MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

Ryan Sharry scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in 20 minutes in the D3 All-Star game his senior year in Salem, 2012, earning MVP honors.

His biggest basket was a reverse dunk on the hoop on the garage in our driveway the fall of his freshman year (2009) in his street shoes: Young Guy was 13 and gained a favorite player for life.

Not sure Midd has ever had a better player.

[magicman]

Ryan Sharry scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in 20 minutes in the D3 All-Star game his senior year in Salem, 2012, earning MVP honors.

His biggest basket was a reverse dunk on the hoop on the garage in our driveway the fall of his freshman year (2009) in his street shoes: Young Guy was 13 and gained a favorite player for life.

Not sure Midd has ever had a better player.

Have to agree Old Guy. In all the years I've watched Middlebury play against my Cardinals, Ryan Sharry is, without a doubt, the best player the Panthers have ever had. At least in my lifetime.   

[grabtherim]

First off good luck to all the teams this last weekend of league play.  Lots of possibilities on who finishes where. Should be lots of fun.  Finally, while it came across that way I did not mean to minimize the talent of St. Amour.  He is a great ballplayer who will only get better.  My point was, if you watched Sharry day in day out, he was a force who affected every game he played in.  Simply put the best player on Midd's greatest teams.  Thompson's value could not possibly be overstated.  Need a big shot in a big spot?  He gave it to you, and then on the other end he would lock down the other team's best as well as anyone we have seen over the past ten years. 

Ryan Sharry scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in 20 minutes in the D3 All-Star game his senior year in Salem, 2012, earning MVP honors.

His biggest basket was a reverse dunk on the hoop on the garage in our driveway the fall of his freshman year (2009) in his street shoes: Young Guy was 13 and gained a favorite player for life.

Not sure Midd has ever had a better player.

Have to agree Old Guy. In all the years I've watched Middlebury play against my Cardinals, Ryan Sharry is, without a doubt, the best player the Panthers have ever had. At least in my lifetime.

[amh63]

Bucket......that recruit for Middlebury has a great deal of upside!  Wonder if he will be at the game tonight....his prep school very close.

[jumpshot]

An article in the amHerst student newspaper solves the problem of what to call the mascot formerly known as the moose, the blank, the plague !

hamster

An anagram ....simply brilliant!

[jumpshot]

Also ----

Another article points out that the hamster has had 6 different sports information directors since 2006 .... in contrast to the tenures at Williams 27 years, Wesleyan 31 years, Tufts 23 years, Middlebury 22 years, Trinity 20 years, etc.

Enough trivia for this morning ....

[Panthernation]

Ryan Sharry scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in 20 minutes in the D3 All-Star game his senior year in Salem, 2012, earning MVP honors.

His biggest basket was a reverse dunk on the hoop on the garage in our driveway the fall of his freshman year (2009) in his street shoes: Young Guy was 13 and gained a favorite player for life.

Not sure Midd has ever had a better player.

For 1,000 words on the best-player-of-this-era question, including year-by-year statistical comparisons: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2014/11/12/our-farewell-post/.

The gist from that post:

Kizel had three seasons above 14 points per game, was exceptionally efficient, and dished out the second most assists in school history. Sharry had the best single season (his senior year [18.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 1.0 spg, 61/43/67 shooting, 30 mpg]) and an amazing all-around game, combining efficiency with offensive, defensive, and rebounding production. Thompson took out opponents' top perimeter threats night-in and night-out, played 28+ minutes per game every season, and was a consistent presence on offense with composure, ball-handling ability, and outside shooting. Locke scored down low consistently, blocked a shot every 5.8 minutes of his career, and altered about every third shot the opponent took.

Jeff: It seems like Sharry tops the list. He was simultaneously the best low-post player and one of the best shooters in the conference. He was a major presence in the paint and on the boards. His game was better developed than any player I've seen in Division III. With Ryan Sharry on the floor, the offense had so many options, and so much more space within which to operate. He was the best player of the Middlebury golden years.

Damon: To me, it comes down (dangerously) to something that can't be particularly well quantified: which player helped Middlebury win the most games? Because I think it's next to impossible to differentiate the four players based on their stats or career arcs, I can only say that from watching all four extensively I've concluded that Joey Kizel had the best career. I would have a really hard time making a strong argument against any of these players, but from all the time I spent watching this team, I think the answer is Joey.

[polbear73]

Article in today's Bowdoin Orient on John Sword's exploits in Spain:  http://bowdoinorient.com/article/10905

[lefrakenstein]

I haven't looked at his stats, so I don't really know how he compares to Sharry/Kizel in that respect, but I always thought Ben Rudin was a fantastic player. He also kind of helped to usher in the era of Midd being a NESCAC contender. Edwards, Locke, Sharry, Kizel, Thompson all followed in his footsteps.

I don't know if that's really an argument for him being the best, but I just wanted to throw his name in the mix.

[nescac1]

I think it's safe to say that Rudin was the least-heralded recruit ever to go on to become NESCAC player of the year.  Huge overachiever and I agree that he was the guy most responsible for changing Midd from a perennial also-ran into a perennial contender. 

[AmherstStudent05]

I haven't looked at his stats, so I don't really know how he compares to Sharry/Kizel in that respect, but I always thought Ben Rudin was a fantastic player. He also kind of helped to usher in the era of Midd being a NESCAC contender. Edwards, Locke, Sharry, Kizel, Thompson all followed in his footsteps.

I don't know if that's really an argument for him being the best, but I just wanted to throw his name in the mix.

Good point on Rudin, lefrakenstein.  To be fair to PN, I believe their analysis was cabinet to their strict contemporaries, so Rubin didn't qualify.  I say "believe" just because there were a lot of words in that post and I easily could have missed something.

One point from an outsider's perspective, for what it's worth.  Even in 2012, with Sharry at the peak of his powers (at least as far as his collegiate career was concerned), if you told me as an Amherst fan which player was I most afraid of killing us in a big spot, my answer would have been Kizel.  Not even close.

That actually reminds me a bit of Amherst's 2006 team.  That year Bedford was clearly and deservedly our most heralded player -- he is definitely on the list for the Mt Rushmore of contemporary Amherst players -- but by the end of the season whenever we were in a tight spot I found myself looking to then sophomore Andrew Olson first.

Again, "clutch" is only part of "best," but I thought I would share an Amherst perspective on this interesting Midd conversation. 

[grabtherim]

Rudin was a leader who willed himself to greatness, helping his team set the tone for hoops at a school where hockey was always king in the winter.  He has sure as heck been followed by a nice run of guards at Midd: Wolfin, Thompson, Kizel, St. Amor and Brown among others. 

I haven't looked at his stats, so I don't really know how he compares to Sharry/Kizel in that respect, but I always thought Ben Rudin was a fantastic player. He also kind of helped to usher in the era of Midd being a NESCAC contender. Edwards, Locke, Sharry, Kizel, Thompson all followed in his footsteps.

I don't know if that's really an argument for him being the best, but I just wanted to throw his name in the mix.

Good point on Rudin, lefrakenstein.  To be fair to PN, I believe their analysis was cabinet to their strict contemporaries, so Rubin didn't qualify.  I say "believe" just because there were a lot of words in that post and I easily could have missed something.

One point from an outsider's perspective, for what it's worth.  Even in 2012, with Sharry at the peak of his powers (at least as far as his collegiate career was concerned), if you told me as an Amherst fan which player was I most afraid of killing us in a big spot, my answer would have been Kizel.  Not even close.

That actually reminds me a bit of Amherst's 2006 team.  That year Bedford was clearly and deservedly our most heralded player -- he is definitely on the list for the Mt Rushmore of contemporary Amherst players -- but by the end of the season whenever we were in a tight spot I found myself looking to then sophomore Andrew Olson first.

Again, "clutch" is only part of "best," but I thought I would share an Amherst perspective on this interesting Midd conversation.

[AmherstStudent05]

I think it's safe to say that Rudin was the least-heralded recruit ever to go on to become NESCAC player of the year.  Huge overachiever and I agree that he was the guy most responsible for changing Midd from a perennial also-ran into a perennial contender.

Was Hausman that heralded as a recruit?  I don't follow recruiting anywhere near as closely as a bunch of posters here, but I don't recall him ever being all that highly touted.  Even entering last season I hardly knew who he was, but perhaps that speaks more to my own ignorance than anything else. 

[Vandy74]

I think it's safe to say that Rudin was the least-heralded recruit ever to go on to become NESCAC player of the year.  Huge overachiever and I agree that he was the guy most responsible for changing Midd from a perennial also-ran into a perennial contender.

Nothing better sums up Ben Rudin's career at Middlebury than that observation along with GTR's that he "was a leader who willed himself to greatness, helping his team set the tone for hoops at a school where hockey was always king in the winter."

Ben Rudin was an exciting player to watch but only one of many talented performers on that 2008-09 Panther squad.  Guard Tim Edwards led the team in rebounds besting both Aaron Smith and a young Andrew Locke while admittedly averaging more playing time per game.  He also was the team leader in steals with 62 to Rudin's 41.  Edwards was second on the team in assists to Rudin by a 129-114 margin.  Scarsdale high school teammate and current MC asst coach Kyle Dudley was the team's second leading scorer that season.  Other key contributors were Jamal Davis and a freshman named Ryan Sharry.

Ben Rudin is defined by what he accomplished in the final eight games of that 24-4 season.  20 contests in he was averaging 13.5 ppg.  By the time he walked off the court in Pepin for the last time he was averaging 17 ppg.   That's 206 points for an average just under 26 per game.  Only once during that stretch did he fail to lead his team in assists.  In the only game he failed to score 20, 18 in a win over Amherst, he pulled down a team leading 9 rebounds.  He led his team.  He willed himself to greatness.  He set the tone.  Middlebury basketball is now the king on the hill.

[jumpshot]

Williams down by 1 to Tufts at the half having committed 9 turnovers (not counting several offensive fouls on screens) resulting in 13 points for the Jumbos.