MBB: NESCAC

[thebear]

Oh, and D3HforLyfe, I know this is a hoops board, but I have to quibble with your last post.  While I love Lin-Manuel (I've seen Hamilton twice), he's incredible, the musical GOAT went to Williams (Stephen Sondheim).  Maybe in 20 more years it will be a conversation ...

I'm married to a retired musical director/music business professor, GOAT in terms of $ made is Lord Lloyd Webber, Magdalen College, Oxford. Wealthiest musician in the world.

[D3HforLyfe]

Hahaha, NESCAC1, great stuff as always. I was just trying to be funny - I have nowhere near the musical acumen to actually make the Lin Manuel Miranda GOAT claim, and don't have the finances to have even seen the show live yet. I do know (from PBS' great documentary "Hamilton's America") that LMM really looks up to Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman and seems have leaned on them quite a bit during the Hamilton writing process, so that probably helps your case for SS. From the sounds of it though, thebear probably has the best perspective on this out of any of us so I will happily concede to his Webber opinion, or any other one he might have for that matter.

Anyways, back to basketball before we get banned from the blog...I would be very surprised if Lawson was to leave Emmanuel for Nichols. With what he returns and the two high level GNAC recruits he has coming in, it seems like that would be a lateral move for him career wise. Not to mention, it would be hard to follow what Faucher just did in 1 year at Nichols, albeit with a d3 great that will no longer be there. Could be wrong, but that is how I see it.

[guest323]

Crew Ainge to Babson - D1 starter from Utah Valley transferring home to MA

[nescac1]

Yeah, you know it's the heart of the offseason when the talk of Broadway composers starts ...

Tough blow for Nichols, losing the head coach in back-to-back offseasons.  I imagine it will take a few years to bounce back from that, in particular from a player recruiting standpoint.  Notable even before that Echevarria's little brother opted for Nichols' arch-rival.   

guest323, you may want to post that in the NEWMAC board.  Certainly a big pickup for Babson, it sounds like, especially considering he is already four years out of high school (two-year mission before playing hoops at college).  Babson did get three D1 transfers a few years ago and it didn't lead to great success, but Ainge I think is more highly regarded than any of those guys, plus that team (unlike next year's squad) had absolutely massive holes to fill.  This Babson team loses only one senior from a group that was pretty solid last year despite suffering bit of injury adversity.  The addition of Ainge, plus Matthew Corey, to the existing core led by Jaworski and Offtring makes Babson a really interesting team next year.  NEWMAC (Babson, Springfield, and WPI should all be much improved and figure to vie for the top spot, MIT still returns some talent and always is tougher than expected with young teams, and Emerson is the returning league champ and returns a few good players) should be loaded next season. 

Now that (most) of the recruiting news is in, NESCAC is (after Amherst, who will be the overwhelming favorite to start the season next year, but the consensus pre-season faves haven't won the league crown for a number of years now, so one never knows) going to be really wide open next year, in my view.  Amherst's only question mark is on the inside but there is plenty of talent to choose from -- Sellew could shift to center, making Amherst quicker and more perimeter-oriented, in light of the overload of talent on the perimeter, or they could go with one or two of three young bigs with impressive pedigrees (Schretter and the two incoming frosh, depending on how quickly those three are ready).  An enviable "problem" to have. 

Middlebury returns a great top five guys, but has depth issues and had a discouraging end to a very solid season.  They need their top line players to stay healthy. Tufts, Trinity and Colby all return essentially everyone from very young teams that had some really strong moments, and all could be poised for a big leap forward if they figure out certain glaring weaknesses.  Williams and Hamilton lose a lot from stacked veterans squads, they seem like the teams who are poised for a big drop, but both appear to have a lot of young talent in the rising sophomore class and in their recruiting classes, so may not drop as much as folks will probably anticipate.  Wesleyan is the biggest mystery to me, they looked so good at times last year, but had a rough end to the season.  Still, Hutcherson is the most talented returning player in the league and the sophomore class could make a big leap forward.  Bowdoin and Bates will be scrappy and pull a full surprises, as always.  Conn, well, still brutal.  But spots 1-9 in the league could well be a total toss-up once again next year, especially if Amherst has a few unexpected stumbles. 

[grabtherim]

Crew Ainge to Babson - D1 starter from Utah Valley transferring home to MA

Son of Danny Ainge for those who didn't know...

[amh63]

Some interesting news on the board.  Like my comment on the football board, will prefer to wait till the Fall to see who shows up.  My comment here wrt Nescac recruits is.....defensive style adjustment will be the biggest hurdle.  Many recruits have fine offensive abilities/skills.  Even in D3, defense is critical, especially in the Nescac.

[nescac1]

Amh63, for the rest of NESCAC, the recruiting lists may well be (and in some cases surely are) incomplete at this point.  But Amherst, at least, has made public its three recruits (all previously reported here) ...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxH8YsrB2g3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[amh63]

Nescac1....thanks!  Three seniors will graduate and three recruits.  Guess Amherst will work hard on their front court development.  Amherst's Big Joe took awhile to contribute.  Speaking of Big Joe....was selected to be a key class official during graduation.  Amused a bit to see him handout "class canes" to class selected/honored school workers at Senior Assembly...towering over all.  Selected college workers from the athletic dept., dining services, etc. are now members of the class of 2019 and will be noted as well during graduation.

[NEhoops]

Good get for Babson. Ainge will be able to step in and contribute right away, but like nescac1 referenced, sometimes D1/D2 transfers don't make as big of an impact as most would expect.

D3HforLyfe, I agree that Lawson to Nichols would definitely be a lateral move, he's got a good thing going at Emmanuel. On another note, I'm surprised that the coach before Faucher at Nichols (Tom Glynn) left to go to RIC in the first place.

The Northeast region is definitely improving. Does anyone know the most at-large bids in a season for each of the conferences in the region? 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Good get for Babson. Ainge will be able to step in and contribute right away, but like nescac1 referenced, sometimes D1/D2 transfers don't make as big of an impact as most would expect.

D3HforLyfe, I agree that Lawson to Nichols would definitely be a lateral move, he's got a good thing going at Emmanuel. On another note, I'm surprised that the coach before Faucher at Nichols (Tom Glynn) left to go to RIC in the first place.

The Northeast region is definitely improving. Does anyone know the most at-large bids in a season for each of the conferences in the region?

The LEC is definitely a step up.  Nichols may not pay very well, either.  They've invested in the athletic department in recent years, that wasn't even a full-time position before Glenn (or maybe just one coach before him - it hasn't been long).  I could see RIC being a lot more stable.

I don't see the logic in calling Emmanuel to Nichols lateral and then also questioning Nichols to RIC.  Emmanuel and RIC are not on the same level, so Nichols either needs to be one or the other (or in between).

[NEhoops]

I have ranked the Northeast conferences below in tiers. Ryan, I agree that RIC is a step up from Nichols based on the strength of their respective leagues. However, at this point in time (things can change quickly in D3) it is important to note that Nichols has much more momentum (winning more games, more likely to win their league, post season success) than RIC. They are also going to attract a stronger pool of applicants this year than they might have about ten years ago. All of this is based on not knowing some of the important factors that make coaching jobs attractive, or unattractive. Salary (including assistants); recruiting budget; support from administration ($/other); admissions standards; etc.

Tier I
NESCAC
UAA – just Brandeis
NEWMAC

Tier II
LEC

Tier III
CCC
GNAC

Tier IV
NECC
MASCAC
NAC

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I have ranked the Northeast conferences below in tiers. Ryan, I agree that RIC is a step up from Nichols based on the strength of their respective leagues. However, at this point in time (things can change quickly in D3) it is important to note that Nichols has much more momentum (winning more games, more likely to win their league, post season success) than RIC. They are also going to attract a stronger pool of applicants this year than they might have about ten years ago. All of this is based on not knowing some of the important factors that make coaching jobs attractive, or unattractive. Salary (including assistants); recruiting budget; support from administration ($/other); admissions standards; etc.

Tier I
NESCAC
UAA – just Brandeis
NEWMAC

Tier II
LEC

Tier III
CCC
GNAC

Tier IV
NECC
MASCAC
NAC

Let me give this a try:

First, I think you just eliminate Brandeis. I don't think it is fair to put a conference in the equation that has only one team. Second, Brandeis has been pretty poor in recent years but is also improving. It is just hard to gauge them. If we are talking about a national conversation, UAA can be brought in. For a region specific especially with just one team (Central and Great Lakes have two, FYI), I think it just makes it a cloudy conversation.

Tier I:
NESCAC
NEWMAC

Tier II:
LEC
CCC
GNAC

Tier III:
NAC
MASCAC
NECC

A few points:
- I think the LEC is definitely competitive and at one time I would have put it in Tier I, but it seems to have taken a step back (for them) in recent years. I would be interested to see where it goes in the future.

- I am not sure why anyone would think the GNAC wasn't in that second tier. The top teams are always competitive and you can never discount them, especially in the NCAA Tournaments. Albertus Magnus has helped elevate the conference and Johnson & Wales and others have lived up to those expectations as well. Now enter St. Joe's (Conn.) under a Hall of Fame coach ... it could get even better.

- Watch out for the NAC. I think it is getting far more competitive and it isn't done growing. I wouldn't be surprised if it is a Tier II soon - I even debated if it should be there now. I decided, for now, to leave it in Tier II. I have a feeling next year will be pretty competitive.

[NEhoops]

Taking Brandeis out of the equation for this discussion makes sense.

I agree that it will be interesting to see how the future of the LEC plays out. For the last few years it has been ECSU/KSC and everyone else, very little depth, but plenty of potential.

I think when the GNAC (and/or the CCC) is getting at least two teams into the tournament on a consistent basis it would make a better case for them to be considered a "Tier II" team. Both conferences have some scheduling challenges based on their 18 conference games. Either way, for Emmanuel and Suffolk I think the arrow is pointing straight up.   

[nescac1]

To me the strangest ranking (and one I agree with) is MASCAC.  That league was definitely right behind NEWMAC and LEC once upon a time.  Salem State was a regional power, and still is solid although not at the same level.  In the past there were usually a few other solid programs in that league, but no longer.  Given how expensive so many of the regional private schools are, and how many of them seem to be struggling (including a bunch of regional private schools that have closed in recent years), and given the volume of high school hoops talent in Massachusetts, it's strange to me that a few more of the very well-priced MASCAC schools can't attract more talent.  Maybe it's a coaching issue, or institutional resources, I'm not sure, but it is weird that the CCC and GNAC have certainly blown by MASCAC in recent seasons. 

I do think MASCAC will be a bit more competitive next season, and that last year may have been a nadir for the league, talent-wise.  Salem State, at least, should be a team to watch next year.  They bring back 4/5 starters from a tourney team including two rising senior stars, both of whom can really play, and usually manage to bring in a notable JC transfer or two.  If they can add a third star they would be interesting at least.  Bridgewater State should be much improved next season, and Westfield should be decent.  But MASCAC has a long way to go as a league to dig out from the bottom-tier of New England. 

[warriorcat]

To me the strangest ranking (and one I agree with) is MASCAC.  That league was definitely right behind NEWMAC and LEC once upon a time.  Salem State was a regional power, and still is solid although not at the same level.  In the past there were usually a few other solid programs in that league, but no longer.  Given how expensive so many of the regional private schools are, and how many of them seem to be struggling (including a bunch of regional private schools that have closed in recent years), and given the volume of high school hoops talent in Massachusetts, it's strange to me that a few more of the very well-priced MASCAC schools can't attract more talent.  Maybe it's a coaching issue, or institutional resources, I'm not sure, but it is weird that the CCC and GNAC have certainly blown by MASCAC in recent seasons. 

I do think MASCAC will be a bit more competitive next season, and that last year may have been a nadir for the league, talent-wise.  Salem State, at least, should be a team to watch next year.  They bring back 4/5 starters from a tourney team including two rising senior stars, both of whom can really play, and usually manage to bring in a notable JC transfer or two.  If they can add a third star they would be interesting at least.  Bridgewater State should be much improved next season, and Westfield should be decent.  But MASCAC has a long way to go as a league to dig out from the bottom-tier of New England.

My understanding is that many of the MASCAC head coaches are not full time.  It is difficult to keep continuity in a program when the coaching staff turns over and there is not a staff being paid to recruit.