Quote from: mhm0417 on June 28, 2025, 07:52:43 AMAnother SLU note, tomorrow they host their boys basketball camp which is the best in our area by a mile.  When my son went to the camp I was always amazed by the amount of quality instruction he got there. He worked hard, but I will always credit their coaches for helping improve his shooting.
As a high school coach, I want as many of my guys there as possible.  That entire coaching staff does a tremendous job with the kids. They come away with individualized plans on how to grow their game.

That used to be the total opposite as of ~15 years ago.  I went to SLU's camp in 2006 and 2007 during the middle of the team's 4 year run to the NCAAs, and that was after 3 years of going to Potsdam's camp, and even then Potsdam was very much THE camp to be during that time.  SLU mainly had players and local high school coaches running things, whereas Potsdam had college coaches from all over the place.  SLU did do more individual work at the time, as I can remember being in a room with Downs who gave me instruction on my shot form so that at least has remained consistent all these years later. There was less of that at Potsdam, but that camp felt like a major regional event to be at whereas SLU felt very local.  I remember Jerry Welsh coming to give lectures every year and the aura was off the charts.  I learned quickly why he was so revered given the reactions of the coaches when he showed up, as it felt like a John Wooden equivalent was there to talk to all of us kids.   So all in all it's nice to see SLU's camp really take off recently given the state of things when I went through.

SLU

Only 15 games this year.  Keeps Cortland and Geneseo as weekend opener, as well as traditional local SUNY games against Canton, Potsdam and Plattsburgh. Drops the Oneonta Mayor's cup in favor of Middlebury.  Schedule works out this year that they don't have to play Vassar/Bard on a back to back.   Women's team is playing 18 games so I think this is intentional on the coach's part.  The Oneonta tournament 7 years in a row has resulted in several high impact injuries, so a year of reprieve might not be the worst thing.

Quote from: nescac1 on June 24, 2025, 11:38:43 AMI'm not sure who was doing recruiting for Colby, but he got a huge recruiting class in, including three transfers (two from Union College and one from UC San Diego) and ten first-years incoming (all announced on Instagram). 

Amherst is also bringing in an impressive D1 transfer, Kavi Krishnan, who started a handful of games as a FY at UC Santa Barbara.  Amherst brings in yet another loaded recruiting class to help replace the huge group of big-time seniors they graduated from their title team.   

Siebert continues to bring in deep and talented classes for Williams, as well.  The big question for the Ephs next year is at GK, and there are two keepers in the incoming class, including one from Spain who I suspect will be in the mix early.

Union has now lost 2 of their best recruits of the last decade to NESCAC teams in consecutive years. With SLU losing arguably their best player to Tufts the NESCAC has now hoovered up a lot of the league's talent. I don't blame them but it sucks to see from my point of view.

Quote from: IC798891 on June 22, 2025, 10:03:16 AM

Quote from: Kuiper on June 21, 2025, 07:36:51 PMI'm not saying that's worth it, but I can tell you that getting a 5-year commitment is highly valued compared to funding something with an annual fund where contributions often fluctuate with the economy and personal feelings about the coaches or the program or a one-year sponsorship that you have to hustle each year to get them to re-up

But that's the entire purpose of your philanthropy department. That is how you establish relationships that sustain your institution long-term!

What drives me nuts about this entire Flo Sports discourse is how in couched in larger concerns about the long-term viability of D3 institutions and yet:

1. Paywalling your athletic contests decreases your school's exposure, and decreases points of contact between your school and its constituents, which is exactly the opposite of what you should be doing.

2. You're investing in a relationship with an entity that has no vested interest in your school's long-term survival instead of with the people who care the most.

You need to chase upside. Alumni are the ones who may significantly increase their giving later, through climbing the ranks of their respective industries or starting and selling companies. They're the ones you need to invest your time into.

For crying out loud, the very existence of a Flo Sports paywall tells you that there are people out there willing to give money to watch your school's athletics competitions! Why are you letting Flo Sports take the money rather than getting it for yourself and trying to set up long term success?

100% dead on.  I recently gave to SLU in strong part due to this reason. They are adroit enough to say in fundraising emails/texts that giving helps fund these efforts so I feel like my giving (even if paltry compared to most) still feels meaningful and directly impactful. This is just human nature.  And I ask again, where are these schools seeing the money?  30k does absolutely nothing for almost all of these institutions.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on June 20, 2025, 06:13:26 PM

Quote from: stlawus on June 20, 2025, 05:51:49 PMWhere are these schools going to see this money?  It's nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Bingo.  Especially for the U freaking rich A A.

It always reminds me of the scene from Moneyball when David Justice asks where the team is seeing the money from the vending machines.  From what I read about other conference deals, the money they are getting would cover like one year of tuition and board for one student. 

Where are these schools going to see this money?  It's nothing in the grand scheme of things.

SLU added another commit to an already large class, to bring the total amount of incoming players to 7.  Maybe the last, but certainly not the least.  J'Lin Brown, 6'4" G/F from Loomis Chaffee is heading to Canton.  #27th ranked in Connecticut, #73 ranked in New England.  So far there is only 1 player ranked ahead of him that is going division III and that is Jadon Holmes who is heading to the defending national champs Trinity.  Excellent, excellent pick up for Downs.  Brown was Founders League 6th Man of the Year, which given the level of competition for that league is most certainly a recruiting coup for the Saints. Loomis's coach is former SLU player Rock Battistoni so I have no doubt that connection played a role.

That gives SLU 2 very high impact incoming NEPSAC players with Tommy McMahon being an All-NEPSAC honorable mention. Very successful recruiting cycle for Downs.  Just need to see it yield results now.

Talent development is certainly some of it, but from what I saw in the few games I tuned into that is secondary to the X's and O's, or lack thereof.  Every game I watched Amherst was chucking up bad shots early in the shot clock and committing extremely poor fouls. The substitution patterns were all out of whack and never consistent. No player seemed to really know his role. 

Talent can get you far, but at some point there are diminishing returns.  The loss of Klitschko to the pros was just bad luck I think.  He didn't do much in prep school but he had a really good showing in the FIBA u-19 Euro tournament the summer before matriculating.

Quote from: Kuiper on June 16, 2025, 01:02:07 PM[Cross-posting from the 2025 Schedules Thread because of the Liberty League crossover]

Middlebury

Middlebury had a pretty strong non-conference schedule (for a NESCAC school) last season.  This one might not have a highly ranked opponent, but the schedule may be more exciting with two highlight matchups against Liberty League powers.  They drop Norwich, Keene State, Endicott, and Babson and add St. Lawrence, Thomas, and Vassar.  Vassar is a particularly interesting opponent after losing to Middlebury 2-1 at Middlebury in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament last season.  St. Lawrence is another really interesting matchup.  I think the last time the two schools played each other was in 2006, when the Saints beat Middlebury at Middlebury 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  I'm sure there are some SLU alums who remember that one.  I don't know when the two teams last played each other in the regular season, though.  It would be pretty cool if this became a regular thing.

There was talk of Middlebury trying to schedule SLU but didn't sound like much had come of it.  I'm glad to see it did.  At the very least happy to see SLU mix it up in the non-con, they've had the same schedule for what seems like 6 years.  The last time they played was indeed that 2006 NCAA tournament matchup.  They've only played each other 13 times , I'm actually surprised they haven't played more.

Vassar wasn't really outplayed by Middlebury last year, in fact I'd say Vassar might have been in control more than they weren't.  Had some good chances at the end to tie it up. 

Cortland

Traditional opener against Rochester with SLU on the same weekend. Added Vassar this year which should be a good one.  17 games this season which is light compared to years past.

Oneonta

Very Liberty League heavy as usual and keeping Hamilton.

Much different Mayor's Cup this year with SLU not on the schedule.  I like having Oneonta on SLU's schedule for SOS purposes, but I'm sure Toshack has travel fatigue with that matchup.  They have played Oneonta on the road 7 straight times. Can't continuously unilaterally disarm in a matchup like that by never playing at home. 

I wonder if they shift to divisions.  Otherwise a full round robin leaves very little room for non-con opportunities, and these additions while good for the stability of the conference does water it down.

Plattsburgh

Plenty of Liberty League on the docket, and they keep Manhattanville from last year.  They lose some good players from last season including their top scorer but they bring a pretty good amount back, including a few players that had great freshman campaigns.

Glad to see SLU on the schedule early in the season, last few matchups have been extremely late in the season with one or both teams sitting out a lot of players.   That's also usually the weekend that SLU plays the Oneonta tournament, I wonder if this means they're not playing that.  Oneonta is always good to keep on the schedule but playing them 7 times in a row on the road has to change at some point.

This is the commit list I've been able to put together thus far.  It is incomplete and if anyone knows of a commit not listed please feel free to add.

Clarkson

James Dingman, 6'3" SG, Arlington HS MA
Brendan Bartley, 6'3" SG, Green Farms Academy CT
Nathan Abernethy, 6'6" G/F, Bishop Grimes HS NY

Bard

Bryce Sampah, 6'6" F, Collins Hill HS GA
Dimitris Zampoukas, 6'7" F, Greece
Klaudius Shekel, 6'1" SG, St. Mark's School MA
Matthew Wendling, 6'3" G, Stuart Hall HS CA

Ithaca

Tylar Okai-koi, 6'4" G, Phelps School NYC

Vassar

Preston Neuenhaus, 6'8" F, Saddle River Day School NJ
Kas Mirza, 6'5" F, Frederick Gunn School CT/New Rochelle HS NY

RPI

Kellen Driscoll, 6'4" G, Glens Falls HS NY
Noah Daniel, 6'1" G, Berwick Academy ME

Hobart

Elvis Lloyd, 6'1" G, Kent Denver HS CO

Skidmore

Jacob Gooden, 6'3" G, South Central Prep OK
Will Wertz, 6'4" G/F, Governor's Academy MA

RIT

Joey Harris, 6'4" F, Lawrence Academy MA
Nigel Pierman, 6'6" F/C, Friends' Central HS PA
Ethan Downey-Lamprey, 6'7" F, St. Paul's School NH
Jakob Harken, 6'4" G, Perkiomen Valley HS PA

Union

Jack Watson, 6'4" G/F, Milton Academy MA
Trey Rezendes, 5'10" PG, Tabor Academy MA

SLU

Connor Parkes, 6'1" G, Bridgton Academy ME.
Tommy McMahon, 6' PG, Deerfield Academy MA.
Nathan Clay, 6'1" SG, Kimball Union Academy NH.
Aidan Phelan, 6'4" G/F, West Genesee HS NY.
Daniel Hoey, 6'5" G/F, Scarsdale HS NY.
Drew Baker, 6'8" F/C, Hamilton HS NY.

Looking at the tape, I'm not sure how much that's going to elevate Trinity. Certainly won't be a bad depth piece.  I've been wrong about a lot of things and that's certainly possible here.