MBB: NESCAC

[jumbomumbo]

Just a thought. If NESCAC tuition prices are currently $95k per year, and grow at a 4% annual rate, tuition will be $250k, and over $1M just for a family to send one athlete to the NESCAC. I think it is a ticking time bomb, and something NESCAC coaches and athletic directors will have to address in the coming decades. Thinking this because it is becoming a no brainer for top level NESCAC kids to transfer for scholarships if available.

I do think this is a bit hyperbole. I would say the average kids actually pay is in 35-50 range with 'merit' scholarships. Price is definitely is a consideration/issue for nescac athletics. However to say people will be paying 1M for a nescac education in the next 20 years seems somewhat outlandish to me.

At Tufts, about 60% athletes pay full sticker price. I would imagine this to be the case for Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury as well. I don't think it is outlandish because that is the rate tuition grows, and that is the math in 25 years

[jumbomumbo]

Few thoughts from Harvard Bowdoin. Bowdoin starting 5 is very well rounded, runs Princeton offense very well. Disciplined, back door cutting, playing off 2 feet to find open shots. Harvard (on brand recognition) should win the Ivy every year, but they wouldn't even advance to a D3 Elite 8. Mind boggling

[D3BBALL]

Bowdoin up 9 at half against Harvard because why not? Polar Bears might want to hope there are no higher level coaches taking note of Ray Cuevas' showing...

Was just thinking that. kid will have scholly opportunity

Yes if he wants to play D1 he can easily get a D1 program to take him. He is that good.

[Conts Fan]

Just a thought. If NESCAC tuition prices are currently $95k per year, and grow at a 4% annual rate, tuition will be $250k, and over $1M just for a family to send one athlete to the NESCAC. I think it is a ticking time bomb, and something NESCAC coaches and athletic directors will have to address in the coming decades. Thinking this because it is becoming a no brainer for top level NESCAC kids to transfer for scholarships if available.

I do think this is a bit hyperbole. I would say the average kids actually pay is in 35-50 range with 'merit' scholarships. Price is definitely is a consideration/issue for nescac athletics. However to say people will be paying 1M for a nescac education in the next 20 years seems somewhat outlandish to me.

My wife and I have two solid incomes - not wealthy but by no means poor - and our son is a Nescac freshman paying less than 20% list price. Those schools have a lot of money to dole out. Not saying it wouldn't still be a stretch for many people, but those published tuition/room/board figures really don't apply to most people.

[midrangepullup]

Just a thought. If NESCAC tuition prices are currently $95k per year, and grow at a 4% annual rate, tuition will be $250k, and over $1M just for a family to send one athlete to the NESCAC. I think it is a ticking time bomb, and something NESCAC coaches and athletic directors will have to address in the coming decades. Thinking this because it is becoming a no brainer for top level NESCAC kids to transfer for scholarships if available.

I do think this is a bit hyperbole. I would say the average kids actually pay is in 35-50 range with 'merit' scholarships. Price is definitely is a consideration/issue for nescac athletics. However to say people will be paying 1M for a nescac education in the next 20 years seems somewhat outlandish to me.

My wife and I have two solid incomes - not wealthy but by no means poor - and our son is a Nescac freshman paying less than 20% list price. Those schools have a lot of money to dole out. Not saying it wouldn't still be a stretch for many people, but those published tuition/room/board figures really don't apply to most people.

I think this is more the norm than paying full ticket

[nescac1]

Bates going to 2-0, without Begin, with two double-digit wins against Colby and Bowdoin (including at Colby) is very impressive.  As SpringSt7 noted, we are fully in Ewing Theory territory there.  I'd say with that loss, and given that it lacks a single quality win to date, Colby is now realistically entirely out of the Pool C picture going forward, along with Bates and Conn College.   

Babacar Pouye is the best player in the league nobody talks about.  He's made a huge leap from a solid first year and is averaging a well-rounded 14-7-2 plus 3 STOCKS per game on 55/33/82 splits, with plenty of upside still.  While it looks likely to be a close two-man race for POTY in NESCAC between Vetter and Morgan (and the arguments on their relative merits have already begun here), Pouye will be in contention for the other first team all-league spots along with Morakis and Gyimesi, Regan and Nicky Johnson, Sam Stevens, Alex Lee, Poulton, and Singh.  Speaking of Poulton, I'm sure other coaches will study what Bates did to hold him to to four points on 0-4 from the field in 31 minutes!

With his performance against Harvard, Ray Cuevas cements his place as the heavy favorite for ROTY heading into league play.  Of course, not a single official league game has been played so a lot can change quickly.  The other rookies to watch are Rein and Yates from Williams, Wolinski and Edelman from Wesleyan, Civello and Kwiecinski from Colby, Chin from Amherst, Clarr from Conn College, and Ramey from Middlebury.   

[Bucket]

Just a thought. If NESCAC tuition prices are currently $95k per year, and grow at a 4% annual rate, tuition will be $250k, and over $1M just for a family to send one athlete to the NESCAC. I think it is a ticking time bomb, and something NESCAC coaches and athletic directors will have to address in the coming decades. Thinking this because it is becoming a no brainer for top level NESCAC kids to transfer for scholarships if available.

I do think this is a bit hyperbole. I would say the average kids actually pay is in 35-50 range with 'merit' scholarships. Price is definitely is a consideration/issue for nescac athletics. However to say people will be paying 1M for a nescac education in the next 20 years seems somewhat outlandish to me.

Most NESCAC schools don't offer merit scholarships.

[P'bearfan]

Few thoughts from Harvard Bowdoin. Bowdoin starting 5 is very well rounded, runs Princeton offense very well. Disciplined, back door cutting, playing off 2 feet to find open shots. Harvard (on brand recognition) should win the Ivy every year, but they wouldn't even advance to a D3 Elite 8. Mind boggling

Wow!  Just watched the first few minutes of the replay on youtube and the Polar Bears were not intimidated at all.  If they continue to play like that, they will surprise a few teams this year.

[toad22]

I do think that the cost of a top quality education at a NESCAC school can be high, but there is a lot of aid available. The family with $75-150k income typically pays $10-25k per year. Williams does lose some athletes to cost issues. There are a lot of factors involved, so generalizing is difficult. The plan is to allow any kid who gets in to be able to afford the tuition. It doesn't always work out, but in most cases it does.

[toad22]

Williams has a great week of basketball ahead of it. Springfield at home tonight, followed by Wesleyan away on Friday and Trinity on Saturday. I view these games as great opportunities. I have no doubt that all three games are up for grabs and are winnable by the Ephs. Good play will be required. These kind of games make basketball so much fun! I really like Wesleyan and Trinity's teams, but I like Williams even more. I expect those to games to be very competitive.

[jumbomumbo]

Williams has a great week of basketball ahead of it. Springfield at home tonight, followed by Wesleyan away on Friday and Trinity on Saturday. I view these games as great opportunities. I have no doubt that all three games are up for grabs and are winnable by the Ephs. Good play will be required. These kind of games make basketball so much fun! I really like Wesleyan and Trinity's teams, but I like Williams even more. I expect those to games to be very competitive.

I think Wesleyan and Trinity beat Williams by a combined 30 points

[SpringSt7]

Williams plays one of its less inspired halves of the year but finds a little spark down the stretch to cut the Springfield lead to 5 at 38-33. Been a lot easier for Springfield to get to the paint than Williams is accustomed to - 16-24 from the field and just 3-4 from three, woof. Nice to see Declan Porter finally make in action

[SpringSt7]

Williams comes out looking like a real team in the second half and defeats Springfield 67-49. Alex Lee played like a first teamer scoring 25 points on 9-12 shooting while freshman Aidan Yates played his best game in the uniform, a career high 26 minutes and added 13 points on just 8 shots. He looked pretty locked in on defense and you would hope enough of that can carry over to league play because they really really need his offense right now.

Springfield only scored 11 points in the second half after the first 20 minutes was a lay up line. App doesn't make a whole lot of adjustments but whatever he said in the locker room made a huge difference and now the tone has been set heading into Friday.

It was a bumpy nonconference slate for the Ephs and they have a real long way to go in terms of on court play but the reality is that they are 9-3 with all 3 losses to top 25 (if not higher) teams. Their resume is intact for a Pool C bid even if they ultimately are not playing like that level of team. They need to improve vastly and find a way to knock off a top dog or two but they have all to play for heading into conference play.

[nescac1]

Well, that was quite a turnaround.  After playing a whole lot of matador D in the first half (Springfield shot 67 percent, mostly in the paint) Williams gave up only 11 total points in the second half - the defensive focus and intensity was dramatically different as I imagine Coach had some choice words about the effort level at halftime. 

For Williams, Alex Lee was stellar all game on offense, and kept the team in the game in the first half when no one else could hit a shot; he was doing it at all three levels tonight.  Aidan Yates had his second straight excellent all-around game off the bench and is starting to become a real weapon for the Ephs as he gets more comfortable with the college game.  And the big news is that Declan Porter played his first meaningful minute in nearly 24 months. He understandably looked a bit rusty but I expect that he will find the outside touch soon enough. 

One issue that has plagued Williams all years is slow starts, especially offensively.  Here are some scores from early in the competitive games the Ephs have played this year:

5-5 Dehli
2-7 Oneonta
2-7 Keene State
4-6 (7 minutes into the game!) RIC
3-8 New Palz
4-12 Wesleyan
3-10 Kenyon
6-11 NYU
2-10 Springfield

Even in the games that Williams pulled out, they get off to a painfully slow start.  I do think part of that is the starting lineup, which really lacks any sort of spacing on the floor at all, other than Alex Lee, who opposing teams are going to make priority one in every game.  I imagine with Yates coming into his own and Declan easing his way back, the team has some more options to hopefully figure out how to get off to faster starts in some of these games.  But also, it would help if the team can just find its rhythm on both ends of the floor a bit sooner.

[SpringSt7 beat me to the punch so forgive the duplication of a lot of what he had to say]. 

[toad22]

Great to see Declan Porter back playing again after a year and a half off. He was a top 2 three point shooter in the NESCAC as a FY and a sophomore. I expect he will again in the second half of his senior year. He is without doubt the best shooter at Williams since Duncan Robinson, so it will be fun to see him play his final semester.