MBB: NESCAC

[JEFFFAN]

Absolutely agree that I would rather be a Colby fan than an Amherst fan looking forward!   Senior class is good but there is nothing special that any of us can see in the underclassmen.  Who knows, maybe Hixon got tired or burnt out or some combination of the two, or possibly he stopped getting support from the administration.   Keep in mind that the current AD has been in the job since 2014, which parallels a bit the levelling off of basketball.  His coaching hires in other sports has been decidedly mixed, to say the least.  The former AD is now part of administration - she did an outstanding job of hiring coaches.   This AD not so much.   So maybe that is a factor as well.

No interest in buying a Colby cap but I would be shorting Amherst right now.

[nescac1]

Yeah, gotta say, Amherst had a hell of a hiring run for awhile ... Gromacki, Serpone, Jon Thompson all arrived in a several-year span, and all elevated programs from OK / good to perpetual national powers.  Whoever is responsible for that hiring spree (perhaps among others of note?) deserves a ton of credit.  I'm surprised still that Gromacki has never moved up ...

On another note, this info from Woj is the best possible outcome for former Eph Will Hardy.  You do NOT want to coach the Knicks under worst-owner-in-sports Dolan, career suicide.  But this means his name will be in the mix for future jobs, any of which can only be better:

Two young head coaching candidates who made a strong impression on the Knicks in the search process, per sources: Dallas' Jamahl Mosley and San Antonio's Will Hardy.

[CCHoopster]

Barring any catastrophic changes in approach and support, I'd be hard pressed to believe there will be a serious changing of the guard anytime soon. Although I suppose you could make the case that that is what is happening at Amherst, I just think them and Williams will always be poised to compete at the highest level more consistently than the rest of the league. With that being said, we always see other schools pop up and put together a few nice runs---such is life in a high academic conference with such deep pockets.

For example, in the last 6 seasons we've seen Hamilton advance to the Sweet 16 twice, Colby come a 40 foot prayer away from winning the NESCAC, Trinity and Bates playing against each other in the Sweet 16, and an additional 2 Sweet 16 appearances for Tufts, one of which could've continued had it not been for COVID. However, in that same time frame, Williams and Amherst also made two more Final Four appearances.

I'm sure plenty of teams will continue to make runs like that in the future, Conn potentially being one of them. But I'm going to need to see a pretty big sample size before the league changes hands.

I follow the Centennial and MAC Conferences. This was a good reminder just how good this conference is. Question, what does a NESCAC coach, alumni etc. mean when they say "take basketball serious"? What type of investment constitutes that? Would that be judged on budget, assistant coaching positions, coaches salary, travel ability, facilities? What else... packages? In the leagues I follow, I would say FnM puts the most into their hoops program. Stevens Tech, DeSales too (both FT assistants). Centennial has three full time assistants (FnM, Gburg, Ursinus) and the MAC has a few FT I know of (DeSales, Wilkes, Stevens Tech, Stevenson, Albright). I think packages and assistant coaching positions can be the difference makers.

Take care!

[Gabriel]

CCHoopster, You are right!

[nescac1]

In my view, the single most consequential investment is regarding admissions concessions.  Most NESCAC schools now have over ten applicants per spot.  An acceptance has become a scarce good.  The deeper schools are willing to go into an applicant pool for a star recruit, and the more often they are willing to go there, the more commitment to the program they are demonstrating.  It's much tougher to differentiate on this basis than it once was due to NESCAC-wide restrictions on recruiting, but even still, there is wiggle room.  I think most Nescac schools have similar numbers of assistants, similar travel budgets, and the like.  Who you can attract (based on combo of relative prestige of program, it's still fairly rare for Williams and Amherst to lose out to other Nescac schools for a recruit, and willingness to stretch for recruits, but Williams and Amherst won't stretch the way they once did) to attend is the single biggest factor in success.

A lot of the biggest name Nescac players over the past few decades wouldn't make it past admissions at those schools today.  Which I think in part is responsible for leveling the playing field in the league, a bit ...

[jmcozenlaw]

Do any of the NESCAC schools get away with what Amaker has been able to do up at Harvard?

[gofords]

I follow the Centennial and MAC Conferences. This was a good reminder just how good this conference is. Question, what does a NESCAC coach, alumni etc. mean when they say "take basketball serious"? What type of investment constitutes that? Would that be judged on budget, assistant coaching positions, coaches salary, travel ability, facilities? What else... packages? In the leagues I follow, I would say FnM puts the most into their hoops program. Stevens Tech, DeSales too (both FT assistants). Centennial has three full time assistants (FnM, Gburg, Ursinus) and the MAC has a few FT I know of (DeSales, Wilkes, Stevens Tech, Stevenson, Albright). I think packages and assistant coaching positions can be the difference makers.

Take care!

Hopkins has 2 full-time assistants for basketball. Swat has a full-time assistant. Dickinson has a full time assistant. Wash College does too I believe (although not positive on that). The only school I am 100% sure do not have full time assistants in the CC are Haverford and Muhlenberg

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Some of the assistant coaching positions being full-time are due to donations. For example, at RMC one of the positions is basically fully paid by alumni donations and set-up through the alumni. Same with many of the others listed recently in this thread.

[NEhoops]

There is a discrepancy in men's basketball assistant coaching salaries (or compensation packages) across the NESCAC. The same can be said across the northeast at the DIII level in general.   

[ThumannsOwn]

I follow the Centennial and MAC Conferences. This was a good reminder just how good this conference is. Question, what does a NESCAC coach, alumni etc. mean when they say "take basketball serious"? What type of investment constitutes that? Would that be judged on budget, assistant coaching positions, coaches salary, travel ability, facilities? What else... packages? In the leagues I follow, I would say FnM puts the most into their hoops program. Stevens Tech, DeSales too (both FT assistants). Centennial has three full time assistants (FnM, Gburg, Ursinus) and the MAC has a few FT I know of (DeSales, Wilkes, Stevens Tech, Stevenson, Albright). I think packages and assistant coaching positions can be the difference makers.

Take care!

Hopkins has 2 full-time assistants for basketball. Swat has a full-time assistant. Dickinson has a full time assistant. Wash College does too I believe (although not positive on that). The only school I am 100% sure do not have full time assistants in the CC are Haverford and Muhlenberg

Speaking of JHU - hearing that former player and VCU Men's BB GA, Jesse Flannery, has been named to Marlon Sears' staff at Amherst College. Mike Riopel and Josh Estes were not retained.

Also heard from a CC player that a large number of Swarthmore players have already decided upon a gap year - meaning no (or not much of one) men's basketball season? Makes sense if it is true that Swarthmore is not letting students back on campus in the spring until February 15th.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The presence of a full time assistant is the real dividing line between the haves and have-nots in D3. Even if the HC has to (or gets to) teach classes, it's not as big a disadvantage as not having a full time assistant.

I've seen a lot more schools offering GA positions to try and fill the gap a bit.

[jaller]

Best thing your alma mater ever did for MBB Ryan, was to introduce a GA program. Greatly improved the situation there.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Best thing your alma mater ever did for MBB Ryan, was to introduce a GA program. Greatly improved the situation there.

They're staffing 3/4ths of the college that way, these days, it seems.

[nescac1]

First (reported) 2025 NESCAC commitment, 6'10 big man Graham Robinson to Hamilton:

https://twitter.com/MiddlesexMagic/status/1289024251643781120?s=20

[nescac1]

Marlon Sears gets his first commitment, Noah Helmke:

https://twitter.com/middlesexmagic/status/1290690961350242305?s=21