MBB: NESCAC

[madzillagd]

Colby adds assistant Nick Ciresi according to Hoopdirt

http://hoopdirt.com/news/60cde449/colby-college-hires-assistant/

[nescacobserver]

New to the board.  I've enjoyed Nescac basketball for a long time.  With Robinson departing, have to believe Amherst and Tufts are the clear favorites, especially of Palleschi is truly coming back.  Just can't see Williams having the firepower with all those personnel losses.  Not sure about Middlebury - may be a rebuilding year.  Colby and Trinity will be tough outs.

[P'bearfan]

Nescacobserver - welcome to the board.   Always glad to have a new voice.  It's a great and passionate group.  I think I can safely say that all of us can't wait for the season to start and see how it unfolds after all the changes this off-season.

[jumpshot]

grabtherim and frank uible:

You both appear understandably to have misunderstood my point a few days ago on this board about "...age of the demise of amateur/student athletes."

My comment was simply made in anticipation of two key actions that followed a few days later: the release by the NCAA of the governance of the major Division I conferences setting forth a free-for-all regarding any alleged rules, and the O'Bannon ruling entitling  (at least for the moment) financial compensation to players.

Subsequently, there has been a flood of opinions and editorials in the media also acknowledging the diminishing "amateurism" and "student" in combination with the word "athlete", and the accelerated pace of "professionalism" in college sports.

Look for the loss of parity, survival of the fittest, and particular pressure on those institutions caught in-between the "haves and have nots".

[grabtherim]

grabtherim and frank uible:

You both appear understandably to have misunderstood my point a few days ago on this board about "...age of the demise of amateur/student athletes."

My comment was simply made in anticipation of two key actions that followed a few days later: the release by the NCAA of the governance of the major Division I conferences setting forth a free-for-all regarding any alleged rules, and the O'Bannon ruling entitling  (at least for the moment) financial compensation to players.

Subsequently, there has been a flood of opinions and editorials in the media also acknowledging the diminishing "amateurism" and "student" in combination with the word "athlete", and the accelerated pace of "professionalism" in college sports.

Look for the loss of parity, survival of the fittest, and particular pressure on those institutions caught in-between the "haves and have nots".

Really?  I respectfully think these after the fact events conveniently work for you. 
That said, pre NCAA release and the O'Bannon decision there is no need to "look for a "loss of parity and survival of the fittest" especially at D1.  It has existed for decades and will only get worse given the dollars which drive big time college sports.  The O'Bannon decision is actually a comeuppance for the heads of the NCAA who extoll amateurism but then make money off the names and likeness of those same amateurs.  The NCAA was making untold barrels of money off the likeness of athletes in video games, jerseys and tee shirts etc, and then the same kid under their rules could get kicked out of school for getting a hamburger from the wrong guy.  What hypocrites.     

[P'bearfan]

grabtherim and frank uible:

You both appear understandably to have misunderstood my point a few days ago on this board about "...age of the demise of amateur/student athletes."

My comment was simply made in anticipation of two key actions that followed a few days later: the release by the NCAA of the governance of the major Division I conferences setting forth a free-for-all regarding any alleged rules, and the O'Bannon ruling entitling  (at least for the moment) financial compensation to players.

Subsequently, there has been a flood of opinions and editorials in the media also acknowledging the diminishing "amateurism" and "student" in combination with the word "athlete", and the accelerated pace of "professionalism" in college sports.

Look for the loss of parity, survival of the fittest, and particular pressure on those institutions caught in-between the "haves and have nots".

Really?  I respectfully think these after the fact events conveniently work for you. 
That said, pre NCAA release and the O'Bannon decision there is no need to "look for a "loss of parity and survival of the fittest" especially at D1.  It has existed for decades and will only get worse given the dollars which drive big time college sports.  The O'Bannon decision is actually a comeuppance for the heads of the NCAA who extoll amateurism but then make money off the names and likeness of those same amateurs.  The NCAA was making untold barrels of money off the likeness of athletes in video games, jerseys and tee shirts etc, and then the same kid under their rules could get kicked out of school for getting a hamburger from the wrong guy.  What hypocrites.

There's simply too much money in college sports at the major D1 level (e.g. Florida; Ohio State; Alabama; etc) to have the average athlete truly be a "student athlete".  You will always find exceptions but for most athletes, their sport is a full time job and academics are a distant second.  The problem is that there is no way to remove the money from the system now that it's there.

It's obscene that the NCAA and schools have been making millions from athlete's through jersey sales; video games, etc without fairly compensating them.  However, while I'm glad the athletes will no longer get ripped off, there are going to be A LOT of unintended consequences that schools are not ready to deal with.

Let's assume that in the new world schools can / will compensate athletes - how do you do it?  Are the schools going to pay all the players on a roster? If they do, the true stars aren't going to want the same amount as everyone else - they're driving the revenue. 

Let's look at a 12 or 15 man D1 basketball roster.  If you're the AD at Michigan - how much do you pay McGary vs Staukas vs Robinson vs Albrecht? A % of jersey sales and video rights?  How will that impact the way they play as a team vs individuals?  How unhappy is your locker room when 1 or 2 guys are getting $$$ and others aren't?

A few years ago Michael Lewis wrote a great piece in the Sunday NYT about Shane Battier.  One insight was how difficult it is to structure player contracts that reward individual performance and don't hurt the team  - e.g. sometimes the point guard should shoot and not make the pass.   Colleges aren't ready for this.  However, once you start paying players this is the inevitable struggle - i.e. Players will say "pay me what I'm worth and I'm going to jack up my stats to prove I'm worth more than the other guy" and coaches will say "Play as a team to win".  This issue exists now but it's very likely to be amplified in the new world the NCAA is creating.

[NEhoops]

D-I basketball and football players deserve to be compensated. Everyone on the team would most likely receive the same stipend amount. Believe it or not the bench/practice players are helping the team get better. There doesnt seem to be an issue with their scholarships all being worth the same. The players will value that they are getting something extra, its not about having more than your teammate. Players who take a selfish look at it won't last very long on a Saban or Donovan coached team, just to name a few. 

[fanfromct]

Once upon a time there was a relevant connection between schools and sports teams. In the beginning, the schools formed teams out of the student populations already in attendance, and competed against each other. The students wanted to have some fun and exercise, and teams were formed.

Fast forward to high level D1 today, and the schools, administrators, NCAA, coaches, and other adults make huge money on these students, who go to the school specifically to play the sport, and who get paid in a currency that many of them do not want. Not only do they not want the currency, they are forced to keep up the grades if they are to continue in the school.

Several of our NESCAC alumni have gone on to play in Europe, and it seems to me that the system in place there is much more advantageous to the players than is ours. In Spain, there are four levels of basketball, and there are no "school" teams. There are teams in places where high schools and colleges are, and if you are an athlete and you are a student, you can do both things. You get paid by the team to play your sport, and if you are so inclined, you pay your tuition to go to college. At the low levels you might get a very minimal stipend, comparable to high school or D3 here. If you are a fantastic talent as a 14-16 year old, like Ricky Rubio was, you might get signed by a top league team and develop in the lower leagues until you're ready to move up, which he did at 15. All throughout the leagues, you get paid more if you're a better talent - it isn't a flat rate.

The key is that the team makes money, the players make money, and the colleges teach and graduate students. There actually are a couple of schools which sponsor teams – one in the top league. In my opinion, there's no need for the two to be connected at all, especially when they are operating as minor leagues for the NBA and the NFL.

The foregoing is all well and good, but with the amounts of money in the hands of the powerful, the chances of it changing very much are minimal. The NCAA and colleges aren't about to hand over the pot of gold until they are forced to.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think we're still a long way from paying d1 athletes.

Yes, they may all get a share of the video game revenue or jersey sales - and they should absolutely be free to trade on their celebrity while they have it - but I doubt we're very close to schools paying more than the full cost of attendance.  Pay tuition and fees, then cut a check for the amount of room/board/books/etc and let them figure out whether they want to live on campus or not.

If the local car dealer wants to pay them $100 an hour to not work, that's on him.

[P'bearfan]

http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/former-student-athlete/william-cohen-former-us-secretary-defense-–-lifetime-service

Nice article on former Bowdoin basketball player (and Secretary of Defense) William Cohen.

[amh63]

Madz....thanks for the info on Mayer and Toomey!   Enjoyed the videos...and could read the Spanish.

P'Bear.....info on famous Bowdoin BB player Cohen is nice.  Thanks.   Have several local alums that played BB around the same time.  Will check out their opinions on Cohen's game...if they can remember .   Also some other fans' memories when I go up for live games.

Am surprised that there is little info on Williams HBC's selection of assistant coaches.  Lot's of movement of conference coaches going on this Summer.  Amherst has filled some spots and needs to make additional hires.

[warriorcat]

New article posted about staff changes at Bates

http://athletics.bates.edu/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/2014081586fxoo

[middhoops]

Our local D1 team up here in Vermont just finished a series of games against schools in Canada. The "not in the contiguous 48 states" rule for D1 basketball is not the stuff of NESCAC to say the least.
If it were, I'm so D3 basketball starved that I'd have gone to every game.

And lest you think all good Canadian hoopsters come south, the University of Ottawa "Gee-Gees" beat both Vermont and Indiana. 

[amh63]

If memory serves me...did not RIC last year play in Canada in the "Pre-season"?  Some poster stated that a school could do that every so often...like once in 3-4 years....go out of the country.

[madzillagd]

I believe that is correct. Cal Lutheran was in Costa Rica this week on a trip.