Liberty League

Started by Pat Cummings, March 01, 2005, 07:38:14 PM

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Upstate Hoops Dad

I understand the motive for the move to RPI by Mark Gilbride (bigger school, bigger metro area, closer to New England roots) but I was surprised to see a LL coach go for and get another LL job. Isn't that kind of like the manager of the Yankees leaving to be the manager of the Red Sox or is not a big deal? I would think it's tough to coach kids you competed against last year and then coach against kids you recruited the past few years. Sensitive situation but I guess everyone involved just tries to stay professional about it. Still, I gotta think there are some hard feelings at Clarkson particularly leaving them without a HBC less than 2 months before the season starts.

NJBalla35

Looks like HoopDirt.com has the four finalists for Clarkson:  http://hoopdirt.com/blog/749dc505/empire-state-dirt/

Apparently they want a young assistant judging by the candidates.

Any thoughts???

Upstate Hoops Dad

Looks like it will be the first HC job for one of these guys. Got to know Jeff Juron at U of R -- he is from Saratoga, NY area and a very sharp guy so Clarkson would be a good spot for him to start a HC career. Hauser might have an edge as a former Clarkson assistant under Gilbride. Lots of coaching changes in upstate NY this year between Alfred, Hobart, RPI and Clarkson but it opens up a bunch of spots and assistants need that to get a shot at HC jobs.

Ethelred the Unready

Quote from: Upstate Hoops Dad on September 06, 2014, 04:07:35 PM
Looks like it will be the first HC job for one of these guys. Got to know Jeff Juron at U of R -- he is from Saratoga, NY area and a very sharp guy so Clarkson would be a good spot for him to start a HC career. Hauser might have an edge as a former Clarkson assistant under Gilbride. Lots of coaching changes in upstate NY this year between Alfred, Hobart, RPI and Clarkson but it opens up a bunch of spots and assistants need that to get a shot at HC jobs.

Jeff was a senior my son's freshman year at UR.  Great guy from a solid basketball family
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Upstate Hoops Dad

Any pre-season scouting reports from the vets that usually follow the LL?

LibertyLeagueGuru

Quote from: Upstate Hoops Dad on October 06, 2014, 06:32:37 PM
Any pre-season scouting reports from the vets that usually follow the LL?

Here is my Liberty League Pre-Season Rankings....tough to forecast as there is some serious parity this year which should make for some very exciting games, especially down the stretch:

1. Vassar - After last years out of nowhere 2nd place finish, have to assume they are the favorites considering they brought everybody back. They have a bunch of quality seniors and juniors to go along with several freshman. It should be noted that scoring leader and all-conference first team selection Johnny Mrlik is coming off another knee surgery that will keep him out of first semester games but word is he will be ready to go come conference play. They are really excited about freshman Tony Caletti, unfortunately he plays the same position as 2013-2014 all-liberty league honorable mention PG Erickson Wasyl. Sophomore Elijah Winston (top recruit from last season) will be making his comeback after sitting out all of last year due to a pre-season torn ACL.

2. RIT - Rapidly improving team that just missed the playoffs last year. With Clarkson, Hobart & Skidmore declining, they seem like a natural selection for #2. Bringing back good talent in rising juniors JP Reagan and Kamron Davis.  Rising sophomore Sheldon Clay will be looking to contribute more this season and freshman Jesse Warech will provide some much needed toughness right away.

3. Skidmore - The loss of guard Tanner Brooks really hurts (he transferred to St. Marys in Maryland).  That being said, they still have a ton of talent with Medunjanin, Merrill, Sanders and Kovacevic. All 4 are all-conference level players. Skidmore is the only team that can say they have that many. Unfortunately, the rest of the team lacks experience and Skidmore's reliance on these 4 results in heavy minutes and poor defense. I have not heard much about their incoming class so depending on if they have another impact player coming in they could jump ahead of RIT. Hard to see them finishing ahead of Vassar however.

4. Hobart - This spot was tough. This could be basically any other team in the league here. I'll give it to Hobart because they have players who have "been there". Losing Bonney, Gibbons and Coach Neer definitely hurts and brings them down at least 2 levels. Rehbaum & Blanding will have to step up if they want to keep winning and there is no real reason to think they wont. The rest of the team is very average however. They will definitely be counting on alot of unproven guys.

5. Clarkson - I have them missing the playoffs because of big reasons: They lost Coach Gilbride who was the best coach in the conference  and a very thin team got even thinner with the loss of all conference PG Marques Charlton. Obvioiusly, Abongo and Coleman are 2 of the best players in the conference but they will be relying on a bunch of young guys with a new coach and that unfortunately most likely means no playoffs for them.

6. Union - Great young talent. Hython, Burgess, Weckworth and Firlotte were all freshman and sophomores last year and they all have all-conference potential. Combined with a slew of solid role players and a decent incoming freshman should give them a shot at that #4 spot. The lack of a true big hurt them last year so they will have trouble with teams like Vassar, RIT and Skidmore.

7.  St. Lawrence - Good young core with sophomores Edwards, Kobis and Miller to go along with former all-conference player Brady Condlin. They have 8 freshman on their rosters but I don't know much about any of them. Depending on the level of those guys they could go up or down on this list. Again, spots 4-9 are very interchangeable this year.

8. Bard - A very strong freshman class should get them out of the cellar this year. They will be returning all-rookie team guard Fabean-Scotch as well as strong big man Burnette. Injuries to their bigs derailed their season last year.

9. RPI - While Coach Gilbride performed miracles with Clarkson in the past, I don't think even his magic can get RPI into the playoffs this year. Beyond Tyler Gendron, I'm not sure they have another player who would start on any other team. They will be adding freshman guard Asa Barnhill this year who is very solid but I'm just not sure there is enough fire power here. It will be interesting to see what these guys can do while not running "The System".

ucaafan

 :)- Some very impressive observations on this year's Liberty League outlook so thank you, LibertyLeague Guru! Agree that the loss of Tanner Brooks is a big loss for Skidmore but they are a well coached team and should adapt. One thing missing is whether there will be a shooter like Brooks to bring the defenses outside and free up the big men down low. Hopefully Vassar's Mrlik will make a full recovery from his surgery as he is another top LL talent. A few other observations - appears to be a lot of parity this year and some of the teams have very difficult non-league schedules - Union is one example. League also appears to be cornering the market on top young coaching talent. Very impressed with coaches including Burke - Skidmore, Gilbride - now RPI, Murphy - Union, Sweeney - Hobart. Experience is an important commodity in D-III so look for the senior laden teams to be up near the top come tournament time. Good luck to all this season!

Pat Coleman

Quote from: ucaafan on November 13, 2014, 02:20:57 PM
:)- Some very impressive observations on this year's Liberty League outlook so thank you, LibertyLeague Guru! Agree that the loss of Tanner Brooks is a big loss for Skidmore but they are a well coached team and should adapt. One thing missing is whether there will be a shooter like Brooks to bring the defenses outside and free up the big men down low. Hopefully Vassar's Mrlik will make a full recovery from his surgery as he is another top LL talent. A few other observations - appears to be a lot of parity this year and some of the teams have very difficult non-league schedules - Union is one example. League also appears to be cornering the market on top young coaching talent. Very impressed with coaches including Burke - Skidmore, Gilbride - now RPI, Murphy - Union, Sweeney - Hobart. Experience is an important commodity in D-III so look for the senior laden teams to be up near the top come tournament time. Good luck to all this season!

That is a throwback name there! Glad you are still around. :)
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ucaafan

Too good a site to stay away from. Keep up the great work! :D

ucaafan

Two surprises over the weekend in the Liberty League.  Vassar loses to Springfield in the finals of the Vassar tournament. While losing to a good Springfield team was not the biggest of upsets, losing by 30+ points at home was not expected. The bigger surprise was Union College winning the NYU tournament over the host Violets with a last second bucket. NYU had won their last five tournaments and was expecting a sixth until Union came through at the end. NYU is ranked second in the UAA conference preseason poll, arguably one of the three toughest conferences in D-III.

LibertyLeagueGuru

Very surprising indeed. Union can be a matchup nightmare for some teams as they play no traditional big guys and everyone can handle the ball. Hython and Burgess are a tough duo to guard.

dcahill44

RIT with 2 nice wins in Philly to start the season. I really believe they will be able to contend in the LL along with Vassar. Vassar loses to Springfield by a huge margin in Vassar tip off tournament. Springfield is very good yearly so I wouldn't be worried about Vassar.

LibertyLeagueGuru

Quote from: dcahill44 on November 18, 2014, 12:05:56 PM
RIT with 2 nice wins in Philly to start the season. I really believe they will be able to contend in the LL along with Vassar. Vassar loses to Springfield by a huge margin in Vassar tip off tournament. Springfield is very good yearly so I wouldn't be worried about Vassar.

Yeah, 2 good wins by RIT and nice job by Bard beating Swarthmore at the same tournament. Concerning Vassar, they are playing without Mrlik all first semester so it will be interesting to see how they come back tonight against New Paltz after a beat down like that. Without Mrlik, their biggest problems are that they have virtually no versatility and small guards.

Clarkson is looking good as well after 2 quality opening wins. Morrisville was really tough last year so losing to Clarkson by 20 was probably a little surprising for them.

RPI looking better than expected hanging tough against WPI and beating an athletic Berkeley team who they lost to by about 30 last year.

All in all, a great opening weekend for the Liberty League going 10-3.

magicman

LibertyLeagueGuru,

What's the story with Mrlik? Why is he out for the 1st semester? That will hurt them quite a bit.

dcahill,
Losing to anybody by an 82-44 score is something to worry about unless they are a D1 team. Springfield is usually a decent team but Vassar getting creamed by 38 points at home is troubling.

LibertyLeagueGuru

Magicman,

Not sure exactly. I just know he is out for all of first semester. He has had a history of injuries, he was out his entire second year at Vassar.