“Robinson 2 Mich?” Thus read the text I received from David, my fellow grade A NESCAC basketball junkie (and current card-carrying member of the Tortured Williams Basketball Fan Society) at roughly 9:30 AM yesterday morning. Once I recovered from being awakened at such an ungodly hour, I did my best Chris Broussard impression and reached out to my other sources, in hopes of distinguishing truth from the various hysterical rumors. The most updated news I’ve found maintains that, as Duncan Robinson ’17 himself told The Wolverine, a Michigan-focused branch of Rivals.com, he is heavily leaning towards transferring, and is weighing interest from Michigan, Davidson and Creighton, all noted Division One schools. However, he will not make a decision before meeting with new Williams coach Kevin App. He has already visited Davidson and Michigan, and is planning to visit Creighton next week.
Robinson’s announcement comes on the heels of three other major stories involving Division One and NESCAC relations. Matt Hart, last year’s leading scorer left Hamilton for George Washington, Amherst was able to snag two Division One players for themselves in Jayde Dawson from Fairleigh Dickinson and Eric Conklin from Arizona (cue Lord Vader’s March). Finally and most notable in regards to the Duncan Robinson decision, Williams coach Mike Maker accepted an offer to take over the program at Marist. It seems like a safe assumption that the departure of Maker, a former assistant of Michigan coach John Beilein, was a major factor in Robinson’s decision to explore transferring. Maker’s system at Williams was heavily derived from the principles he learned under Beilein, namely a focus on ball movement and outside shooting, two things in which Robinson specializes. Throw in the personal connection between Beilein and Maker, and it becomes clear that Maker’s departure set up that of Robinson, and possibly Michigan’s interest in him. Robinson is first visiting Davidson this weekend and Michigan early next week.
There will be no shortage of speculation over the next week or so as to where Robinson will choose to go, and how he will fair, but the effects that his departure will have on the NESCAC if he does indeed transfer are equally intriguing, and that is what I would prefer to focus on, at least until there is a concrete place for that speculation to center on. In the short term, Robinson’s departure creates a fascinating paradox in NESCAC. On the one hand, it creates what appears to be a top two in the league. Amherst will be in the mix as usual, with the Division One players joining talented junior Connor Green ’16 and rising sophomore David George ’17. The newcomer to the upper crust would be Tufts, with an experienced returning class, including last year’s Rookie of the Year (non-Robinson division) Hunter Sabety and the possible return from a year off of 2012-2013 NESCAC Rookie of the Year Tom Palleschi ’16.
Yet, Robinson’s departure also greatly opens up the league, with teams like Middlebury, Bowdoin, Colby, and Trinity all having somewhat equal chances to contend for the spot at the top that Williams will presumably forfeit. And, even Amherst, with lots of unproven commodities, and Tufts, who were only 13-12 last year, could lose their presumed spots at the top to one of the younger, upstart teams that were previously swallowed by the Williams-Amherst juggernaut. The idea of a NESCAC top three without Williams is hard to fathom for those of us who have followed NESCAC basketball over the last ten years, but it seems like it could be the case next season, and possibly for the next few years as Coach App tries to launch his program without its wings. A good amount of talent including Dan Wohl ’15, Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15, Mike Greenman ’17, and Dan Aronowitz ’17 will return to Williams no matter what Robinson decides, but the amount of talent they lose is huge. Besides Robinson, Michael Mayer ’14 and Taylor Epley ’14 were the first and third leading scorers respectively and both have graduated.
The long-term ramifications of Robinson’s move are naturally more difficult to project. However, depending on his success in Division One (if he does indeed choose to transfer), we could see a continuation of the high levels of Division One-Division Three interaction we’ve seen this offseason. This would hopefully benefit both leagues, with players ideally transferring back and forth, as Division One teams see the value of Division Three players, and Division One players who aren’t stars opt for the playing time and better educational experience that Division Three schools can offer. However, this could also increase the level of shady recruiting tactics. Regardless, this is an incredible opportunity for Robinson to play at a Division 1 level.
This will certainly not be the last piece we post about Duncan Robinson this year. In fact, it probably won’t be the last one this week (Editors Note: It won’t. Expect another article after Robinson makes his decision). But wherever he ends up, his progress and the effects it has on NESCAC will be fascinating to follow and cover, and all NESCAC fans should be rooting for him at his new home. Unless, of course, he somehow ends up at Amherst.
Jeff Brown was kind enough to sit down with one of our contributors, Peter Lindholm, and give us his take on some major news in the NESCAC as well as an update on how the summer is going for his Panthers team.
Peter Lindholm: Obviously, the major news in the NESCAC lately is Mike Maker’s departure from Williams for Marist? What made Coach Maker so successful at Williams?
Jeff Brown: Well, he sort of has a unique offensive scheme and he does a very good job of adjusting and tweaking to the talent base that he has. His time at Williams has been truly very special and so successful in so many ways, and that speaks to both the talent level that he had at Williams and his ability to organize them and really play some great basketball.
PL: What does his departure mean for Middlebury, and the NESCAC power dynamic in general?
JB: You know, I don’t think it changes a great deal. Williams has had an unbelievable history in NESCAC basketball, I’ve been in the league 20 years and I don’t believe they’ve had a sub-.500 season in the last 20 years, and they’ve had tremendous coaching with Coaches Sheehy, Paulson and Maker. I’m sure they’re going to have a great hire, and continue to be a team that challenges for NESCAC titles and titles on the national stage
PL: As another very successful NESCAC coach, you must have had D1 offers at schools like Marist. What made you choose to remain in NESCAC?
JB: It really starts with being at Middlebury, a great institution. I think a subtle difference between Coach Maker and myself is that he spent the bulk of his time within Division 1, whereas I’ve been a NESCAC coach for 20 years. I’ve just really settled in, I’m very comfortable working with the student athletes on this campus, and in this level. Coach Maker spent six years at Williams, but before that had a good 15-18 years on the D1 level. So we probably just have different goals, in terms of him trying to climb the Division 1 ladder.
PL: In keeping with this D1-NESCAC theme, what are your thoughts on the Amherst transfers? Does Middlebury ever battle for former D1 players?
JB: I really don’t know that much about the two players attending Amherst next year, but transfers have crept into the NESCAC in the past. I know that we even fielded several calls from candidates looking to come down from D1. Unfortunately for us, they came at a period where transfer applications were closed here, so we weren’t able to explore those opportunities. But it’s really at an epidemic level in terms of Division 1. Every year it seems, more and more d1 players are looking to transfer within D1, or transfer down to D2 or D3.
PL: Shifting gears now, how is the summer progressing for you and the Panthers?
JB: It’s going well. We’re sort of at the early stage of the recruiting, it really picks up at the end of this month and throughout July. [Assistant] Coach [Kyle] Dudley has been out at several different events, and I’ve covered a couple of events. We tend to target some of the academic based opportunities, such as camps at Ivy League schools and AAU tournaments, and some camps are really targeted for academic-minded students.
PL: How is the freshman class shaping up? Are Jack Daly and Nick Tarantino still the standouts?
JB: Well, we have a class of four, and along with Tarantino and Daly, we have Adisa Majors from NYC, and Jack Gale from San Francisco. We like the class. I’m really guarded with making projections, just because I like our returning cast so much, and think very highly of them as players. So I don’t know how much the newcomers will fit initially into our program, but they definitely give us some pieces to build on for the future.
PL: Well, that’s what I got, thanks again and good luck.
Editors Note: This article was co-written by editors Joe MacDonald and Adam Lamont
The news that Williams coach Mike Maker had formally accepted the head coaching position at Division 1 Marist came as little surprise to those familiar with Maker’s background and coaching ability. Maker spent years in the Division 1 coaching ranks as an assistant at places like Creighton and West Virginia before becoming a first-time head coach at Williams over six years ago. When Williams hired him they most likely understood that Maker did not view Williams as his final coaching job. Maker said as much when in his introductory news conference he described how the Marist job was the fulfillment of a longtime dream of his to be a head coach at the Division 1 level. Maker did not have the deep rooted connections of someone like Amherst’s David Hixon, who graduated from Amherst in 1978, to keep him from moving onto a greater professional opportunity. That does not mean, however, that his decision to leave was an easy one. Talking about saying goodbye to his Williams players, Maker visibly breaks down in a very touching and genuine moment starting at the 2:05 mark.
During his six seasons at Williams, Maker was known as much for his great basketball mind as his kind and generous nature, and led the perennially successful Ephs program to perhaps its greatest stretch of basketball in history. In the 2006-2007, the season before Maker became head coach, Williams went 4-5 in the NESCAC, 17-8 overall, and lost by 37 points to Middlebury in the NESCAC tournament quarterfinals. In just his second year Maker lead the Ephs to a 9-0 regular season NESCAC record, 30-2 overall record, a NESCAC tournament championship, and a national championship game appearance. Since that 2008-2009 season, Williams has barely wavered in being a threat to win the NESCAC and national title every year. Over six years Maker went 147-32 for an .821 winning percentage, the highest of any Williams head coach. Of course Williams returned again to the national championship this year losing in heart-breaking fashion to Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Even Maker himself has a hard time believing the level that Williams reached during his tenure. “What we achieved was beyond my wildest imagination,” Maker said.
Winning a national championship was really the only thing Maker had to prove as head coach at the Division 3 level, and considering how close he got, even that would not have changed the perception of his abilities very much
Maker’s teams played an uptempo, aesthetically-pleasing style of basketball that saw them routinely approach 100 points a game. The ultimate testimony to how devastating Williams could be when running Maker’s offense to perfection came in the national semifinals this year when Williams ran Amherst off the floor in a 98-69 victory. The Ephs shot 63 percent, had 24 assists on 38 field goals, and scored 51 of their 98 points in the paint. That loss put Williams back on top of the rivalry after Amherst had an eight-game winning streak against Williams entering that game.
The win was another validation of both the style of play and type of basketball player that Maker brought to Williamstown. Guys like Michael Mayer ’14 from North Carolina and James Wang ’12 from Australia were stars for Maker that might not have come to Williams if not for Maker’s ability to cast such a wide net in recruiting. In fact, the 2013-2014 Williams team had only two players who hailed from the same state; Massachusetts is the home of Ryan Kilcullen ’15 and Greg Payton ’14. That is an incredible achievement given how Williams is in a small remote town and is not a college familiar to most basketball communities around the country. Maker leaves Williams with the basketball program in a great place given the quality of students he has had play for him.
So what now for Williams? Unlike in Division 1, a head coaching change does not automatically lead to a mass exodus of the players as is often the case at top-flight programs. But that doesn’t mean the danger isn’t there. Duncan Robinson ’17, reigning National Rookie of the Year, would certainly have some suitors if he was interested in moving, and Maker recruited a talented, guard-heavy 2018 class (note that this is entirely speculation, there has been no indication that any current or future members of the Williams team is considering leaving Williamstown). Of course, the Ephs are losing a great deal of production with this year’s class of departing seniors, but if all of the underclassmen return, as expected, Williams will still have the potential to compete for and win a NESCAC title.
The search for Williams’ next men’s head basketball coach has likely already begun. There are a handful of Williams’ graduates in the coaching ranks. Mike Crotty ’04 currently runs the very successful Middlesex Magic AAU program. Kevin Snyder ’09 just finished his first year as the manager of basketball operations for the Bucknell Bison under former Williams’ head coach Dave Paulsen, one of the only other coaches to make the D-III-to-D-I jump in recent years. Harlan Dodson ’11 is currently an assistant football/basketball coach at the New Hampton School, a New England prep school power house.
However, it’s unlikely that any of these Eph alums have the track record at this point to warrant the head coaching job. Lisa Melendy became the full-time athletic director at Williams in April, 2011. She hasn’t had to make many head coach hirings yet, so Ephs’ fans and players don’t know what to expect in terms of what she will require from candidates.
But Williams has to be one of the most desirable locations in Division 3 basketball, not least because of the deep roster that the next head coach will inherit. Maker said as much last week; “It’s an attractive job because of the players — who they are, how they play, the incredible things they accomplish during their time at Williams and after.”
Of course, the academic requirements of Williams and the rest of the NESCAC shrink the prospective recruiting pool somewhat, but that plays both ways, as a first class academic reputation is often the difference for players choosing where to play college basketball.
Regardless of who takes over for the 2014-15 season, Williams will be dangerous. Congratulations to Coach Maker on his move to Division 1. He certainly left the Williams program in a better place than he found it.
The school year is almost over, and next year’s recruiting classes are finalized, barring any last minute surprises. Nick Tarantino, Middlebury class of 2018, visited campus recently for the school’s Preview Days, spending the night on campus and attending class. He was kind of enough to find a few minutes to sit down and talk with me at lunch. Tarantino is a 6’7″ PF out of BB&N in Cambridge, Mass, who brings a long wingspan, intense defense, and a versatile offensive game to the floor. Tarantino will be part of a recruiting class replacing Middlebury’s successful 2014 class that featured PG Joey Kizel, SF/PF James Jensen, C Jack Roberts and G Nate Bulluck.
Joe MacDonald: What’s basketball like at BB&N?
Nick Tarantino: When I initially was recruited there it was totally a football school. The basketball program was kind of in shambles. The basketball team was all football players. They were athletic but they weren’t really skilled. I came in my sophomore year, and we improved each year, and this year, my senior year, we had the best year in school history. We had 20 wins, we beat the number one seed in the playoffs. Our coach got his 500th career win. It was just an awesome season. It was kind of awesome to just build your own program.
JM: What’s the best memory of your BB&N career?
NT: Getting that playoff win this year vs. Choate. They had so many great players, highly-touted, and we beat them in their place.
JM: Have you played AAU basketball?
NT: I’ve played for the Boston Warriors since 8th grade.
JM: How does that compare to basketball at BB&N?
NT: It’s a lot different, because you’re playing with city kids some times, you’re playing with public school kids, which is very different than playing prep basketball. Much more fast-paced, more scrappy, but it improves you as a player overall, just seeing the different styles. And then just the travel, you get more exposure. You get to play around the country.
JM: What was the recruiting process like for you?
NT: Basically, at the end of my junior year colleges started contacting me, and all through AAU season, more and more colleges contacted me. There were a lot of D-III colleges, but I really was looking for a high academic school like Middlebury, so I kind of narrowed it down to the NESCAC schools and WPI. Middlebury, actually, didn’t come in until very late, mid-August, maybe. As soon as Coach Brown contacted me I wanted to come up and do a visit because I had heard so much about this school and about the basketball program. When I came up I loved it.
JM: Was there a moment when you knew Middlebury was right for you?
NT: I just think the overnight visit. Just getting to know the team, and just getting to hear how the guys loved it here.
JM: How did you get along with the guys on the team?
NT: I’ve met the freshmen [class of 2017] guys. That’s pretty much it. But they all seem really nice. And I’ve seen a couple games and they seem to have a really talented group of seniors [class of 2015] coming back next year. I’m really excited for it.
JM: What do you think about the level of player here as opposed to at BB&N or in AAU?
NT: It’s totally different. The speed of the game and the size. I would most definitely be a center in any high school league and here I could probably play power forward, and there’s some schools, like Amherst and Williams, that have guards my size.
JM: How do you feel about Coach Jeff Brown?
NT: He’s awesome. I’ve heard so many great things about him. I’m just so excited to play next winter for him.
JM: Have you competed against any other NESCAC players in high school or AAU?
NT: Yeah, a ton of kids. Conn College has a huge freshman class coming in. They kind of have a pipeline with the Middlesex Magic [a rival AAU program]. The MVP of my league is going there, Aaron Swanson. A kid from Choate is going there. A kid who was on my AAU team is going there.
JM: Are you looking forward to continuing some of those rivalries?
NT: Oh yeah, definitely. Not just rivalries, but I just like competing against those guys. They’re great people, I don’t dislike them or anything, but it’s always fun to have competition.
JM: How would you describe yourself as a player?
NT: I think I’m unselfish for the most part, sometimes a little too much. I’m willing to give it all for my teammates, sell out my body, take charges, grab rebounds. The team definitely comes first. I don’t even look at the stat book after the game. As long as the scoreboard favors us, I don’t care.
JM: How do you see yourself fitting into the team on the floor?
NT: I can play inside-out, so I’ll give the team some great spacing. I think I can defend the 4 and 5 spot for the most part. If I get quicker, maybe the 3, but I’m still a little ways away from that. If I get quicker laterally.
JM: Would you compare yourself to James Jensen defensively?
NT: I would love to be able to do what he did. That would be awesome. He was a great player. He kind of reminded me of Shawn Marion almost with those long arms and being able to cover 1-5.
JM: Who’s going to win the NBA Championship?
NT: I’m gonna go with the Spurs. They have the best coach in the NBA and that’s how you win. It’s all strategy, it’s all the grinding, the halfcourt offense, the halfcourt defense. I mean it’s fun to watch teams like the Thunder and the Clippers and the Heat because they’re up-tempo, but that doesn’t always pull it out in the playoffs. You saw that three years ago when Dallas beat Miami in the championship.
Thanks again to Nick Tarantino for sitting down with us, and best of luck next season.
Full Disclosure: I was not able to watch any of Amherst-Williams game on Friday night and only caught the end of the National Championship game because I was travelling. Highlights of the championship game can be found here. Highlights of the semifinal between Amherst and Williams can be found here. As such I can’t write an in-depth breakdown of the games this weekend. This post focuses instead on the bigger picture that emerges as we enter the basketball offseason.
An incredibly entertaining National Championship ended with a flourish that unfortunately left Williams on the short end of a great game. Michael Mayer’s putback of a Duncan Robinson shot with four seconds left put Williams up one before Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Quardell Young raced up the court for the winning layup with under a second left. Obviously it was a tough loss for Williams, but the Ephs’ can take solace in knowing how well they played both in the championship game and in the tournament overall. Their blowout victory Friday night over Amherst was shocking in its dominance even if some saw a Williams victory coming because of how they were playing entering the weekend. Williams’ victory over Amherst means they have taken the proverbial crown denoting the NESCAC’s top dog away, for now, from the Jeffs.
The Analogies
I thought of two analogies after Williams’ victory Friday night, but their imperfections were made even more glaring after the loss Saturday. Nevertheless, because I love extended analogies, here goes nothing. Allow me to indulge here and tease out the parallels between the Amherst-Williams rivalry for the last two years and medieval Europe. Amherst is led by King Toomey and supported by his feudal lords David Kalema, Tom Killian, and Connor Green. Williams is a rival house that enjoys considerable influence, but has been defeated many times. The leaders of Williams are Duke Taylor Epley and Earl Michael Mayer. They know that they need something else to overcome Amherst so they promise a foreigner, Baron Duncan Robinson, the crown if he gives Williams his support. The game Friday night was the final climactic battle where Williams vanquishes Amherst. Toomey is exiled because of his graduation and the new king Duncan Robinson claims lordship over the NESCAC basketball kingdom. By no means a perfect or exact analogy, but an entertaining one, at least to me.
A more relatable sports analogy to Friday night’s game is the SEC football championship game between Florida (Amherst) and Alabama (Williams) in 2009. The year before Florida won the SEC championship game before going on to win their second national championship in three years. In 2009, both teams returned undefeated entering the game. This time Alabama pulled away in the second half with a Tebow interception in the end zone putting any hope of a comeback to sleep. Alabama had broken through, winning that National Championship and then winning again in 2011 and 2012. Both teams were supremely talented, and entering the 2009 championship game many thought Tebow would be able to will his team to victory. Toomey is quarterback Tim Tebow as the team leader who gets all the press and accolades, David Kalema is wide receiver Percy Harvin as the quick and athletic play-maker, and Tom Killian is tight end Aaron Hernandez as the Swiss army knife capable of filling all sorts of roles. Duncan Robinson is running back Trent Richardson as the supremely talented freshman who helps put the team over the top, Taylor Epley is running back Mark Ingram as the veteran player who has the moxie and ability to make all the plays, and Michael Mayer is linebacker Rolando McClain as the leader in the middle that makes everything work. Here’s hoping that these comparisons, particularly in reference to Killian and McClain, only go so far as the field.
Saying Goodbye:
The 2014 class was loaded with multiple All-Americans and talented players at different positions and schools around the NESCAC. Still, any conversation about the 2014 class has to center on Aaron Toomey. Toomey’s final performance is a disappointing end to what has been an unbelievable career. He is quite simply everything you could want in a Division 3 point guard. He combines elite shooting, court vision, basketball IQ, ball handling and leadership. Entering this year, some argued that he was a tad overrated and Amherst wouldn’t be able to repeat their success because of how much Amherst had lost from the 2013 senior class. This season destroyed any notion that he could be considered overrated given his statistics and Amherst’s record. Toomey’s career was a masterpiece to watch, despite how it ended. There are no bigger shoes to be filled next season than his.
The depth of this senior class was of the highest caliber, and probably deserves its own post. Toomey’s teammates David Kalema and Tom Killian improved every year while at Amherst to become two of the best players in the league. Williams’ senior duo of Taylor Epley and Michael Mayer enjoyed enormous success all four years. Mayer will go down as a dominant center that had skill and size not often seen in Division 3. Middlebury’s class, led by Joey Kizel, helped elevate Middlebury’s program to even greater heights. Kizel was unfortunately overshadowed by Toomey for much of his career, but his penchant for making big shots and will to win made for a great career. Though Kizel headlined the group, center Jack Roberts developed into one of the league’s best post defenders, and swingman James Jensen provided high energy every time he was on the floor and often gamely tackled the opponent’s toughest defensive match-up. Bowdoin’s trio of Andrew Madlinger, Matt Mathias, and Grant White led the Polar Bears back to the NCAA tournament. Tufts’ Kwame Firempong and Bates’ Luke Matarazzo were scoring guards and underrated players throughout their careers. Conn College’s Matt Vadas was a scoring machine throughout his career, and his teammate center Mason Lopez enjoyed a great senior season. Though there is a ton of talent coming back next year around the league for what should be a very entertaining and wide-open season, the 2014 senior class was an exceptional one that will be greatly missed.
Ultimately, the Williams-Amherst rivalry defined the 2013-2014 NESCAC season. Of course there were many other storylines like Bowdoin’s first NCAA tourney bid since 2009, the rise of young teams like Colby and Trinity, and Middlebury’s rollercoaster ride. Yet all of that is secondary to what the two teams from Western Massachusetts accomplished. The teams combined to go 18-2 in NESCAC play, faced off for the NESCAC championship, and both made the Final Four in the NCAA’s. These are two of the best programs in all of Division 3, and they proved it again this year. The jobs that Coach Mike Maker and Coach David Hixon did this year were exceptional, and to their credit what we have come to expect. Williams ended up just short of the absolute goal of a national championship, but that doesn’t diminish what the two teams achieved this season.
This post was written by Joe MacDonald, with substantial help and revisions from Adam Lamont.
It’s not often that two college basketball teams, from any division, meet four times in a single season. But that’s exactly what will transpire later tonight at 8:30 in Salem, Virginia, the site of the NCAA D-III Final Four. Amherst and Williams, the NESCAC’s two premier men’s basketball programs, will match up with a chance to play for a national title.
The History:
Over the past four seasons, Amherst and Williams have played 11 games. Each year, the schools schedule just one meeting in addition to their requisite conference game, but somehow these two seem to find one another come postseason play. Amherst has won eight of those 11 games, including the last seven and all three this season. The Lord Jeffs’ have outscored Williams by 5.5 points per game over that span, and this season have registered victories by 11, 12 and 11 points. The two regular season games were comfortable victories for Amherst, but the NESCAC championship game was close until Amherst pulled away at the end. To the Ephs’ credit, the only NCAA Tournament meeting went in Williams’ favor, 77-71, in the 2011 Elite Eight.
In that 2011 Tournament meeting, Williams’ Taylor Epley and Hayden Rooke-Ley played a total of 27 minutes, one more than Amherst’s Aaron Toomey’s 26. So besides Toomey, the players in this year’s rendition will be far different than those who met in 2011.
Combined, Amherst and Williams have won 11 of 14 NESCAC championships and three national titles, the most recent coming last year when Amherst garnered the crown. Over the past four years, the two schools have combined for seven 20-win seasons, going 197-32 (.860) overall. Since 2010, the Ephs and Jeffs have earned 14 All-Conference selections, one NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, two NESCAC Rookie of the Years and three NESCAC Player of the Years. Both have extraordinary senior classes who have made this rivalry incredible to watch for the last four years. The two most storied programs in the NESCAC will be on the floor on the national stage tonight.
Amherst is two wins away from back-to-back championships
The Players:
The match ups in this game are ridiculous at every position. The amazing thing is that despite there being five senior starters among the two teams, it is likely none of them guard each other. From Amherst’s emerging freshman center David George against All-American Michael Mayer to Williams’ NESCAC Rookie of the Year Duncan Robinson against arguably the best perimeter defender in the NESCAC, Tom Killian, each match up holds intrigue.
Any discussion about Amherst over the past four seasons has dealt heavily with All-American point guard Aaron Toomey. Toomey is the program’s leading scorer with 2,030 points, more than 300 points ahead of second-place. Furthermore, Toomey has made more free throws and three-pointers than any Jeff in history. This season, Toomey has set career highs with 20.5 points per game and 6.4 assists per game, which ranks 10th nationally, as well as field goal percentage (47.2%) and three-point percentage (40.6%). For all those numbers his value extends much further as his ability to absolutely control the pace and rhythm of games is unmatched in D-III basketball. It’s hard to overstate the value of a senior captain who plays 34.5 minutes per game, and the amount of awards that Toomey has collected merely hint at his value. He is the back-to-back NESCAC Player of the Year, the reigning National Player of the Year, a two-time NABC first-team All-American, and former NESCAC Rookie of the Year. Toomey could be the best player in Jeffs history which is very impressive given the caliber of players Amherst has had over the years.
Toomey runs the show, but his supporting cast is excellent. Seniors David Kalema and Tom Killian have improved every year at Amherst to become vital cogs for the Jeffs. Kalema isn’t the floor general Toomey is, but he works as a perfect complement as a slasher and three point shooter averaging 12.7 points per game. Meanwhile, if the NESCAC had a Most Improved Player award, senior Tom Killian would be one of the front runners. The rangy swingman has added muscle to his frame to help him finish at the rim, and he is another above average three-point shooter, a crucial component of Amherst’s offense. The two seniors most valuable contributions might actually be on the defensive end. They guard the best offensive threats the other team has as well as generating steals and easy buckets that change the flow of games in a hurry.
The other two important players for Amherst are Connor Green and David George. Green is a streaky scorer who makes Amherst unstoppable when he is playing well, but he could also throw up a 1-10 shooting night. George is the more intriguing player in this game as he was the backup center this year until sophomore Ben Pollack went down with a season-ending injury. Since then George has come into his own offensively and defensively. His potential is enormous on both ends, but for this game his most important contributions will come on defense.
On the other side, Williams trots out its own All-American, center Michael Mayer. Mayer began his career behind a couple of nationally-recognized big men, and was overshadowed by classmates Epley and Rooke-Ley as a freshman. As a sophomore, Mayer played big minutes, but still only started in two games. But ever since the start of the 2012 season, Mayer has become one of the best big men in D-III. Mayer racked up 17.5 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game as a junior, when he earned D3Hoops.com Third-Team All-American honors, and improved those numbers to 18.2 and 8.9 this season. Mayer is special, too, because he combines great passing (2.3 assists per game between 2012-14) with unstoppable post moves.
Mayer’s classmate, Epley, has been a standout since day one for the Ephs, registering 1,433 points (ninth in program history) in his career. During their freshman season, it appeared that Epley and Rooke-Ley would lead the Ephs for years to come, but injuries have derailed Rooke-Ley’s career to the extent that he’s played just 42 games over the last three years, and missed all of 2012-13 because of injury, for which he was awarded a medical red shirt. When he’s been healthy this season, Rooke-Ley has shown why he’s so dangerous. A 50 percent shooter, the guard averaged 11.1 points per game and 2.0 assists, and he has been a great lift coming off the bench in the second half of this season. The player who sometimes gets lost in the shuffle for Williams is junior guard Daniel Wohl, a more defense first presence who will be matched up with Kalema when he is in the game, but could see limited minutes in this game because of how well both point guards Rooke-Ley and Mike Greenman have been playing.
The Ephs would not be where they are today, despite the level of experience on their roster, without their freshman class headlined by NESCAC Rookie of the Year Robinson. The 6’7” swing man has point guard handles but power forward size. He’s incredibly efficient (55 FG%, 44.6 3PT%) and fills up the stat sheet almost every night (6.7 rebounds per game, 1.9 assists per game, 1.2 blocks per game). He’s been showered with praise by analysts and coaches around the league, and odds are he finishes his career with at least one NESCAC Player of the Year award. The other freshman are point guard Mike Greenman and shooting guard Dan Aronowitz. Greenman has come into his own since injuries to Rooke-Ley provided an opportunity earlier in the season. The diminutive point guard has earned a reputation for his fearlessness hitting big shots for the Ephs in the NESCAC tournament. Aronowitz has seen his minutes squeezed because of others’ return from injuries, but was a starter for some games earlier in the year.
The Match Up:
With Amherst having topped Williams by double digits in every meeting this year, the odds have to be in the Jeffs’ favor. Still, Williams is playing its best basketball all season with an offense that has been unstoppable in the tournament. It’s been mostly the supporting casts doing the heavy lifting for both teams in their head-to-head games so far this season. Toomey has averaged 12.3 points per game in the three meetings this season. Robinson scored 12 and 9 before exploding for 26 in the NESCAC championship in a losing effort. Mayer has averaged 17.3 points, but only tallied 10 in the NESCAC title game. Epley has had the most curious season of all the Ephs in the rivalry, scoring 15 and 16 but also notching a goose egg on January 22nd.
How can Williams finally overcome Amherst?
In short, get the ball out of Toomey’s hands early, which is, of course, easier said than done. Despite not putting up big points in the three meetings this season, Toomey has tallied double digit assists twice. The Ephs like to switch up defenses throughout the game, which could backfire if they allow Toomey to penetrate the zone and kick to the Jeffs’ shooters. When in man-to-man, guards Greenman, Daniel Wohl and Rooke-Ley need to focus on the defensive end and pressure Toomey beyond the three-point line without getting beat off the dribble. The majority of the Ephs’ scoring should fall to the front court between Mayer, Robinson and Epley. The Ephs should look to run the offense through Mayer, both on the block and at the elbow. He has to attack early to try to get George into foul trouble because Pollack’s injury robs Amherst of their frontcourt depth. If George gets into foul trouble, Amherst’s Joseph Mussachia or whoever comes in to guard Mayer will need constant help, so Mayer will be able to find Epley and Robinson for open shots. As a team, the Jeffs hit 15 threes in the NESCAC championship game, and shot right around 50 percent from the field over the three meetings. Don’t expect the moment to get to Amherst and for them to stop launching and making threes at a prolific rate. Bottom line, Williams’ defense especially on the perimeter has to be better.
Prediction: Amherst 89, Williams 85 (OT)
Both of these teams are offensive-minded, which was obvious in the NESCAC title game when the squads combined for 175 points. Beating a team as talented as Williams four times in a row is really hard, but you have to how Amherst plays against Williams, no matter how much either side schemes to stop the other. I see Williams keeping it closer than in previous meetings, but Toomey and the reigning champs will not be denied, and will move on to the title game on Saturday.
Middlebury’s prospects for the 2014 season were dealt a serious blow last week when both Hunter Merryman ’15 and Dylan Sinnickson ’15 decided not to play. The pair of swingmen for the basketball team was given a weeklong grace period after basketball suffered a NESCAC tournament loss during the first weekend of March. However, both were expected at practice on Monday, March 10. But Merryman’s decision was made clear when he didn’t show up that afternoon. Sinnickson seemed much more on the fence, coming to two practices before calling it quits. Sinnickson, having missed the 2012-13 basketball season due to injury, practiced with the baseball team all of last winter, which paid off in a second team All-NESCAC performance in 2013.
The two players tied for the team lead in hitting last year at .379, with Sinnickson additionally leading the team in steals, slugging percentage and on base percentage. He provided a powerful presence in the top third of the order for a team largely devoid of home run threats. He also provided breathtaking athleticism on the base paths and in the outfield, running down fly balls that would have been sure doubles had the centerfielder been fully human. Often his speed made up for bad jumps on the bases and mediocre breaks on fly balls. Merryman joined the team after its spring break trip to Arizona last year, after traveling with the basketball team to Salem, Virginia for the NCAA Elite Eight, but immediately proved he belonged. The ability to step in with so little practice and rake like he did is a very rare quality, and Merryman possessed that gift. He and Sinnickson seemed poised to make up a 3-4 punch this season that would rival the NESCAC powerhouses. Both cited the grind of the basketball season as the determining factor in their decision.
That begs the obvious question; how does Middlebury go about recovering from losing their two best hitters in a three-day span? How do they replace those key cogs in the machine? The short answer is, they can’t, at least not right away. Sinnickson and Merryman were too important, and the players who will be vying for the spots are too young for it to be a fair expectation. However, there is potential there. Freshmen Ryan Rizzo and Mike Yang will get the first shots at the outfield spots vacated by Sinnickson and departed captain Tom Driscoll ’13. Rizzo is another athletic specimen and two-sport player (he’s a wide receiver on the football team in the fall), and Yang also brings above-average speed. The two frosh have been among the most consistent hitters during spring intrasquad scrimmages, and optimism for their futures is high. The corner infield spots, one of which Merryman occupied in 2013, will go to Johnny Luke and Joe MacDonald, two returning sophomores. Both players have potential and have hit well in the pre-season, but will need to make major strides offensively in real games to even hope of replacing the production of Merryman. Furthermore, another promising freshman looks to factor into the mix, as California-native Jason Lock hopes to garner some at bats at 1B or DH. Lock could be the best power bat on the roster right now, but, as most freshmen do, will need to refine his approach before taking on a major role in the offense.
The loss of these two stars is a possibly devastating blow, something that no other NESCAC club has had to deal with. On paper, it seems to doom the Panthers’ season, with no hope of a full recovery. But, to use a cliché, that’s why they play the game.
