MBB: NESCAC

[D3BBALL]

I 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!

[lumbercat]

Strahorn's successor does not seem like a big time hire but time will tell on that also.

I have bad news

They can bring Strahorn back

[midranger]

Dartmouth has hired Brett MacConnell to be their next head coach. Former Princeton Associate HC and most recently an assistant at Stanford. Seems like a great hire. His tenure at Princeton saw a sweet 16 run, a few POYs, and some elite recruits that transferred up to Power 5.

There was interesting dialogue on here a few days ago about how lower-level head coaches tend to get overlooked in comparison to D1 assistants, and from the trends I see, it appears to be true. As a recent player, I am not privy to the minds of Athletic Directors and University Presidents who make hiring decisions. But in my opinion, prioritizing a D1 assistant over a D2 or D3 head coach makes no sense. Winning HCs have a proven skillset to develop and lead a system, culture, and program--the same thing required at the higher level. Who cares if they did it with less athletic and smaller players? I'd argue that makes their success more impressive and indicates elite basketball knowledge, not just the ability to recruit high level talent.

Look at Ben McCollum's jump to Drake and then Iowa. He was one of (if not the?) winningest coaches at the D2 level. Imagine if last year Drake had opted for some 35 year old MVC assistant coach with no experience in building a program! McCollum is an extreme example as he's proven to be a truly special coach. But I still think the principle applies. It'd be very hard to convince me that any D1 assistant would be a better person to lead a mid-major program, regardless of division, than Landry Kosmalski in 2025. A D3 head coach has more overlap with a D1 head coach than a D1 assistant does in terms of the necessary skillset and experience.

Correct me if I'm wrong or if there are plenty of counterexamples, but I just don't think the talent gap between the divisions is a reason to not hire a coach. Just because the rosters he won with are not as long and athletic, doesn't mean his coaching is inferior. The one argument I'd understand is the unfamiliarity with the recruiting timeline and basically full-year training schedule at the D1 level. But again, it could be argued that working around the D3 restrictions and limitations makes guys like Landry's accomplishments all that more impressive.

[D3BBALL]

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.

[SpringSt7]

I think knowledge of the NIL landscape and connections to agents/all things portal related is a big thing that has exacerbated the D1 and D3 gap. No one in D3 really needs to worry about those things at all, there are some relationships to donors but the fundraising piece is minimal. It really isn't about X's and O's anymore

[ImTold]

I'm Told Nolan Ames will be doing a postgrad year instead of enrolling at Colby

[CWM_42]

Really? Where?

[el_jefe_90]

Wondering if this is true or you wrote this on April 1st for a reason?? Hmmmm.

[SpringSt7]

Never checked his social media accounts out before but Colby is listed in his Instagram bio and not his Twitter

[lumbercat]

Really? Where?

I believe he was approached by Worcester Academy.

[nescac1]

Other 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. 

[D3BBALL]

Other 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.

[nescac1]

D3Bball, I think your general outlook is basically right.  I think there are basically three tiers next year:

1. The heavyweights - all probably in the 10-35 sort of range nationally. 

Tufts - lose a ton up front but Nieves and Watt really came on late and still have plenty of upside (especially Nieves), Kennelly returns from injury to easily replace the lead guard minutes they lost, and Medley and Reilly are seasoned vets who you know will be productive. Plus they have some really talented perimeter guys on the bench (Schmid, Baratta, Linstra).  Center will be a big downgrade but between Nyamwaya and Reeves they have two veterans who can at least board and defend.  The question will be do they have a clear 1A offensively which will likely have to evolve over the course of the season.

Wesleyan - Joe Reilly has gotten this program to the point where they just reload. Wolinski may be the best returning player in the league. Lyttle really came on late in the season and will be an all-league guy I would expect.  Edelman is ready to be a consistent number two option on offense and while their two starters are big losses, Waatson and Plankey look ready to make big leaps and step right in.  Depth may be a question but they always have younger guys step up.       

Trinity - agree that the losses are huge and they are not going to be a top-three national team for the third year in a row, but Ayles and Davis should after two years of being important role players in huge situations be ready to do a bit more.  Berry will have the green light and will be a candidate for league scoring leader.  Norris needs to be the number two guy on offense and I think will be ready for that sort of role.  Berete is a solid glue guy / fifth starter.  The depth is very green and will likely involve a few first-years from a well-regarded incoming class, and they don't have the same kind of nationally elite bulldog defenders in the first unit who can just turn around a game in an instant.  But after so many big games over the past three years, you know they will compete hard and young guys who have been waiting their turn will get a chance.   

2. The question marks with upside - I think 1-2 of these teams (at most) squeezes into the NCAA tourney:

Bates - Pouye will be a NESCAC POTY candidate but needs to be more consistent and aggressive as a scorer with the guys they lost.  Robinson could take a huge leap and i think will be an all-league guy.  Those two and O'Leary are a great top three.  But after that a ton of question marks - very little shooting returns and no depth on the interior (no one with more than 5 blocks other than Pouye on returning roster, Maywer was a nice luxury as a back-up 5).  I like Bianco in a bigger role but it will take some time coming off the soccer season.  Sparks back from injury (I presume) is another guy to watch to take a leap.

Colby - who the heck knows?  Who is the coach?  What is the system?  Does Civello end up returning?  Do they keep all their recruits?  There is a ton of talent in the program / pipeline, theoretically, but this is a team which could also face a big rebuild if a few things go wrong. 

Amherst - Neville and Chin with Garraud as the third guard will be one of the best backcourts in the country and maybe a contender for the best depending on whether a few key guys transfer up elsewhere.  I could see Neville taking a huge leap and being a hot transfer commodity next off-season.  But they lose both starters who were key as defenders, rebounders and screeners from an already-thin frontcourt.  Pabis should be ready to step in at the 4, but the 5 and interior depth are a big question mark.  They had good injury luck with a small roster and need that to continue next year.  But the elite backcourt alone, which will be very hard to match up with, should make them very tough.   

Conn College - if Dylan Watson leaves, losing both him and Espinosa is too much to overcome to make them a contender.  They just don't have anyone remotely like him to anchor the interior on both ends.  If Watson returns, this could be an NCAA team if everything goes right as LaFrance, Watson and Cantwell would be a great three-man core.  Will they bring more impact transfers in?  If so, may be even more dangerous.   

Williams - I do think the Ephs will rebound from last year's nadir, a ton of underclassmen played big minutes and suffered through some growing pains but should be better next year, and the Ephs will have a more favorable league schedule.  A glimmer of hope for the Ephs in how they played on the final weekend of the season, especially against Amherst.  Rein/Yates/Sommers/Devine were four of the top five scorers and should form a solid top four with a lot of size and I expect solid shooting from that group as a far more experienced unit, the question is who helps around them and who emerges as the lead guard?  With only one rising senior in the rotation, they are likely a year away from returning to their usual spot of being a contender in the league. 

3. Just hoping to make the league tourney

Middlebury - lose a solid senior class with a lot of contributors.  Very little size, physicality and athleticism on the interior. Rim protection was a huge issue and hard to see it getting much better (no one with more than six blocks returns).  This team does have a high-octane perimeter trio in Ducree, Murray and Cwalina and will score some points, but they are a far cry from the Jeff Brown teams who would just brutalize you with physical interior play on both ends. 

Bowdoin - Cuevas is irreplaceable.  Some solid wings led by Dawkins (who needs to take a massive leap for them to be competitive) and Bleeker if he can ever get healthy.  But huge questions at lead guard and on the interior. Hard to imagine them winning five games in the league again without a D1 caliber guard on the roster who was the center of everything they did on offense. 

Hamilton - likely to be another rough season. Other than Rideout, just no one who can score the ball consistently.  After years of being anchored by Kena Gilmour and then Hank Morgan, just don't have THAT guy on the current roster.   

[NEhoops]

I agree that Wesleyan/Tufts/Trinity are the top three until someone proves otherwise. Talent and coaching/culture is in place at all three programs. 

Amherst - Coming off the best season of the Sears era. There will be some pressure to get back to the NCAA tournament. They have the pieces for continued growth.

Bates - Pouye/O'Leary/Robinson (averaged over 10ppg in conference play as a FY) will be one of the more well-balanced trios in the conference. They fortunately won a lot of close (non-conference) games that put them in position for a NCAA bid.   

Bowdoin - The loss of Cuevas (and Halpern) is a big blow related to their scoring and facilitating. Where will the boost to the backcourt come from? 

Colby - Hard to make any assessments until they hire a head coach and Civello settles somewhere.

Conn - Losing Espinosa will make an impact. Is Watson in the portal?

[SpringSt7]

Back of napkin power rankings - assuming for now that everyone in the portal leaves, although I guess that's only Civiello and Watson.

1. Wesleyan
2. Tufts
3. Trinity
4. Bates
5. Amherst
6. Williams
7. Conn
8. Colby
9. Bowdoin
10. Middlebury
11. Hamilton