HBC Hixon was in the Class of 1975....though he may not mind you thinking he is 3 years younger.
Second P'Bear's thoughts on your coverage of the upcoming season on this board.

[P'bearfan]

http://athletics.bates.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/releases/201406045ee3vi

In case you haven't heard it.....Bates HBC Furbush gave a nice interview to a local radio station.....have to say while I'm a big fan of Alumni gym (I describe it to friends as the Fenway park of D3 basketball) I have never heard anyone mention that they thought Hooiser's was filmed there....

[NothingButNESCAC]

amh63 and nescac1, thank you for the fact checking we will make sure to do a better job of that in the future. Not sure why we misquoted Hixon's graduation year from Amherst. Most likely just misread when we checked. And the mistake of thinking James Wang was a Maker recruit was a math mistake that we should have avoided. Impressed as always by how knowledgeable all of you are with respect to NESCAC hoops.

[creakyknees]

NothingButNESCAC - the confusion might be attributable to the fact that '77-'78 was Hixon's first year as head coach at Amherst (not his graduation year) - a minor point at best and nothing that would detract from an otherwise excellent piece of writing.     

[Vandy74]

 



My pick for the new Williams coach -- Gregg Popovich.  Before you laugh, the guy is probably a year or two away from retirement from the Spurs anyway, he already owns a ton of land in Pownal, Vermont, he previously coached at a similar school to Williams (Pomona) and loved it, and already has connections to the Williams program (Curt Tong was his mentor).  He's always gone against the grain, and this would be the ideal bookend to his career.  What a perfect retirement gig, to keep his competitive juices flowing while enjoying the bucolic lifestyle of the Berkshires and the relative low stress of D3 coaching; he could probably coach for another ten or fifteen years without all the NBA pressure, and what recruit would ever turn him down?  OK, I realize it's never gonna happen, but a man can dream, right ....

I hope it's just a dream nescac1.  Pownal is just a stone's throw away from Willy Town, even with my arthritic shoulders.  My father was the attorney for a horse track in Pownal back in the day.  I could handicap when I was 8 years old.  Popovich admits that short of an almost surreal chain of events he would still be coaching D3.  Your dream has the potential to become the rest of NESCAC's nightmare.  You don't own land in VT without a game plan.  Not at Popovich's age.   

[30 for 30]

Great article on Matt Hart

http://www.buffalonews.com/columns/jerry-sullivan/d-i-hoops-talent-in-d-iii-body-grows-enough-to-get-his-shot-20140628

[madzillagd]

"But as the body grew, he outgrew Division III."

'12-13:  12-12
'13-14:  14-11

0 NCAA appearances

Makes for a cute quote but it's a ridiculous comment for a guy that led a team to a 8-12 record in league the past two years. He hasn't outgrown the NESCAC let alone DIII.

I wish the kid well but to me this is just another article that slights DIII athletics.

[P'bearfan]

Great article on Matt Hart

http://www.buffalonews.com/columns/jerry-sullivan/d-i-hoops-talent-in-d-iii-body-grows-enough-to-get-his-shot-20140628

Best of luck to Matt Hart; not sure I agree with the decision but it's hard not to pull for a kid who is honestly pursuing his dreams.  Huge loss for Hamilton though - it will definitely set them back next year.

It does bring up the entire question of D1 vs D3 - are you better off going to a D3 school where you're more likely to play early and develop or go to a D1 program where the odds of playing early are much lower and where coaches routinely recruit over you or bring in transfers?

A few years ago one NESCAC coach put it really well - "you can come here and play for 4 years and at the end you'll be the same caliber as an Ivy or Patriot League player.  Or you go to an Ivy or Patriot League team and sit for a least 2 years, see some time in year 3 and maybe play regularly as a senior."

Given the success of some NESCAC players overseas - e.g. Will Hanley in Spain - I think D3  makes a ton of sense - especially in the NESCAC where the competition is high.  Of course this assumes that the school's financial aid package is equivalent to a scholarship which really varies by individual.