Regular season recap:

Biggest surprise:  Salve Regina 18-7 (11-5).  I had them missing the playoffs, but they ended in 3rd place.  In my defense I hadn't done a deep enough dive on their roster to realize they had 2 D1 xfers (prior school wasn't listed) in Margoupis (UAlbany) and Malvey (UNH).  Margoupis' foot injury likely cost them the 2 seed.  He led the league in scoring (20.2) when he went down.

Biggest disappointment:  Emerson 9-16 (5-11).  I did have a disclaimer on my preseason prediction regarding McNamara after he missed a year.  He slowly worked back into the rotation but was not the same player from 2 years ago.  He may have a grad year remaining.  The other senior guard, Armant didn't step up.  I also can't understand why junior Shay Roban doesn't get more minutes.  He's instant offense. And then there's some evidence of dysfunction I've witnessed on the sideline (I'll leave that there).

2nd biggest disappointment: Coast Guard 8-17 (4-12).  I was worried about their small roster (12).  Then they lost Colin Huang (no longer listed), a guy who killed Babson in last year's playoffs.  Not enough pieces to recover from that.

3rd biggest disappointment: Clark 12-13 (7-9).  They limped into the playoffs, losing their last 6.  They've lost Pridgen to injury for the last 4.  He's a key piece.  Young roster making young roster mistakes, but they could still make the semis.

Easiest call:  WPI winning the regular season 21-4 (14-2).  I don't go stat crazy when considering individual accolades, but Molen would be my POY.  He's top ten in scoring, rebounding, and assists.  Newman would be my repeat for DPOY.  Credit to everyone for doing the work in the weight room and the focus they place on defense.

Biggest coaches poll error: MIT.  In fairness to first-year coach BJ Dunne he didn't have time to recruit his first class.  But 6-19 (2-14) is a continuation of the last 5 year slide.  Believe it or not they were ahead or tied in a half dozen losses with 5 minutes to play (including Tufts) and kept finding imaginative ways to lose.

I woke up this morning seeing that the D3 Datacast guys (love their work) give Babson 19-6 (13-3) a 99% chance of making the field of 64, even if they don't get the AQ.  Unexpected achievement to say the least.  You'd have to go back more than 10 years to find a squad that achieved this success organically.  While they have 2 xfers, both were lost to injury and haven't played since Jan. 1.  They went 13-2 down the stretch without xfers.  Mulvey (15.9 ppg; 2nd in the country with 3.46 3's per game) and Ferdinando (16.6 ppg) account for 42% of team scoring and are arguably the most under-the-radar guard tandem in New England.  And they're just SO/FY.  Ferdinando is a stud, and sitting at 416 points has an outside shot at 500 points as a FY.  For reference, Joey Flannery had 513 as a FY in 27 games @ 19 ppg.

Massey SOS rankings (some room for improvement):

Emerson 70
Babson 74
MIT 76
Clark 88
Springfield 96
WPI 154
Coast Guard 160
Wheaton 166
Salve Regina 167


No predictions for the NEWMAC playoffs.  I'm just going to enjoy the games.

Quote from: Bucket on January 20, 2026, 05:09:24 PM

Quote from: NEhoops on January 20, 2026, 03:55:52 PMJust connected the dots that Shane Regan, an all-American last year at Wesleyan, is playing at Chicago and they are currently ranked #2 in the country per the latest D3 Hoops poll. Are there any other former NESCAC players that are thriving in other conferences? Who are the players that have transferred into the NESCAC that are making an impact this year?

Regarding the Williams program - Maker taking the job at Marist was a huge blow. He is arguably the best recruiter/offensive mind in the last 20+ years. 

Yes, but he was not long for Williams either way. He was already seeing the lack of institutional support. The bigger NESCAC what-if/screw-up was at Amherst, with the admin selecting Spears over Maker. Imagine the Lord Mammoths now if they had made the correct hire!

I've got no skin in this, but the logic seems inconsistent.  Maker was seeing a lack of support at Williams, but his radar wasn't tracking anything like that going on at Amherst?  Why would he want to throw his hat in the ring? Isn't the support at Amherst (from what I've read) far less than what it was for most of Hixon's tenure?

A D1 -> D3 transfer that I believe slipped through the cracks, perhaps because the roster lists him from Cushing Academy, rather than the more common last stop (sneaky, sneaky)

Jack Margoupis 6'8" F/C jr. UAlbany to Salve Regina

He leads SR (3-0) in scoring @ 16 ppg., against current Massey level SOS 333rd.

Congratulations coach Brennan on win #500

WPI hung on to beat Wheaton 1-0.

Still a long way to go, but WPI leads Wheaton in the 67th minute 1-0.  They lost to Wheaton 4-0 in the regular season.

Excited to get basketball season started.

First, a tribute to recently graduated Nate Amado.  One of my favorite players of the last 20 years.

Here's where he ranks all-time at Babson:

Points: 7th
Rebounds: 9th
Blocks: 2nd

But to do him justice, here's where he ranks among players since 2000, as a rough dividing line between eras and when the quality of opponents got much tougher and consistent:

Points: 2nd*
FTs: 2nd*
Rebounds: 3rd*
Blocked Shots: 1st

(*) #1 in category: Joey Flannery

The stats only scratch the surface of what he meant to the program.  He was the big game, go-to guy, consistently battled double teams, and had a strong all-around game.  He led the team in rpg as a freshman guard at 6'3".  Averaged 20/10 in 4 tournament games, 2 of which were in his freshman season.  He leaves a gaping roster hole.

Speaking of Flannery, Ryan Scott had a great article on him in the offseason: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2025/08/flannery-scb-induction

Looking at 25-26:

Probably the most shocking part of the preseason NEWMAC poll is that someone picked MIT for first place.  Their last 5 season conference records are: 5-9, 5-8, 2-12, 5-11, and 3-13.  New, strong coaching hire in B. J. Dunne, but he was hired late (August).  They bring back 4 of their top 5 scorers from last year (Dobie will get postseason honors). I'd love to see a resurgent MIT because it would be good for the league.

I think the clear favorite is WPI.  I didn't realize both Reidy and Mortgensen had a 5th year of eligibility.  Molen inside will more than make up for the loss of Morelli.  The only question is whether they have a penetrating PG.  They have 3 guys with POTY potential in Newman, Molen, and Reidy.  Newman will likely repeat as DPOTY.  Loaded team.

Clark should be strong again, though they lost a ton.  Pridgen and John really came on in the NEWMAC tournament, while some of their vets struggled.  John shows flashes of untapped potential and is already a force on the defensive end at the rim.  Simms can flat out recruit and they bring in a really good looking recruiting class.  I wouldn't be surprised if 1 or more FYs start.  Inexperience may hold them back.

I like Emerson more than the coaches evidently.   Curley always seems to find and develop big men, and he has one in Helmhold who could have a breakout year.  If McNamara returns to form after missing a year and paired alongside Armant they should be in the NEWMAC semis.

And I like Coast Guard more than the poll results.  Farrell is a first team candidate inside and Parent and Huang make up a productive backcourt.  The small roster size (12) is a concern though.

I don't see Salve Regina, Springfield, or Wheaton in the mix, though Seymour (SR), and Iafrate (Wheaton) may put up big numbers and garner postseason honors.  Wheaton is the only team with all 5 top scorers returning, but is the 2nd team with a new coach, Alex Dubrow '20 (with the dreaded 'interim' tag).  The prior coach had the distinction of leading the only NEWMAC team to never win a conference championship over his 28 years.  The change was announced in August (not ideal).  No where to go but up, though it may take some time.

For Babson a lot will depend on how productive xfer Aydelotte can be at this level.  Not to put too much pressure on him, but if he can give them 13/8 that would be huge.  Babson has never really had a post presence like him (listed at 6'11") and most of the 6'8"+ guys in the past have been stretch 4's and 5's.  He looks good on tape and I've heard good things, so we'll see.
I think the team will be far more balanced in scoring and may threaten the under on the top scorer ppg from the last 15 years.
It would be great if they can hold opponents @ 65 ppg.  Lots of guys competing for time with a roster of 19.  Do they have a plus defender or two?  Time will tell.
I really like the last 2 recruiting classes.  While they may not produce some of the studs of the last 10 years, they all look to have high floors and include lots of gym rats too.
Guess at starting 5: Aydelotte, O'Toole, JJ Paul, Mulvey, Begin.
Guys who I think have the best chance at becoming larger contributors (+5 ppg or +10 mpg):  Murphy and Foster.

I like WPI, Emerson, Clark, Babson, Coast Guard, and MIT, in that order to make the conference tournament.

Quote from: Kuiper on October 09, 2025, 08:03:57 PMWhile Messiah's results thus far this season may constitute a historical low for the program, they are not the only traditional powerhouse to be arguably under-performing their lofty standards this year.  Just to name a few:

Messiah
Johns Hopkins
Franklin & Marshall
Redlands
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Amherst
Mary Washington
Babson
Kenyon

Some of this is cyclical.  In some cases, there may have been school-specific factors, like coaching changes or injuries etc. And, to be fair, some of these schools are still going to make the NCAA tournament this year, so relatively speaking they will be just fine. 

Are there, however, common explanations? Here are a few possibilities

Players: 

Some had valuable 5th years/grad students who departed after last season.  Not only do they miss those players, but those players may have limited development opportunities for younger players or led typical recruits to look at other schools where there was more playing time available. 

Similarly, the roster restrictions at D1 may have led to an infusion of talent across D3, which could have jump-started the ability of other programs to challenge the traditional D3 powers. 

Rule changes: 

The elimination of overtime didn't just increase ties.  It enabled some of these upstart teams to develop defensive playing styles that allowed them to better compete with the top teams and those playing styles may have taken a few years to develop and spread across D3. 

Also, the advent of NPI changed how you might schedule.  Some traditional powers are still playing very strong opponents originally scheduled prior to NPI, while other schools were more easily able to pivot to more NPI-friendly schedules.

Changes in athletic priorities/recruiting:

The increasingly competitive environment for students has led some schools to change their approach to athletics.  In the SCIAC, for example, Pomona College made a major investment in new facilities, athlete-only weight room, etc, started recruiting nationally while the old coach was on medical leave, and hired a new coach from DII.  Whittier pivoted to a much more aggressive recruitment strategy for international students and focused on developing a pipeline to Sweden.  Both schools are starting to see returns on those investments and they are starting to challenge traditional conference powers like CMS and Redlands.

With regard to Babson it's what you've listed under Players, although I'd go further (probably implied) that the end of the Covid era has come to the fore.  They are not "down" in the historical sense.  They are either 1-2 in the conference, but no longer have the infusion of 2-4 impactful grad xfers to which they became accustomed.

Quote from: Kuiper on September 17, 2025, 08:04:39 PM

Quote from: Kuiper on September 17, 2025, 07:38:32 PMUPSET ALERT

Roger Williams 1 - Babson 0 (73rd minute)

Field looks like it may be wet (not sure), so the weather may be affecting this game, but interesting to see Roger Williams out-shooting Babson 12-3 (6-1 on goal) with 3 corners to 0 for Babson

FINAL:  Roger Williams 1 - Babson 0

Not sure if this is a major upset, but Rogers Williams is now 5-0-1 and Babson suffers its first loss.

On this night RW was unquestionably the better team and deserved the W.  Even after the early second half goal they largely controlled play and dispossessed most every attack through the midfield.  Until the final 10 minutes or so Babson looked very lackluster.  Credit to RW.

Nice give and go between Modiano and Martinez at the top of the box to get Babson the W @ Oglethorpe 1-0.

Babson started 4 freshmen and 3 sophs after massive losses through graduation. FYs Boecher and Hanrahan already look like they belong.

The back line has been a bit shaky but has been playing without 3-year starter Araujo and center back Thiam.  I'd feel a lot better with them back.

Quote from: nescac1 on June 18, 2025, 09:50:48 AMInteresting Bates to Babson pipeline going!  Begin is a very talented player who seemed to not really fit in with what Bates was trying to do, especially as a sophomore.  But he certainly has the ability to be a lead scoring guard who can create with offense with the ball in his hands a lot. 

Not another xfer, but another Bates-Babson connection:  incoming Babson FY Thomas Ferdinando is the son of Keith Ferdinando, Bates '93 who scored 1140 career points.

Gavin Aydelotte, 6'10" reserve has transferred from Lincoln Memorial University (D2) to Babson.  Played just 19 minutes at LMU as a FY, but is a former FL All-State with some much needed interior skills.

Marc Begin II (Bates), former NESCAC ROY has transferred to Babson.

Unforced error by the NCAA scheduling both men's and women's finals on the same day and hour.
Maybe it's a 1st world problem for NYU, having both teams make it this far, but really an unnecessary set of circumstances.

No shame for WPI to lose to the #1 team in the country.  The PBP guy was understandably talking a lot about the constant play stoppages, but unless I missed it never mentioned that Marelli came out after taking a 3-pt shot with about 17 minutes left and never returned.  Had to be an injury.  He had a quiet NEWMAC tournament, but you've got to let this guy play unless he was injured.  A senior playing his last game.  Then, they were already missing Margetson, so they had limited bench for guys who were part of the core group.  Marvillo before Pebley?  Another head-scratcher.  Was that to go small?  But Marvillo struggles from the outside.

But Wes was the better team.

WPI brings back a solid core for next season and should be at or very close to the top again, along with Clark and I think Emerson (particularly if McNamara returns to play and is on form).