MBB: NESCAC

[ItsATuftSituation]

Tufts is releasing its first-year players, and it looks like they have a good mix of guards and big men. Liam Simpson was the RI Gatorade Player of the Year and looks like a big body inside, while Jake Agolli is a 6-11 player was a highly ranked player in Georgia last year.

Watching film of this international guard they got, Mert Gocer looks like a complete scorer. He's 6-5 and has a great handle, is creative around the rim and can shoot it. He was very good at Loomis (All-NEPSAC), and played internationally for Turkiye including the FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament. That's no joke. There is a log jam at guard for Tufts, though the "scorer" guard role is somewhat vacated with Morakis moving on.

I've heard good things about the other first-years as well. Jack Coco played for the best team in NY in Stepinac. He's a winner, and looks built in the Kennelly mold. Total gamer.

Excited about this class.

[nescac1]

That Deerfield team must have been really fun as they have kids going to Emory, Williams, Tufts, Endicott, Keene State, and Hamilton, all rock-solid D3 programs, all from the same class! 

ItsaTuft, surprised you didn't mention the Jersey recruit for Tufts, not that I know anything about him, but just because Tufts has done SO well pulling from NJ in the past, with Gyimesi, Savage and Pace, as well as this year's FY Linstra, who I imagine will very much be in the mix next season.  NJ has certainly been Tufts' best recruiting source ...

[SpringSt7]

That level of NEPSAC Class A/B has been a really good level for NESCAC recruiting. It is high enough competition where you clearly have to be a college level player to succeed and you are playing against other college level players but it is not so high that these kids are playing limited minutes and you are projecting what they might do in college.

Just in the last 3 years that covers (in no particular order):

Henry Vetter, James Morakis, Josh Bernstein, Hank Morgan, Sam Stevens, Nate Karren, Shane Regan, Nicky Johnson, Max Poulton, Ray Cuevas

From this year's incoming class that would be:

Amherst:
Hunter Stoll, Choate

Bowdoin:
Zach Baum, Nobles and Greenough
Josh Belcher, Phillips Exeter

Colby:
Riley Clarke, Brooks
Mekhi Simmons, St. Paul's

Conn College:
Finn Brennan, Holderness

Hamilton:
Jameson Stockwell, Deerfield

Trinity:
Rowan Introzzi, Greenwich CDS
Alexander Echeverria, St. Mark's

Tufts:
Liam Simpson, Deerfield

Wesleyan:
Treyvon Miller, St. Paul's

Williams:
Elijah Webb, Deerfield
Devan Williams, Milton Academy

This is a more or less arbitrary cut off that doesn't include guys in AA (the higher level) or C (lower level)

[nescac1]

As predicted by some folks here, Corey Begley named head coach at Conn College. Congrats! 

[SpringSt7]

Begley seems highly regarded by former players judging by some of the Instagram comments and I would imagine the administration feels the same given the hire but I am having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around hiring a coach with a 5-39 league record.

[midrangepullup]

I've heard good things. Think the washington college situation was especially bad, they had barely had a winning record in 20 years before he joined.

[nescac1]

It could definitely be a very tough situation at Conn College for a few years depending on exactly how many guys in the transfer portal (and otherwise) end up returning, at this point it looks close to a total rebuild. 

The top two scorers on the team are definitely gone (LaFrance transferred and Espinosa graduated).  Last year's FY class was not very impactful, and one of the FYs who got some minutes here and there (Josiah Wright) also transferred out (to D2 D'Youville).  Soph Edward Harrison, who played spot minutes as a FY before barely playing last year, transferred to Johns Hopkins. The incoming FY class doesn't seem to have much in the way of impact players.  Quron Zene was a senior and is using his last year of eligibility at RIC.  All-conference forward Dylan Watson and fifth-leading scorer PJ Johnson were also in the transfer portal, although I didn't see news of either landing anywhere; if still up in the air, Begley's first job will be persuading them to stick around.  If either or especially both are gone then it's a pretty dire situation heading into next season, and even if they return, Conn still has to replace a ton of guys. 

[nescac1]

Final recruiting list (I'm sure a few guys are missing, but not TOO many), including incoming transfers:

Amherst:
Hunter Stoll, 6'7 F, Choate
Dempsey Gonya, 6'4 G, St. Ann's (NY)
Grant Moses, 6'2 G, Meadows School (NV)
Seth Pryor, 6'8 F, Cheshire Academy (CT)
Bohdan Biekietov, 6'9 F/C, sophomore transfer from F&M

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 #39)
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)
Ben Miller, 6'0 G, sophomore transfer from Hartford

Connecticut College:
Sam Clachko, 5'11 G, Staples (CT #34)
Finn Brennan, 6'4 W, Holderness (N.H. #27)
Henry Simon, 6'4 G, New Canaan
Toshiro Mahtani, 6'0 G, Liberty (TX)

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)
Reeve Sysco, 6'7 W, Perkiomen (PA)
Jake Parmett, 6'1 G, sophomore transfer from Pomona (did not play last year)

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 #37)
Dash Mabilon, 6'10 C, Canterbury (CT #27)
Trey Jones, 6'6 W, New Hampton (NH #10)
Connor O'Leary, 6'4 G, sophomore transfer from Assumption

Tufts:
Liam Simpson, 6'7 W, Deerfield (MA #45)
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 (PA)
Mert Gocer, 6'5 G, Loomis Chafee

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 (MA #48)
Alec Roumph, 6'4 G, Perkiomen (PA)
Dev Williams, 6'1 G, Deerfield (MA #27)

[nescac1]

So this is pretty cool, in his first significant run of summer league play, Hank Morgan put up 9 points in nine minutes on 3-4 from the field, including a plus 18 in a game the Celtics lost by 12.  Deep on the bench in summer league is a long way from a real NBA look but maybe that opens up more minutes for him. 

I assume he's playing in the G league again this year and if he really lights it up it's not impossible he gets a 10-day look late in the season, as every team is desperate for quick release three point shooters, which he's worked his way into by improving as a shooter immensely seemingly every year he plays. In all events he has a good chance of being paid to play somewhere for awhile if he keeps shooting it with the precision he showed in the G league.