Quote from: Greek Tragedy on January 21, 2026, 10:16:04 AMI don't know the timeline, but was Maker available when Amherst hired Sears?

Many people thought it was either going to be Maker or Aaron Toomey, who was of course the best player in Amherst history and was the interim when Dave Hixon went on sabbatical, and eventually retired.

10-15 years ago, who would've thought that Middlebury and Williams basketball would be battling in the middle of the NESCAC season to see who would get their first win and get out of last place?

JUMBO, looking back at the schedules, the Ephs defeated Tufts in 2019 and 2020. 2019 at Tufts was an 85-61 final. In 2020. the Ephs won 71-66. The second game was the battle of the bigs. Luke Rogers had 26 points and 12 boards. Matt Karpowicz had 19 points and 10 boards.

After the first week of NESCAC, it certainly looks like Trinity, Tufts and Wesleyan are going to be the top teams. Amherst could be the dark horse team that sneaks into the top 4, especially after their wins over Wesleyan and Bates. Perhaps we oversold on Bates after their tough start?

As mentioned previously, 3 or 4-8 could be up in the air. Williams and Middlebury could both start NESCAC play 0-4 with easier schedules on the backend. That 1/24 game could determine who gets into the NESCAC Tournament. Wesleyan has a home heavy schedule now, and doesn't have to take the trip to Maine. That could help them secure a home seed.

Just when you think you have a handle on this conference, something big changes everything. I still have 1/30 and 1/31 circled for Tufts hosting Wesleyan and Trinity. That weekend certainly could decide who gets the 1 seed.

Well said! Middlebury certainly won't be an easy out for teams this year. I don't think Middlebury will shoot 20% from
Three in many more games, but in order to win games in this conference, they'll need to shoot better than 10-21 from the free throw line. And a -11 in the turnover department won't get it done either, though as mentioned, Trinity is Trinity. Midd gave Trinity their second closest game to date. That's not bad! It'll be interesting to see how they handle Wesleyans 1-3-1 zone if the Cardinals go that route. Hauser being at the top of it gave Williams Fritz (fits, sorry for the bad joke) in the first half.

A note on injuries, it certainly seems that the Panthers have been bit by the injury bug the last few years!

Quick recap:

Amherst may have read the board and all the hate they've been getting. A dominant second half against Bates gives them a 20 point win. Holding Coyne and Pouye to 7-25 shooting is a recipe for success. They've held two solid scoring teams (Wesleyan and Bates) to 45 and 50 their last two games. Defense always plays!

Speaking of Wesleyan, what a clinic they put on in the first half at Williams on both ends. Held Williams without a FG for about 12 minutes of the first half. Offense ran right through Williams all night long. A nice effort on the comeback by the Ephs, including Solomon Marshall. Where'd he come from? 13 points all season then drops 18 last night. Still, the defense is a little worrisome after that performance.. Anyone know the last time the Ephs scored 50+ points in a half and still lost by double digits?

Spent too long not talking about the defending champs. Good opening win. Not a second half they'll put in the history books but they got the job done. Middlebury at times really shot themselves in the foot. 4-20 from three (Trinity is known for their 3 defense though) and 10-21 from the free throw line. They also turned it over 16 times compared to Trinity's 5. That's not going to get it done in most NESCAC games, let alone against Trinity.

The Jumbos stay hot with a balanced scoring attack. 5 in double figures and a nice second half helps them pull away from Bowdoin. Really nice game by Wooten. Reilly hitting some threes is huge for them as well. Gyimesi and Bernstein did a great job controlling the middle. Medley coming back is only going to make this team for dangerous. I'm starting to be in on Tufts. Of course, their big test will await hosting Trinity in the coming weeks. Ray Cuevas is still a beast for Bowdoin by the way!

Colby wins the only NESCAC game decided by single digits, and it was a 9 point difference. The benches were the difference in this one. Colby outscored Conn 39-2 in that department.

Here's to another great day in the 'CAC.

Happy first day of NESCAC! Here's to 6 weeks of great basketball and the unpredictability that this conference brings!

Something of note for Tufts last night, maybe a Jumbo fan has some info as to why. James Morakis wasn't in the starting lineup. He's gotten off to a bit of a slow start shooting, though he's scored 30 points over the last two games. He was also coming off a game where he turned it over 6 times. Perhaps this was coach Linton trying to switch things up and give the team a spark? We'll see if it's for one game or see it become the norm.

Another thing to add to the Williams vs. Oneonta game last night, there were 22 ties and a ridiculous 48 lead changes! That's not something you see everyday. Through the first 37-38 minutes, neither team led by more than 5. It was a fun game to watch.

Quote from: jayhawk on November 13, 2025, 03:59:53 PMOn Amherst Men Basketball website there is a preseason video of the team practicing
There is one frame of the team huddling and it is very easy to see that Charlie Randall is practicing maybe

Hard to miss that height! Still very surprised given what happened last year when he announced he was in the transfer portal in January. I'm guessing he either didn't get much interest in the portal or he didn't get what he was looking for. We'll see how valuable he can be given the fact he will essentially miss 1.5 years ie Declan Porter at Williams.

Should be an interesting year in the 'CAC.

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on October 23, 2025, 11:07:55 AMI really thought long and hard about voting Tufts #1.  I think they and Trinity were very even last year.  Trinity doesn't lose much, but they lose a little bit more and the weight of a repeat season is a tough one.  Ultimately, you want to give a team like that the benefit of the doubt, but it's going to be a competitive season, for sure.

I certainly respect your opinion, but I don't believe Tufts was on Trinity's level last year, not even close. Trinity beat Tufts twice by an average of 29.5ppg (81-45 and 74-51). The Bantams also beat up on the Jumbos pretty good the previous year by 16, 12 and 17 in their three games. Until they can at least be in single digits with Trinity, I think they are a distant 2 in the NESCAC. They have the lineup to compete with Trinity, they just need to finally put their feet to the floor.

I think Jumbos fans may agree, this needs to be the year they breakthrough and make an Elite 8, Final 4 run. Three straight NESCAC semifinals appearances with 0 Finals appearances and losing by 23, 12 and 23 those three years. They had that big win over NYU in the 2024 second round but just haven't been able to take that next step. If they can stay healthy, an Elite 8 appearance is the floor for this team. Of course, it's easier said than done in October than March!

@Greek - Slight correction for 2015-16 preseason. Virginia Wesleyan was ranked #2 behind Augustana. Amherst did receive the other two first place votes however.

https://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2015-16/preseason

@stlawus, I'm not 100% sure but I wouldn't think so. He put his name in the portal in January of 2025, after the 24-25 season had already begun, which leads me to believe he no longer wanted to play at Amherst. Just my opinion. Guess we won't know until rosters come out.

His younger brother, Ian, is on the Tufts Men's Basketball roster as a first-year. He's also a 7 footer who can shoot from the outside.

@toad22, you may have heard that Trinity is going to be okay again. Facetious of course as they are going to be one of the top teams in the country given what they're bringing back. I would say Tufts is a solid #2 choice bringing their starting 5 back.

After that, it certainly looks up in the air! I expect Hamilton to have a down year compared to last year given what they lost. Bowdoin and Bates are bringing back a lot of players from 1-9 NESCAC seasons so we'll see how they roll. Conn College loses their second leading scorer and starting C. Their zone always causes problems though. Amherst loses 58% of their scoring, and they weren't exactly an offensive power. They did get a D1 transfer. Their success may depend on how their young guys progress, both from last year and the newcomers.

There's some intriguing storylines too. Wesleyan brings back a lot of defensive talent, but it will be interesting to watch how they play after losing their two star players. Both such huge impacts on the offensive end.

Colby brings back all of their talented guards and will fill the C position Lawson left behind with Civello. Of course, they have a new head coach. We'll see how the veterans adjust to the new coaching style.

Middlebury also has a new coach. They lose Stevens and Brennan to graduation and a reserve to the transfer portal, but they bring back some ballers from an injury plagued season. Expect Tristan Joseph to have a big offensive year if he can stay healthy. We'll also see how the offense plays out without Brennan being a terror on the offensive boards, over 5 per game last year.

Williams bringing back Lee, Hansen and Yates will certainly help the offense, but that has been a struggle for Williams the past couple years. The key question might be who the starting C is on this team. Van Gorp and Dickens played a combined 17 games last year. Another is will they have an impact first year player like Yates from a year ago?

Less than two months away from great basketball action!

Not sure if this was mentioned as it was rather quiet, but a surprise move in my eyes. Sophomore Matt Leaver, a F/C from Conn College, transferred to UAlbany to play football. Played 19 games for the Camels last year.

Former Tufts G Khai Champion posted on his Linkedin that he stepped away from the team his senior year for a more meaningful college experience. He has enrolled in a grad program at NYU but sounds like he will not be playing basketball.