MBB: NESCAC

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hoop Dirt reporting that the Bowdoin search has ended and an announcement should be coming in the next week. Also said an unnamed D3 HC from the Midwest was a 5th finalist.


https://hoopdirt.com/daily-dirt-5-13-21/

I'd imagine Dale Wellman might be that unnamed midwesterner.  He's got New England ties.

[nescac1]

Hoops Dirt also reported this on the Tufts search:

D3 Tufts University is also close to wrapping up their search as well. The only names that I have here so far are Linton, and current Jumbo's interim head coach Matt Malone. Working on the rest now. 

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Linton seems like a very hot commodity, unsurprisingly.  Bowdoin just has really tremendous options -- Gilbride, Linton, and Paulsen would all be very strong candidates to turn that program around quickly (quickly meaning 3-4 years, as whoever the new coach is won't inherit very much talent at all).

Malone I imagine has the best chance at Tufts, he's been what seems like a head-coach-in-waiting for a long time.  But Linton would be a great choice too.   

After these searches are complete, I imagine it may be some time before we see a NESCAC hoops coaching search with the possible exception of Middlebury.  Amherst, Colby, Conn, Tufts, Bowdoin, Hamilton and Williams will all have coaches with 10 years or fewer at the helm.  Jon Furbush, James Cosgrove and Joe Reilly are still in their coaching prime, in the 10-15 year range.  It's quite possible those 10 schools all have the same head coach 5 or even 10 years from now that they will in 2022.  All of those coaches (and it sounds like whoever Tufts and Bowdoin will hire) are rock solid, but none have really done anything to get close to being on a D1 radar yet, so it's not like they are going to have a better option than NESCAC in the near future.  Among all of them, unless Bowdoin hires Paulsen, we are talking a grand total of ONE D3 final four (App in 2017). 

That leaves Jeff Brown as by FAR the Dean of NESCAC coaches, both in terms of his success as a coach and his tenure - entering his 25th year next season!  Of course, Hixon went for over 40 at Amherst, so Brown may still have many years left to coach ... I imagine he has earned the right to coach for as long as he so desires, and I think he's only around 60, so he could easily go another five years or so. 

[SpringSt7]

Hoop Dirt reporting that the Bowdoin search has ended and an announcement should be coming in the next week. Also said an unnamed D3 HC from the Midwest was a 5th finalist.


https://hoopdirt.com/daily-dirt-5-13-21/

I'd imagine Dale Wellman might be that unnamed midwesterner.  He's got New England ties.

Wellman was the name that came to mind for me as well but it was hard to convince myself. Man, what a get that would be for Bowdoin.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hoop Dirt reporting that the Bowdoin search has ended and an announcement should be coming in the next week. Also said an unnamed D3 HC from the Midwest was a 5th finalist.


https://hoopdirt.com/daily-dirt-5-13-21/

I'd imagine Dale Wellman might be that unnamed midwesterner.  He's got New England ties.

Wellman was the name that came to mind for me as well but it was hard to convince myself. Man, what a get that would be for Bowdoin.

I should say I have zero inside info, I just know he's from the east and he's working on a wholesale rebuild right now at NWU, so if he were going to move, the timing would be right.

[nescac1]

While we are waiting on coaching news ....

Tufts, Bowdoin, Conn and Wesleyan all have recruits added in recent weeks. Of note are the two Exeter post-grad commitments: Khai Champion, 6'1 Tuft guard commit, had a D1 offer from Loyola (MD) back in 2019.  Seems like a very good shooter.  Nakial Cross, 6'8 Wesleyan forward commit, looks on the raw side but has crazy hops and length for this level ... in a few years, we may be seeing some electric dunks from him if he can round out his game and muscle up a bit.  Here are a few of his in-game dunks:

https://twitter.com/SterlingJBall/status/1228226515587883009?s=20

Wesleyan's class of 2025 (which also includes at least on big guy who is reclassifying from 2024) looks really strong overall. 

The list of recruits who could make an early impact next year, with TWO years worth of recruits joining programs, is massive.  Some names to watch as possible immediate impact guys: Amherst - Sommers, Alausa, Reynolds; Bates - Gotham, Ward; Bowdoin - McGowan; Colby - O'Connell, Green, Baier; Conn - Flynn, Whelan, Hartell, Rice, Murray; Hamilton - Michaels, Morgan; Midd - Bobbett, Stevens; Trinity- Dorion, Johnson; Tufts - Dieterle, Murphy, Champion; Wesleyan - Bryant, Johnson; Williams - Roughley, Porter, Glatzer. 

Amherst:
Bobby Sommers, 6'3 G/F, St. Marks (#49 in MA)
Mohammad Alausa, 6'4 G/F, New Hampton (#142 in New England, #26 in NH)
--
Noah Helmke, 6'6 F, Berkshire School (#37 in MA)
Will Scherer, 6'9 C, Gonzaga College H.S.
Jack Boyle, 6'1 G, Poly Prep (baseball recruit)
Canin Reynolds, 5'8 G, Berkshire School (#41 in D.C. area class of 2020)
Ryker Vance, 6'7 F, Community School of Naples
CJ Mitchell, 5'8 G, Hotchkiss (#70 in CT)

Bates:
Trace Gotham, 6'5 F, St. Sebastian's (#58 in MA)
Stephen Ward, 6'6 F, Beaver Country Day
Simon McCormick, 5'6 G, Cony H.S.
Devin Harris, 6'7 F, Sanford School (DE)
--
Drew Sachs, 6'1 G, Governor's Academy (#75 in MA)
Garvin McLaughlin, 6'3 F, Milton

Bowdoin:
Burke Chebuha, 6'7 F, Walker H.S. (Marietta, GA)
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James McGowan, 6'0 G, Westwood (#68 in MA)
Cole Hannin, 5'11 PG, Bullis (DC)
Henry Rovillard, PG/SG, 6-3, Holy Spirit (NJ) (PG year at Phelps in PA)
Achufusi Afamdi, 6'4 G, Sidwell Friends (D.C.)

Colby:
David Basich, 6'0 G, Green Farms Academy
Henry Westrich, 6'4 G/F, Bangor (#24 in Maine)
Liam O'Connell, 6'4 G, Bridgton Academy (#17 in Maine)
Lucas Green, 6'5 F, Princeton Day (NJ)
Eric Baier, 6'3 G, Summit (NJ)
Clay Bolster, 6'1 G, Cushing Academy
Henry Pohle, 6'6 F, New Canaan
--
David Stewart, 6'8 G, Mt. Zion Prep
Ben Kaczmarek, 6'4 G, St. Sebastian's (#59 in MA)
Nate Godin, 6'2 G, Central Catholic
Jack Richard, 6'4 G, Rivers School (#62 in MA)
Jack Lawson, 6'7 F, Lutheran South H.S. (Missouri)

Conn College:
Jarron Flynn, 6'3 G, Kimball Union Academy (#128 in New England, 24 in NH)
Billy Whelan, 6'0 G, Williston Northampton (#60 in MA)
Nathan Rogers, 6'10 C, Bromfield (MA) (gap year, will be 2025 I believe)
Andrew Hartel, 6'9 C, Kimball Union Academy (#118 in New England, #21 in NH) (gap year, will be 2025 I believe)
Ben Rice, 6'7 F, Whitman-Hanson (MA) (#106 in New England, #30 in MA)
David Murray, 6'6 C/F, Collegiate School (NYC)
Henry Fine, 6'2 G, BB&N
--
Cameron Lewis, 6'3 G, DePaul Prep (IL)
Kevin Baxter, 6'5 G, Choate (#73 in CT)
Cameron Schainfeld, 6'2 G, South Kent

Hamilton:
Julius Nagin, 6'3 G, BB&N
Ryan Michaels, 6'6 F, Berkshire School
Christian McDaniel, 6'3 G/F, Mt. Zion Baptist
Brendan Gagan, 6'7 F, Guilderland Central (NY)
--
Graham Robinson, 6'10 C, St. Paul's (#18 in NH)
Max Freishtat, 6'4 G, Sidwell Friends (D.C.)
Hank Morgan, 6'5 G, Berkshire School

Middlebury:
David Brennan, 6'5 F, Roxbury Latin
Adrian Watts, 6'4 F/G, St. Andrew's (DE) (not listed on 20-21 roster, gap year?)
Lamine Cisse, 6'2 G, Success Academy (NY)
Dean Smith, 6'6 F, Delbarton (NJ)
--
Jaden Bobbett, 6'0 PG, Cushing Academy (#31 in MA)
Sam Stevens, 6'5 G/F, Willison Northampton (#45 in New England, #27 in MA)

Trinity:
Will Dorion, 6'1 G, Needham (#47 in MA) (not listed on 20-21 roster, gap year?)
Charlie Campbell, 6'2 G/F, Canterbury
Garrett Kirk, 6'2 G, Northfield Mount Herman (not listed on 20-21 roster, gap year?)
Sean Okpoebo, 6'4 G/F, Cushing Academy
Gilbert Otoo, 6'5 F, Perkiomen School (PA)
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Sean Macarchuk, 6'5 G/F, St. Thomas Moore
Kualim Johnson, 6'5 F, Marianapolis Prep (#42 in CT)
Ethan McEachern, 6/1 G, Blair Academy (NJ)

Tufts:
Jay Dieterle, 6'4 G, Rivers School
Liam Murphy, 6'5 F, Wilbraham & Monson (#54 in MA) (not on roster, gap year?)
--
Mohamud Ali, 6'3 F, Boston Latin
Quinn Cain, 6'3 G, Hinsdale Central (IL)
Makai Murray, 5'8 G, St. George's (#11 in RI)
Bobby Stewart, 6'8 C, St. Andrews (FL)
Khai Champion, 6'1 G, Phillips Exeter

Wesleyan:
Kiran Kling, 6'9 C, Maret (D.C.)
Jared Langs, 6'8 F, Lovejoy High School (TX) (gap year, will be 2025)
Olu Oladitan, 6'6 F, Brooks (#56 in MA)
Dylan Ward, 6'5 G, Williston Northampton
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Cole Bryant, 6'4 G, St. Luke's School (#47 in New England, #29 in CT)
Nicky Johnson, 5'9 G, The Rivers School (#40 in MA)
Shane Regan, 6'3 G, Williston Northampton (#51 in MA)
Jacob Pofsky, 6'1 G, Shalhevet H.S. (CA)
Nakial Cross, 6'8 F, Phillips Exeter

Williams:
Brandon Roughley, 6'8 F, Salisbury (#103 in New England, #42 in CT)
Noah Dinkins, 6'4 G, Andover (#50 in MA)
Declan Porter, 6'6 G/F, Exeter (#116 in New England, #19 in NH)
Dan Lee, 6'1 PG, Dublin Jerome (OH)
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Evan Glatzer, 6'3 PG, Friends Seminary (NY)
Charles Willmott, 6'1 G, Lincoln (OR) (football / hoops)

[D3 Basketball912]

Ethan McEachern 6'1 Guard from Blair Academy (NJ) is going to Trinity next year. Also, is Garvin McLaughlin confirmed to be playing for Bates? Finally, does anyone know what happened to the New England Recruiting Report website? For some reason, the link seems to be down.

[SpringSt7]

According to their Twitter the website is having issues and they're trying to fix them.

That is an overwhelming amount of new faces for next season, to say the least. It will be tough for almost all of them to make an impact immediately, but also serves as a good reminder for how much uncertainty there is around every team in the league, regardless of what we know about their returners.

[lumbercat]

Ethan McEachern 6'1 Guard from Blair Academy (NJ) is going to Trinity next year. Also, is Garvin McLaughlin confirmed to be playing for Bates? Finally, does anyone know what happened to the New England Recruiting Report website? For some reason, the link seems to be down.

Yes, McLaughlin has committed to Bates.

[amh63]

Wow..lots of chatter/info on this board.   Still waiting to see how the football season develops...especially wrt fans in the stands, etc.  Thoughts of basketball with a more closed environment and new coaches at Amherst put hoops on the back burner for me.  With huge squads for the upcoming season....maybe the players will sit in the stands . 
Very little info on men's bb on Amherst's website.  In any case...thanks for the inputs all.

[nescac1]

Linton is the man at Tufts.  Seems like he was very much in demand.  Great hire for the Jumbos:

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-tufts-set-to-name-new-head-mens-basketball-coach/

[Colby Hoops]

Linton is the man at Tufts.  Seems like he was very much in demand.  Great hire for the Jumbos:

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-tufts-set-to-name-new-head-mens-basketball-coach/

Seems like a very good hire.

The "coach-in-waiting" game can be harsh though, and doesn't seem like it's a thing any more. Matt Malone has been there for 15 years, and, from what I know, plays about as large of a role as any assistant in the league. I'm sure he thought he had the inside track...

[nescac1]

Yeah, I do feel bad for Malone, he certainly put the time in.  I hope he gets another head coaching opportunity.  Hey, Nichols is an appealing job!   After Malone and Toomey, I think it's safe to say that the whole idea of "coach-in-waiting" does not exist in NESCAC, if it ever did.  Now that former Bowdoin assistant Linton is off the table, it will be interesting to see if Bowdoin stays inside its family with Mark Gilbride, or picks an outsider as Amherst, Tufts, and Conn all did.   

[P'bearfan]

Linton is the man at Tufts.  Seems like he was very much in demand.  Great hire for the Jumbos:

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-tufts-set-to-name-new-head-mens-basketball-coach/

If this is accurate, I'm very happy for Coach Linton and disappointed for Bowdoin.  Hoping for good news soon for the Polar Bears.

[SpringSt7]

I feel bad for Malone as well, and more than a little surprised that Tufts didn't cast a wider net seeing as they chose not to go the in-house route.

Nichols has now won I believe 4 straight league titles with 3 different head coaches, none of whom are still there. That should be a very appealing job.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I feel bad for Malone as well, and more than a little surprised that Tufts didn't cast a wider net seeing as they chose not to go the in-house route.

Nichols has now won I believe 4 straight league titles with 3 different head coaches, none of whom are still there. That should be a very appealing job.

They've not historically paid very well.  I believe Tom Glynn was the first full-time basketball coach they've ever had.  Also, these last two coaches have largely won on the back of Glynn's recruiting.  Granted, one year each doesn't give them much time to build a class, but I'm not sure what's left in the cupboard there.