I can envision this response from Mr. Scott:

 

The H-SC/UNE game turned into a track meet.  UNE backs had 192, 143 and 108 yards, respectively.  Fortunately, UNE had almost no passing game (29 yards), and Terry Hicks had a monster 317 yards for the Tigers. 

In these uncertain times for small private schools, there's some good news out of Hampden-Sydney.

The Tiger roster is indeed completely revamped.  Last season was very strange with the loss of projected starter John Campbell in the preseason and then Shane Fernald was dealing with some issues that affected his play.  He's now a graduate assistant coach at Charleston Southern.  I don't believe it is controversial to say that Tugg Bizzelle's father really wants the ball in Tugg's hands and is not shy about stating it. To my knowledge, he hasn't found a new basketball home. Santana Lynch wasn't comfortable at H-SC; he did not look like he enjoyed playing basketball.  I don't know if that lack of joy is specific to H-SC for him or in general.  He landed much nearer to home at D1 Lamar. I hope both of them find happiness.  Maybe the Tigers gain some cohesiveness as a result.  The others have some strong interests and talents outside of basketball.  Mike Patrick is the student body president.  Sam Messinger played basketball and lacrosse, seeing more time on the lax field, so he is focusing on that.  Ben Mulry has a very high GPA and, with no foreseeable PT, transferred to Chapel Hill.  All of that with 5 graduates changed the roster dramatically.

My understanding, gleaned from a few conversations at the football game on Saturday, is that there are guys ready to be highly competitive ODAC players, so don't feel bad for the Tigers.  Among the new guys, Carter Wesson may be one.  He has some maturity, having spent a year at Fork Union then 2 at Montevallo; I hope this is a great fit for him.  I don't know if Damon Phillips will be effective, but he did a post grad year with the highly competitive Hargrave Military team, so he is a little more experienced than the average freshman.  Again, I don't know where Caleb Straughter stands in the mix, but I can't recall H-SC ever getting a first team Richmond Times-Dispatch All Metro player, nor a 6'7" guard. Mack Walters is reputed to be high energy, hard nosed and a good outside shooter.  The coaching staff thinks they have a lot of options; it will be fun to see who emerges as a rotation player.     

Curious what you mean about "...not much was left for #6". Does #6 reference being the sixth child in a family, or a jersey number, or something else?
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I'm the youngest.  Dad always described himself as good Catholic - plenty of kids and sent them to Saint John's or Bishop O'Connell, then Mt St Mary's.  I guess the folks got more permissive with the youngest; I slipped off to a Presbyterian school.  I suppose the "good Catholic" reference is rather dated as I'm not sure that Catholics are known for the large families now. 

Much excitement at H-SC about their new players - there's a bunch of them.  Hopefully we'll have a more physical, better shooting team.

As an aside, my oldest brother is a HOFer at MSM, primarily for tennis but he also played basketball for Jim Phelan.  Apparently he got most of the athletic genes and not much was left for # 6. 

But not on the ODAC Posting Up board

Jamarcus Brown of Lynchburg recently won the ODAC high jump championship at 6'11".  He's listed at 6'6" and 210 on the LU roster, and made first team all conference in basketball as well as DPOY.  I think that qualifies as a D3 freak athlete.  As an H-SC fan, I think that guy needs to hit the transfer portal.

Carter Wesson, Fork Union (post grad) then D2 Montevallo, to Hampden-Sydney

Interesting article by Pat Coleman on D3Hoops.com, particularly since Mary Washington's All American Kye Robinson has decided to enter the transfer portal.  I'm still adjusting to the volatility of college basketball rosters and trying to get comfortable with it.  H-SC hoops fans are feeling it with Santana Lynch and Tugg Bizzelle entering the portal.  Those could be huge losses.  However..., there are 9 players committed. 

Congratulations to UMW and HoopsDad34!  What a tremendous accomplishment for the team and a joy for you.

Great season for the Jackets.  As noted above, they were a mere few points from being 31-0. 

Congrats to the Maroons.  To tell you the truth, I'm absolutely shocked to write that.  You see, I came on to congratulate the Jackets.  Having a cold, I turned the game off with less than a minute to go and went to bed, firmly believing that the game was over and RMC had won.  I recently checked D3Hoops to see who got in the tournament and was gobsmacked.  Wow, this weekend had Omari Deveaux, ODAC POY, and Jabril Robinson, 3x 1st Team All-ODAC, at the line to win games but not getting it done to the benefit of Roanoke.  Incredible bullet dodging there.

Anyway, good luck to the ODAC teams next weekend and on.

The computers have RMC as a 13-14 point favorite.  Unfortunately, I can't argue with that.  This essentially will be the first experience in Salem for the Tigers; their players have a grand total of 3 minutes on the court in Salem.  That's 2 for Kolby Wright and 1 for Davis Cauble.  Oh well, cue the scene from Hoosiers when Gene Hackman has the Huskers measure the height of the basket, etc.  On the other hand, this is right where the Tigers have aimed to be most of the season, so play free.

Congrats to all who earned All-ODAC honors, well deserved!

As the season is winding down for the Tigers, I have to say that Caleb Kimbrough has done a great job this year as H-SC experienced much adversity.  They had 10 different starting lineups, although Stickney and Moye have been rocks.  Continuity and consistency were hard to find.  The Tigers have managed to put together a nice 4 game streak with a gritty, new lineup, but Coach K would have to be a magician to pull one out of the hat tomorrow.