MBB: NESCAC

[ephoops]

Very solid OCC for Midd.   

[nescac1]

Based on fall sports (and what's been published on the basketball schedule), Williams will no longer be streaming any non-conference home games in hoops (or any other sports).  I hope Williams families and fans will all complain vociferously to anyone they are connected with in the administration, as this is really pathetic for a school with an $80k tuition and a four billion dollar endowment (and seemingly endless money to spend on all non-athletic facilities) and just not a good look at all, especially when compared with what schools with 1/10th the endowment manage to do.  This follows on numerous other ridiculously stingy athletics-related policies, none more glaring than a field house, which has needed total replacement for well over a decade now, which can no longer be used at all as it is literally crumbling. 

[toad22]

Based on fall sports (and what's been published on the basketball schedule), Williams will no longer be streaming any non-conference home games in hoops (or any other sports).  I hope Williams families and fans will all complain vociferously to anyone they are connected with in the administration, as this is really pathetic for a school with an $80k tuition and a four billion dollar endowment (and seemingly endless money to spend on all non-athletic facilities) and just not a good look at all, especially when compared with what schools with 1/10th the endowment manage to do.  This follows on numerous other ridiculously stingy athletics-related policies, none more glaring than a field house, which has needed total replacement for well over a decade now, which can no longer be used at all as it is literally crumbling.

There seems to be no end to the incessant cheapness of the Williams amninistration toward athletics.

[jumpshot]

nescac1, toad, et. al: Decision on streaming has been reversed and links have been added to athletic team schedules.

[nescac1]

Thanks, Jumpshot, glad they reversed that one quickly! 

[Greek Tragedy]

When EF Hutton nescac1 talks, people listen.

[nescac1]

Greek, if only I had that sort of influence!!  Maybe it was Toad . 

On another note, here's a shot at an x-factor player for every NESCAC team -- someone with big upside who could make a much bigger impact this year, and will be needed to for their teams to reach their goals.

Amherst - Charlie Randle, all 7'1 of him.  The issue for Amherst is that Randle, a very highly touted recruit, needs to be utilizing all that size (and good coordination for that size) close to the rim on both ends of the floor, and there is a huge logjam of bigs surrounding him.  But he should be a guy who can dominate the paint as he gets stronger and more experienced. 

Bates - Devin Harris.  The prognosis for a Stephon Baxter-less Bates is bleak no matter what, but Harris, if he can bulk up and learn to avoid foul trouble, could provide the presence on the glass and defensively that has been completely missing since Omar Sarr left the team. 

Bowdoin -  Justus Bardauskas. While I usually would not pick first year, Bowdoin desperately needs a physical, athletic presence on the interior and incoming big man Bardauskas, while a bit raw, has a ton of athleticism.  Of course, the biggest x-factor for Bowdoin is whether McGowan is back to 100 percent.

Colby - Ben Kaczmarek. Colby should have two capable perimeter scorers in Poulton and Green, but needs two more potent outside threats for its system to work.  I imagine at least one will come from a huge group of incoming guards, but among returning players, Kaczmarek looks like the best bet to become a high-volume three point shooter. 

Conn College -  Ben Rice.  Not sure if he was banged up or what but struggled as a junior after showing a lot of promise as a soph.  Has the length and athleticism to make a big leap.  But as with Bowdoin, the biggest x-factor is injury related, as Conn really needs Schainfeld at 100 percent by conference play to compete for a top-three spot in the league. 

Hamilton - Owen Kane.  Hamilton loses a lot of size and will be very small.  Kane has the length, athleticism and shooting ability to step up in a big way as a starter, and Hamilton really needs him to be a third-option type guy next year. 

Middlebury - Edward Witherington.  Great athleticism for his size and showed ability to shoot 3's with a nice outside stroke.  Midd desperately needs better outside shooting from its front court, and as the only 4/5 man with any sort of outside game, he will need to be a much bigger scorer next year.  Honorable mention to Tristan Joseph who was a layup-line all-star and could infuse some badly needed explosiveness to the Midd perimeter attack.   

Trinity - Jarrel Okorougo - showed the potential to be a menace defensively, going to the hole, and on the glass as a wing; how much his shooting improves will determine his ultimate upside. 

Tufts - James Morakis, Scott Gyimesi, and Josh Bernstein.  This is a cheat as I could not decide between the three of them.  All showed a lot of promise as first-years and all of them will need to take a big step up for Tufts to return to the NCAA tourney after losing its top four perimeter guys.  Bernstein and Gyimesi looked like they have the potential to be a physically overpowering duo on both ends up front, and Morakis will be needed to create offense at guard and replace much of Aronson's role as an on-ball creator. 

Wesleyan - Shane Regan.  Wesleyan loses a ton of perimeter scoring and to be in the mix for the league title, Regan likely has to move from a sixth man role to a top three option (ideally top two) on offense.  He showed that ability late in the year last season. 

Williams - Hudson Hansen.  Rare explosiveness for his size and great feel for the game.  Showed the ability to be a two-way terror if he can bulk up, learn to avoid foul trouble, and extend the range on his shot a bit. 

[PolarBaller]

Way too early prediction of NESCAC Final standings:

1. Williams - too much continuity year to year to see any real fall off. Williams remains loaded with size and skill thag I'm not sure any other team can match.
2. Middlebury - talented core stays intact minus Sobel. Think Sam has a bounce back year and underclassmen bigs seem ready to go.
3. Trinity - really like the core group of guys Trinity has and freshman class looks very good. BCG set for a massive year .
4. Hamilton - lost a number of senior players this year. Wouldn't be surprised if they finish even higher behind Singh & co.
5. Tufts - Tufts keeps a number of important pieces but loses big pieces in Aronson and Thoerner. Really could've put team 5-8 in any order. Not sure how it'll play out with these 4 teams.
6. Bowdoin - Think the polar bears make a big jump year 3 under Lloyd. As mentioned in other posts, the team success is dependent on a healthy McGowan but have brought in a talented frosh class.
7. Wesleyan - Wes is the big question mark for me. Had a really successful year last year and are very well coached but I just don't have a sense for who replaces maccoux, ravetz, etc.
8. Conn - While conn didn't lose a lot this off-season, the camels remain on the smaller side and haven't seen too many underclassmen ready to contribute
9. Amherst - still not sure what to make of the mammoths recruiting strategy. Really tall bugs and short guards. Won't be shocked to see them surprise people but I'll have to see it to believe it .
10. Colby - Another roster that lost a lot of seniors this year. Will be interesting to see how it shakes out for them
11. Bates - Baxterless bates seems like they may be in for a tough year

[nescac1]

PolarBaller, I think your ranking is very solid overall, but I just don't see Amherst finishing ninth this year.  They finished 4-6 in the league last year but lost out in massive tie-breaker, and they have their top nine guys back (eight of them were underclassmen!).  And several of those guys were hurt a good portion of last year.  The rotations should be at least a bit less crazy last year with the four seniors who departed, who I imagine Sears felt an obligation to play but who he was never really committed to in any way and didn't fit what he wanted to do.  It's not those players' fault, as they could have helped under a different coach, but in the grand scheme it ends up being addition by subtraction. 

I agree that the Mammoths have a weird roster mix but their pool of talent is in the top three in the conference, at worst.  Just so much size and depth up front, and a bunch of those big guys (especially Vance and Randle) are candidates to take a big leap.  They also had a foreign trip in the summer which should further help the development of all those young players.  Meanwhile, Tufts, Hamilton, Midd, Wesleyan and Colby all lost really significant players to graduation.  The biggest issue I see is no clear 1A type player but they have at least 7-8 guys who would be in the top four players almost anywhere.   I think Amherst will end up somewhere in the top half of the conference and can't possibly go any direction but up, although they are very hard to project precisely.     

[PolarBaller]

I agree with you nescac1. i should have included them in the 5-9 range where it's hard to project just where any of those teams will fall. My tentativeness with the mammoths may also be biased by the recent success of young bigs across the nescac. For the last couple of years we've been spoiled with young bigs coming in and being dominant right away (I.e. Rogers, Karen, etc.). While Amherst's young bigs have had their share of good games, I'm just not sure who takes the jump this year, especially given the rotations Sears ran last year. Felt like every big fella got decent minutes but enough to dominate. I agree with you Amherst certainly has top 3 size in the Nescac but let's not conflate size with skill. All in all a very interesting season ahead for the whole league.

[Conts Fan]

Hamilton schedule out: https://athletics.hamilton.edu/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/2023-24.

OOC games include Ithaca, SUNY Morrisville, Lyndon/Neumann, Drew, Cortland, Carnegie Mellon, URochester, Utica, St. John Fisher, DeSales, Muhlenberg, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Poly, SUNY Delhi.

[names jaismith]

Here's another take on preseason conference rankings.
1.Williams: By far and away the favorite.  Talent size depth.  Anything but first place a big disappointment.
2. Trinity: Ready for a breakout season.
3. Conn:  A healthy Schainfeld is the key. Murray now the best post player in the league. Sleeper recruiting class will surprise.
4.  Tufts:  Big losses to graduation but lots of promise too.
5. Middlebury:  No Sobel is literally a big problem but Brown will get them to over perform
6. Wesleyan: Johnson easily the best pg in league but supporting cast is a big question.
7. Amherst: Tons of size talent too - -cohesion?  Not so much.
8. Hamilton:  Maybe the best coached team but too many losses to graduation.
9. Bowdoin:  Except for Conn, haven't proved they can take down any of the top five.
10. Bates:  Might not win a game despite their cozy home court

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think Middlebury will be pretty good. They're loaded with talent that perhaps didn't get to show its full potential last year with Sobel dominating so much of the offense.

[SpringSt7]

2021-22
Sobel: 13.5 shot attempts per game
Sam Stevens: 18.0 points per game on 41/38/76
Noah Osher: 16.5 points per game on 41/34/88

2022-22
Sobel: 13.6 shot attempts per game
Sam Stevens: 11.3 points per game on 36/25/83
Noah Osher: 12.8 points per game on 37/34/80


Middlebury has talent that is capable of playing better, but it doesn't seem like a Sobel thing. They just need to start making shots again.

[nescac1]

Trinity has an extraordinarily weak schedule this year:

Trinity: https://bantamsports.com/sports/mbball/schedule

Western New England and Worcester State should be pretty good, and St. Joe's might be (although they lose virtually their entire rotation from last year's team).  But Regis, Hartford (who knows who will even be on that team this year), Wheaton (MA), UMD, Elms, Anna Maria, Framingham State, Mitchell, Norwich or Maine / Fort Kent, and Thomas?  That's atrocious.  I expect they will have a gaudy record by mid-January but we won't know very much about them at all. 

Wesleyan's schedule is also pretty weak overall, but at least has the Little Three games, so it's significantly better than Trinity's: 

https://athletics.wesleyan.edu/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/2023-24

Yeshiva, Worcester State, Skidmore and Endicott or Emmanuel may be decent games, although none are likely to be world-beaters.  After that ... Mitchell, Farmingdale State, Colby-Sawyer, Eastern Conn (maybe they bounce back this year) Bridgewater State.  Not great. 

Amherst has yet to publish its schedule (as usual, very late on Sports Info stuff), so we'll see if they have upgraded from the very weak schedule of recent years.

Hamilton's schedule is on the other hand solid, certainly has as lot of interesting games: DeSales, Utica, Rochester, Neumann, St. John Fisher, Muehlenberg, Carnegie Mellon, Cortland should all be challenging (at a minimum).