NESCAC1, I would never have guessed 800 in the portal for D3. That is almost 2 per team entering the portal. But if that's the case, my guess 400 of those are not even playing basketball next year.

Quote from: nescac1 on April 07, 2026, 10:43:13 AMFrom the transfer board, interesting to see that Colby has a transfer coming in, Ben Miller from Hartford, who was a double-digit scorer as a FY:

https://x.com/_benmiller1/status/2041248124732137966?s=61

Kind of odd that this is happening with no coach, but perhaps this was all locked down previously and he's just announcing it now. 

Speaking of transfers, Dylan Watson isn't the only Conn College player in the transfer portal.  James Lafrance, who just transferred to Conn last year, is in as well: https://x.com/JamesLaFrance2/status/2031108862691127575, as is Josiah Wright, who played limited minutes as a FY: https://x.com/Coach_Kaj/status/2032523863188197448.

If both Watson and Lafrance depart, Conn will be a very different team, as that would mean last year's three leading scorers are all gone ... but perhaps they will bring some more transfers in.  Certainly seem to be operating differently than any other NESCAC school right now. 

Miller will help Colby, at least give them depth and maybe a stronger bench.

For Conn, Watson is the one they need to keep, they have enough guards that can shoot. Lafrance against good teams had a tough time, shot 32% overall and 27% on threes against top 8 NESCAC teams. And like you say Conn is operating differently than the rest of the NESCAC team, but it might be how it is going to be going forward. Which would be a shame, but blame the NCAA for all of this player movement.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 06, 2026, 10:39:26 PM

Quote from: D3BBALL on April 06, 2026, 05:29:41 PMGood for anyone if they want to try and get to the next level, but for most it doesn't work out and they become little fish in big oceans.
 
You win a national championship, and you have everyone coming back and you leave??? Go try and do it again.

Robinson is elite in D3, but he will not be at the next level. There will be too many players that are just as strong and mostly as quick or quicker and taller.  Won't be the same for him.

Have to respect Vetter, Okorougo, Lazarre for sticking around and trying to repeat, and they came very close.

Overway is going to have issues at the next level, another player IMO who is not suited for D1 even at Mid or lower levels. Those bigs are going to be quicker and stronger and just way more athletic than he is.

If you can get your education paid for, why not leave?

Sure, that is a way to look at it and maybe the right way. How many are already getting some or all of their education paid for. I am not sure most are looking for just the education part.

Quote from: nescac1 on April 06, 2026, 05:49:07 PMThe guys who HAVE gotten D1 scholarships have generally fared very well.  Some have become really high level players and almost all have been solid contributors.  Just from recent years, some examples:

Aaron Nkmurah (Worcester State) was his conference POTY AND defensive POTY this year at Tennessee Tech
Miles Barnstable (Whitewater) had a great year at St. Thomas, then transferred to an even higher level program (Tulsa) where he played the most minutes and was a top-three scorer on a 30-8 team.
Tobias Harris (Brandeis) averaged 11.2 on 44/41/90 shooting at Iona this year. 
Justin Allen (Carnegie Mellon) averaged 14/4/2 on 48/25/83 splits this year for Green Bay
Brody Fox was Citadel's best player by far last year, leading them in scoring among other statistical categories, and John Adams also ended up starting nearly every game with more modest stats. 
AJ Rohosy was a starter for Stanford (!) this year, averaging 8 and 6. 

There are other examples as well, including the true outliers like Duncan Robinson and Cedric Coward who both ended up in the NBA of course, but if you can play, you can play.  If you are a D3 all-American level player, especially as an underclassman, the odds are you will be able to make major contributions at the D1 level.  Now, not every guy expecting to get a D1 offer gets snapped up, but these coaches are elite talent evaluators and they aren't offering a D3 guy unless they are confident they will be a major contributor right away. 

The question is what overall percentage is that?
On your list above you have 29 players you think will get D1/scholarship interest
You have another 55 players that are transferring and I bet a number of these players think they are D2 or D1 players.
Last year you listed 25 players that could get d1 or D2 offers and another 40 who some think they should.
You list 10 above over a couple of years and I am sure there are more. But also look at the leagues and the teams records for most.
Most are good to very good D3 players, and good for them for trying but most are not going to be anywhere close to that at the next level.
Yes, there are the Duncan Robinson's, the other ones you list above and others that we can't think of. But IMO guessing that the overall percentage is not great that most of the players are going to be elite players at the next level. Some are going to elite academic schools, so in the end who cares, they come out with a degree and hopefully the college has a great alumni program that helps them get jobs.
Again, just my guess, in the end the percentage that want to go to the next level and actually get there and succeed at a high level is small, less than 10%. And we all may have different degrees of succeeding. Mine would be, go to a good academic school, play at least 15 minutes a game and 3rd be on a team that wins more than 55% of their games and has a chance to win the conference. All those are just not realistic for most of these players.

Quote from: SpringSt7 on April 06, 2026, 04:54:19 PMI will push back on Robinson being clearly about everyone else just because he's only 6'2 and did a TON of his scoring at the free throw line. He is definitely a D1 guy and the second year is helpful but I don't think he is like clearly ahead of Overway or Glogovac. Same with Cleveland as a non shooter to be honest.

A great offseason project that maybe we should dig into would be to look back on which D3 to D1 transfers had the best success and see if there is any sort of predictor of success.

Great idea. Would be interesting to look at the number of Players that NESCAC1 puts on his list every year and see where they end up and how successful they are. My guess it is not going to be a great percentage where it works out.

Good for anyone if they want to try and get to the next level, but for most it doesn't work out and they become little fish in big oceans.
 
You win a national championship, and you have everyone coming back and you leave??? Go try and do it again.

Robinson is elite in D3, but he will not be at the next level. There will be too many players that are just as strong and mostly as quick or quicker and taller.  Won't be the same for him.

Have to respect Vetter, Okorougo, Lazarre for sticking around and trying to repeat, and they came very close.

Overway is going to have issues at the next level, another player IMO who is not suited for D1 even at Mid or lower levels. Those bigs are going to be quicker and stronger and just way more athletic than he is.

My rankings were just based on how they finished this year, I wasn't trying to rank them for next year but if I did they would be like this.

1) Wesleyan, best coach, maybe best guard and they have enough coming back.
2) Bates, maybe best player in the league and they won't have to face Tufts front line or Trinity's seniors.
3) Tufts, lots of good wings/guards, but will be different not controlling the boards the way they have in the past.
4) Trinity has lost a lot, more than anyone else, and the players remaining are not close to the caliber of the 4 seniors. May just be the first time in 4 years where more than 1 freshmen plays a lot. I know they are high on incoming class.
5) Amherst, can they do it again next year, without as NESCAC1 stated, some valuable pieces gone. They need more scoring and size.
6) Conn, I think they have enough players that can light it up on different nights that they don't have to rely on 1 player, but does depend on who comes back.
7) Williams, talented, but 2 down years, injuries, and finishing games worries. Team I just wouldn't bet for or against on.
8) Colby, new coach, lost some good players and a player that could have been POY, just not sure they have enough even if they get the recruits to stay. But again, wouldn't bet on or against this team yet.
9) Middlebury, think one year in for the coach, player will get settled more and just better team than the 2 below and look forward to see how Ducree plays next year.
10) Bowdoin, not going to replace Cuevas scoring, but maybe the move the ball better and Dawkins could be really good.
11) Hamilton just not enough horses at this point. Recruiting class will be key.

Quote from: nescac1 on April 05, 2026, 09:19:42 PMOther than Bates, the other four NESCAC teams were all eliminated by one another, or by the National champ.  And in the last three years, Trinity's only two post-season losses of any kind both came in tight games in the Final Four to the national champs.  Pretty wild. 

Now we wait to see how things shake down for the remaining guys in the portal and any late recruits. Should be the most wide open Nescac season next year in quite some time ... although Tufts, Trinity and Wesleyan will start as co-favorites, all have massive shoes to fill, and they will have some strong competition. 

Congrats to MW, but its a shame the way Trinity lost to MW, would have really liked to see Trinity against Emory. But interesting that Trinity only 2 losses in the NCAA the last 3 years came in semi's and to the winners, maybe this adds to the argument that this class is the best NESCAC class of all time.

Agree, NESCAC could be totally wide-open next year. Not sure who the favorites are, just so many question marks for so many teams. I think Wesleyan and Tufts are favorites as they may have the least questions,
Wesleyan, loses a lot but they may have the best scoring guard in the league.
Tufts will be playing a different brand of basketball and will need to replace a lot up front. But with Nieves may have one of the best players in the league.
Trinity really a lot of questions, not sure they will be favorites next year, they lose 4 players who accounted for 100 minutes, 60% of their points, 50% of rebounds, 50% of assists and most importantly 4 players that knew how to win and handle pressure. Besides Berry who is going to score for them next year. They better find a way to get an inside game and get some easy points, it was their killer in most of their losses the last 3 years. Have to have an offense that has some plays in the paint.
Amherst has a nice nucleus coming back, need a better bench and some size.
Bates, can Pouye stay healthy, can O'Leary continue to get better, need more out of bench
Bowdoin, they could take a huge step back.
Colby, who is the coach, can they keep Civello, are the recruits coming or not, if not they take a step backwards
Conn, doesn't lose a lot in terms of number of players, they have a lot of players that can shoot and I like they are not locked into just playing zone any longer, this team could move up a lot.
Williams, they have talent but need to know how to win and play tougher.
Hamilton, will depend on who comes in, can they play right away and can they play well.
Middlebury, 2nd year of coach, and they lose 6 players who played 10 or more minutes per game, they may need another year.

Quote from: nescac1 on April 05, 2026, 07:20:52 PMAny way to see the final plays?

If you have ESPN plus you can go replay the game.

Great ending!!

Great points, I think one of the biggest reasons D1 AD's don't look at D2 or D3 head coaches is strictly based on the recruiting. The D1 assistant coaches are out there recruiting these D1 players all the time whereas D3 coaches don't recruit D1 players. I don't necessarily agree with that, but it's one of the main reasons.

Quote from: lumbercat on March 30, 2026, 04:52:54 PM

Quote from: NEhoops on March 30, 2026, 03:29:58 PMI 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.
 

I agree, Strahorn was "solid" and didn't deserve to be fired.

As Whitmores career was winding down those 6 years maybe not be a truly representative sample of his overall successes. Believe he made the NCAAs at least 2 or 3 times along with some ECAC titles etc. Things were structured a little differently in his early years at Colby.

Looks like the present administration is setting the bar higher and creating their own expectations. I guess we'll see if they can elevate the program to new levels. Strahorn's successor does not seem like a big time hire but time will tell on that also.

Whitmore had a very good career and was well liked as did Strahorn.

It is going to be tough to consistently bring in the talent that is going to be needed to compete with the top NESCAC programs because of the area that Colby is in.

Colby IMO is going about it the wrong way, they have D1 level facilities, very good academics, but being in Maine and a D3 school, don't think they are ever going to dominate in any men's team sport on a consistent level.
They haven't really in Soccer, Lacrosse, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, at least not in like the last 10 years. But if you look at these 6 team sports, baseball/basketball has done the best over the last 5-6 years, at least on the men's side.

Trying to hire coaches that don't have a connection to the area or to the college, is not going to be good long term. Just look at the coaches present and their longevity to the school and their up and down records. Its hard to win year after year, Amherst did it (not recently), Brown at Middlebury had a very good 10-15 run, Williams has had a nice run, the rest up and down.

If the President and AD want to dominate in sports than get out of the NESCAC, get into a D1 conference and then shell out NIL money left and right, in the end they won't like that either. Be realistic!

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on March 25, 2026, 05:35:53 PM

Quote from: D3BBALL on March 25, 2026, 01:17:45 PM

Quote from: blue_jays on March 25, 2026, 12:08:13 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on March 25, 2026, 11:06:07 AMAnd just to prove I'm not showing my NESCAC bias here, as awesome a year that Shane Regan had, I would have swapped him onto the second team and Kye Robinson (or maybe even Zamet) onto the first. Robinson is just that good.  Very, very, very tough year for guards, Zamet, Geiger and Robinson all had legit first-team all-American years, and Vetter, Yarbrough, and Barnette are all guys who would have been higher up in the pecking order plenty of other seasons. 

Regan absolutely deserved 1st Team A-A spot. If he was in the championship game right now, he'd likely be up for National POTY, that's how much he has meant to UChicago's success. The Maroons hadn't done anything on the national scene in 20+ years, and he's the reason why they were as good as they were this year. His clutch play raised the ceiling and put them into the top 10 all season. Stats don't tell the whole story for him, the winning does.

100% agree on Regan, one of the best players in D3 the last 2 years. He did the same thing at Wesleyan last year and was great in close games both last year and this year. Samet can score, but doesn't belong on first team, he doesn't play defense.
Neither Vetter or Okorougo on 2nd team or better makes no sense. Almost like 1 bad game (and Okorougo was not bad) and they are not good enough for 2nd team or better.

Neither Vetter nor Okorougo ... nor, for that matter Gyiemesi moved after the semifinal games. The teams were locked in after the semifinals but only a couple of players changed spots in the final weekend.

How many people vote on this? And the vote is done as a group? Everybody discusses the players almost like D1 picking the seedins, changes made to the last minute? Sure seems like there is a bias against the NESCAC players. How either at least one of Vetter or Okorougo or Gyimesi is not on the second team or higher very questionable.

Quote from: nescac1 on March 25, 2026, 12:54:42 PM1. Uh-oh, sounds like Rutigliano is, indeed, gone.  What a disaster for Colby:

https://x.com/samurai_hoops/status/2036827713667801392

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-colby-opens-rutigliano-taking-d1-assistant-job/

Civello in the portal, a second head coaching search in two years, and you have to wonder given the timing if a few of the very much in demand Colby recruits will try to find an alternative option (might be difficult if they have not applied to any other schools, of course).

2. I agree with SpringSt7, it's crazy that Landry has not gotten a D1 head coaching spot yet, what he did with Swarthmore's program was nothing short of miraculous (and notably since he left they've already fallen back to earth). 

3. Fair, blue_jays, I am definitely a fan of Regan's game from his time in NESCAC, he's absolutely legit.  I just think Kye is truly special as a D3 player, and I suspect his time in D3 will be short-lived.  But really, all of the guards in that group are worthy of the First Team.  It was a very guard-heavy year in D3. 

Really stinks for the players at Colby. They had a pretty good coach, that did a good job of recruiting (especially for the area that school lies), had some good teams, had players making all conference teams, and roy. The AD and President blew that up for a 1-year coach, who IMO coached that team/players down. Nice job of doing your homework on that coach!

Quote from: blue_jays on March 25, 2026, 12:08:13 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on March 25, 2026, 11:06:07 AMAnd just to prove I'm not showing my NESCAC bias here, as awesome a year that Shane Regan had, I would have swapped him onto the second team and Kye Robinson (or maybe even Zamet) onto the first. Robinson is just that good.  Very, very, very tough year for guards, Zamet, Geiger and Robinson all had legit first-team all-American years, and Vetter, Yarbrough, and Barnette are all guys who would have been higher up in the pecking order plenty of other seasons. 

Regan absolutely deserved 1st Team A-A spot. If he was in the championship game right now, he'd likely be up for National POTY, that's how much he has meant to UChicago's success. The Maroons hadn't done anything on the national scene in 20+ years, and he's the reason why they were as good as they were this year. His clutch play raised the ceiling and put them into the top 10 all season. Stats don't tell the whole story for him, the winning does.

100% agree on Regan, one of the best players in D3 the last 2 years. He did the same thing at Wesleyan last year and was great in close games both last year and this year. Samet can score, but doesn't belong on first team, he doesn't play defense.
Neither Vetter or Okorougo on 2nd team or better makes no sense. Almost like 1 bad game (and Okorougo was not bad) and they are not good enough for 2nd team or better.
Don't like that the voting is done after the semi-final games, just gives some players more exposure and chance to build up stats.
Coach of the year should be MW coach, whether they win or lose, they beat the top ranked team, he out coached Cosgrove the last 5 minutes of the game. MW coming off a 15-15 year and weren't even a top 10 team to start the year. Emory was supposed to be where they are now.