MBB: NESCAC

[gordonmann]

Also does it matter that the NE in NESCAC stands for"New England"?

Probably not. Hamilton is a current member and Union is a former member, both in New York.

FWIW I like the idea of adding Skidmore or Vassar.

[middhoops]

Middlebury's Dylan Sinnickson was officially accepted to grad school at Vermont today.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/sports/college/2015/06/25/middleburys-sinnickson-transfers-uvm-grad-year/29296361/

[pinseeking1]

The Williams men's basketball summer newsletter confirms that the Ephs will be the league's "stand alone" team for the next 2 seasons and will play league games on Fridays and Sundays. Will the women follow the same schedule? Any insight on why this is a two year penance as opposed to being rotated on an annual basis among all league teams?

I think the two-year rotation is used so that each team gets the sentence pleasure of Fridays and Sundays against all teams, both home and away.

[WPI89]

First 2015-16 schedule I have seen is Salem State.  They indicate they are playing Williams at the Williams Invitational on 11/20.

Then they are hosting a tourney on 12/5 and playing Tufts  (Brandeis/Babson on the other side of the bracket).

They play MIT in between but no WPI this year.

[GoWesYoungMan]

Checking in...really really enjoyed the Andrew Locke video. Just a great tribute to Middlebury in particular but also to this generation of NESCAC students. Best thing on this board in a while. Tough break for Toomey. I think he could've had a nice success playing in Europe. Wish he had played for Wes and I'd take him as a coach tomorrow.
Re adding a school to the conference, I would prefer the presidents agree to add a week to the football season (creating a full round robin) then seek a non-football school...Vassar, Skid, NYU, Brandeis, Babson? Not sure NYU or Brandeis would want to leave the UAA. Assume with NYU, Vassar, or Skid that Williams would be the travel partner.

[ronk]

BUCKET - Condolences to Mike Maker's family on this tragedy.

NESCAC1 - Prep School? I agree that Oni is probably aiming higher. Williams education is hard to pass up. In my view, the only way it makes sense is if he ends up at a high-academic D1 school. From all indications, he is a late bloomer and had a monster senior year. After that, he might have decided to play D1, who knows. Although he is a versatile and dynamic player, I believe the Ephs has enough depth in the incoming class to make up for the loss. It's better for him not to enroll at Williams than to come in looking to transfer later on. In terms of recruiting, D1 schools know all about player movements, decisions, transfers, etc; so it will be tough for schools to pass up on the combination of skill and grades. I believe the Ephs will be fine.

I thought he was on his way to Worchester after a brief stop in some prep school. Why prepping? Grades?

Jackson - Not grades. I believe Oni just decided to play D1, otherwise Williams would not have accepted him and the Ivys won't be offering him (See Jayhawk's post above). I have seen people prep due to late decisions. This might be the case here. I am excited about the Ephs new recruits and the new lineup.

According to his coach, Oni committed to Yale today, after a PG year @ Suffield Academy.

[nescac1]

A few more Eph-related notes:

Nice story on a bunch of former Eph hoops players from the late 1990's (all of whom have gone on to great success, in particular Brendan McGuire, the undersized-but-tough starting center on two Eph Final Four squads who now heads up SDNY's anti-terrorism unit):

http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150629g8euwt

No Eph fan from the 1990's era can ever forget the histrionics of Coach Zoltek on the sideline -- very passionate coach! 

On another note, Coach App posted a picture of the six incoming Eph recruits .. that's 6'10 Ed Flynn on the left, to give a sense of relative heights ... a lot of big guys! 

https://twitter.com/CoachKevinApp/status/615917519132598272

[amh63]

Nescac1 ...seems the guys are enjoying Camp!  Interesting twist to Summer Camps these days.  I am aware that this Monday on the 29 of June that both Amherst and Williams started BB camps for youths.  HBC Hixon has held his camp for decades it seems...local kids get coaching from a group of coaches.  Private business with facilities " rented" from the school.
Are the recruits members of the staff at Williams?

[jumpshot]

amH63 spotted sneaking into Chandler gazing at Directors' Cups and attempting to scout players....

[toad22]

I saw the Eph freshmen scrimmage a bit last week. They are quite talented, and very, very, big. They will without doubt be a big part in some very exciting teams in the future. All of them are above average shooters, with a lot of offensive skill. I have no idea if they could collectively guard a tree stump, but it will be fun to find out. Coach App has gone for skill and length in his first class. The only smaller guard is Bobby Casey, a 6"2" lefty shooter, who appears to be about 13 years old. He will be a crowd favorite at home, a bit like Nate Robertson. The biggest of the group is a center, Matthew(?) Kempton. He must be very close to 6"10", with a very big frame. He has an excellent mid-range touch, and an above-average 3 point shot. He could be good down the line. The other center is Jake Porath, a 6'8" very aggressive player, with an excellent 3 pt. shot, and a strong penetration game. Power forward seems stacked, with 6'8" Marcos Soto being an all-around strong player, and 6'6" Kyle Scadlock, currently recovering from an ACL operation, looking to be another quality big guy. The last first-year, James(?) Heskett, is a 6'8" shooter. He is very mobile,  and maybe , along with Casey, the best shooters among the 6. I would think he could play the 3 as well as the 4. This group of players seems to fill in a lot of the gaps in the Eph rotation. Kevin App seems to be a good recruiter.

[amh63]

toad22....thanks for the "scary" scouting report. .  Your description of the smaller Casey reminds me of my first impression of Aaron Toomey...slight built with a "boyish" appearance.  I too will look forward to seeing him play.
It is interesting to me to read and hear discussions of the recent NBA draft and the signing of free agent players.  I'm hearing terms such as "open game", " smaller team", along with some discounting of "big" front court players with only an inside offensive game.  My take is that the coaches are looking to speedy outside shooters of all sizes, etc.  Impact of the NBA playoffs and the SF Warriors.
Of course outside shooters and smaller players in the NBA can bring up a Kevin Durant image.
Still have plans to return to Willytown in the Fall for the Williams homecoming game...to check out the new "digs".  About the time of the start of formal BB practices s allowed in the CAC.....hope I'm allowed to catch a look at the BB practices.

[Old Guy]

I saw the Eph freshmen scrimmage a bit last week. They are quite talented, and very, very, big. They will without doubt be a big part in some very exciting teams in the future. All of them are above average shooters, with a lot of offensive skill. I have no idea if they could collectively guard a tree stump, but it will be fun to find out. Coach App has gone for skill and length in his first class. The only smaller guard is Bobby Casey, a 6"2" lefty shooter, who appears to be about 13 years old. He will be a crowd favorite at home, a bit like Nate Robertson. The biggest of the group is a center, Matthew(?) Kempton. He must be very close to 6"10", with a very big frame. He has an excellent mid-range touch, and an above-average 3 point shot. He could be good down the line. The other center is Jake Porath, a 6'8" very aggressive player, with an excellent 3 pt. shot, and a strong penetration game. Power forward seems stacked, with 6'8" Marcos Soto being an all-around strong player, and 6'6" Kyle Scadlock, currently recovering from an ACL operation, looking to be another quality big guy. The last first-year, James(?) Heskett, is a 6'8" shooter. He is very mobile,  and maybe , along with Casey, the best shooters among the 6. I would think he could play the 3 as well as the 4. This group of players seems to fill in a lot of the gaps in the Eph rotation. Kevin App seems to be a good recruiter.

It's July? Sure hope the coach wasn't there.

[toad22]

The players were fooling around after the summer boy's basketball camp, where they were "coaches" for the little kids (including my grandson). Coach App was nowhere to be seen. This was, however, a good chance for the new players to get to know each other.

[nescac1]

As this article notes Will Hardy, Williams 2010, is coaching one of the Spurs' summer league teams. Will is the Spurs' video coordinator.  There are certainly worse wagons to hitch yourself to than the Popovich coaching train. Just one of the many Ephs (Dave Paulsen, Mike Crotty, Pat Duquette, Harry Sheehy) who have very successfully transitioned into basketball as a career. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/07/03/becky-hammon-continues-to-break-barriers-will-coach-spurs-summer-league-team/

[Old Guy]

The players were fooling around after the summer boy's basketball camp, where they were "coaches" for the little kids (including my grandson). Coach App was nowhere to be seen. This was, however, a good chance for the new players to get to know each other.

Right.