New England Collegiate Conference (NECC)

[marketherrien]

A cheap plug if you will -

The Worcester Area College Basketball (coaches) Association revived its awards program last year and, for the second consecutive year, is  complimented with a Twitter account - @WACBAHoops https://twitter.com/wacbahoops

The feed features daily news, scores, recaps and more for all nine NCAA men's and women's basketball programs in Worcester County: Anna Maria, Assumption (DII), Becker, Clark, Fitchburg State, Holy Cross (DI), Nichols, WPI and Worcester State.

Matt Noonan (@NoontimeSports), as heard on Hoopsville, selects the weekly men's and women's players of the week and an honor roll for each gender. Along with the weekly release there will be standings and statistical leaders for points, rebounds and assists. Both will are slated to be released on Monday afternoons.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Interesting article on possible turnaround at Southern Vermont:

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/sports/ci_24093532/building-hoop-dreams

I hope they succeed.  The more good teams the better.

Happened a little quicker than we all thought.  SVC 88 - Williams 87 to open the season.  Look out world.

[nescac1]

Congrats to SVC.  They deserved this game as they were more passionate, more energized, and showed no fear at all down the stretch.  Williams is a much better team than it showed today, but SVC is very much for real and WILL be an NCAA team this year.  They are very, very legit.  The three big guys are extremely tough to stop down low as all are athletic, bulky, I'm quite confident older than most college players, and with very polished moves in the post.  They are going to post a gaudy record this year.  Also, absolutely tremendous fan support, great job by the coach building a ton of enthusiasm for the program in one of the smallest schools in all of D3.   

[middhoops]

More plaudits for So. Vermont.
Their win over Williams was not only historic; it was great fun to watch.
Williams didn't play a bad game.  They simply were outplayed in the last minute by a smart, opportunistic, well coached team.  Let's hope that they can stay this good all season.  Too bad they don't play Amherst next.
Congrats, NECC.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

And they drop game #2 by ten to Rutgers-Newark.  No slouch for sure, but a game they probably could have won.  A bit of an adrenaline hangover perhaps (hopefully no actual hangovers).

[middhoops]

A let-down after an epic win isn't unusual.  SVC is a good team.  Let's hope this can become a good program and then a consistently good program.  Go Mountaineers!

[northeasthoopfan]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to try to breathe some life into this board this year! I'm friendly with a couple guys who coach in this league, and I live in Boston, so I'm able to see a decent amount of games. I'll comment on some other leagues too, but hopefully I can get some chatter going on the NECC!

Quick recap of each team's start to this point! Still very early, of course:

* Southern Vermont (3-1)  - Has to be the main story, right? Big upset of Williams, and respectable loss to Rutgers-Newark. Looking at their schedule, they could post a very impressive final record. Roster obviously is overhauled with first year coach. Has to project at the team to beat.

*Becker (3-1) - Wins over Worcester St, Fitchburg St and Anna Maria. Loss to SUNY-Purchase, who is probably a tournament team. Upcoming slate includes Brandeis, Babson, and WPI; so should learn more about them after playing some top teams.

* Daniel Webster (4-0) - Very quietly 4-0, though they have yet to play anyone. Still, 4-0 is 4-0! No real tests non-league, will have to wait and see.

* Mitchell (2-3) - They've played some good teams early, and have been competitive. 10 pt loss to Albertus, 14 pt loss to SUNY-Purchase, in a game that was close late. Tight loss to West Conn, win over CGA. Have to think they're a top half team in the league.

*Elms (1-3) - Tough transition year with the late hire of Rob Southall from WPI. Good win over Keene St. Bad losses to UMD and Anna Maria. Took a 30 from Springfield too. Next week is big for them: Wesleyan, RIC, and SVC. Yeesh

*Regis (1-4) - 11-5 in the league last year, but off to a poor start. Bowdoin and Tufts are respectable losses. Wheaton is a bad loss. Westfield probably projects similarly talent wise.

*Wheelock (0-3) - Looks like they have brought in a bunch of new kids, many of whom are playing right away. Obviously terrible last year with 3-22 record, but they look to be more competitive.

*Lesley (0-4) - Not bad losses: SUNY-Purchase, West Conn, MIT, Endicott; but 0-4 is a tough start nonetheless

*Newbury (0-4) Big losses to Albertus and Amherst are to be expected. Looks like they lost a lot.

[northeasthoopfan]

Okay, we're about halfway through the conference slate. Let's take a quick look at everyone!

*Mitchell 13-4 (9-1) - Looks to be the top dog in the league. Joshua Ford is the best player in the league, and the new addition of Parris Hill from CA is big. Both of them are double double machines. All of their losses are very respectable. SUNY-Purchase, Albertus, West Conn, and SVC. They could be a tough out come tourney time

*Elms 9-10 (7-3) - Quietly putting together a nice run. Kind of trick or treat because of the way they play. Probably capable of beating anyone in the league or losing to anyone. When they're making shots, they are tough! Good win over SVC the other night.

Southern Vermont 12-6 (6-3) - Still maybe the most talented team in the league, as they went down to Mitchell and completely controlled the game, winning 77-65. Obviously a great early season win over Williams.

Regis         7-10 (6-3) - Playing much better since coming back from the break. Beat Southern Vermont and Becker, lost to Mitchell by 4. They are a tough out for anyone come conference tourney time. I've been really impressed by them, actually.

Daniel Webster 12-5 (5-3) - Definitely another trick or treat team! Shoot a ton of 3s, but when they're shooting a good percentage they are tough to beat. Get the impression they are sliding after starting off 9-0.

Becker 9-8 (5-3) - Feel repetitive, but another tough team to figure out. Lost to Babson by 2, Lost to WPI by 4, beat SVC by 13. Based off that, you'd think they'd be a front runner in the league. On the other hand, manhandled by Regis and blown out at Mitchell, never in it.

Newbury, Wheelock, and Lesley have a combined 1 conference win. Not a lot to say, unfortunately. Lesley took Mitchell to OT tonight, great effort, too bad they didn't get the reward.

In summary, I think Mitchell and Southern VT are the teams to beat, but Elms, Regis, and Becker could all get hot at the right time to sneak away with the conference chip!

[NJBalla35]

Looks like a change has been made at Daniel Webster: http://hoopdirt.com/blog/99d39a40/new-england-diii-rumor/

It also looks like they forfeited all of their first semester wins from last year:  http://athletics.dwc.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule

Anyone know what's going on up there?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Looks like a change has been made at Daniel Webster: http://hoopdirt.com/blog/99d39a40/new-england-diii-rumor/

It also looks like they forfeited all of their first semester wins from last year:  http://athletics.dwc.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule

Anyone know what's going on up there?

Looking at boxscores, I'm going to guess maybe Eric Webster wasn't eligible - since he disappears after the forfeits and doesn't have a player link any longer.

This could have something to do with the coach leaving, or be entirely unrelated.

[northeasthoopfan]

So,

Regarding coach Faucher at DWC, it looks like he was butting heads with the administration, although I don't have specifics as to what their issue was. It seems they had it out, and Faucher decided he'd had enough.

After a few weeks, he has been replaced by Dom Morris, who has been the HC at in league Lesley over the past several years. Lesley had been pretty consistently bad, I'm not sure if he was let go at LC or what the issue was there. Anyway, he is the new coach at DWC.

As far as DWC record from last year, yes they forfeited those games because of Webster participating illegally.

...

Moving on to the league outlook, you have to figure Mitchell is the team to beat with Ford and Hill back again inside. Elms and Becker will probably be right there, along with Southern Vermont. I'll have a more in depth preview soon!!

[northeasthoopfan]

Okay, so here is the NECC pre-season coaches' poll

1. Mitchell (67 points, 4 first place votes)
2. Elms (54 points, 3 first place votes)
3. Southern Vermont (52 points, 1 first place vote)
4. Becker (48 points)
5. Regis (42 points, 1 first place vote)
6. Daniel Webster (27 points)
7. Newbury (17 points)
8. Lesley (10 points)
9. Wheelock (7 points)

Sounds about right; Mitchell has to be the favorite, just based off who's coming back. Top four teams all have a realistic chance to win the league.

Questions/Things that seem interesting so far;

*Former Becker point guard Darius Sealy has transferred to Mitchell
*Former Nichols point guard Jessy Michaud has transferred to Becker
(Was there a 3 way trade? Nichols gets the player to be named later? Haha)
*Is Josh Ford back for Mitchell? Don't see him on roster or team pic
*Elms recruiting class looks solid. Picked up some nice transfers and freshmen. Notably the kid Dryden from Jersey.
*Deshawn Hamlet is back for Southern Vermont. I had heard rumors he was out

Any thoughts or answers to questions will be appreciated!

[dewcrew88]

Southern Vermont upsets Williams for the second straight year.

[middhoops]

Regis beats Tufts with their twin towers.  Big wins in the early season for the NECC.

[northeasthoopfan]

I'm not going to do an entire team by team capsule. Just a few observations.

* Southern Vermont (5-2) looks to be the team to beat early. Beat Williams and Castleton, took Marymount to the wire.
* Mitchell (1-4) looks pretty awful early. Parris Hill is the best player in the league, but besides him they aren't playing well. 1-4 and they've been pounded in a few games. That being said, if Josh Ford is back at the break, they are instantly a threat.
*Elms (3-5) has played the toughest slate of games. Tight losses to Keene State, Springfield. Bigger losses to RIC and Bowdoin. Once they get in the league they'll be fine.
*Becker (5-2) is kind of quietly playing well. Wins over Brandeis and Clark, plus a 1 point loss to Babson. They should be right in the mix.
*Regis (5-3) looked great early, starting 4-0 with a win over Tufts. Kind of slid lately but beat Daniel Webster today. I like this team, just think they're always a tough out.