Category: Middlebury

Quick Thoughts on Tuesday Night Basketball

Graham Safford '15 notched his 1,000th career point in a big win over the Brandeis Judges on Tuesday night.
Graham Safford ’15 notched his 1,000th career point in a big win over the Brandeis Judges on Tuesday night. (Courtesy of Phyllis Graber Jensen and Bates College)

In the final tuneup for many teams before conference play begins on Friday, NESCAC teams aced every test against a tough slate of teams on Tuesday night. The biggest wins were road victories by Amherst and Middlebury over #21 Eastern Connecticut State and Plattsburgh State, respectively. Overall, the league went 7-0, showcasing the depth and quality of middle tier teams like Colby and Bates. Both Maine schools won close games against quality teams (Colby beat #23 Husson and Bates vanquished Brandeis). In 2013-2014 the NESCAC went 2-3 when the same slate of teams met, so the league now enters conference play with fewer cumulative losses than last season. Here are a couple of other quick thoughts to get you through Wednesday.

1. We might have no more 1,000 point scorers in the graduating class: Graham Safford ’15 (Bates) and Dan Wohl ’15 (Williams) crossed the mark earlier this week, but they might be the only two members of the 2015 class to reach that mark. Below are some other players with a chance to top 1,000 points for their careers. Keep in mind that the games remaining and necessary PPG totals do not include postseason games.

Keegan Pieri ’15 (Bowdoin) – 779 points. 13 games remaining. Must average 17 PPG. Currently averaging 13.0 PPG.

John Swords ’15 (Bowdoin) – 725 points. 13 games remaining. Must average 21.2 PPG. Currently averaging 12.8 PPG.

Ben Ferris ’15 (Tufts) – 802 points. 14 games remaining. Must average 14.1 PPG. Currently averaging 5.8 PPG.

Hunter Merryman ’15 (Midd) – 759 points. 15 games remaining. Must average 16.1 PPG. Currently averaging 16.1 PPG.

Dylan Sinnickson ’15 (Midd) – 635 points. 15 games remaining. Must average 24.3 PPG. Currently averaging 19.1 PPG.

Though Ferris is the closest, he is averaging only 5.8 PPG this season and appears to be a different player than he was earlier in his career, possibly because of cumulative injuries. Merryman is probably the best bet to make it to 1,000 because he is averaging exactly 16.1 PPG this season, though if Middlebury makes a deep run in the postseason don’t count out Sinnickson. He can score from anywhere. The Bowdoin duo, however, is a longshot to make it to 1,000.

If Safford and Wohl are the only ones who do make it, the 2015 class would pale in comparison to the 2014 class that saw, by our count, at least five players score 1,000. Aaron Toomey ’14 (Amherst), Joey Kizel ’14 (Middlebury), Matt Vadas ’14 (Conn College), Taylor Epley ’14 (Williams) and Michael Mayer ’14 (Williams) all certainly eclipsed the mark.

2. Middlebury is best when they play fast: The Panthers are a weird team. Dylan Sinnickson ’15, at 6’5″, is far and away their best rebounder. His 12.1 boards per game ranks fifth in the nation. Hunter Merryman ’15 is the best shooter on the team but is also one of the biggest players on the roster. Before yesterday’s game (when Merryman went 0-5 from deep), the sharpshooter ranked fifth in the nation in three-point percentage. Their pieces fit best when they push the pace. Jake Brown ’17 is arguably the fastest player in the NESCAC and he has a very good 2.6 assist/turnover ratio. He causes havoc when he pushes it and can then kick it out to Merryman or Matt St. Amour ’17. In the halfcourt the Panthers often seem to be tentative and they lack an offensive post presence. Even as big man Matt Daley ’16 works his way back into the rotation after suffering a stress fracture, Middlebury should be able to continue to run because Daley is very good at running the floor for a center, and freshman Nick Tarantino ’18 has shown a similar ability to run and stretch the floor as a big man. Plattsburgh State was the best team Middlebury has played yet and the Panthers were resilient whenever Plattsburgh tried to make a run in the second half. Their trip to Lewiston to play Bates is the best matchup on the opening night of NESCAC play, especially given how last year’s match up ended in heartbreak for the Panthers. You can see Safford’s game-winning trey at the 1:30 mark in this video.

3. The Rookie of the Year race is over.

Johnny McCarthy ’18 is really freaking good at basketball, folks. He is the best and most indispensable player on Amherst right now and he has an argument that he is performing at an All-NESCAC level. He leads Amherst in minutes per game with 32.3, the fourth highest in the league. He is second on Amherst with 12.8 PPG and has scored in double digits in each of the past four games. Where McCarthy really shines is on the defensive end. He uses his exemplary length to lead the NESCAC with 2.7 steals per game. Last night against Eastern Connecticut he played 38 minutes and matched up defensively for most of the game with Trachone Preston ’16 who came in averaging 20.2 points per game. McCarthy held Preston to 11 points on 5-20 shooting. In an overall weak freshman class, McCarthy is a stud.

4. Trinity is flying under the radar.

We say this almost literally because last night Trinity played a game that was not even on the NESCAC.com schedule. Only a notice from Trinity sports alerted us to the fact that they actually were playing against Manahattanville. After an easy win, the Bantams carry an eight game winning streak, the second longest streak after Middlebury, into conference play, but they have done so without registering any notable wins. Their formula is the same: beat teams up on defense, control the boards, and grind out points with Shay Ajayi ’16 and Jaquann Starks ’15. Whether they will be able to score enough against NESCAC teams is their biggest question. Trinity as a team is averaging a league worst 11.7 assists per game while it turns the ball over 15.7 times a game for a terrible 0.75 assist/turnover ratio. Unless they can improve on that, their eight game win streak will end Friday against Williams.

5. Conference play is going to be tons of fun: Usually in the NESCAC there is one or two signature games every weekend surrounded by mostly insignificant games. That is not the case at all this year. Viewing NESCAC games will be like the first weekend of March Madness where you are frantically switching between games trying not to miss anything crazy. Parity appears to be a very real thing. The top teams are worse, the middle teams are better, the bottom only has a couple of teams in it. Right now more than half a dozen teams are looking around the NESCAC landscape and thinking, ‘Why not us?’ Every team enters the conference season with some major question mark either related to personnel or lack of results on the court. The only thing that the first couple of months of the season have told us is that we don’t know what is going to happen next.

New Year, New NESCAC: Stock Report 1/5

Wesleyan Basketball went south for some sun over break. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Basketball)
Wesleyan Basketball went south for some sun over break. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Basketball)

While we were busy sleeping off our New Year’s Hangover (I’m 21 now so I can openly say I drink.), NESCAC players were back in the gym playing in more non-conference games. Practically every NESCAC team returned to practice the day after Christmas which meant that NESCAC coaches had to wait one more day to play Santa. Their present to their players was mostly running until those wonderful Christmas dinners were all gone, one way or another.

Teams have been back at it for a couple weeks now, and it has been a month since we really took a dive into how teams around the NESCAC are doing, so this is overdue. Conference play starts up on Friday so this week is all about gearing up for a full slate of conference games.

If you have not looked recently, here is the link to the NESCAC Standings, but only a couple of things are really necessary to know. Middlebury is undefeated but hasn’t beat anybody notable, Tufts has stumbled to a 3-6 record despite high preseason expectations, and everybody else has a couple of losses.

Stock Up

Freshman Role Players: Slowly some freshmen are starting to integrate themselves into the rotations for teams as the season wears on. Two big reasons for this is the many more hours of practice freshmen have had over break and injuries to those in front of them. Chris Galvin ’18 has now started three games for Williams and is averaging more than 20 minutes a game. One of the main recipients of the minutes from injured Bowdoin forward Neil Fuller ’17  appears to be swingman Liam Farley ’18, the only true small forward on the Bowdoin roster. Vincent Pace ’18 is the one of the first men off the bench for Tufts. Other more fringe rotation players like Justin Zukowski ’18 (Bates) and Jordan Sears ’18 (Wesleyan) are also one tweaked ankle from having a big impact.

Coach Joe Reilly (Wesleyan): After the 2012-2013 season ended in disappointment, Wesleyan had basically a new roster last year with most of the minutes going to sophomores and freshmen. The rebuilding effort is ahead of schedule right now with a 10-2 record so far. The beautiful thing about Wesleyan is that their top five players are so even in scoring that it seems like every game on of them takes a turn leading the Cardinals in scoring. Jack Mackey ’16 has settled into the point guard position, though he still commits too many turnovers. Joseph Kuo ’17 and Rashid Epps ’16 have been great rebounding the ball, especially on the offensive end. Even though the Cardinals lost in overtime to Williams, given how wide open the NESCAC is, they are thinking that they might just crash the upper echelon a year earlier than expected.

Forward Dylan Sinnickson ’15 (Middlebury): Known as much for his flowing locks as much as his play, Sinnickson ditched the hair earlier this year and has not seen his play suffer. He now leads the NESCAC in points and rebounds per game with 19.9 and 12.1 respectively. Those statistics become even more impressive when adjusted for the fact that he has only played 28.4 minutes per game, a full 7.6 minutes less than Graham Safford ’15. The senior forward can score in a variety of ways for Middlebury, but it is two way ability that makes him so special right now. The uncertainty of who will play in the post for the Panthers is much less important as long as Sinnickson continues to rebound this way. Sinnickson will need to play well tonight when the Panthers face their best test yet in Plattsburgh State.

Stock Down

Bates on the Road: The one critique about Bates hot start before Christmas was that most of it came at home. Their big victories over Colby and Bowdoin put everyone on notice, but the home advantage of Alumni Gym is significant. Credit to Bates for going on the road before New Years and playing Emory, a top 10 team nationally. Bates lost to Emory handily, but the game was actually closer than the final suggested despite a multitude of Bates turnovers. However, their loss the next day to Birmingham Southern, a team that Wesleyan defeated going away a few weeks before is much more worrisome. If Bates wants to host a NESCAC tournament game then they will have to win at least two of their away NESCAC games. Of course, Bates only conference victory last season was on the road against Middlebury, sooooo… That victory over Middlebury remains one of the most puzzling games of the last few seasons.

Hamilton Scheduling: Coming into the season we pegged Hamilton as the team that would end up in the cellar. Then we looked up and realized that the Continentals were 10-2.

So how did Hamilton go 10-2 when they started 7-5 last season? Well in large part they went over their schedule and took out all of the teams they lost to in 2013-2014. SUNY New Paltz is the only team Hamilton lost to last year that the Continentals have played so far. Though they will play Keystone, another team they lost to, later in the season, the Continentals still are a huge question mark because of the quality of their non-conference competition. The aggregate record of Hamilton’s opponents this season: 51-68 (43%). They have played more close games than anybody in the NESCAC also. The Continentals deserve credit for their early season success, but do not let their gaudy record fool you too much.

Perception: Maybe the craziest statistic we have managed to unearth thus far is the eery similarity in non-conference records for the NESCAC. At this point in the schedule in 2013-2014, NESCAC teams had lost 32 games, and so far this year they have lost 31. The general perception of the league is not only that it is wide-open but also a little down because of all the lost talent from the class of 2014 and transfers of Hart and Robinson. Easier schedules for NESCAC teams could mean that the gaudy records of NESCAC teams is a mirage. Middlebury in particular has a much easier schedule than last season. Also see Hamilton in the section above this. Yet easier schedules for some teams might miss the overall picture. The NESCAC is unquestionably deeper than it has been in years past meaning that teams will have no easy games in conference. The question is whether the NCAA tournament selection committee will reward the NESCAC for that depth or if the league will see two or even possibly even only one team go to the NCAAs.

 

The Biggest Stories of the Year: 2014 in Review

Doing an article about the year that just happened around New Years is a long-time tradition that often results in news sources practically plagiarizing each other. But the fact of the matter is that nobody else is going to review the biggest stories in the NESCAC if we don’t. So we thought the idea actually was not that bad after all. 2014 was really chock-full of good stories. Besides the obvious choice of the inception of this site as the biggest story in the NESCAC this season, a few other moments jump out. Here is our look back at some of 2014’s highlights

Duncan Robinson and Matt Hart Transfer

Duncan Robinson (Courtesy of Detroit Free Press)
Duncan Robinson (Courtesy of Detroit Free Press)
Matt Hart (Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics)
Matt Hart (Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics)

Transfers into the NESCAC are not unusual (e.g. McCallum Foote), but not very often do we see players voluntarily transfer from the league. In June, Hart, a first team All-NESCAC performer in 2013-2014 as a sophomore, took a preferred walk-on spot at George Washington. Then, in July, Duncan Robinson, the 2013-2014 NESCAC ROY, made the unprecedented move of going from the NESCAC to the Big Ten by accepting a full scholarship to Michigan. By NCAA rules transfers to Division 1 have to sit out a year before they are eligible to play so we won’t hear much from this duo until next winter. Both are practicing and taking classes this year, and they are making an impression already. The departure of both of them also helped create the wide open landscape in NESCAC basketball heading into conference play in 2015.

Mike Maker Gets a D1 Coaching Job

Mike Maker (Courtesy of NYC Buckets)
Mike Maker (Courtesy of NYC Buckets)

Former Williams head coach Mike Maker was a longtime Division 1 assistant before taking the head job in Williamstown, and he returned to the D1 ranks by taking a job in June at Marist. While at Williams, Maker did practically everything besides win a National Title. His up-tempo offensive oriented style of play was the prettiest in the NESCAC and resulted in the Amherst-Williams rivalry climbing to another stratosphere of watch-ability. Williams recognized Maker’s positive influence on the program and wisely hired one of his former assistant’s at Williams, Kevin App, as his successor. Maker faces a major task leading a Division 1 program, but his track record at Williams suggests he will be able to get the job done. The Red Foxes are off to a slow start, however, going 1-11 before the New Year.

Aaron Toomey, Joey Kizel, and Michael Mayer all Wrap up Fantastic Careers

Aaron Toomey (Courtesy of News & Record)
Aaron Toomey (Courtesy of News & Record)
Joey Kizel (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Joey Kizel (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Michael Mayer (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)
Michael Mayer (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2014 basketball class was one of the finest in the NESCAC’s history. Impact players dotted the roster of almost every team, but the trio of Toomey, Kizel and Mayer was a transcendent group that shaped the story lines of the NESCAC for four years. Kizel’s final season was one with many what-ifs as Middlebury lost many close games and did not make the NCAA tournament despite Kizel’s 16.6 points and 5.6 assists per game. Mayer shook off a slow start because of injury to be Williams go-to offensive threat during their NCAA run. And Toomey finished his career as one of the most decorated players in NESCAC history, taking home his second consecutive National Player of the Year award. An entire book could be written detailing the clashes Williams, Amherst and Middlebury had during the careers of these three, but suffice to say that they represented the best in NESCAC basketball. All three are now continuing their careers abroad in Europe.

Wesleyan Continues its Transformation

President Michael Roth (right) introducing coach Mike Whalen (left) in 2010 (Courtesy of Wesleyan University)
President Michael Roth (right) introducing coach Mike Whalen (left) in 2010 (Courtesy of Wesleyan University)

The hiring of head football coach Mike Whalen away from Williams in 2010 signaled a clear change of priorities under President Michael Roth. In Roth’s own words, “Whatever we do at Wesleyan, we should strive to do well.” This mantra led to a re-commitment to the university’s athletics programs, a perspective that was not the usual one for the Connecticut school, a place known for its eccentricities and media members more than anything else. 2014 saw football under Whalen have its second consecutive 7-1 season behind a program-changing senior class. The baseball team also captured its first NESCAC championship ever and advanced to the final of their NCAA tournament regional. The reasons for the move towards an emphasis on team sports at Wesleyan are usually explained as a monetary decision. The results on the field are clear.

The Trinity Streak Ends

Middlebury brought Trinity's streak to a crashing end. Courtesy of Greg Sullivan (http://www.sevenstrong.net/TrinityFootball)
Middlebury brought Trinity’s streak to a crashing end. Courtesy of Greg Sullivan (http://www.sevenstrong.net/TrinityFootball)

For 13 years NESCAC football teams tried and failed to beat Trinity in Hartford, Connecticut. The last time that Trinity had lost at home was just 18 days after 9/11. Finally, and quite suddenly, on a late October afternoon, an underdog Middlebury team handily defeated the Bantams. The loss ended Trinity’s 53-game home winning streak. Around the Trinity program, the slogan was always “No Poop in the Coop.” For years that held up, and the field turf that Trinity installed in 2002 only saw victories until this season. Trinity also lost at home the next week to Amherst meaning they will now go into next season with a different type of streak at home. The Bantams hope this one will end quickly.

Amherst Cements a Dynasty

Courtesy of Amherst Athletics
Courtesy of Amherst Athletics

While Trinity stumbled for the second consecutive year, the Jeffs overcame their own offensive limitations and went undefeated to capture another NESCAC championship. It was their third title in four years (fourth in six years) and third undefeated season since 2009. This year’s team was built around a suffocating defense and an offense that came through when it mattered. In a season that many thought would be dominated by the Connecticut duo of Wesleyan and Trinity, Amherst showed its staying power. While Williams stumbled to another 2-6 season, their arch-rival is having success both on the field and off of it with 20 players on the All-Academic team, tied for the most in the league with Williams.

Rest in Peace Bates’ John Durkin and Amherst’s Alex Hero

John Durkin (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)
John Durkin (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)
Alex Hero (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)
Alex Hero (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tragedy struck not once but twice in the NESCAC this year. Bates football player John Durkin was studying abroad in Rome for his junior spring when he went missing. His body was later found in a subway tunnel after he was struck by a train. Alex Hero, Amherst’s starting centerfielder last spring, died on Thanksgiving day only months after graduating from Amherst. We highly recommend you go read this remembrance written by Amherst head coach Brian Hamm and teammate Dave Cunningham ’16. Our condolences to both communities and may these two rest in peace.

Don’t Mess with the Bobcats: Stock Report 12/8

Alumni Gymnasium with the student section at the far end. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Alumni Gymnasium with the student section at the far end. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

From the outside Alumni Gym does not look much. Once you get inside you realize that it actually is not big at all. That lack of size is, of course, the greatest strength of Bates’ home court. Only a few hundred people can fit into the gym which gives it a high school atmosphere. Classic old wooden stands extend back on both sides only eight rows deeps. On the far end of the gym behind one of the baskets enough space is available for 100 people to sit: a ready made fan section for Bates fanatics.

Thursday night I traveled to Bates along with nine friends to see our favorite team Bowdoin take on a surging Bates team. Last year a similar group traveled to Lewiston in February and watched Bowdoin dismantle a Bates team that was in the midst of a late season collapse. That game was during Bates’ winter break so most of the students were home for the game.

The atmosphere on Thursday night was completely different however. By the time the national anthem began, the student section was about three quarters full, and by the opening tip the gym was louder than most NESCAC gyms. Many other students littered the rest of the stands as well making empty seats a rare commodity. The first Bates basket brought a cascade of roars from under the basket that did not let up much causing some visible discomfort from the visiting Polar Bears.

After a back and forth first half, Bates busted open the game part way through the second. Bates was on offense going towards the student section in the second half, and the students had no problem letting Bowdoin hear it every time a Bates player made a basket. Two consecutive dunks put Bates up big and forced a Bowdoin timeout that could barely be heard over a rocking crowd.

Bates has been the most impressive team of the season thus far. While their 1-9 conference record still casts a shadow of doubt over them, that shadow keeps receding every game Bates plays. The NESCAC is far from Division 1 where students live and die by how their basketball team does, but Bates has staked their claim definitively as having the best home-court advantage in the NESCAC. One date to circle for certain on your calendars is January 9th when Bates opens up conference play against 7-0 Middelbury at 7 PM in Alumni Gym.

Stock Up

Guard Jaquann Starks ’16 (Trinity): So much NESCAC offensive success is based on the point guard’s play, and different teams require their point guards to approach the game distinctly. Starks is primarily asked to score in his role for the Bantams and leads the team with 15.1 points per game. His shooting percentages are 35.1/44.0/80.6 (in order of field goal/three point/free throw). Starks has struggled to shoot the ball well closer to the basket in large part because there is no spacing when he goes into the lane since he is the primary three point threat for Trinity. That lack of offensive weapons does not appear to be going away, but that does not mean Trinity is not a threat this season in the NESCAC. With Starks providing much of the offense recently, the Bantams have put together a four game winning streak since falling to 2-2.

Forward Marcus Delpeche ’17 (Bates): The Bobcats proved that they are for real not simply because they beat Colby and Bowdoin, but also how they did it. Last year Marcus played fewer than 17 minutes per game while serving as the backup for his brother Malcolm. This season Coach Jon Furbush has become comfortable with playing the two twins at the same time, and it has yielded great results thus far. Marcus is the third leading scorer for Bates with 10.7 points per game. Many of those points are off of offensive rebounds because opponents do not have power forwards capable of keeping him off of the boards. 49% of his rebounds have been offensive rebounds. Having Marcus and Malcolm playing big minutes together makes Bates capable of matching up against the likes of Amherst and Trinity in conference play.

Forward Hunter Merryman ’15 (Middlebury): If 2014 is “the year of the skilled forward” as Pete Lindholm asserts, then Merryman is the one most often forgotten about. After all, Merryman is not even the best forward on his team. Yet he still is having an All-NESCAC caliber season. He is averaging 17.1 points per game, most of which is because he is making an outrageous 56.4% of his three pointers. Logic tells us Merryman is unlikely to have morphed into an automatic shot maker, but is rather enjoying an extended hot streak that should end soon. Even when he slows down Merryman will continue to be a very good player, albeit not the second coming of Dirk Nowitzki.

Stock Down

Guard Bryan Hurley ’15 (Bowdoin): Last week was a terrible one for Bowdoin overall going 0-3 with the defeat assured well before the final buzzer sounded. A lot of things went wrong for the Polar Bears, but the sudden ineffectiveness of Hurley was one of the principle problems. The point guard averaged only 4.3 points per game in the three contests. Even more worryingly he  saw his assist:turnover ratio plummet. In Bowdoin’s first four games (all wins) he had a 3.5 assist:turnover ratio but managed only a 1.1 ratio in his last three games. Without Hurley making plays, Bowdoin’s offense fell stagnant for crucial parts of the second half, and their opponents were able to pull away. Hurley and the other members of the Bowdoin senior class have to return to form quickly in order to turn things around.

Amherst and Middlebury

The Jeffs and Panthers both remain undefeated, but they both have shown real weaknesses so far. For Amherst, the problem is putting all the pieces of their talented roster together into something that works as a basketball team. We have said it before, but the Jeffs simply do not look like your normal Division 3 team since they trot out two athletic 6’8″ players, two 6’5″ wings, and a 6’2″ point guard. That hasn’t kept them from having some close calls in games. Though the final score against Emerson indicated a blowout, the Jeffs held only a one point lead halfway through the second half. A huge steal from Johnny McCarthy ’18 off an inbounds pass helped spark a major run that put the game out of reach, but it took Amherst a while to put away an Emerson team that was overmatched in terms of height.

Meanwhile Middlebury escaped their first loss of the season by the skin of their teeth, coming back from seven points down in the final minute against Skidmore to win in regulation. The win would not have been possible without five missed free throws from Skidmore in the last minute. Middlebury for now lacks any type of inside presence because Matt Daley ’16 is still out of commission, and they still seem to fluctuate wildly in their level of play. Somewhat surprisingly, Joey Kizel’s ’14 absence has not been felt as much as the lack of center Jack Roberts ’14.

Both teams love to play at a high pace and thrive on their talent in the open court. However, when teams are able to slow down games then they run into trouble. The schedule of course works in the favor of both these teams as they will have a lot of practice time over winter break to help smooth out some of their issues before they jump into conference play.

Early Look at the Player of the Year Race

NESCAC Basketball is in full swing now, giving me a reason to love in the beginning of this long, devastating Vermont winter. Each team has played at least two full weekends of games against competition ranging from mediocre to a little under mediocre, so in true ESPN fashion, I think it’s a fair juncture to speculate about some end of season results. Here I handicap the early season race for Player of the Year. The difficult thing about writing this article at such an early juncture in the season is finding the delicate equilibrium (big words for a sports article, right?) between who is playing the best right now, and whom I think will be playing the best at the end of the year. I’ve done my best to balance those two ideologies here, but please be nice to me about my picks when this goes viral on ESPN.com.

Dan Wohl '15
Dan Wohl ’15 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

1. Daniel Wohl (Williams ’15)

Coming into the season, it was clear that the Ephs were going to need a new messiah following Duncan Robinson’s ascension to Michigan and Michael Mayer’s graduation. And early in the season, that door was definitively open. Williams opened the year with back-to-back losses to Southern Vermont and Oneonta State, reaffirming the many fears that Ephs fans had regarding the season. Then Daniel Wohl emerged. Averaging 18.1 points per game (with a 51/40/73 shooting line) to go along with a robust 9.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists, Wohl has provided a sense of toughness and consistency to pair with the streaky outside oriented game of partner in crime Hayden Rooke-Ley. Wohl’s all-around skills have been crucial to Williams remaining a power in the conference, and that is what catapults him to the top of this list.

Dylan Sinnickson (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Dylan Sinnickson ’15 (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

2. Dylan Sinnickson (Middlebury ’15)

The third leading scorer and second leading rebounder in the league, Sinnickson appears to have made the leap that his precocious skill set had been foreshadowing for some time. Like Wohl, Sinnickson’s rebounding has been an underwritten but crucial aspect to the otherwise interiorly challenged Panthers, and his scoring has given them a go-to guy, who can create a shot out of seemingly impossible situations. Sinnickson has also shown a new propensity for clutch play, hitting a tough step back three and layup to slow down a run by RPI in Middlebury’s home opener on Sunday. His shooting has been less consistent than last year at only 31 percent from 3, but he has been going to the basket more authoritatively, and more outside shots will fall as the explosive Middlebury offense continues to gel. Sinnickson and Wohl have both been crucial to their team’s fast starts, and should continue to duke it out for postseason honors throughout the season.

Chris Hudnut '16 (Courtesy of Bear Sports News)
Chris Hudnut ’16 (Courtesy of Bear Sports News)

3. Chris Hudnut (Colby ’16)

Thus far, 2014-2015 can be seen as the year of the skilled forward in NESCAC, with Hudnut leading the charge. Although he spends far more time inside than Wohl and Sinnickson, he still has managed to put up 2.9 assists per game, pointing both to his high skillset and importance to the Colby offense. Those assist totals are coupled with 19.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, good for third and fourth in the league respectively. Hudnut’s impressive campaign is even further aided by 1.1 blocks and steals per game, again showing his impressive skill set for an interior player.

Hayden Rooke-Ley '15 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)
Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

4. Hayden Rooke-Ley (Williams ’15)

I had spent most of the past few days flip flopping on where to put Rooke-Ley on this list, going as high as third and as low as off the list entirely. It’s certainly hard to ignore a player who has a 12 three pointer game (as Rooke-Ley put up against Johnson State,) and has not missed a free throw yet this year, an absurd 62-62 streak. However, he also started off the year an abysmal 1-15 from three, and his 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game are far from the all around excellence of the other players on this list. Perhaps sensing these internal qualms, Rooke-Ley proceeded to put up 43 points on 10-14 from three in RPI on Tuesday night, a team that gave Middlebury something of a scare at home on Sunday afternoon. He had 31 points with 9 threes in the first half alone. This performance rocketed him to the top of the NESCAC scoring list, overtaking Sinnickson. Rooke-Ley certainly lives and dies by the three pointer, but he’s doing considerably more living than dying right now, and that deserves some early season recognition.

Graham Safford '15 (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)
Graham Safford ’15 (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

5. Graham Safford (Bates ’15)

Safford’s candidacy for POY has been hindered somewhat by the prevalence of skilled forwards, but there has been perhaps no player more crucial to their team’s success than him. Bates has turned a lot of heads this year with a 6-0 start, including a 101-85 win over UNE, who fell to Middlebury on a buzzer beater, and a 76-70 win over Colby last night. With 19 points, 14 assists and 8 rebounds, Safford’s performance against UNE was enough to put him in the Player of the Year conversation.   That kind of all around performance has been a staple of his campaign, as he is averaging 15.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 7.2 rebounds per games, an extremely impressive number for a guard. However, inconsistent shooting and a high turnover rate (4.7 per game) have caused Safford to fall on this list, careening towards the jaws of the big men on the honorable mention list.

Honorable Mention

Hunter Sabety '17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)
Hunter Sabety ’17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

Hunter Sabety (Tufts ’17)

Like the players on the top five, Sabety has been the focal point of his team’s offense. Unfortunately, this is far less of a compliment for Sabety than it is for the other players. Tufts has had a disappointing start to the year after coming in as a pre-season favorite. Sabety battled injuries to start the year and hasn’t played to the dominant level that it looked like he might jump to after an impressive freshman campaign. Tufts will probably figure it out in conjunction with Sabety, and it is unlikely that he isn’t in the running for POY by the end of the season.

Johnny McCarthy '18 (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)
Johnny McCarthy ’18 (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

Johnny McCarthy (Amherst ’18)

 Amherst has only played four games this year, against mostly underwhelming competition. Furthermore, they have such a balanced attack that no one player has stood out statistically on the Lord Jeff roster for the purposes of this award. However, the freshman McCarthy has stood out on the team for his excellent shooting (56% for the year) and scoring despite low minutes due to blowouts early in the year. He leads the team at 14.0 points per game in just 25 minutes, and should increase his output as Amherst’s competition gets stronger.

 

John Swords '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
John Swords ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

John Swords (Bowdoin ’15)

The 7’0” Bowdoin center was originally in the top five, mostly on the strength of his rebounding and absurd 75% field goal percentage. However, an anemic performance by Swords (and Bowdoin collectively) against Babson coincided with Rooke-Ley’s ascension to push Swords out of the top five. It is still unclear as to whether Swords will be able to carry the Polar Bears’ inconsistent offense against more talented teams once league play begins, but the performance against Babson doesn’t bode well. Fortunately, he will soon have ample opportunity to prove me wrong.

 

As I implied earlier, these rankings are very early and are by no means final (although of course no Amherst players should be legally allowed to win it.) It will be my, and every NESCAC basketball fan’s, distinct pleasure to watch this incredibly talented crop of players battle it out as the season progresses.

Getting Into the Groove: Stock Report 11/24

Hayden Rooke-Ley '15 talking to Coach Kevin App (courtesy of Williams Athletics)
Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 talking to Coach Kevin App (courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Now that a full week of games is in the books, we can step back a little bit and dive into some of the early trends emerging. The first game between NESCAC teams happened over the weekend. If Williams’ overtime victory over Wesleyan was any indication, then the NESCAC regular season should be as wide-open as we are hoping.

A major theme is how the sophomore class is asserting themselves as the major playmakers around the league. From players like Zuri Pavlin ’17 and Harry Rafferty ’17 who were already starters from day one to others like Mike Greenman ’17 and Joseph Kuo ’17 who are delivering with increased playing time, sophomores are difference-makers on almost every team in the NESCAC.

Stock Up

Center David George ’17 (Amherst): The guard play for the Jeffs has been a little uneven, but George has delivered on the promise he showed down the stretch of 2013 to help keep Amherst undefeated. The sophomore’s 7.7 rebounds per game, of which 3.7 are offensive rebounds, are no surprise given his size and athleticism. His offensive game, while still undeniably still somewhat underdeveloped, is unbelievably efficient. He is averaging 13.7 points per game on 75% shooting, the second highest percentage in the NESCAC behind John Swords ’15. Unlike last year when George was often surrounded by shooters on the court, Amherst is playing with two bigs most of the time. He is working with less space to work with but is having no problems scoring with ease. Having two big men in the game at once is also a big reason why Amherst has a rebounding margin of +20 so far.

Guard Jake Brown ’17 (Middlebury): Last year Brown established himself as a dogged defender and player capable of getting into the lane. This year he is going full Rondo as a table-setter for the talented Middlebury wings. He leads the league with 6.5 assists per game despite playing less than 24 minutes a game because Middlebury has been involved in a few blowouts already. He is able to get into the lane with ease and kick it out to Matt St. Amour ’17 or find a cutting Dylan Sinnickson ’15. Though he isn’t scoring much, he showed himself capable of filling Joey Kizel’s role of hitting big shots at the end of games when he hit the go ahead jumper with 30 seconds left against Clark yesterday. Brown will likely play less than 30 minutes a game because of the presence of talented youngster Jack Daly ’18. That should allow him to continue his frenetic pace as he leads the Middlebury fast break game.

Guard Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 (Williams): The Ephs have struggled out of the gate, but there have been some bright spots so far. The fact that Rooke-Ley has become absolutely locked in as a shooter is one of the brightest. In a blowout of Johnston State, he set a Williams’ record by going 12-15 from beyond the three point line. He did not even attempt another shot from the field or a foul shot. Rumors have it he actually did not go inside of the three point line on offense all game (not actually). What makes the Johnston State game even more impressive is that two days before he went 0-9 from the field, including 0-7 from deep. He was able to fight through a couple of tough games at the beginning of the year before hitting his stride. Yet perhaps the best statistic Rooke-Ley has going so far is his free throw shooting. He is a perfect 28 for 28 from the stripe through four games. No other player has made more than 22 free throws and only one player has even attempted more than 28. That is crazy.

Stock Down

Tufts’ Shooting: The return of Tom Palleschi ’16 made Jumbo fans ecstatic over the idea of him teaming with Hunter Sabety ’17 as an unstoppable duo inside. The early returns for Tufts have been subpar, but that is not actually because of any problems in the interior. The Tufts offense is struggling because there is not enough shooting right now. The Jumbos are shooting 25.8% from three, the second lowest percentage in the conference. Ben Ferris ’15, Ryan Spadaford ’16 and Stephn Haladyna ’16 were supposed to supply most of the outside shooting. And while Spadaford has hit half of his threes through two games, Ferris and Haladyna are both below 25%. It gets even worse when you combine that with the Jumbos hitting less than 60% of their free throws.

Bates’ Depth: The Bobcats have gotten off to a great start beating two NCAA tournament teams from 2013 on their way to a 3-0 start. The reasons for the quick start are pretty simple. Mike Boornazian ’16 and Graham Safford ’15 are the best backcourt in the NESCAC and have played great so far. Yet, Bates might be overly reliant on those two players. They account for 51.6% of the scoring, 36.8% of the rebounding, and 65.8% of the assists overall for Bates. Throw in center Marcus Delpeche ’17, enjoying an uptick of production this season, into that equation and the numbers become even more ridiculous: 65% scoring, 56% rebounding, and 77% assists. A big reason for Bates slumping down the stretch was because Safford could not continue his high level of play down the stretch. Bates needs other players to step up in order to maintain better balance and not be overly reliant on the play of a few players.

One-on-One with Middlebury Senior Dylan Sinnickson

What did we learn from this discussion? The Panthers feel really good about 2014-15. The main contributors are as healthy as ever and a couple of talented freshmen will add a few more weapons to coach Jeff Brown’s arsenal. Middlebury is poised to once again compete with the best for a NESCAC title.

Thanks to Ethan Drigotas for editing and The Road to Salem for footage.

Middlebury Team Preview: The Panthers Have Loads of Potential

Middlebury Panthers

2013 Record: 17-9 (6-4 NESCAC), third in NESCAC, reached semifinals of NESCAC tournament

Head Coach: Jeff Brown, 18th season (274-167, .621)

Starters Returning: 3

G Matt St. Amour ’17

G/F Dylan Sinnickson ’15

F Hunter Merryman ’15

Breakout Player: Dean Brierley ’15

Though the guard played only 7.7 minutes per game last season, he earned his co-captaincy because of the respect he commands for his work ethic. If you have ever walked by Pepin Gymnasium during the day, at any time of year, you have likely seen Brierley making it rain from all over the court. He is one of the smoothest shooters in practice. The challenge now is for the senior to translate his skills to the game.

Projected Starting Five:

Jake Brown (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Jake Brown (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

G Jake Brown ’17

It is tough to follow one of the best players in program history, but Brown is up to the task. Brown, nephew of coach Jeff Brown, is a different type of player than the departed Joey Kizel, a feisty defender and pass-first point guard. For his position, Brown is probably the best defender on the team. He should see a big bump in production because of increased minutes after playing only 21.7 minutes per game last year.

 

 

Matt St. Amour (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Matt St. Amour (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

G Matt St. Amour ’17

St. Amour began last season starting at the two guard, but struggled shooting the ball, which ought to be his greatest strength. His season was cut short when he succumbed to a torn ACL in early February, but reports are that he has made a speedy recovery and will be active for the season opener. It’s possible that Brierley begins this season starting at the two-guard, but this is a long term prognostication. St. Amour, when he’s healthy and effective, will be in the starting lineup.

 

Dylan Sinnickson (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Dylan Sinnickson (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

G/F Dylan Sinnickson ’15

Was there a bigger surprise in 2013-14 than Sinnickson? The super athletic swing man had his sophomore season ruined because of injury, but he became the Panthers’ best scoring threat very quickly last year, nearly matching Kizel in every scoring category but free throw percentage. If Sinnickson can get to the line a bit more and hit his freebies at a higher rate, he could make a run for NESCAC Player of the Year. And he should be able to get to the stripe, because his athleticism lets him get to the rim more often than not.

Sinnickson rises for a three-pointer. The swingman shot 42.9 percent from deep in 2013-14.
Sinnickson rises for a three-pointer. The swingman shot 42.9 percent from deep in 2013-14. (Courtesy of Jeff Patterson)
Hunter Merryman (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Hunter Merryman (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

F Hunter Merryman ’15

Merryman was among the nation’s best three-point shooters two years ago, and though he did not hit at quite that high of a rate last season, he still shot over 40.0 percent from deep and averaged 12.3 points per game. Merryman and St. Amour will be counted on to hit open shots in transition.

 

 

 

Matt Daley (Courtesy of Midlebury Athletics)
Matt Daley (Courtesy of Midlebury Athletics)

C Matt Daley ’16

Daley represents the biggest question mark for the Panthers. For anyone that has watched Middlebury over the last two years, the wait for Daley to turn into a day-in an day-out force has been a long one. Much of the inconsistency is due to poor luck, as Daley suffered from mono for much of last season, but when he was healthy early on he had some dominant games. Better than his 24-point performance in the season opener was his all-around effort against Tufts, in which he scored 15 points in just 15 minutes and frustrated Tufts’ Hunter Sabety ’17 in the second half of the game. Daley’s presence will be as important, if not more so, on the defensive end as the offensive end, as he will be needed to shut down some of the NESCAC’s impressive frontcourts, such as Tufts and Amherst.

Everything Else:

In a down year, the Panthers entered the NESCAC tournament as the third seed last season. Despite the loss of some integral parts, this year’s team could be better than last, if everything goes right. The transition game will be the Panthers’ strength, as they will be able to match their opponents’ athleticism at every position.

The rest of Middlebury’s rotation, after the six players listed above, will consist primarily of G Bryan Jones ’17, F Jake Nidenberg ’16, F Connor Huff ’16, C Chris Churchill ’15 and newcomer G Jack Daly ’18.

Jones can be electric and is an above average shooter, but he did not get much time last year as he sat behind Kizel and Brown at the point. He will need to play with energy at all times on the floor if he wants to get significant minutes.

Jones will also be pushed by Jack Daly, whom Coach Brown refers to as “game ready”. Daly has good size for the point at 6’3″, and is strength is the transition game, which fits in perfectly with Middlebury’s style.

Forwards Nidenberg and Huff saw similar minutes last season. The former is a high-energy guy who can chip in with points, boards and defense. Unfortunately, he is still recovering from an injury suffered over the summer and has yet to participate fully in practice. Huff is a crafty offensive player who can come in for a shift and tally a few points.

Churchill has not gotten many minutes in his career, but as a senior and the biggest body on the roster, he will be crucial in spelling Daley and providing strong defense.

The biggest concerns for this year’s team will be the lack of experience beyond the starting five and whether or not someone can step up and become a dominant one-on-one defender. Over the last two seasons, Nolan Thompson ’13 and James Jensen ’14 were able to take the other team’s best offensive player and neutralize his impact, but seeing as Brown stands at 5’10”, he is unable to defend beyond the point guard position. Sinnickson has the size and athleticism to fit the Jensen mold, but he will be relied upon so heavily to score that it might be asking for too much for him to be a shutdown defender as well. We might see some interesting lineups that could free up Daley to defend big 3’s and 4’s.

Despite the inexperience of the second half of the rotation and the defensive questions, Middlebury has enough talent to compete for a NESCAC title.

The Lord Jeffs Reign Over 2014: Stock Report 11/10

Courtesy of Amherst Athletics
Courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Maybe it was the game being played under the lights or the NESN TV camera crew, but the NESCAC season ended on a high note with Amherst claiming the undisputed NESCAC championship and Little Three championship by beating their archrival Williams.

Like so many other games, the Jeffs did not look great winning the game, but that does not really matter when you go 8-0. An early miscue put Williams up 3-0, but Amherst scored the next 17 points to gain a comfortable 17-3 lead. The Ephs managed to fight back and score a touchdown with under three minutes left to make things interesting, but Jaymie Spears ’16 recovered the onside kick to ensure the victory for the Jeffs.

In a lot of ways the game was a microcosm of the season for Amherst. They leaned heavily on their defense to come up with stops, and while Austin Lommen ’16 was able to throw for 197 yards, his two interceptions were costly for Williams. Amherst finishes the season with 17 interceptions with Jaymie Spears ’16 leading the way with six on the season and one Saturday. Max Lippe ’15 was efficient but not explosive in the passing game with Gene Garay ’15 his favorite target. Williams slowed down their running game enough which was a major reason for why the game remained close.

Looking back across the season, the Lord Jeffs were not a dominant juggernaut that ran through their schedule, but they remained perfect week after week in different ways. The one constant for Amherst was their defense. The Jeffs were the only team allow less than 10 points per game, and they were able to suffocate teams like Middlebury and Williams. But even the defense faltered a little in the biggest game of the year against Wesleyan. The Cardinals scored 30 points and had 433 total yards in the game, meaning that the offense and special teams needed to come through. And they did just that with the kicking game playing a major role in the victory

The Jeffs were a team that did just enough. They didn’t necessarily control games and finished eighth in the NESCAC in time of possession, but that defense was so good that it didn’t matter most of the time. Against Williams, Amherst only held the ball for 23:54 (less than 40% of the game). The key for the Jeffs was their 5-0 record in games decided by less than 10 points. Amherst never made a mistake that cost them the game, something that is easy to take for granted until you see things like Trinity missing a game winning field goal in the final minute. The Jeffs maintained a mentality that they would never beat themselves, and won games because their opponents struggled to do the same.

That mentality starts with no-nonsense Head Coach EJ Mills and trickles down to the senior leaders on the team Max Lippe ’15 did not play in the first three and a half games, but when called upon he showed no rust and helped to steady the offense in the second half of the year. Phillip Nwosu ’15 struggled at the beginning of the year (Check out our Stock Down section from October 6) but then was carried off the field by his teammates two weeks later after hitting four field goals including the game winner. Chris Tamasi ’15 was a terror off the edge all season tying for the league lead in sacks with five. And Ned Deane ’15, although often overshadowed by Tamasi, played equally well in the middle of the Amherst defense

Almost under the radar, Mills has created a dynasty at Amherst. Before the season we spilled a lot of ink concentrating on how Wesleyan and Trinity appeared to be close to separating themselves from the rest of the NESCAC. Amherst made that look silly. Since 2009, Amherst has collected four of the last six NESCAC titles, three of them undisputed. In 2009, 2011, and now 2014 they finished with a perfect 8-0 record. Since 2009, the Jeffs’ record is 43-5 (89.6%), and the class of 2015 goes out with a 29-3 record and three NESCAC championships.

At a time when Williams has gone through one of its worst downswings in decades, the Jeffs are riding as high as ever. Mills deserves much of the credit for that. He has built a program that is built to contend year after year. Despite playing three different quarterbacks and playing the third string running back for most of the Williams game, the depth of the Amherst program made sure the Jeffs could survive those problems. Mills has done an incredible job recruiting and 2014 was another representation of what a special coach he is.

Stock Up

Courtesy of Greg Sullivan (http://sevenstrong.net/)
Linebacker Joe Diaz ’15 breaks up a Wesleyan pass Saturday. Courtesy of Greg Sullivan (http://sevenstrong.net/)

These will be short because of time constraints, but we do want to mention some of the stars from this week.

Wesleyan Seniors: The most exciting game of the day came between Wesleyan and Trinity with the fourth quarter offering more than enough excitement to go around. Go ahead and read about the whole thing here. The ending was a sweet one for the best senior class at Wesleyan in a really long time. This class coincided with Coach Mike Whalen taking over, and he has a special connection with them. The accomplishments of Wesleyan over the past two years are numerous. Some of the most impressive are in 2013 the first Little Three title in 43 years and beating Trinity for the first time in 14 tries this season. The Cardinals were never able to complete an undefeated season, but that should not diminish their legacy.

Quarterback Matt Milano ’16 (Middlebury): The junior completed his first season as a starter in style by finding open receivers all day long. He finished with an insane 6 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and 442 yards through the air. Milano came into his own as the season went along despite some early season struggles. He has more than confirmed that he is the next in line to be remembered as a great Middlebury QB. Is it enough for him to take home NESCAC Player of the Year honors? We will release our awards and All-NESCAC team tomorrow while the official announcement will come later this week.

 Linebacker Mark Upton ’17 (Bates): Upton has been a rising star for much of the season on a really good Bates defense, and he played his best game of the season Saturday. He had 11 total tackles, a sack, two pass breakups, and a fumble recovery and return for 34 yards. The fumble recovery was his first of the season after he forced four fumbles over the course of the season. His production was incredibly steady throughout the year as he never finished a game with fewer than 8 tackles. Bates will lose a good amount of players off their defense so Upton will take on even more importance next year.

Stock Down

NESCAC Seniors: Go ahead and call us saps for doing this, but we don’t see any real reason to break down who had a tough game in the final weekend of the season. The only reason that we put NESCAC seniors here is because they unfortunately have played their last game of college football. They all played for varying reasons, but for most of them it came down to loving the game too much not to play it. We would just like to thank them for everything they have given to us over the past four years.

Mid-Season Awards – The Definitive Edition

Four weeks gone, four to go, and a whole lot of fun still to be had. The time has come to recognize a few of the players, coaches, and even teams  that have been living it up in the first half. And by living it up we mean making the NESCAC their own personal fiefdoms. Little fiefdoms where they carve up the opposition with the help of their teammates

Alright we’ll stop with the fiefdoms thing and get onto the awards.

Offensive Player of the Year: Running Back Chudi Iregbulem ’15 (Trinity)

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Courtesy of Trinity Athletics

Our preseason pick Wesleyan’s LaDarius Drew ’15 might be out for the entire season because of a foot injury, and Iregbulem has emerged from obscurity to be the clear winner at the halfway point. Well, not completely from obscurity, considering we did tab him as our dark horse contender before the year started. He ran for 137 yards in 2013, and came within three yards of that in his first game alone. He averaged “only” 84 yards the next two weeks before busting out for 184 yards and four touchdowns against Tufts on Saturday. The senior from Torrance, California waited his turn behind Evan Bunker ’14 and Ben Crick ’14 until this year. That is the way that Trinity works. They lose somebody, it’s next guy up every time. If Iregbulem keeps up his play, he will do something Bunker never did, win Offensive Player of the Year.

Consider this award also recognition for the Trinity offensive line that is the best in the league.

Also Considered: Jack Doll ’15 (Tufts), Jesse Warren ’15 (Wesleyan), Mark Riley ’16 (Bates), Alex Scyocurka ’14 (Williams), and Tyler Grant ’17 (Bowdoin)

Defensive Player of the Year: Safety Ryan Newson ’15 (Bates)

Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Courtesy of Bates Athletics

Newson is another player who has stepped into big shoes and in some ways out performed his predecessor. Andrew Kukesh ’14 was an All-NESCAC player multiple times for Bates, and the Bobcats have found a replacement just as good. Newson is one of three players to have four interceptions already, and he is also making a lot of tackles from his safety position. His 37 total tackles (24 solo) place him ninth in the league. The Bates staff knew what they had last year when they decided to move Kukesh to linebacker for  some games and get Newson on the field as much as possible. The Bates defense has played very well keeping the Bobcats in games despite their 1-3 record.

Also Considered: Jake Bussani ’14 (Wesleyan), Jaymie Spears ’16 (Amherst), Mike Stearns ’17 (Tufts), Addison Pierce ’17 (Middlebury), and Paul Johnson ’17 (Amherst)

NESCAC Rookie of the Year: Running Back Drew Jacobs ’18 (Middlebury)

Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics
Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics

Every year this is the most wide-open race, and we don’t even try to predict it before the season begins because coaches are loathe to reveal which freshmen will be big time performers before the season begins. Jacobs has lapped every other freshman in terms of production in the first half. He is seventh in the NESCAC in total rushing yards, but he really makes his mark in the receiving game as a running back. Jacobs has the fourth most yards from scrimmage in the NESCAC. He has brought some shiftiness to the Middlebury running game that has helped the offense become more balanced. This is the race most likely to change given that freshman usually see increased playing time in the second half as they gain more practice reps.

Also Considered: Reece Foy ’18 (Amherst), Drew Korn ’18 (Bates), Zach Altneu ’18 (Hamilton), Mbasa Mayikana ’18 (Colby), Bryan Vieira ’18 (Trinity), and Andrew Sisti ’18 (Bowdoin)

Special Teams Player of the Year : Kick Returner Zack Trause ’15 (Tufts)

Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics

Nobody else has been as dynamic as Trause in the open field through one half of the year. He ranks second in the nation in kickoff return average at 39.6 yards per return and third in the nation in punt return average at 22.4 yards per return.. His game of the year came against Bates when he returned both a kickoff and punt for a touchdown to propel Tufts to their exciting victory. He has come close to two other touchdowns as well with the kicker bringing him down once both against Bowdoin and then last week against Trinity. Teams might start to kick away from him given his proficiency and tendency to make teams pay every time they do.

Also Considered: Joe Mallock ’15 (Williams), Michael Dola ’15 (Middlebury), David Kurey ’15 (Bates), and Devon Carillo ’17 (Wesleyan)

Coach of the Year: Jay Civetti (Tufts)

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Courtesy of Tufts Athletics

No story has been better than Tufts in the first half of the NESCAC season. The Jumbos broke out from their 31-game losing streak with two straight wins to begin the season. Both games at home saw capacity crowds in Medford. The first win was a great moment for Tufts, but Civetti deserves more credit for turning his team around and getting them ready for their Week 2 game against Bates. That win to bring the Jumbos to 2-0 signaled that real change is afoot at Tufts. Civetti has seen a lot of losing at Tufts, and he is likely to still see a good deal more, but right now the program looks pointed in the right direction with him at the helm.

Also Considered: Mike Whalen (Wesleyan) and EJ Mills (Amherst)