MBB: NESCAC

[Patrick Coleman]

Bit of NESCAC-adjacent coaching news while still waiting for the Colby process to shake out - Amherst alum Kevin Hopkins is no longer the Muhlenberg head coach ...

He did make a public statement on Facebook today but that's been on our Coaching Carousel for more than a month.

[CWM_42]

https://colbyathletics.com/news/2026/4/30/mens-basketball-mclaughlin-to-lead-colby-mens-basketball-program.aspx

[Maine Hoops]

Anyone know if Coach Strahorn has landed a coaching job?

[Stickthe3]

He has not, but he'll be running his Pine Tree Camp out of the Hyde School in Bath this year.

[nescac1]

James Lafrance ends up transferring to D2 University of Tampa.  Dylan Watson is still available in the portal, and if Conn College loses him as well, that's a brutal off-season.

Seems like a very strong (and long-expected) hire for Colby.  McLaughlin is certainly a very proven coach and has an elite resume for a D3 hire.  He will be without Civello and top recruit Nolan Ames, but there is still a fair amount of veteran talent returning at Colby and even without Ames, a solid incoming class of recruits that he will inherit. 

[el_jefe_90]

@nescac1 - I heard Watson may have D2 Nova Southeastern on his radar. They have been a D2 power over the last few years. They are in the same conference as U of Tampa. Would be fun to see those two possibly square off against each other.

[SpringSt7]

Will Davies (NE10 player of the year) from Saint Anselm is rumored to be transferring to Vermont ($100K+) and will have two years of eligibility remaining. He would have had D1 interest regardless of the upcoming transition from D2 to D3. I'm sure a handful of other players on the roster will be on the move too - with some potentially making moves to D3 schools in New England. 

Their whole rotation is already transferring to D1 schools this offseason and I don't think the transition down will affect anyone on the current roster. The entire staff will probably leave too. This will have as much effect on the NE D3 scene as Hartford did IMO

I'm curious why you think the staff will leave.  I doubt the pay scale will be much different in d3 than it was in d2, especially if they aim to be on par with top schools in New England.  I'm not saying they won't look elsewhere, but the lead assistant came from Trinity and graduated from Springfield and the other assistant is a St. A alum and definitely in the second half of his career.  What they're paying the HC might be on the higher end of d3 salaries, but I doubt it's outrageous.

They might all leave, but there's also plenty of reason to stay.

https://saintanselmhawks.com/news/2026/5/1/mens-basketball-saint-anselm-announces-leadership-transition-in-mens-basketball-program.aspx

[D3BBALL]

Will Davies (NE10 player of the year) from Saint Anselm is rumored to be transferring to Vermont ($100K+) and will have two years of eligibility remaining. He would have had D1 interest regardless of the upcoming transition from D2 to D3. I'm sure a handful of other players on the roster will be on the move too - with some potentially making moves to D3 schools in New England. 

Their whole rotation is already transferring to D1 schools this offseason and I don't think the transition down will affect anyone on the current roster. The entire staff will probably leave too. This will have as much effect on the NE D3 scene as Hartford did IMO

I'm curious why you think the staff will leave.  I doubt the pay scale will be much different in d3 than it was in d2, especially if they aim to be on par with top schools in New England.  I'm not saying they won't look elsewhere, but the lead assistant came from Trinity and graduated from Springfield and the other assistant is a St. A alum and definitely in the second half of his career.  What they're paying the HC might be on the higher end of d3 salaries, but I doubt it's outrageous.

They might all leave, but there's also plenty of reason to stay.

https://saintanselmhawks.com/news/2026/5/1/mens-basketball-saint-anselm-announces-leadership-transition-in-mens-basketball-program.aspx

I think great choice for St A's with Witter as new coach. Former D3 player, former D3 assistant coach and Witter in 2 years at Trinity helped recruit, Vetter, Lazarre, Okorougo and McDonald in his first year and then Davis and Berry in his 2nd season. Pretty darn good 6 players over 2 years.

[nescac1]

Updated NESCAC hoops recruit list.  I imagine this is probably around 80-90 percent of the final list of recruits.  There are two subtractions from the last list, Nolan Ames switched from Colby to Bentley, and Foster Kettering switched from Midd to Pomona. 

Unsurprisingly coming off a national title and another Final Four and with huge gaps to fill, Trinity seems to have an absolutely loaded incoming class.  Williams and Wesleyan look very strong as well.  Losing Ames definitely hurts Colby, but it's still a strong incoming group, especially with a solid soph transfer coming in from Hartford added to the mix.  Amherst, Bowdoin, Conn, Midd, and Hamilton all may have more guys coming in, otherwise those are small incoming groups.  I'll add any others I see to this post later.   


Amherst:
Hunter Stoll, 6'7 F, Choate (CT #44)
Dempsey Gonya, 6'4 G, St. Ann's (NY)
Grant Moses, 6'2 G, Meadows School (NV)

Bates:
Alexander Gordon, 6'0 G, Brewster Academy (N.H. #19)
Tyler Wells, 6'2 G, Branson (CA)
Noah Miller, 6'4 F, Berkeley (CA)
Brady Palladino, 6'3 F, Brimmer and May
Matthew Kollins, 6'1 G, Bridgton Academy (ME #8)
Tyler Smith, 5'11 G, Sam Ramon Valley (CA)

Bowdoin:
Zach Baum, 6'8 C, Noble and Greenough
Corey Baylor, Jr, 6'0 PG, Phelps (PA)
Josh Belcher, 6'0 G, Phillips Exeter

Colby:
Riley Clarke, 6'6 F, Brooks School (MA #36)
Max Vogel, 6'4 W, New Trier (IL)
Ty Lander, 6'8 C, St. Ignatius (CA)
Mekhi Simmons, 6'1 PG, St Paul's (NH #13)

Connecticut College:
Sam Clachko, 5'11 G, Staples (CT #34)
Finn Brennan, 6'4 W, Holderness (N.H. #27)

Hamilton:
Cyrus Hutchinson, 6'6 W, Brewster Academy (N.H. #25)
Colin Lamb, 6'5 G, Laney (NC)
Jameson Stockwell, 6'4 G, Deerfield

Middlebury:
Pharoahe Dixon, 6'3 G, Northern Highlands (NJ)
Cyrus Matia, 6'7 F, Albany Academy (NY)
Kawika Suter, 6'7 F, Rolling Hills Prep (CA)

Trinity:
Rowan Introzzi, 6'5 G, Greenwich CDS (CT #31)
John Spinoso, 6'5 W, Cheshire Academy (CT #30)
Justin Brown, 6'4 G, Cheshire Academy (CT #37)
Alexander Echevarria, 5'10 G, St. Mark's (MA #39)
Dash Mabilon, 6'10 C, Canterbury (CT #27)

Tufts:
Liam Simpson, 6'7 W, Deerfield
Jake Agolli, 6'10 F/C, Pace Academy (GA)
Jack Coco, 6'0 PG, Stepinak (NY)
Will Lesovitz, 6'4 G, St. Joe's Prep (NJ)

Wesleyan:
Packy Doherty, 6'2 G, Scranton Prep (PA)
Nolan Weathers, 6'1 PG, Riverdale Country School (NY)
Treyvon Miller, 6'7 F, St. Paul's (NH #22)
Kyle Dillon, 6'1 G, Chaminade (NY)
Colin Callahan, 6'6 W, St. John's (TX)

Williams:
Joseph Terreri, 6'7 F, Hill School (PA)
Gavin Dodge, 6'5 G, Acalanes H.S. (CA)
Elijah Webb, 6'9 F, Deerfield
Alec Roumph, 6'4 G, Perkiomen (PA)
Dev Williams, 6'2 G, Deerfield (MA #20)

[toad22]

There is good news for Williams fans coming from the Williams administration. There has been a distinct change in the attitude of the Administration toward winning. After a long period of indifference, if not outright hostility to sports, there are a number of tangible steps being taken to improve all sports. This is apparently due to the need to raise huge amounts of money for the complete overhaul of nearly all indoor sports facilities. Cost estimates I have heard start at $500 million. The Administration seems to feel that they can't raise the money without winning a lot more than they have in the last few years. Basketball seems to be a prime beneficiary. This is really good news. Basketball had suffered through a period where other priorities of Williams were greatly diminishing the ability to recruit enough high quality players. That period seems to be over. I look for men's basketball to improve very quickly. Go Ephs!

[Bucket]

Middlebury adds 6-7 wing Reeve Sysco to its recruiting class. Played at Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania.

Described as "an elite long-range shooter."

https://www.neprepbasketball.net/news/perkiomen-school-is-back-after-cracking-the-nation-s-top-20/22716

[el_jefe_90]

@Bucket his teammate, Alec Roumph, committed to Williams College. Looks like a friendly rivalry the next 4 years!

[jmh21]

There is good news for Williams fans coming from the Williams administration. There has been a distinct change in the attitude of the Administration toward winning. After a long period of indifference, if not outright hostility to sports, there are a number of tangible steps being taken to improve all sports. This is apparently due to the need to raise huge amounts of money for the complete overhaul of nearly all indoor sports facilities. Cost estimates I have heard start at $500 million. The Administration seems to feel that they can't raise the money without winning a lot more than they have in the last few years. Basketball seems to be a prime beneficiary. This is really good news. Basketball had suffered through a period where other priorities of Williams were greatly diminishing the ability to recruit enough high quality players. That period seems to be over. I look for men's basketball to improve very quickly. Go Ephs!

About ******* time.

[Ryan Coleman]

Don't forget to submit your brackets to d3challenge.com. I will say, not sure mine is submitting. Site is cool but a bit glitchy

Thanks! I've been putting a lot of extra work into it and making it not only a bit more modern (like Google Account and Passkey support) but also a bit more user-friendly.