WBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Correction.......Amherst plays the Maine teams at home this year.  Still dangerous teams.
The D3hoopsville broadcast on the D3hoops website.....first of the year?....will have Coach G. as a guest.  The program runs from 7-9 PM.    Some conflict with my watching the Div1 UMaryland Duke MBB game.(local favorite teams)

[Maine 1]

I am hoping to get to the Colby-Bowdoin game this Saturday to watch live.  Will report back on what these two teams bring.

[PostPlay]

Just thought I would give some perspective on D3 recruiting/ NESCAC.   Had a daughter that had a very successful career at a NESCAC school. The level of basketball at the top end of the NESCAC is very good (probably equivalent of low D/ DII in some places, players are probably not as fast, but overall verygood basketball). At the lower end of DIII, there are players that really aren't even good high school players--so a wide spectrum.

The student really needs to like the school they are going to. Coaches change, players get hurt, all Coaches promise many players that they will play alot.  It is a recruiting process. You have to try to see through that.

You should try to go to watch some games of the schools you are interested in.  See the team play, watch the Coach, gauge the chemistry.  Informal visits in the Spring of the junior year are great, probably more formal visits in fall of senior year are also good

Thanks for the advice...very helpful.  How was your daughter recruited?  Did they see her in HS, AAU, showcases, camps, etc.?

[farmboy]

Postplay

Please see my post.  BB coaches are pretty ADD so you have to be the aggressor.  Track Coaches are far better with focus etc but then again it is a bit easier to do data search for Tracksters.  Basketball stats are pretty useless for searching for good players, especially if your player is a great defensive player.

So get in their face.  Do a camp there if at all possible.  And use your phone.  Do some vids if you have the tech. The only coach that really impressed me was Gromecky (sp...not sure why I have such a problem remembering how to spell his name) who is a great judge of character and capability of players.  If you ever meet him you will agree.

But first of all love the school and what it will do for your player...BB is just a game.

[HoopMama]

Post Play - During my daughter's jr yr she sent an athletic profile and game schedule to college coaches, pretty much all NESCAC in her case, at the start of bb season.  During course of season, sent gameworthy dvd's and any press of note.  Updated athletic profile with GPA, athletic honors, etc during course of year.  Visited schools and met with coaches spring of junior year.  Fall of senior year narrowed list and went back for several overnights.  Made decision to apply ED to first choice and was accepted.  Coaches approach varied.  Some came to a hs game or sent asst coach.  Others went with dvd's, aau and showcases.  good luck.

[pureshooter]

HoopMama
Have to like the school first, in case of injury. do i want to study here if i can't play b-ball? is the question.
study the roster, see who is leaving at your child's position, and watch a few games. watch the coach closely to see how they react during games.D-3 coach's are just as whacked as D-1, and some of the egos were amazing, in nescac and outside.
see what kind of system they play.
they will tell you how much your kid will play and all that, don't believe all the bs.
AAU coaches are usually the best link to the college level, or that is what i found. Good AAU programs will have college coaches watch tournaments they are in or even go to practices.

good luck

[PostPlay]

HoopMama
Have to like the school first, in case of injury. do i want to study here if i can't play b-ball? is the question.
study the roster, see who is leaving at your child's position, and watch a few games. watch the coach closely to see how they react during games.D-3 coach's are just as whacked as D-1, and some of the egos were amazing, in nescac and outside.
see what kind of system they play.
they will tell you how much your kid will play and all that, don't believe all the bs.
AAU coaches are usually the best link to the college level, or that is what i found. Good AAU programs will have college coaches watch tournaments they are in or even go to practices.

good luck

Thanks to the great points above on recruiting....very helpful!  I appreciate it.

[amh63]

Amherst plays Keen at 6PM in NJ.  It is a game to fill the schedule after missing the 2 Vegas games.  It will have stats and video.
In the latest WBB polls, Kean has moved up to no. 6 from 9th in the rankings.
During the radio/video show on Hoopsville , several interesting bits of info emerged.  One, Sarah Leyman, was the only player from Amherst to make to Vegas.  She is from Cinn. Ohio and is one of the Sr. Captains.  Typical of her play....determination to overcome barriers.
Second,  Coach G. was still trying to get another game scheduled.....even calling some Div. 1 schools for a makeup game.  Having a hard time to date.
For the posters who have kids in the college search.....you may watch some college games online and or attend some games to gage the level of play at the schools and the style of the coaches and the team play.   Tonight's game maybe a good one to see two top teams play.

[Maine 1]

Post Play

Looks like you have received some good advice on the board regarding the recruiting process.

In my daughters case, she was recruited primarily through AAU.  Most coaches attend the key AAU tournaments, and this is where players can stand out and make an impact.

[jumpshot]

Amherst women stunned by Kean in overtime tonight.

[PostPlay]

Post Play

Looks like you have received some good advice on the board regarding the recruiting process.

In my daughters case, she was recruited primarily through AAU.  Most coaches attend the key AAU tournaments, and this is where players can stand out and make an impact.

Thanks Maine 1!   Did she end up at a NESCAC school and/or did you look at other D3 schools?

[deiscanton]

Congratulations to Jaci Daigneault and Sarah Leyman on becoming the 9th and 10th players in Amherst women's basketball history to join the 1,000 Point Club.

I was wishing that your accomplishments could have been in the context of an Amherst victory, but the fact that the result of the Amherst/Kean game did not go as I hoped does not take away from these worthy achievements.

The Kean University press release of the game has already been posted on D3Hoops.com, but Amherst has added some perspective to the release which can be seen here.

I watched the final few minutes of regulation and the overtime of the Amherst v Kean game-- it was an entertaining affair.  I wished that there would have been some post-game comments from Coach Gromacki of Amherst and Coach Sharp of Kean, but I will take what I can get.

[kate]

Good morning, Deiscanton.  The teams were probably in a hurry to get out of Harwood to beat the storm.  My team is Delaware Valley College, but i've always followed Kean, since they beat us in an opening tourney several years ago, and have come to really appreciate them.  Congratulations to your two 1,000 point players, and i certainly hope the team made it home safely.  Incidentally, DeSales University is in our MAC Freedom league, and DSU, while having a fair season, took Kean to OT just the other week.  Nothing like D3 Women's Basketball!!!

[amh63]

Just finished cleaning off the car after the snowfall......and focusing my thoughts for this post after last night's Amherst lost to Kean.
I hope the team got back to school and everyone is ok......several Amherst sports events have been postponed today and Ct. got over 22 inches to date......the team had to travel thru Ct. to get back.
I basically missed the game last night.  My Mac laptop did not get the video feed and the "livestats" feed froze after the first half.
Thought the storm was messing with the internet/broadband , etc. It was after 10pm before the Kean website posted the win.
Anyway, after going over the boxscore, and reading the writeups available to date, I have a number of comments and general questions which I will put forth and hope posters will provide me info and their viewpoints.
First, my congrats to the senior captains who both reached a milepost last night as well.  The stats show both had 10 rebounds and 5 fouls each!
Anyway, I must preface my comments to give a brief bio that may explain a little about my points to follow.  I have been a college BB junkie for over 50 years in the DC area.  I am a "first class junkie" and a "third-rate BB player".  I have watched and played in local playground games along side many local HS BB legends that have gone on to star in college, etc.  I have watched playground games with the former coach of the Boston Celtics and many local sports writers.  As a player, I was not as good as my two sons at Amherst!  My comments:
The OT lost at Keen had great similarities to the last game Amherst lost....in the semifinal game against Wash U.  BOTH GAMES WENT INTO OVERTIME.  In both games, Amherst lead after the first half.  In both games, Amherst had a good chance to win in the last minute on the foul line.  In the Final four, Amherst ran out of steam in OT.  This time, it looked like the Amherst team may have tired also.  Coach G. recognized the problem and this year, rotation seemed to include more players, etc.  In the game with Kean, only 8 players were used and one was in for only 9 minutes.  Kean used more players and their bench contributed a great deal.  Was Coach G. seeing how his "core starters" would play against a top team that was as quick as his team and in a close game?
Was Kean a physical team?  In the Final 4 , Wssh U. played a physical game against Amherst and it affected Amherst play.
Amherst was out rebounded by Kean and there were tons of fouls.  Both of Amherst captains fouled out. and 2 other starters had 4 fouls.  Who was on the floor for Amherst in the late minutes of the game...in OT?
Amherst's offense seemed favor the 3-point shot too much...30 attempts!  Why didn't the players go inside more?  Stedman is a terrific player and uses her quickness to get down the floor and put up inside shots when she can.  She was in for 29 minutes and had 2 points, few rebounds, and was 0-7 from the field and 0-6 from outside!  She has recovered from a back problem recently.  Did she shy away from going inside?
J. Renner is also a good driver.  Did she drive inside during her time in the game.
It was a good game for Amherst....one to learn from....and hopefully the coach will adjust better, IMO, the next time the players face an aggresive, apparent physical team that has both depth and quickness to match Amherst.  It is an away game and in post season play, there will be many more.....a lost then will be more costly.

[farmboy]

I give Amherst and coach G credit for playing real teams in an effort to better themselves for the final push.  Too many of these "top ranked" teams play lesser teams to pad their appearance.