WBB: NESCAC

[speedy]

May 1 is not a nationwide date. Is it the date for all NESCAC schools or something?

May 1 is the deadline by which deposits have to be paid to NESCAC schools and the applicant has to make his or her final selection of a school. However, NESCACs admit a substantial majority of athletes through the early decision process, which involves December decisions, so the May 1 date is probably not very relevant in the context of the Pemper decision.

[sumfun]

May 1 is the date that most school's around the country(not just NESCAC) expect an answer to their offer.  They can then determine if they are going to their wait list.  I don't think May 1 had a thing to do with Pemper decision.  I just wondered about recruits at NESCAC schools whether through early or regular decision.  There was a lot of depth in the top 4 or 5 schools in the NESCAC this year, just wondering if any of those added more of others reloaded.

[goubears89]

Hot off the press:
BRUNSWICK, Maine - Adrienne Shibles has been named the sixth head coach in the history of the Bowdoin Women's Basketball program. Shibles, most recently the Athletic Director at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, was the head coach at Swarthmore (Pa.) College from 1996-2005.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the amazing student-athletes at Bowdoin College," according to Shibles. "Their passion, strength, and sincerity inspires me, and I confident that these women will help to make my transition seamless. Together with this team, I am certain that we can strengthen the high standards and unique traditions that have been synonymous with Bowdoin women's basketball."

"We are ecstatic that Adrienne has agreed to take over the leadership of our Women's Basketball program," according to Bowdoin Athletic Director Jeff Ward. "She is a great coach and teacher who will maintain and build upon the traditions of our program. It was a very competitive process, but Adrienne clearly distinguished herself as the top candidate."

A 1991 graduate of Bates College, Shibles is a native of Knox, Maine, and a graduate of Mount View High School. At Bates she was a two-time captain of the women's basketball team, and a 1,000-point scorer, graduating with a degree in history. After coaching basketball at Babson College and basketball and soccer at Colby College, Shibles enrolled in a graduate program in exercise and sports studies at Smith College, where she earned a master's degree in 1996. While at Smith, she served as assistant and then head basketball coach at Elms College in Massachusetts.

At Swarthmore, she sparked a dramatic turnaround that saw the Garnet go from 7-17 one year prior to her arrival in 1997 to a school-record 23 wins and a Centennial Conference Championship just four years later. In her last five seasons at Swarthmore, Shibles averaged over 19 wins per year, qualified for the Centennial Conference Tournament four times, claimed the 2001 conference title and earned the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. Overall, in nine years at Swarthmore, Shibles accumulated a school-record 138 wins against 96 losses and was named the WBCA District 4 Coach of the Year in 2001. During her tenure, she recruited and coached two Kodak All-Americans, an Academic All-American, a Josten's Trophy Recipient and two Conference Players of the Year. In addition, Swarthmore was a perennial member of the WBCA's Top-25 Academic Honor Roll under Shibles.

Shibles and her husband moved their family back to Maine in 2006, where she became the Dean of Athletics and Co-Curricular Programs at Gould Academy. While coaching the girl's basketball team to three-straight Maine State Tournaments, she also served as the school's Athletic Director, managing a program of 40 teams including nationally competitive on-snow squads.

Married to Kirk Daulerio, Shibles has two children, Madeline (5) and Elsa (4). She takes over one of the premiere programs in Division III basketball, as Bowdoin has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each season since 2001, winning seven NESCAC Championships. She succeeds Stefanie Pemper, who accepted the head coaching position at the Naval Academy in May. Bowdoin will return 11 of 12 letter-winners from their
2007-08 squad that went 19-9 and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

"This opportunity is most certainly a dream come true for me," says Shibles. "Growing up in Maine, I have always admired Bowdoin as a united community that truly values the whole person, a place where students are respected for their contributions on the basketball court, in the community and in the classroom. My husband and I are truly excited to join the Bowdoin community, and look forward to raising our young family in Brunswick."

[sumfun]

So there is lots of chatter on the Men's side about the upcoming season....new coaches, recruits, returning players.  What is anyone hearing on the women's side?  I know they haven't officially started, but the kids are thick into their pick up games and captain's practices.

[whoarewebobcats]

I heard through someone who spoke with someone at Bates saying that they didn't have much coming in on the girls side, but I don't have any names or anything. Does anyone else? Or is it just going to be Val Beckwith scoring 30 a night, with the Bobcats losing by 20?

[sumfun]

So when the Top 25 is posted this week, how many NESCAC schools will be there?
Amherst, Tufts....any others?  Tufts lost Ummah, Amherst lost 3 seniors, point guard being one.  Will those losses knock either of them out of top 25?  Is Williams young team from last year ready to break into Top 25 this year?  Will new coach at Bowdoin get them into the tournament?  Any thoughts?

[ephoops]

Amherst [Women] Routs NYCCT 117-20 in 2008 Season Opener; Advances to Tip-Off Tournament Championship

This was the headline on the Amherst athletics web page this morning.

The score was 71-8 at halftime.  This game is an absolute travesty.  Why in the world is Amherst scheduling a game against NYCCT in its tip-off tournament???

What purpose does it serve Amherst, NYCCT or women's college basketball for Amherst to invite NYCCT to play in its tournament and then have Amherst absolutely embarass NYCCT??

The Amherst athletic department and its basketball program need to seriously re-assess their priorities.

Note: I'm posting this on the NESCAC men's board also because it appears that this board gets fairly limited traffic.

[feces monkey]

Ha, ha. A Williams fan posting about weak competition in a regular-season tourney. Perfect. I guess not every school can have such luminaries that the Purple & Gold Classic has boasted in its illustrious history.

I understand Williams types become unhinged when it comes to Amherst and I accept that Eph grads have a higher sense of fair play than the rest of us terrestrial dwellers, but leave the holier-than-thou attitude to the Obama administration.

If you're looking for a real travesty, Bowdoin being ranked in the preseason fits that bill. The new hire would have to be considered negligent, at best. She seems like a sweet gal, but I find it hard to believe that Bowdoin was able to attract Pemper, an assistant at Harvard, who builds a power, and then is left with just a high school coach (with some college experience) as its best choice in the resume pile. The Polar Bears should revert back to a full-scale hockey school within two years.

I'm hopping on the Colby bandwagon early. At least they have a credentialed coach.

[OshDude]

Any volleyball fans? I posted on my blog a Nationals Guide similar to the ones I did for the St. Thomas and Oshkosh regionals. Check it out if you're interested in Williams and/or D-III VB.

[BBstudent]

This was the headline on the Amherst athletics web page this morning.

The score was 71-8 at halftime.  This game is an absolute travesty.  Why in the world is Amherst scheduling a game against NYCCT in its tip-off tournament???

What purpose does it serve Amherst, NYCCT or women's college basketball for      Amherst to invite NYCCT to play in its tournament and then have Amherst absolutely embarass NYCCT??

The Amherst athletic department and its basketball program need to seriously re-assess their priorities.



Before you knock Amherst or the coach for having NY Tech on the schedule, you should be aware that many scheduling decisions are made on the basis of multi-year commitments. Some decisions may have been made before Gromacki took over coaching at Amherst and some may have been made because there were no other teams that could, in terms of schedule, fit the bill. I don't know why they were at the tournament and neither does anyone else on this board.
You can be sure that no successful coach, and he is clearly very successful, gets that way by scheduling games against much weaker teams.

[BBstudent]

This hardly deserves discussion because you are absolutely correct there is never an excuse for running up a score. However, if you had seen the game, you would know that any NESCAC team would have scored at least 100 points so long as they had  five players on the floor, and that no one ran up the score.
After the first ten minutes or so, the Amherst coach did not allow them to fast break, there was never any pressing, they tried to make several passes before shooting and, in the second half, tried to use at least 15 seconds of the shot clock. Without denigrating NY Tech because they played hard and seemed like very nice kids, imagine a decent Div III school playing U Conn or Tennessee, or even a WNBA team.
If you could suggest a way to have five girls on the court playing basketball without insulting the other team by just not shooting or deliberately turning it over, I would not mind hearing it, because no one at the game could think of what else could be done.

[sumfun]

This team came last year....same results, so there must be a multi-year deal, or they like to come to the Pioneer Valley to escape the big city.  I totally agree with BBstudent, Gromacki called off the dogs after 10 minutes.  I'd even say that he told them not to shoot until 5 to 10 seconds left on the shot clock, run the offense, give everyone a chance to play and score.  The other two teams were not push-overs.  Fitchburg, who beat Tufts in a scrimmage, gave Amherst plenty to handle.  Fitchburg did make a run in the second half and Amherst answered with outside shots to put the game out of reach.  Good looking group of Freshmen.  NESCAC will be competitive as always.

[senatorfrost]

  Why did that team show up since they got killed last year also? Agreement or not if I was in charge of that team I would have called Amherst and asked to be excused. RPI had them 50-9 at the half I think.
  When I first heard the name Shibles I went to the Centennial Conference page and looked her up. She improved Swarthmore with her OWN recruits. Many people come into a coaching job and achieve with the other person's recruits. Glenn Miller at Brown was a perfect example. Thet guy who was there before him had a ton of talent going nowhere. Miller escaped to Penn after his own recruits brought Brown back to earth.
  So anyway after a few years near the top the downhill slide began and very soon after she left, the team hit rock bottom. I figured that maybe that was because of Swarthmore itself. They cancelled football because they didn't feel comfortable winning, or something like that. So my guess was maybe they told her no more big compromises. Who knows? There are NESCAC schools who are always at the bottom of the football ladder and they wouldn't dream of cancelling the sport, almost un american.
   So I think the chances are she'll do okay although Yon Colby has a lean and hungry look. It's also possible she missed Maine and subconsciously wanted to return. She strikes me as a strong woman based on what I've read.

[Red1]

Bates 58-Rhode Island College 39.  Does anyone know anything about this game beyond the score?  It appeared that neither team could hit a shot to save their lives.  Was this a product of good defense all around or just poor shooting?  Any analysis would be appreciated if someone out there saw it.

Thanks,
Red1

[goubears89]

Looks like a good first win for the Polar Bears tonight. Any fans at the game can give us a scouting report?