MBB: NESCAC

[stlawus]

Interesting.  I try to keep up on transfers and missed that tweet which appears to be from yesterday.  Takes the luster off of my breaking news as it was actually broke yesterday.  I really did have a solid NESCAC source for this! I could see him in Division I, and I also wonder if a UAA team tries to snag him.

[nescac1]

Well you broke the news on this board so well-done

[WUPHF]

Certainly, he and Matthew Schner are the most D1-ish players who are likely to be available coming out of D3, as everyone wants big, athletic wings with perimeter shooting ability. 

I cannot speak for Peek, but I predict after 5 or so years in Division III (injured as a freshmen, gap year last year), Schner only returns if he finds himself on a Division I roster.

[Sabrina76]

So here is an off-season question for this group ... as you look at the best players in your respective schools' history, are they guards, forwards, or centers?  I generally know the answer at Amherst - Toomey and Olsen were guards and probably the GOAT (according to Hixon), Rehnquist, would be classified as a two guard given his incredible outside shooting prowess.

Dave Auten '70 was a forward and has to be considered in any Amherst discussion. 6'6" (probably listed as 6'8" today) and very mobile. Excellent shooter. Dominant player in that period. Late cut by the Rockets in the days before big expansion. Harry Sheehy '75 would also have to be considered at Williams. I'm sure he would think so as well. Rehnquist would have loved the 3 pointer. I didn't see Auten enough to know how he would like it given that coaches frowned on long range, low percentage shots in those days. Zones did pack it in.

[D3Parent1]

As a parent of D3 athletes I wanted to reach out and thank the whole group on this board.  You all do a great job of adding a richness and texture to this experience.  This past year was great.    You are all supportive of all the players. Even when they have poor games you are gentle and make allowances.   I really appreciate that and I am sure all the other parents that read here do as well. 

As much as I enjoy reading about Amherst, Williams, Colby, Weslyan, I and Midd I do hope we get more input from "other" teams, such as Trinity, Tufts, Conn etc... as they seem to have a lot of up and coming players.  I look forward to next season. 

[Pat Coleman]

As a parent of D3 athletes I wanted to reach out and thank the whole group on this board.  You all do a great job of adding a richness and texture to this experience.  This past year was great.    You are all supportive of all the players. Even when they have poor games you are gentle and make allowances.   I really appreciate that and I am sure all the other parents that read here do as well. 

As much as I enjoy reading about Amherst, Williams, Colby, Weslyan, I and Midd I do hope we get more input from "other" teams, such as Trinity, Tufts, Conn etc... as they seem to have a lot of up and coming players.  I look forward to next season.

If you represent one of those other teams, feel free to post more next season! Welcome to the board.

[P'bearfan]

https://athletics.macalester.edu/news/2022/3/16/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-macalesters-woldeslassie-chosen-region-9-coach-of-the-year.aspx

Nice to see former Bowdoin assistant, and now HC, Abe Woldeslassie, being recognized. 

[nescac1]

Peek already with his first D1 offer, from UMBC: https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/status/1508578095908892674?s=20&t=LBB417DgJiYKibUuf2zFXw

Revised, he also has an offer from Jacksonville ... lots of other teams interested: https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/status/1508839942058766336?s=21&t=TOHNpztN_CuD3pjvL2wMPQ

[WUPHF]

Lots of other teams interested: https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/status/1508839942058766336?s=21&t=TOHNpztN_CuD3pjvL2wMPQ

This is unrelated, but I love in the era of the internet, a high school sophomore can become a basketball authority and recruiting guru.  His sister goes to Washington University and was doing the same in high school and currently writes about women's basketball.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There will be tons if interest for guys like Schner and Peek, it'll all come down to fit. Remember, Jack Nolan was headed to Illinois before WashU came through with an academic scholarship for his first choice grad program.

[WUPHF]

Jake Lieberman has also reported on Schner: @jakelieberman2: Matthew Schner has been in contact with William & Mary, Campbell, St Thomas, Lipscomb, Samford.

I think I said this already, but I think Schner is different than Nolan in that Schner completed his fifth season as part of the Emory program.  He was injured as a freshman and did take a gap year last year, but he must be ready for something else.  Especially with everyone else from his class moving or having moved on.

[nescac1]

Two more future Ephs, via Instagram:

Isiaha Dickens, 6'7 F, Hun School (NJ)
Sammy Cooley, 6'4 F, South Lakes (VA)

Cooley was second team all-state in VA. 

And one more for Wesleyan:

Michael Astorino, 6'6 G/F, IMG Academy (FL)

[ephoops]

Williams has had strangely few truly elite guards over the years ... after Crotty, Wang and Casey it starts to get thin (guys like Schultz and Aronowitz I'd classify as wings).  Center on the other hand has been consistently great - Chapin, Coffin, Whittington, Mayer, Karp, with Nate Karren looking like the latest in a long line of great ones.  And on the wing, Nogelo, Duncan, Schultz etc., also pretty loaded.

I'm dating myself a bit regarding Williams guards, but several of the best players in Williams hoops history include:

Harry Sheehy
Artie Pidoriano
Tim Walsh
Garcia Major

All guards.

[nescac1]

Good call Eph hoops!   All before my time ...

One more Eph commitment, 6'8 NMH forward Hudson Hansen:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcBt1-Opx7_/?utm_medium=copy_link

Solid recruit, as he started ahead of some D1 guys on a loaded NMH team.

[nescac1]

With the three new Eph recruits, the updated NESCAC recruiting list:

Amherst:

Christopher Hammond, 6'6 G/F, Campbell Hall (CA)
Drew Martin, 6'7 G/F, Rivers School
Giovanni Tam, 6'10 C, Cushing Academy, #38 in MA
Charlie Randall, 7'0 F Berkshire School, #20 in MA, #56 in New England


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
Andrew Szwez, 6'6 F, Lee Academy
Will Logue, SG, 6-2, Santa Rosa (CA) HS

Colby:

Miles Drake, 6'1 G, Darien HS
Max Poulton, 6'4 G, Rivers School, #37 in MA

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 Flaks, 5'9 PG, Taft School


Trinity:

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


Tufts:

Josh Bernstein, 6'10 C, Berkshire School
James Morakis, 6'3 G, Salisbury School, #40 in CT
Scott Gyimesi, 6'5 F, Rumson Fair-Haven (NJ)


Wesleyan:

Alex Justh, 6'3 G, Berkshire School
Michael Astorino, 6'6 G/F, IMG Academy (FL)
Sam Pohlman, 6'2 PG, Perkiomen School (PA)


Williams:

Ben McGraw, 6'3 G, Bolles (FL)
Alex Lee, 6'2 G, Clear Lake (TX)
Hudson Hansen, 6'8 F, NMH, #36 MA
Sammy Cooley, 6'4 G/F, South Lakes (VA)
Isiaha Dickens, 6'7 F, Hun School (NJ)

With recruiting winding down, the usual suspects - Amherst, Williams, Tufts and Middelbury - all seem to have really strong classes.  But, there also doesn't seem to be a lot of instant impact stars like we saw in the most recent first-year class (which of course benefited from some guys who took gap years).  No obvious Sam Stevens or Nicky Johnson or Roughley/Porter types on the list, I'd say, but who knows?

Although Charlie Randall is by far the highest rated prospect to commit to NESCAC, I suspect that he will be more of a long-term impact guy, as he was much less impactful for Berkshire this year than Tufts recruit Bernstein, and Amherst is just SO loaded with veterans up front.  Give him a year to fill out though and he could be very interesting.  I'm sure that a few of the Midd and Bowdoin big guy recruits will see time for each school, but hard to know which from each group will get the first crack at PT. 

At this very preliminary time, my top two rookies to watch (in terms of potential ROY contenders) are James Morakis, who was the only NESCAC recruit to date be named first-team all NEPSAC Class A and lit it up this year at Salisbury -- he seems like a really dynamic scorer, and Max Poulton at Colby -- Strahorn is never shy about playing rookies and Poulton seems like he will fill a major need as an ace shooter on the wing. 

Curious to see what Bates and Conn did do or will do, since neither have any publicly-announced recruits yet ... but Conn the last two years has filled slots in its class very late in recruiting season.  Bates really needs a big man if as reported Omar Sarr has left the squad.  Also curious to see if Amherst picks up a badly-needed guard late in recruiting (or already has one that hasn't been made public).