MBB: NESCAC

amh63 · May 25, 2016, 04:34:33 PM

madzillagd.....thanks for the link! Seems the subject of the SacBe story overlapped with one of my sons when he was at Amherst. Will check.....both the same size and have a love of basketball. My son could dunk and shoot with either hand but never had time to go out for the team. Did play in 3 on 3 events at Amherst.

nescac1 · May 27, 2016, 01:32:29 PM

Former Eph Brendan McGuire, who was a starting forward on the first two Eph Final Four squads, in the news. If any former NESCAC player has had a more impressive non-hoops career than McGuire, I certainly haven't heard about it ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/business/dealbook/brendan-mcguire-prosecutor-in-terrorism-cases-to-join-private-law-firm.html?_r=0

I'm not surprised that McGuire has been a relentless prosecutor, because that matches his style of play from his college days -- a very undersized PF/C, he wasn't the biggest, quickest, or most athletic dude, but he was a key part of some very good squads thanks to his work ethic on the court.

toad22 · May 27, 2016, 08:51:01 PM

Brendan McGuire was a really fine center for Williams. He really was undersized, however. In practice, he was always getting elbows in the chops from the bigger players on the team. He never got mad, and never complained. His father came to every game that he played, something like 114. He was one great fan.

P'bearfan · May 29, 2016, 11:40:05 AM

QuoteFormer Eph Brendan McGuire, who was a starting forward on the first two Eph Final Four squads, in the news. If any former NESCAC player has had a more impressive non-hoops career than McGuire, I certainly haven't heard about it ...

With all due respect to Brendan McGuire, former Bowdoin player William Cohen had a pretty remarkable non-hoops career himself. Now Cohen played well before the NESCAC was formed but I still think you have to admit that his career would be hard for any former player to match.

quicksilver · May 29, 2016, 10:43:56 PM

Quote from: P'bearfan on May 29, 2016, 11:40:05 AM
QuoteFormer Eph Brendan McGuire, who was a starting forward on the first two Eph Final Four squads, in the news. If any former NESCAC player has had a more impressive non-hoops career than McGuire, I certainly haven't heard about it ...

With all due respect to Brendan McGuire, former Bowdoin player William Cohen had a pretty remarkable non-hoops career himself. Now Cohen played well before the NESCAC was formed but I still think you have to admit that his career would be hard for any former player to match.

Indeed on Bill Cohen, who was a superb basketball player. Equally accomplished professionally is Bowdoin grad George Mitchell, who also played basketball for 4 years at Bowdoin but was more of a bench warmer than the star that Bill Cohen was.

Old Guy · May 30, 2016, 06:11:49 PM

I remember watching Bangor Billy Cohen for the Polar Bears against the Bobcats in Alumni Gym when I was in high school. He was a very good player. I recall a nice Sharman-esque one-hander, but in this picture it looks like he's taking the conventional two-hand set shot: http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/styles/three_by_four_hundred/public/Cohen%20-%20Then2.jpg?itok=SowXd-8Y&c=48f0e708401aa08f5dc970236a572ce3

nescac1 · May 31, 2016, 07:56:51 AM

Okay, definitely did not know about some of the esteemed NESCAC old-timers ... so I'll modify my original statement to say any NESCAC player from the NCAA D3 tourney era. I guess I'm particularly impressed by McGuire because I'm in the same field (federal criminal law) and I know just how much of a badass you have to be to end up as Chief of the National Security Division at SDNY ...

P'bearfan · May 31, 2016, 12:54:44 PM

Just saw this video on the ESPN web site today...Pat Dickert is amazing / scary to watch in warm ups

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIQFoi0cO3w

amh63 · June 07, 2016, 12:05:43 PM

Paused from some household chores to scan/ discover all the pathways around the new Amherst website. Some recent basketball related finds.
There was a basketball coaches win over the football team in an IM game. The basketball team included two women assistant coaches!
On the MBB site....social media...there are videos of the Class of 2020 players..highlights. Yes, all can dunk and shoot from 3-point land...very athletic. Should be a very competative practice period for playing time.
One of the senior Captains wrote his thesis on " concussions".
Seems there will be Elite type camps for 11-12 graders at Amherst...in addition to normal BB clinics. Elite type overnights have a variety of college coaches watching from all divisions..it appears.
Been watching the progress of the 4 new dorms. As posted earlier, there are two outdoor half courts. Seems the " blacktop" courts are not black

. There appears to be a grey in color cover..elastic?. They are also lighted courts! Wow! Raises the question...do any of the other Nescac schools have outdoor BB facilities? Just Curious. Remember my sons playing pickup games on weekends with friends in Alumni Gym...where I played 5 on 5 frat/social dorm league games. Need to shoot a few shots on the outdoor courts in the Fall when I visit. Need to remember to bring up a ball and buy some high tops. If my sons join me, will have to have them give me MORE points and NOT laugh!

P'bearfan · June 08, 2016, 05:06:28 PM

Adam Lamont just posted a great farewell post over on NbN. I especially appreciated the shout out to the Bowdoin basketball team.

Many thanks to Adam, Joe and all the other writers and contributors at NbN. You've done a fantastic job and your articles have made watching NESCAC sports even more enjoyable.

Best of luck to all of you as you go forward into the next phase of life. Selfishly I'm glad to hear that you have left the site in good hands.

All the best!

jumpshot · June 09, 2016, 06:28:37 AM

Williams College wins its 19th out of 21 Learfield Directors' Cups, a remarkable accomplishment evidencing an unique consistency of purpose in successfully integrating academic and athletic excellence. Washington University, with almost 4 times as many undergraduates, finishes second, and Emory, another much larger school is third, followed by Tufts and Middlebury.

Way to go Ephs!

amh63 · June 09, 2016, 01:53:58 PM

P'Bearfan.....Agreed! Plus K. You join another poster on the football board in a shoutout to NBN.

With respect to Nescac schools and the Learfield Directors' Cup, I join others to give praise to ALL the Nescac schools that provided tough competition within Nescac and in the post season. SIX schools are listed in the top 15....including Amherst and Bowdoin!

nescac1 · June 09, 2016, 04:31:05 PM

I will echo the kudos given to Nothing But NESCAC ... tremendous job, and I'm sure the authors all have bright futures ahead.

And now the long summer of virtual radio silence on NESCAC hoops continues ...

nescac1 · June 09, 2016, 04:39:59 PM

One additional hoops tidbit for Williams, Mickey Babek will be attending ... here it notes (in addition to noting his college destination) that he is his class valedictorian and a three-time hoops captain. He is an all-league player from California with good size on the wing, and one of many recent Eph recruits from California (including another incoming frosh, Henry Feinberg). Babek rounds out Kevin App's second straight very strong recruiting class, he has done a very good job bringing in solid groups of players with excellent size, 10 players in total over the past two years averaging 6'6 plus.

http://photos.dailybreeze.com/2016/06/photos-these-are-the-south-bays-2016-high-school-valedictorians/#14

ContinentalDomer · June 15, 2016, 11:44:24 AM

The purpose of Amherst's "elite" camp is to provide the Amherst coaches with an up-close look at potential recruits in an environment where the play is competitive and a tour of the campus is available to all. Div 1 coaches are NOT present - nor is this a camp where any other non-Amherst coaches are present/invited.

Of the 30-40 who will play at the camp, there will be a small handful who have a legitimate shot at grabbing the coaches' attention; the rest include some very good to just "good" players who have no chance to get into Amherst as a basketball recruit. This camp can provide an opportunity for a kid who is on the edge/fringe of the recruit list to cement an impression upon the coaches by demonstrating ability on the floor and strong interest in the school. Of course, some individual may pop up out of nowhere and gain attention, but those moments are pretty rare. The coaches already have a pretty good idea about who is on their short list. I believe the vast majority (if not all) of the NESCAC schools offer an elite camp. Many of the same core groups of players attend more than one of these camps.

Div 1 schools (particularly the strong academic institutions) hold elite camps as well. For example, the Ivy camps are pretty good places to see half a dozen Div 1 recruits and 60-70 kids who can/will play Div 3. At the Ivy/Div 1 camps, you will see the staff from the host school and a group of "counselors"/assistant coaches from different Div 3 schools working with the kids.

Quote from: amh63 on June 07, 2016, 12:05:43 PM
Paused from some household chores to scan/ discover all the pathways around the new Amherst website. Some recent basketball related finds.
There was a basketball coaches win over the football team in an IM game. The basketball team included two women assistant coaches!
On the MBB site....social media...there are videos of the Class of 2020 players..highlights. Yes, all can dunk and shoot from 3-point land...very athletic. Should be a very competative practice period for playing time.
One of the senior Captains wrote his thesis on " concussions".
Seems there will be Elite type camps for 11-12 graders at Amherst...in addition to normal BB clinics. Elite type overnights have a variety of college coaches watching from all divisions..it appears.
Been watching the progress of the 4 new dorms. As posted earlier, there are two outdoor half courts. Seems the " blacktop" courts are not black . There appears to be a grey in color cover..elastic?. They are also lighted courts! Wow! Raises the question...do any of the other Nescac schools have outdoor BB facilities? Just Curious. Remember my sons playing pickup games on weekends with friends in Alumni Gym...where I played 5 on 5 frat/social dorm league games. Need to shoot a few shots on the outdoor courts in the Fall when I visit. Need to remember to bring up a ball and buy some high tops. If my sons join me, will have to have them give me MORE points and NOT laugh!