MBB: NESCAC

Started by cameltime, April 27, 2005, 02:38:16 PM

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Colby Hoops

Good list nescac1. A few random thoughts:

  • I'm not sure Antone Walker's efficiency will be great, but I think he has a decent chance to finish top 2-3 in the league in scoring. A lot of opportunity with Wesleyan and he's not shy about letting it fly.
  • Eric Savage is an under the radar player, he's been really solid for three years and keeps getting better. I might like him for first team (over Jefferson or Folger) if Tufts has a good season
  • Interested to see Bowdoin without Simonds -- I think Rucker will have a big chance to expand his game. Reynolds is a bit of a streaky shooter and cooled off after a hot start, but certainly knows how to score.
  • I like Luke Rogers to lead the league in rebounding. Should get more minutes this year and averaged more than 9 per game in less than 20 minutes per game.

SpringSt7

Colby Hoops,

Cosign on Savage--felt like he was their best player last year and probably even deserved more of the ball when Pace was struggling in his senior year two years ago. Have to wonder what a talent like him would look like playing for Hixon, Brown, or App.

This is going to be a very interesting year for awards with the way the talent is spread out this season. With perhaps the exception of Robinson and Farrell, a majority of who we think are the top talents are not on preseason favorites--Gilmour, Karpowicz, Jefferson, etc. The league seems to default for the most part to picking the best player on the best team--Ajayi and Heskett over Hausman and Daly come to mind, but what if Gilmour averages 24 points a game and they go 6-4 and lose in the semifinals? Will be interesting to see how that plays out, especially considering Robinson and Farrell feel more like 16 ppg on good shooting splits than 18-20 on volume shooting guys.

Last thing, crazy speculative but always fun to think about the narratives in place for Coach of the Year: Strahorn is the obvious one, hoping to make the jump to contention this year. App, losing Casey/Scadlock/Heskett sets up a chance for him to really show what he's made of. Brown is always well-liked and respected when his team is in contention, and if Trin takes another step forward I think Cosgrove has an obvious angle as well.

ContinentalDomer

Tyler Aronson, at a bare minimum, belongs on the list as one to watch.  As good as Savage may be, Aronson, who averaged 10 ppg as a frosh PG, will set the tone and make the Jumbos go. He is tough as nails and improving.  Among other things, Aronson has outstanding ability to create space and make shots on the move; he will also take and make big shots.

Don't sleep on Matt Hanna either.  As much as any player, his success will shape Colby's climb into contention for post-season possibilities.

On the "watch list", consider Hamilton's Sayo Denloye and Mark Lutz; each will fill up the stat sheets this year, running alongside Kena Gilmour.  Both made important contributions last season and will emerge to play leading roles as seniors.  Denloye's strength as a defender and ability to make big shots down the stretch last season (from the arc and at the cup) qualifies as an under-the-radar performance.  Lutz will make lots of buckets this year, particularly from three-point range.  The return from injury of Vincent Conn (PG), who played an important role in the backcourt during Hamilton's Sweet 16 run two years ago, will also add spark to this team and ignite the games of some of the underrated members of Gilmour's supporting cast.

Quote from: nescac1 on October 21, 2019, 10:25:18 AM
A shot at pre-season players to watch in NESCAC.  I feel like after Gilmour, Robinson and Farrell, the next 10-15 guys are pretty closely grouped.  The league isn't super top-heavy in talent this year, but is very deep:

1st team:
Kena Gilmour (POY)
Grant Robinson
Jack Farrell
Matt Folger
Sam Jefferson

2nd team:
Donald Jorden (toss-up between him, Jefferson and Folger for last two first-team spots)
Matt Karpowicz
Eric Sellew
Fru Che
David Reynolds

Other players to watch:
Eric Savage
Jeff Spellman
Brendan Morris
Luke Rogers
Zavier Rucker
Tommy Eastman
Spencer Spivy
Max Bosco
Dan Draffan
Noah Tyson
Matt Hannah
Kyle Padmore
Antone Walker
Nick Osarenren

All defense:
Kyle Padmore (POY)
Fru Che
Jovan Jones
Dean Weiner
Alex Sobel
(Grant Robinson and Devonn Allen are right there, as well)

All rookie (this is VERY speculative and certain to be way off):

Cole Prowitt-Smith (Williams) (ROY)
Casey McClaren (Tufts)
Nkosi Cooper (Hamilton)
C.J. Redd (Trinity)
Nate Karren (Williams)

nescac1

Good thoughts on all the guys who are mentioned.  The NESCAC doesn't seem to have as much nationally elite front-line talent as in some other years (especially after Hutcherson transferred up), other than Gilmour probably no pre-season all-Americans and only Robinson or Farrell really have any sort of case, but man, from 4 through 30 or so there are a lot of really solid veterans in the league and a lot of very good players are going to end up being shut out of all-league contention.  I think it will be yet another very unpredictable, very balanced season in NESCAC, accordingly. 

Atypically little buzz for any NESCAC rookies yet ... perhaps we will start to hear some once practice starts in November.  Or maybe this will just be a year without a ton of rookies making impacts ...

nescac1

Duncan Robinson last night scored 21 points in 23 minutes.  Over the season's first three games, he's averaging 11 ppg on 52/47/100 splits, and he's gotten better each game.   His career path of D3 player to D1 transfer to Big Ten sixth man to G League rookie to, now, legit rotation player on a better-than-average NBA team still boggles the mind ...

jumpshot

And it couldn't happen to a harder working, better young man. Does it all, from handling interviews, complimenting teammates and coaches, to remaining focused and taking care of himself.

Duncan has earned everything along a remarkable journey ....

nescac1

#26841
Former Conn College PG Tyler Rowe is on this year's Central Connecticut State hoops roster.  Not sure if he is on scholarship or not.  That brings the list of former NESCAC players playing at D1 programs this decade to an astounding eight (in rough order of prominence, Duncan Robinson, Austin Hutcherson, Matt Hart, Hunter Sabety, Varum Ram, Dylan Sinnickson, Tyler Rowe - after a stop at Western Conn State, and Nathan Krill, as a graduate transfer).   

I don't think any other D3 league has remotely had that sort of talent drain to the highest level of college hoops, although surely a fair number of players throughout the top echelon of D3 could hack it.  Not sure why that is.  For example, Springfield's Jake Ross I am confident could have easily been a good D1 player, with his size, strength and athleticism on the wing. 

I guess time will tell if this is just a momentary blip or an enduring trend.  I can't think of any returning players who are obvious candidates for transfer up now that Hutcherson is gone.  But then again, I would not have picked Ram, Rowe, or Hart as D1 transfer candidates, so who knows ...

Bucket

Quote from: nescac1 on October 29, 2019, 10:22:19 AM
Former Conn College PG Tyler Rowe is on this year's Central Connecticut State hoops roster.  Not sure if he is on scholarship or not.  That brings the list of former NESCAC players playing at D1 programs this decade to an astounding seven (in rough order of prominence, Duncan Robinson, Austin Hutcherson, Matt Hart, Hunter Sabety, Varum Ram, Tyler Rowe - after a stop at Western Conn State, and Nathan Krill, as a graduate transfer).   

I don't think any other D3 league has remotely had that sort of talent drain to the highest level of college hoops, although surely a fair number of players throughout the top echelon of D3 could hack it.  Not sure why that is.  For example, Springfield's Jake Ross I am confident could have easily been a good D1 player, with his size, strength and athleticism on the wing. 

I guess time will tell if this is just a momentary blip or an enduring trend.  I can't think of any returning players who are obvious candidates for transfer up now that Hutcherson is gone.  But then again, I would not have picked Ram, Rowe, or Hart as D1 transfer candidates, so who knows ...

You can add Dylan Sinneckson to that list. He played at the University of Vermont for a year.

nescac1

Totally forgot Sinnickson!  Edited accordingly. 

Colby Hoops

There's no question that a lot of D3 players could make the jump pretty easily. A lot of it comes down to the right circumstances. You have to be a very good player, have a couple of years of eligibility left (or one year of grad transfer eligibility), and, usually, a reason to leave. Most players have left teams that aren't likely to compete for the league title (ranging from bad teams to middling teams) or had the coach leave in Robinson's case. The grad transfers are obviously a different story. We've yet to see a player leave from a great team to transfer up.

Guys like Kena Gilmour, Grant Robinson, Fru Che, Jack Farrell, and even Matt Karpowicz could all find a scholarship or preferred walk-on role at a D1 school, but it's hard to jump to the unknown when you're playing a huge role for a very good team.

I think we'll continue to see players at least explore their options at a higher level. Matt Hanna announced he was leaving Colby to be a walk-on at Louisville two summers ago and changed his mind, for example.


amh63

Got back from Homecoming on Monday.  Watched the football game in front of my class tent....sitting on the brick fence on the field house end...with classmates and family members.  Head Coach Hixon, with his wife, was slightly left on the track edge.  Former players started to surround him...many "tall timber" type, including Riopel'18, the 6'5" guard from coastal area Va.  I wandered down to chat.  He spoke to me wrt to his attendance at the Midd event...posted on this board by others...and a couple of MBB games in Naples Florida.  Seems he is still involved during his time off.  The Amherst MBB schedule for this season is now available on the Amherst website.  Yes...there are two D3 opponents in the Naples tournament listed.  Told me that he will talk to Toomey wrt allowing me attend practice...if I come up :). I was "banned" before.  Hixon's oldest son attended Wesleyan Un.
The Amherst roster is not available presently.  I only want to remark that the roster heights are not always correct.  Amherst should have enough size in the front court to compete this season..both talent and height...imho.

SpringSt7

D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 has been posted--A NESCAC Summary:

4. Amherst (469)
13. Middlebury (282)
27. Hamilton (59)
43. Tufts (4)
44. Williams (3)


nescac1

That ranking looks entirely fair, based on what is known about teams right now. 

From a more general New England perspective, I'm surprised that Eastern Conn isn't ranked a bit higher, as they return almost everyone from a solid team.  Otherwise, again, entirely fair. 

SpringSt7

Nichols at 10 and WPI at 16 are headscratchers to me but otherwise seems like they got the region correct---a third NESCAC team is sure to emerge as the year goes on but they will have to earn it.


Interesting talk on here today regarding transfers--main thing you always have to consider is how these players will project out to the D1 level and its size and speed. For example, Bobby Casey was the best player on Williams last year but James Heskett---6'8, 40% 3PT, terrific team defender---projects out better as a D1 player than a 6'3 combo guard with below average foot speed and athleticism. Of the players in the league this year I think Gilmour would be the top D1 prospect, and then a huge gap accounting for Farrell and Robinson struggling to adjust to the size and strength.

middhoops

I find the Nichols rating to be strange, given the loss of Echevarria, but one of the top raters makes the point that he thinks they improve on defense in moving on.
That will be interesting.
Agree with nescac1 regarding EConn.  They should be very good.
I've enjoyed watching their recent seasons games with Amherst.