I think for both Vetter and Regan, the biggest issue is outside shooting.  Both have I think JUST enough size and strength to play the 2 at a lower or maybe mid-tier D1 school and are solid enough as your second ball-handler / creator.  But Vetter for his career is a 41 percent shooter overall and 35 percent three point shooter and Regan (who does have great mid-range touch) is only a 33 percent three-point shooter on fairly low volume.  In D1 you absolutely need your two-guard if they don't have elite athleticism to be a lights-out long-distance shooter - both are very good free-throw shooters, so if you are a coach maybe you figure the touch is there and with a full spring and summer to focus primarily on the long-distance shot, maybe they can be a guy who is reliable from beyond the arc.  But with only one off-season to work with, that may be the concern for either.

Certainly, NESCAC (and all of D3) will be rooting for Vetter to get a good D1 offer! 

Wow, obviously would be a massive change in the NESCAC and national landscape if Vetter does transfer up (and I'd suspect he will get plenty of D1 interest).  With him still on the team, even with the loss of Dorion, Trinity would be probably a unanimous pre-season number one and a heavy pre-season favorite in NESCAC.  If he does leave (assuming no one else does - I'd think Okorougo could also get plenty of D1 interest were he to poke around the portal), I think Tufts, with virtually everyone back and a strong incoming class, would be the pre-season NESCAC favorite and no worse than a top five team nationally in pre-season polls. Wesleyan could be in the mix too IF Regan (also in the portal) returned as a grad student.  Without Regan and Johnson, though, I think they'd likely start out behind even a Vetter-less Trinity team.   

Thomas Perry invited to Ravens camp.  They have of course a good history with NESCAC o-linemen as Ethan Brooks started for them for several seasons.  Hopefully Perry at least can make the practice squad. 

Griffin Linstra, a 6'5 guard from NJ who had at least one D1 offer, commits to Tufts.  Loaded recruiting class for the Jumbos, with four strong recruits all of whom per recent Tufts trends bring D1-size to their positions.  Wesleyan, Williams and Amherst appear to have solid groups coming in as well, but Tufts seems to be the big winner this off-season. 

Another recent NJ commit is 6'2 Delbarton guard Patrick Mahoney to Trinity. 

I see also that Bates' Matt Pierotti, who started at center as a FY, is in the transfer portal.  Losing him would be a blow for the Bobcats for sure. 

There really never has been an outflow of talent from NESCAC in a single off-season like this. 

Thomas Perry will very likely be in the NFL next year, and two other two-time all-league offensive lineman graduate.
Atkinson, Chase Wilson, and Ty Richardson (and maybe Pierotti?) all will likely be on D1 scholarships.
All three all-league QBs (one of whom was a three-time all-league player), the last two DPOTYs, three DBs and three WRs each of whom were at least two-time all-league players, and three all-American P/Ks all graduating.
Several players who were generational, four-year major impact players for their programs (Koy Price, Julian Young, Perry, Kennary, Berlutti) are gone, and every all-league DL is gone as well. 
Out of 32 first-team all-league players, at most six will return. 

And even the second team is fairly senior-heavy. 

I don't think contending for a championship needs to be something NESCAC even thinks about for the post-season to be a worthwhile endeavor, and I don't think there is going to be any pressure on NESCAC schools to get beyond the first few rounds, which I think will happen now and again before they hit one of the true powerhouses. 

After all, in D3 football, all but a tiny handful of D3 programs have no prayer of being remotely competitive for a championship.  Since 2005, of programs that are still in D3, Mount Union, Whitewater, North Central and Mary Hardin have accounted for all but TWO title game appearances (Oshkosh and Cortland have one appearance each).  It's basically the same (slowly evolving over time) four teams at the top (at most) who come within sniffing range of a title and no one else - including no team from New England, period - has a prayer.  It's a completely stratified sport with a small handful of juggernauts each year and everyone else.  Compare that to hoops - since 2013, a different team has won the title every season, and only one team has been runner-up twice. probably 20 teams go into each season thinking they have a legitimate shot at a title, and usually there are 10-12 teams heading into the tourney who are legit title contenders - not so much in football.   

jumpshot, I'm pro participation!  It's worked well in virtually every other sport imaginable, so why not football?  And it will be be fun to see how the best of NESCAC stacks up nationally.  I don't think it will lower the stakes for rivalry games like Williams-Amherst - after all, it's been a long time since NESCAC titles were being decided by Williams-Amherst games, and while added stakes adds a bit more juice, those games have still felt huge for all the players and fans involved. 

In the meantime, 2025, the last year without playoffs, feels like the most difficult-to handicap year in NESCAC in some time.  Bates seems to be on the rise (though probably still another year away from being a real contender for a top-three spot) and the top of the league - Trinity, Wesleyan, Tufts and Middlebury - all suffer huge losses, in each case losing some truly all-time-great players.  Trinity I think goes into next year as the default favorite, but I think it should be a really fun year with such a massive amount of turnover throughout the league.  I'd love to see Williams back in the mix for a top spot in the league, they were one play away from pulling out several of those games against the front-runners, but the Ephs need to figure out the QB position to do so. 

Lots of good Thomas Perry content heading into draft day:

https://steelersdepot.com/2025/04/interview-middlebury-ol-thomas-perry-aims-to-make-history/

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/scouts-saying-thomas-perry-middlebury-080206754.html

https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/story/_/id/44571937/2025-nfl-draft-risers-prospects-membou-zabel-bech

Updated full list ....

Transferring from D3:

Toby Harris, Brandeis to Iona (D1)
Owen Varnado, Calvin to Tennessee Tech (D1)
Christian Green, Trinity (TX) to Stephen F. Austin (D1)
Justin Allen, Carnegie Mellon to UW-Green Bay (D1)
EJ Matthews-Spratley, Stockton to Millersville (D2)
Livingston Cross, Penn College Johnson U (D2


In the transfer portal (top-tier transfers, the majority will end up on scholarship):

Nick Roper, IWU (one year)
Tye-Rell Monroe, St. Elizabeth's (one year, JUCO exception)
Charlie Randall, Amherst (two years)
Eli Beard, MHB (one year)
Tyrese Rho, Salem State (one year)
Brandon Kulakowski, Fredonia State (one year)
Kenneth Rogers, Westfield State (three years)
Shane Regan, Wesleyan (one year)
Drew Moore, Trine (one year)
Antonio Redding Jr., Delaware Valley (one year)
Hampton Sanders, NYU (two years)
AJ Rohosy, CMS (one year)
Elias Rodl, Brandies (one year)
Nate Tucker, Trine (one year)
Henry Vetter, Trinity (one year - unconfirmed)



In the transfer portal (the rest)

Darrius Bolden, Stevens Point (one year, JUCO exception)
Payton Thomsen, Bethel (one year)
Charles Nelson, Fontbonne (one year)
Nas Johnson, Arcadia (one year)
Isaiah Amato, Whitman (I believe one year of eligibility as a grad transfer)
Khai Champion, Tufts (one year - maybe two?)
Sunny Parker, McMurray (three years)
Moustapha Diop, Randolph (two years)
Darren Rubin, Denison (one year)
Ethan Edwards, Brandeis (one year)
DeAndre Vortes, Illinois Tech (one year)
Joshua Iguade, Illinois Tech (two years)
Hamilton Campbell, HSC (one year)
Andre Treadwell, Lewis and Clark (one year)
Nate Jacobson, Cornell College (one year)
Colt Donley, Covenant (two years)
Tyler Bergmans, Vermont-Lyndon (three years)
Jacob Morgan, Goucher (two years)
Anthony Davis, Knox (two years)
Jakorri Arnold, Warren Wilson (three years)
Dakota Sellers, Mary Washington (three years)
Matthew Puodziukaitis, Saint Vincent (three years)
Carter Reese, Ohio Northern (two years)
Justin Chapman, Ohio Northern (two years)
Jadi Cunningham, Ohio Northern (two years)
Cayden Jacoby, Ohio Northern (two years)
Grant Paetzold, Eau Clair (two years)
Cade Hogan, ETBU (three years)
Elijah Thomas, Carthage (one year)
KJ Williams, Carthage (one year)
Lance Nelson, North Park (one year)
Will Little, Bryn Athyn (one year)
Joevonn Mccottry, Aurora (one year)
Trenton Connolly, Earlham (three years)
Felipe Carter, Hunter (two years)
Troy Santos, Hartford (three years)
Ken Walker, Earlham (two years)
Connor Smith, Earlham (two years)
Kaosi Chijioke, Hartford (two years)
Vondre Chase, Emmanuel (one year)
Cooper Haberern, Susquehanna (one year)
Steven Cordero, Keene State (two years)
Lazzzaro Ford, Warren Wilson (three years)
Frankie Idlett, Dean (two  years)
Hasan Hammod, CNU (two years)


Playing a fifth year at current school:

Luke Chicone, John Carroll (injury redshirt)
Omari DeVeaux, VWU (injury)
Peter Lash, NWU (one year)


Seniors / grad students of note with (I believe) remaining eligibility:

Malcolm Newman, Drew (injury)
Antuan Nesbit, Carthage (listed on roster but did not play this year, not sure why)
Zach Rosenthal, Roanoke (injury)


Transferring to D3:

Eli Ehrke - Sioux Falls (D2) to Gustavus Adolphus
Kenji Scales - Sioux Falls (D2) to UWEC
Will Boser - Concordia St. Paul (D2) to UWEC
Tyler Orr - Winona State (D2) to Stevens Point
Casen Lawrence - Truman State (D2) to IWU

Justin Allen ends up earning a scholarship at UW-Green Bay.  I expect he will make a big impact there.

Truly horrible news: Swarthmore hoops alum Jared Groff died in a plane crash along with his sister, their partners, and his parents.  Just unthinkable. 

Wow that's crazy - I'd imagine that VERY few D3 schools have NIL money beyond what enterprising players can scrounge up themselves - most programs have no television revenue, no ticket revenue, and no or virtually no boosters, so I'm not even sure what that money would come from ...

Looking back at the last few years, it seems like very few true D1 walk-ons who never earned scholarships made a significant impact upon transferring to D3.  Tristan How is obviously an example to the contrary, but I think the vast majority of impactful transfers over the past few years were either D3 stars moving between schools or guys who were originally recruited by D1 or D2 schools rather than joining a program as a pure walk-on.  I'd be very surprised if, generally speaking, transfers made close to the impact in D3 next year as they have the past few years even if there are more walk-on types joining D3 programs.  Certainly, I think it's much harder to build a powerhouse team like Case and NYU did in recent years primarily on the back of transfers (unless you are talking about a team with a lot of JUCO guys like Redlands). 

The three UAA teams who relied so heavily on the portal could all be in quite a bit of trouble.  With no more COVID years, there will be very few guys who have played four years and are available as fifth-year grad students, and I suspect that most high-level impact players who are looking to transfer prior to graduating will be aiming for scholarships. 

Brandeis (which seemed to have underachieved a bit given the talent on hand last year) is looking at potentially being down its top five scorers; Case (which had a rough year even with the talent on hand) is going to be down five of its top six; and NYU, potentially its top SEVEN scorers.  NYU I agree will probably have the easiest time rebuilding so long as Klatsky sticks around (and he may as a lot of the jobs he was in the mix for seem to have filled up), after making the national title game and with all the advantages NYU has to offer recruits.  Still, Spencer Freedmans and Tristan Hows don't grow on trees and the odds of striking gold like that again are pretty low, and again, it's hard to imagine even NYU bringing in 5 high level transfers at once now that the COVID year era is over.  I could see NYU (especially) or Case each bringing in a couple of impactful guys, but nothing like the full all-star teams they've been able to attract largely from guys who played four years already elsewhere. 

The other issue for these three teams is that they haven't been spending the last few years developing younger players so it's not like underclassmen on the roster are as ready to just step in right away.  The UAA tourney teams who haven't relied much on the portal - WashU, UChicago, and Emory - seem really well set up for next year and the future, as all have a lot of key players who have been making a big impact since their first year on campus. 

NESCAC (which of course has been doing just fine the last two years as-is) is also a beneficiary of the end of the COVID era, given how few graduate programs NESCAC schools can offer and how tight many of them are with transfer admissions in any event.  I don't think any NESCAC team has gotten a major impact from a graduate transfer during the entire COVID era.  And the NESCAC schools have done a very good job of keeping their guys around for four years of late - ironically, it was the era before mass transfers for everyone else that NESCAC schools really got hurt by guys leaving (Duncan Robinson, Austin Hutcherson, Matt Hart, Hunter Sabety, etc.).  So far, this year seems to be no different, as the only NESCAC player I've seen in the portal is Shane Regan, and he was a senior with an injury redshirt year.  Some of the top players who I think could have easily gone D1 - Henry Vetter, Jarrel Okourogo, Ray Cuevas, maybe one or two others - SEEM to be sticking around, or at least aren't advertising an intent to move up.   

Two more big D3 additions to the portal today: Elias Rodl from Brandeis and Christian Green from Trinity (TX).