MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Now that the first semester is just about over, here is a shot at first semester awards (of course these will change dramatically after league play but what the heck):

Team most exceeding expectations: Middlebury

Team most falling short of expectations: Tufts (clearly)

COY: Jeff Brown and Kevin App

First team:

Alex Sobel (POY by a mile)
Nate Karren
Cole Prowitt-Smith
Sam Peek
Stephon Baxter

Second team:

Michael Simonds
Noah Tyson
Garrett Day
Grant Robinson
Donald Jorden
Sam Stevens

(couldn't figure out who to leave off from these six)

Other guys to watch: Eric Anderson, Nick Osarenren, Luke Rogers (if healthy), Will King

All rookie:

Sam Stevens (ROY)
Declan Porter
Nicky Johnson
Will Dorion
Jack Lawson

Also watching: Cam Schainfeld, Canin Reynolds, Jahmir Primer, Brandon Roughley (a loaded frosh class this year for sure)

DPOY: Nick Osarenren.  Others to watch: Alex Sobel, Jovan Jones, Devon Allen, Nicky Johnson, Noah Tyson

[Painter66]

Don't forget David Brennan for the rookie team. He is a tough guy averaging 9.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 28 minutes a game. He also makes his foul shots and is always in the game at crunch time. I have not seen too many better Midd first years. Stevens is clearly exceptional, but Brennan is really good and will be a big part of the next several years.

[nescac1]

I think Brennan is a soph.  I'm only including guys listed as frosh.  Excludes Simonds too who is def a ROY candidate if eligible.

Edit: my mistake he is indeed a frosh!

[Painter66]

He is listed as freshman, but he was on the practice team last year. I have no idea what this all means these days, as Midd has no graduate students to enable a 4th year. I just refer to him, and others, as "first years"  To be sorted out, I guess.

[nescac1]

Ahh, weird. This year is so confusing!

[Greek Tragedy]

As usual, the NESCAC has stacked up impressive records, Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan and Middlebury, but how legit are these team nationally? I mean, in the tournament draft league, Amherst and Williams were taken in the 1st round. Smoke and mirrors playing weak NC schedules, for the most part?

[nescac1]

I think Williams, Amherst and Wesleyan are all top-25 caliber teams nationally (no one else in NESCAC is close).  It's hard to say exactly WHERE in the top 25 they likely fall because yeah, their collective competition has been weak so far (and Springfield, which usually is an early-season barometer for Amherst and Williams, is way down this year, although I think playing better of later and probably a bit better than its record).  Wesleyan did crush WPI, which was a very impressive win (WPI has been killing everyone else), and then Williams beat Wesleyan at Wesleyan, also impressive, so that's something at least.

All three rank very high in efficiency rankings, especially Amherst, but I'm skeptical of Amherst's statistical dominance because the competition has just been SO outmatched.   Honestly, I think the voters have all three pegged exactly right in the 15-30 sort of range.  But would it shock me if any of them (especially Amherst or Williams) end up as top 10 teams?  Not at all.  We will know a lot more within three weeks since Williams gets Yeshiva and Amherst, and Amherst and Wesleyan also match up, all in very early January.  Amherst also has potential tests against Babson and Middlebury prior to the Williams showdown.  The Little 3 round robin this year should tell a lot about where these three stand relative to each other (or if they are just closely grouped, which I think is probably the case). 

Still, these teams just based on the eye test are all clearly loaded with talent.  Amherst has two guys who have been first-team all-NESCAC players starting in the backcourt, the starting trio in the backcourt (when healthy) are all 5th year seniors who have been multi-year starters and the first guy off the bench is also a senior who has played a ton.  Up front, they at least have waves of big quality players to throw at opponents.  Wesleyan is deep, quick, strong, and very experienced (basically the entire team back from two years ago plus some added talent).  Williams, while the least experienced of the three, may have the most upside, it has four players with legit all-American talent plus 4-5 quality veteran players around them, it's just that its top guys are mostly underclassmen so there have been and will be some ups and downs, often within the same game, and they are probably a year or even two away (if they stay healthy etc.) from peaking.

Speaking of Amherst, they got an interesting commitment yesterday from 6'7 wing Drew Martin:

https://twitter.com/HouseWeBuilt617/status/1470238151453155328?s=20

Martin, who reminds me a bit of former Amherst player David Waller, plays for Amherst alum Keith Zalaski.  Seems like he's still fairly raw and a late grower, but the type of guy who can explode onto the scene as an upperclassman, as athletic players who grow very late can sometimes be major talents who fly under the radar (like James Heskett or Fletcher Walters). 

[SpringSt7]

As usual, the NESCAC has stacked up impressive records, Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan and Middlebury, but how legit are these team nationally? I mean, in the tournament draft league, Amherst and Williams were taken in the 1st round. Smoke and mirrors playing weak NC schedules, for the most part?

At the risk of giving up my strategy, the east coast teams tend to get an easier draw in the first weekend, hence trying to take them earlier. No point in taking Platteville early if they're going to draw Elmhurst in the Round of 32.

[Colby Hoops]

All three teams are really good defensively -- long and solid. I think the halfcourt offense against very good defenses will be the question. I trust Amherst most among that group with Robinson and Day as creators, but hard to say given the weak competition.

Colby's rough first semester continued with a heartbreaker to Brandeis. Up 5 with a minute to go and lost in regulation. Looking forward to league play, there is clearly going to be a lot of volatility particularly after those top 3.

[Old Guy]

All three teams are really good defensively -- long and solid. I think the halfcourt offense against very good defenses will be the question. I trust Amherst most among that group with Robinson and Day as creators, but hard to say given the weak competition.

Colby's rough first semester continued with a heartbreaker to Brandeis. Up 5 with a minute to go and lost in regulation. Looking forward to league play, there is clearly going to be a lot of volatility particularly after those top 3.

I note that Tommy Eastman again didn't play for Brandeis. Too bad. We at Middlebury hoped he could he could get a full season at Brandeis to really show what he can do when healthy. In his one year at Middlebury, somewhat compromised by injury, he put himself in the top tier of talented players over the years here and led people to speculate what might have been. Hope he can get back in the line-up at Brandeis.

[nescac1]

Lots of NESCAC recruits rolling in through ED decisions, update list of recruits:

Amherst:

Christopher Hammond, 6'6 W, Campbell Hall (CA)
Drew Martin, 6'7 W, Rivers School
Giovanni Tam, 6'10 C, Cushing Academy

Bowdoin:

Alex Halpern, 6'0 G, NMH
Jaden Hill, 5'7 PG, Belmont Hill
Nolan Bessire, 6-9, PF, Montgomery HS, CA
Kevin Reeves, 6-7, PF, Columbia Academy, OH

Colby:

Max Poulton, 6'4 G, Rivers School

Hamilton:

Yashiya Crespin, 6'5 PG, Grace Christian (Raleigh NC)
Garret Keyhani, 6'8 F, Juniperro Serra (CA)

Middlebury:

Edward Witherington, 6'6 F, Fairhope H.S. (AL)
Jackson McKersie, 6'8 F, Dexter Southfield (MA)
Mark Newell, 6'5 F, St. Sebastian
Tristan Joseph, 6'2 G, Brunswick School
Evan Flacks, 5'9 PG, Taft School

Trinity:

Trevor McDonald, 6'5 G, Canterbury School
Drew Herer, 6'3 G, Beaver Country Day

Tufts:

Josh Bernstein, 6'10 C, Berkshire School
James Morakis, 6'3 G, Salisbury School
Scott Gyimesi, 6'5 F, Rumson Fair-Haven (NJ)

Wesleyan:

Alex Justh, 6'3 G, Berkshire School

Williams:

Ben McGraw, 6'3 G, Bolles (FL)
Alex Lee, 6'2 G, Clear Lake (TX)

[quicksilver]

@NESCAC1 -- For Bowdoin, add:
Nolan Bessire, 6-9, PF, Montgomery HS, CA
Kevin Reeves, 6-7, PF, Columbia Academy, OH

[nescac1]

Thanks Quicksilver, will add.  Bessire looks like a very nice recruit for Bowdoin ... they need a big guy so I imagine he will play right away. 

[jayhawk]

Giovanni Tam, 6'10" high school Cushing
ranked 67 on NERR, New England and 30th in Massachusetts
commited to Amherst College

[nescac1]

Marlon Sears has two strong (and maybe still going) recruiting classes under his belt.  Among them, he's basically brought in two good (how good TBD) recruits at each front court spot (Scherer, Vance and Helmke last year and the three recruits this year).  With those guys plus Schretter, Schlakman and Isa McGuire still around Amherst will have loads of depth and size up front for years to come.  Amherst will have three 6'10 dudes (plus 4-5 6'7 guys) next year!   Sears clearly likes big strong guys up front and elite quickness on the perimeter.  Shooting - maybe a lower priority?

On another note, great article on Brendan McGuire, who started on two Eph final four teams in the 90s.  Known for his toughness and work ethic as an undersized 5, those traits have served him well professionally.  He will be counsel to NYC Mayor Eric Adams ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/nyregion/adams-brendan-mcguire-lawyer.html