Will Davies (NE10 player of the year) from Saint Anselm is rumored to be transferring to Vermont ($100K+) and will have two years of eligibility remaining. He would have had D1 interest regardless of the upcoming transition from D2 to D3. I'm sure a handful of other players on the roster will be on the move too - with some potentially making moves to D3 schools in New England.

Tough break for Colby regarding Civello transferring out (now that it is official). Regarding Ames, I could see that situation happening more often (regardless of a coaching change), where a D2 gets a high level D3 player late in the cycle because they may have recently lost one of their players to a D1 school. Regarding the Colby coaching conversation, it seems like the search is taking longer than usual.

Any update on the Conn College transfers? 

The challenge with transfers coming into the NESCAC is the transfer application deadline. 

The transfer portal will help streamline/expedite the process, but the deadline for some other schools is later in the spring/early summer, if they have one at all.

I agree that Wesleyan/Tufts/Trinity are the top three until someone proves otherwise. Talent and coaching/culture is in place at all three programs. 

Amherst - Coming off the best season of the Sears era. There will be some pressure to get back to the NCAA tournament. They have the pieces for continued growth.

Bates - Pouye/O'Leary/Robinson (averaged over 10ppg in conference play as a FY) will be one of the more well-balanced trios in the conference. They fortunately won a lot of close (non-conference) games that put them in position for a NCAA bid.   

Bowdoin - The loss of Cuevas (and Halpern) is a big blow related to their scoring and facilitating. Where will the boost to the backcourt come from? 

Colby - Hard to make any assessments until they hire a head coach and Civello settles somewhere.

Conn - Losing Espinosa will make an impact. Is Watson in the portal?

I think Strahorn had a solid 6-year run and if he was run out, what type of success is the current administration expecting for the program going forward and it is actually realistic? Expectations need to meet reality.

Whitmore had a great career. Just noting that he didn't have any NCAA tournament appearances since 2000. All the more reason for the appearances by Strahorn to be that much more impressive. 

I appreciate the expectations for Colby, but I don't think they align with reality, particular with the way things ended for Strahorn.

In his last 6 years (technically 5 if you take away the COVID season), they had 2 20-win season, 2 NESCAC runners-up and 1 NCAA tournament appearance. They didn't achieve any of that in the prior seasons between him and Whitmore.

It seems like the McLaughlin connection is not relevant based on the sole focus on winning (and being able to recruit high level talent), both of which he wasn't able to do at Dartmouth. 

nescac1 – who from the All-American teams is in the portal?

Per our ongoing discussion about team success and the relationship to individual accolades. It is interesting to see the inclusion of Landers (Concordia-Wis), Welch (Plattsburgh State) and Richardson (Wheaton-IIl). All three of their teams had limited success and aside from Richardson (from the CCIW), the other two leagues are below average. Not a knock on the players or the overall selection of the teams, just some ongoing perspective.

Scary to think that Illinois Wesleyan has a first team (sophomore) and fifth team (junior) selection. 

Interesting to wonder what success looks like for Cuevas, Civello, etc. Aside from money, what is ultimately the driving factor for them transferring, knowing that each situation is a unique set of circumstances.   

el_jefe_90 – impressive stats on the best three year runs

toad22 – great insight on what makes a winning program.

How would you all rank/grade the current teams in the league based on the following:

Institutional support – budget/admissions 
Coaching – does the team get better throughout the season; able to make effective in game adjustments
Recruiting – relationship with the coaching staff; admissions and facilities play a role here
Facilities
Player development – what first years and sophomores are making big impacts as juniors and seniors

Great point about teams that end up practicing/playing more over the course of the season.

NESCAC connections to Maine Mr. Basketball award winners 

2026   Nolan Ames - Camden Hills --- Colby   
2016   Nick Gilpin - Hampden Academy --- Bates College   
2003   Zak Ray - Bangor --- Bates   
1991   Matt Gaudet - Mountain Valley --- Colby

A few other players to recognize:

Colin Tabb: Trinity   
Steve Zieja/Andrew Schiel: Amherst        
Ben Rudin: Middlebury - he deserves credit for taking that program to the next level. His senior year (08-09) was the first of five straight seasons of 24+ wins. 
Troy Whittington - Williams

Crazy to think that Sam Clark at Colby (00-01) was the NESCAC player of the year but wasn't an All-American.

Interesting reporting regarding Rutigliano. Seems unnecessary for an assistant role. No matter how it plays out, it's not helpful for him retaining/recruiting players.

Some many weapons for Emory and such limited depth for Yeshiva.

I think Bates would have suffered a similar fate if they advanced to play Emory.

Is Gyimesi playing for Tufts? I give the edge to Wesleyan anyway at home.

I think shot selection will be key for Trinity. Early quicks shots, especially with poor floor balance, will hurt their chances.

Yeshiva is only real outlier remaining from an NPI standpoint (#64). They had an impressive win against Maine-Farmington and Samet only scored 16 points (on 5-17 from the field).

However, containing the guards of Emory, particularly Knight and Pearce, will be a tall task. It is arguably the best backcourt they have faced all year.

Is there one host in the region for the third round and quarterfinal games?
 
NESCAC and UAA still well represented. Shout out to the C2C for having two teams still in play. Looks like the bracket is holding serve aside from the Montclair State pod. A Bates/Emory rematch would have been exciting.
 
It will be a clash of styles in the Trinity (defense) / Hood (offense) matchup.

Linton has done a great job since taking over at Tufts and has definitely elevated the program. Before him, they only had four NCAA tournament appearances since 2000. Also of note, Tom Penders got his start with the Tufts program. 

Trinity/Babson – Trinity blew out Babson in Hartford in early December. Regardless of that game, I think yesterday's result was a good warning that they can't take them lightly. Being at home is a huge plus. Any update on the status of Okorougo? Great season for St. Joe's (ME) out of the GNAC – I always appreciate when other New England teams/conferences are well represented in the tournament. Likely All-American Remijo Wani will be a senior next season.

Tufts/Catholic – Don't know much about Catholic, but this will definitely be a step up in talent compared to PSH. Things get very competitive, very quickly in the second round and again being home will be helpful. If Gyimesi didn't play yesterday, it would surprising if he did today. Same could be said for the Trinity situation. Good season for West Conn out of the Little East, they took Catholic right down to the wire.

Wesleyan/NYU – Same story here, at home against a very good opponent. Limited insight into NYU but they are battle tested and experienced – the UAA went 4-0 yesterday.

Amherst/Mary Washington – Great win for Amherst against an always competitive WPI team. Making the tournament was a huge success for them. They weren't anywhere near the at large conversation at the end of December, but why stop now. They will be true road underdogs today against a team that ended the season #4 in the NPI rankings.   

Maine-Farmington/Yeshiva – Impressive result for Farmington (NAC), a true road win against a team that had won 25 games. I think that was Farmington's second tournament win all time and they have a roster almost exclusively of Maine players. The coach is a former Bates assistant and St. Joe's (ME) player. I'm sure the Bates fanbase will be pulling for them. Not to oversimplify it, but holding Samet to under 20 points seems like a path to beating Yeshiva. I wouldn't be surprised if Farmington traps him on ball screens, particularly later in the shot clock. Good season for Bates – nescac1 well said regarding the end of their game.

Good luck to Endicott out of the CNE. I think a win today would give them their second Sweet 16 appearance.

Predictions via D3 Datacast: 

Babson   75 - St. Josephs (ME) 73 – two NE teams and the winner would likely play Trinity
Amherst 66 - WPI 61    

The other NESCAC teams are heavily favored, but nothing is guaranteed.

Impressive showing by Samet – definitely played like a preseason All-American.

As previously mentioned, when the tournament games are close, free throws and turnovers are key stats and Yeshiva won both of those battles.

Great season for Bates and credit to the seniors for leading them to the tournament.

The play of O'Leary (SO) and Robinson (FY) is definitely something to build on for Bates, along with Pouye (JR), who at times seems like he is too unselfish.