MBB: Liberty League

[Caz Bombers]

Bard is probably playing Sarah Lawrence at Washington College on Nov 9 and it's just not reflected on Bard's schedule yet (SLC hasn't posted theirs, but they are in the event). Might also be Immaculata instead.

Vassar: Nov 12 at Marist (D1) (exhibition for VC probably); Nov 21-22 vs New Paltz (at MSMC) and vs MSMC (at New Paltz), the reverse of Bard. That's an annual event.

[Jersey42]

Bard is probably playing Sarah Lawrence at Washington College on Nov 9 and it's just not reflected on Bard's schedule yet (SLC hasn't posted theirs, but they are in the event). Might also be Immaculata instead.

Vassar: Nov 12 at Marist (D1) (exhibition for VC probably); Nov 21-22 vs New Paltz (at MSMC) and vs MSMC (at New Paltz), the reverse of Bard. That's an annual event.

Thanks. I made the changes.  Based on the Immaculata and Washington College schedules, Bard has to be playing Sarah Lawrence.

[Pat Coleman]

Bard schedule as we have it:
https://d3hoops.com/teams/Bard/men/2025-26/index

[stlawus]

Really loving the recruiting from Downs the past 2 seasons. Just hit on another high quality NEPSAC player from a high quality program for next year.  Seems like post covid there has been a return to the old 2000s recruiting verve. It's one thing to get a player that was merely on a NEPSAC team, it's another to get big time contributors that you usually see on NESCAC squads. 

[UfanBill]

Union is scheduled to play D1 Siena in an exhibition game on Sunday October 19th, 2:00 pm, at Siena's on campus UHY Center.

[stlawus]

Union is scheduled to play D1 Siena in an exhibition game on Sunday October 19th, 2:00 pm, at Siena's on campus UHY Center.

Union held serve in the first half but Siena blew the doors off in the 2nd.  Siena was picked 2nd in the MAAC so there is no shame in that. Interestingly, Union played 15 players by the end but there are 21 players on the roster.  Notable absences from the floor were senior Aren Cummings and Middlebury 6'11" transfer Scott Schmitt.  Don't know if that was a coach's decision or injuries.  Cummings has had injury issues in the past.

One would think Union is poised to contend for the league title with all 5 starters returning, but recent history has shown that is usually an indicator of the opposite happening. Small sample size so they could easily buck the trend, but I do worry there will be some regression coming off a season with 3 or 4 buzzer beaters. I will have them in the top 4 though to start.

It's just really hard to predict the league in the post covid era.  Coaching is as good as it's ever been, so teams you think are going to be good or take a leap end up taking a step back since coaches adjust extremely well season to season.  Vassar is another team that brings everyone back including arguably the best player, but they are an example of this dynamic when they regressed fairly significantly the year after winning the tournament championship and brought back all 5 starters.  SLU brought back a lot the season after winning the tournament and camp up short.  Hobart last year took a step back after winning it the previous year and bringing almost everyone back.

Personally hoping SLU gets the senior leap from Adam Dudzinski this year.  Coaches adjusted last season and sold out to contest him really hard at the perimeter so his percentages went down.  He's still capable of being the best player in the league given his size and pedigree, but SLU is going to have to shoot better as a team to maximize his output. Excited to see newcomer J'Lin Brown as well, by all accounts he could very easily be getting minutes in division I this season.

[stlawus]

D3 Datacast has the preseason ratings out, Liberty League has 3 in the top 100. Ithaca at 66, RPI at 76 and SLU at 81.  Seems pretty fair I think.  Ithaca lost their best player but are defending champs, RPI won the regular season and bring back 3 starters and SLU brings back the top 2 scorers and have consistently had good defense.  Obviously this all changes after teams play 8 games.  Pretty significant delineation between these ratings and Massey which is interesting.  Teams are 103, 122 and 139 respectively.  Having paid attention to both the past few years it does seem that the Datacast guys get the score predictions more correct/closer than Massey.

[stlawus]

I'm in between jobs and don't start the new one for a couple weeks so I have nothing but time right now.  So I figured I'd take a shot at projecting the starting lineups for all 10 teams.  Some are extremely hard given the rate of turnover so I will be delving into the realm of guesswork on a few teams.

I'll start with the most obvious.

Union:
         
          Tanner Tedesco-   6'1" G, Jr.
        Matthew Garside-  6'3" G, Jr.
              Jack Plesser-     6'5" F, Jr.
           Christian Dufort- 6'5" F, Jr.
           Brendan Reid-     6'7" F, Jr.

Vassar:

            Shea Fitzgerald- 6'1" G, Jr.
               Avery Lee-       6'1" G, Jr.
    Kreekor Karageuzian- 6'2" G, Jr.
        Sebastian Medina- 6'4" F, Jr.
        Nathan Denham-   6'5" F, Sr.

RPI:   

         Yechiel Stewart-  6'2" G, Jr.
       Dylan Matchett-   6'3" G, Sr.
              PJ Scalisi-       6'3" F, Jr.
           Pat White-        6'6" F, Jr.
      Andrew Deppe-     6'6" F, Jr.

Skidmore: 

              Aidan Roy-    6'3" G, Jr.
         Charlie Fantom- 6'5" G, Jr.
       Hakeem Daphnis- 6'3" G, Jr.
          Jack LaGarde-   6'8" F, Jr.
            Joey Skoric-    6'10" F, Sr.

Hobart:

              Elvis Lloyd-    6'1" G, Fy.
         Monty Nedd-     6'2" G, So.
          Alex Moesch-    6'3" G, Jr.
            Allen Mordi-    6'6" F, So.
             Dorian Paki-    6'7" F, Jr.

SLU:     

         Dan Anderson-   5'11" G, Sr.
        Troy McPherson- 6'0" G, Jr.
             J'Lin Brown-    6'5" G, FY
          Chris Downs Jr- 6'5" F, Sr.
        Adam Dudzinski- 6'8" F, Sr.

Clarkson:

         Lorenzo Rappa- 6'0" G, So.
          Steve DeRegis- 6'0" G, Jr.
          Braeden Burns- 6'4" G, Jr.
          Bobby Piddock- 6'5" F, FY.
               Ben Phillips-  6'7" F, Jr.

Ithaca:   

         Jaylon O'Neal- 6'1" G, Jr.
          Evan Cabral-   6'2" G, Jr.
    Matthew Zenker-  6'5" G, Jr. (transfer)
          Chris Leysath-  6'5" F, Sr.
        David Luberoff- 6'9" F, Jr.

RIT:     

          Jason Gibbs-    5'10" G, FY
         Brody Brown-    6'4" G, Jr.
             Zac Ditzel-     6'4" G, Jr.
          Nolan Smith-    6'6" F, Jr.
           Josiah Turner,  6'6" F, Gr.

Bard:(hardest)

                     Max Frei- 6'0" G, So.
                 Luke Ravitz- 6'2" G, So.
                Lucas Torvar- 6'3" G, So.
Konstantinos Korfiatis-  6'3" G, FY
         Jalen Umstead-    6'5" F, So.

[Bartman]

Excellent post by StLawus. I have no idea what to expect from Hobart after losing four/five Senior starters from last year's team . Although Hobart received 6 of 8 votes to win the LL last year , it never reached the expected performance level, and injuries were not the only reason. This year could be interesting as some players were itching for more playing time, so it could be an unexpected season. Expectations are lower this year over last year.for sure. I'm looking forward to see the continued development of Alex Moesch, who is a great pure shooter.

[stlawus]

I'm in between jobs and don't start the new one for a couple weeks so I have nothing but time right now.  So I figured I'd take a shot at projecting the starting lineups for all 10 teams.  Some are extremely hard given the rate of turnover so I will be delving into the realm of guesswork on a few teams.

I'll start with the most obvious.

Union:
         
          Tanner Tedesco-   6'1" G, Jr.
        Matthew Garside-  6'3" G, Jr.
              Jack Plesser-     6'5" F, Jr.
           Christian Dufort- 6'5" F, Jr.
           Brendan Reid-     6'7" F, Jr.

Vassar:

            Shea Fitzgerald- 6'1" G, Jr.
               Avery Lee-       6'1" G, Jr.
    Kreekor Karageuzian- 6'2" G, Jr.
        Sebastian Medina- 6'4" F, Jr.
        Nathan Denham-   6'5" F, Sr.

RPI:   

         Yechiel Stewart-  6'2" G, Jr.
       Dylan Matchett-   6'3" G, Sr.
              PJ Scalisi-       6'3" F, Jr.
           Pat White-        6'6" F, Jr.
      Andrew Deppe-     6'6" F, Jr.

Skidmore: 

              Aidan Roy-    6'3" G, Jr.
         Charlie Fantom- 6'5" G, Jr.
       Hakeem Daphnis- 6'3" G, Jr.
          Jack LaGarde-   6'8" F, Jr.
            Joey Skoric-    6'10" F, Sr.

Hobart:

              Elvis Lloyd-    6'1" G, Fy.
         Monty Nedd-     6'2" G, So.
          Alex Moesch-    6'3" G, Jr.
            Allen Mordi-    6'6" F, So.
             Dorian Paki-    6'7" F, Jr.

SLU:     

         Dan Anderson-   5'11" G, Sr.
        Troy McPherson- 6'0" G, Jr.
             J'Lin Brown-    6'5" G, FY
          Chris Downs Jr- 6'5" F, Sr.
        Adam Dudzinski- 6'8" F, Sr.

Clarkson:

         Lorenzo Rappa- 6'0" G, So.
          Steve DeRegis- 6'0" G, Jr.
          Braeden Burns- 6'4" G, Jr.
          Bobby Piddock- 6'5" F, FY.
               Ben Phillips-  6'7" F, Jr.

Ithaca:   

         Jaylon O'Neal- 6'1" G, Jr.
          Evan Cabral-   6'2" G, Jr.
    Matthew Zenker-  6'5" G, Jr. (transfer)
          Chris Leysath-  6'5" F, Sr.
        David Luberoff- 6'9" F, Jr.

RIT:     

          Jason Gibbs-    5'10" G, FY
         Brody Brown-    6'4" G, Jr.
             Zac Ditzel-     6'4" G, Jr.
          Nolan Smith-    6'6" F, Jr.
           Josiah Turner,  6'6" F, Gr.

Bard:(hardest)

                     Max Frei- 6'0" G, So.
                 Luke Ravitz- 6'2" G, So.
                Lucas Torvar- 6'3" G, So.
Konstantinos Korfiatis-  6'3" G, FY
         Jalen Umstead-    6'5" F, So.

I'm already whiffing a bit. Clarkson I was not sure with an injury to Aydin Kocak last year so I left him out but he's back healthy and will start at forward.  I got one of the freshmen starters wrong, as newcomer Nate Abernethy is starting and not Bobby Piddock. 

SLU does not have McPherson on the roster.  He had a back injury for a good portion of last season so that might be a factor for him not being rostered.