MBB: Liberty League

mhm0417 · June 28, 2025, 07:52:43 AM

Another 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.

stlawus · June 28, 2025, 08:33:07 PM

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.

mhm0417 · June 29, 2025, 07:02:42 AM

I went to Potsdam's as a kid (1980s). You're right - it was THE camp back then. Man were those fun times and you had the players from those great teams coaching as well as Coach Welsh. Today, they've partnered with a shoe company and it's just not what it was although I believe they still get good numbers.

SLU just has that reputation that Potsdam used to. They've had a lot of successful teams and people know that, plus it's an excellent camp. Word gets around quickly which makes parents want to send their kids there.

stlawus · July 31, 2025, 12:45:54 AM

Really nice write up on RIT's incoming class. Wish more programs would do this. https://ritathletics.com/news/2025/7/23/mens-basketball-announces-incoming-class.aspx

One player they got is from Perkiomen which has mainly been a Skidmore pipeline. Don't know if they even recruited him but something interesting nonetheless. Very strange to see Skidmore so down the past several seasons.

I'm not going to make any predictions, at least not yet, in terms of how the upcoming season will fare. In a post covid Liberty League world it has been a fairly unpredictable league. Very little linear progression/regression. Teams you thought would be better due to returners haven't been consistent and teams you thought would struggle have done pretty well.

Someone made a post going into last year about who they though would be players to watch in terms of taking a big leap, and there are a few that immediately come to mind for me. One of them is Jaylon O'Neal from Ithaca. He had a good season last year, but from the few Salt City ProAm games I've caught he looks poised for a great season. Ithaca's going to need someone to step up next year and he should be it. He looks like he's bulked up a bit more, and he's already a lock down defender with explosive athleticism. A player to keep an eye on for sure.

His Salt City ProAm teammate Dan Anderson from SLU is another. At least I hope! He had a very good season last year after having not even played competitive basketball for 2 years while playing lacrosse at Denver. 2nd on the team in scoring and team's best shooter, and now with a full season and summer circuit under his belt will hopefully be a very steady force at point guard next year on both ends of the court. Just a pure athlete, he joined SLU's lacrosse team halfway through the season after basketball ended and helped turn the season around resulting in a sweet 16 appearance.

There are plenty more, but the third that immediately comes to mind is Monty Nedd from Hobart. Had a very nice first year campaign and would not shock me if he's at least the 2nd leading scorer for the Statesmen next year. Has good size for his position and already a solid frame, Hobart will need him next year to fill some big graduating shoes.

stlawus · August 12, 2025, 01:17:16 AM

Why is SLU and Clarkson playing a league game in the middle of November for the 2nd year in a row?? League games, let alone rivalry games, getting played in November should be against the law.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · August 12, 2025, 11:51:48 AM

Quote from: stlawus on August 12, 2025, 01:17:16 AMWhy is SLU and Clarkson playing a league game in the middle of November for the 2nd year in a row?? League games, let alone rivalry games, getting played in November should be against the law.

LL doesn't play midweek conference games. There are only so many weekends available. Although that is the travel partner game, right? So presumably the schools have some flexibility about when to schedule those?

stlawus · August 12, 2025, 06:39:41 PM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on August 12, 2025, 11:51:48 AM
Quote from: stlawus on August 12, 2025, 01:17:16 AMWhy is SLU and Clarkson playing a league game in the middle of November for the 2nd year in a row?? League games, let alone rivalry games, getting played in November should be against the law.

LL doesn't play midweek conference games. There are only so many weekends available. Although that is the travel partner game, right? So presumably the schools have some flexibility about when to schedule those?

Yes they do. Travel partners/teams close to each other have always played mid week. Last year was the first year these teams played a regular season game on a weekend and in November.

UfanBill · August 14, 2025, 09:40:31 AM

We're on the cusp of football season and I'm really a football guy but something popped up to catch my attention that I wanted to share.

Union College basketball has announced it's new class of recruits and it includes one very intriguing member. The Garnet Chargers return their entire roster from last season and now they'll have something they were lacking. A true big man. 6'11" Scott Schmitt has transferred to Union from Middlebury College where he played in 15 games last season for the Panthers. Schmitt is out of New Jersey and played at IMG Academy in Florida where he got some top notch coaching and competition. And at 250 lbs.he's not some skinny rail that will easily get pushed around. It will be interesting to see how coach Chris Murphy uses him but he's got to help right?

Here's the rest of Union's recruiting class...All these guys can shoot the rock!

Jack Watson.........6'4" SG from Milton Academy, Mass
Patrick Cullinan...6'2" SG from Canisius prep in Buffalo
Cade Furse.........6'2" CG from Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire
Trace Moffitt ....6'5" SG from Greensboro Day School, NC

Aside to stlawus...Trey Rezendes who you listed as a basketball recruit to Union back in May is actually on campus as a football recruit.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · August 14, 2025, 11:18:12 AM

So Union is going to have 57 guards and one really tall guy? Teams have won with worse.

stlawus · August 14, 2025, 06:00:52 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on August 14, 2025, 09:40:31 AMWe're on the cusp of football season and I'm really a football guy but something popped up to catch my attention that I wanted to share.

Union College basketball has announced it's new class of recruits and it includes one very intriguing member. The Garnet Chargers return their entire roster from last season and now they'll have something they were lacking. A true big man. 6'11" Scott Schmitt has transferred to Union from Middlebury College where he played in 15 games last season for the Panthers. Schmitt is out of New Jersey and played at IMG Academy in Florida where he got some top notch coaching and competition. And at 250 lbs.he's not some skinny rail that will easily get pushed around. It will be interesting to see how coach Chris Murphy uses him but he's got to help right?

Here's the rest of Union's recruiting class...All these guys can shoot the rock!

Jack Watson.........6'4" SG from Milton Academy, Mass
Patrick Cullinan...6'2" SG from Canisius prep in Buffalo
Cade Furse.........6'2" CG from Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire
Trace Moffitt ....6'5" SG from Greensboro Day School, NC

Aside to stlawus...Trey Rezendes who you listed as a basketball recruit to Union back in May is actually on campus as a football recruit.

A lack of center has hurt Union at times, but they're a good enough offensive team that it hasn't been a net negative for them. This certainly shouldn't hurt, anyone over 6'8" in the LL let alone d3 is a rare commodity and if he was good enough to be recruited by a NESCAC I think it's safe to say he'll make a positive impact. A lot of times these players are multi year projects but I wouldn't bet on that being the case here.

stlawus · August 15, 2025, 08:31:46 PM

Been able to piece together SLU's schedule for the upcoming season from other sources as the official one isn't out yet. Looks like the Saints are staying in NY for non-conference. The usual Plattsburgh and Oswego, and another season of Geneseo and Poly. Appears that SLU will be participating in the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout in Rochester the weekend before Thanksgiving, with a matchup against St. John Fisher that Saturday and what I assume will be Nazareth on Friday since SLU isn't on UR's schedule. More like Cross-state Shootout, heh. I've been wanting SLU to play Fisher and Naz, even if their records aren't gaudy (which they usually are) those teams usually put high quality basketball on the floor. There's technically one more game SLU can play but they've stuck to 6 non-con games for several years now.

I would expect SLU to have a good season even with their graduation losses, some very high quality players coming in this class as well as a lot of scoring back. But as I've mentioned before the Liberty League is highly unpredictable these days, past performance has not yielded future results.

I have no doubt the coaching connection played a major role, but I'm still pretty shocked SLU was able to land a player like J'Lin Brown. By any measure that is a recruiting coup. Loomis's coach Rock Battistoni was a 2 year player for Downs before transferring to George Washington and still lauds Downs for his role in developing him into the caliber of player that was able to contribute to a team that won the A10. I have to imagine that relationship was a critical selling point. He was recruited in his own right out of West Genny before his post grad year at Loomis but that was also partly how SLU got Dudzinski to transfer. In any case, this SLU team should be a lot more athletic and capable offensively. They've had nationally elite defensive stats the last couple years, but at a great cost on the offensive side of the ball. I'd be more than happy to sacrifice a little defense for better scoring and spacing.