The 2014-15 NESCAC men’s basketball season was marked by parity and unpredictability. But through it all, a few players played exceptionally well all season long. As Wesleyan showed in their title run, the five best individual players do not always make up the best team (not a dig at Wesleyan, who is filled with talented and hard-nosed basketball players), but I think any team in Division-III would be hard-pressed to compete with this NESCAC All-Star squad.
NbN Player of the Year: G Lucas Hausman ’16
NbN Defensive Player of the Year: C John Swords ’15
NbN Rookie of the Year: G Johnny McCarthy ’18
NbN Coach of the Year: Joe Reilly, Wesleyan
NbN First Team All-NESCAC
G Graham Safford ’15
Safford gets the nod over some other deserving point guards for his durability and leadership of a Bates team that will be playing in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the age old debate – should Most Valuable Player (or All-Conference) awards go to the best overall player or the best player on the best team? In this case, Safford does get a little benefit of the doubt for his team’s success, but no one else played close to the minutes that Safford played, and the senior leader kept up the intensity on both ends of the court all season long, leading the Bobcats to the second-most wins in school history (20 in 2005-06 under, you guessed it, Wesleyan head coach Joe Reilly) and the second NCAA Tournament in school history (Bates played in the 1961 NCAA Men’s College Division Tournament, now Division-II).
G Lucas Hausman ’16
Hausman went from solid upstart to our NESCAC Player of the Year in a short period of time. While winning three straight NESCAC Player of the Week awards, the first time that feat has been accomplished in NESCAC history, Hausman averaged 27.8 points per game while shooting 57.3 percent (63-110) from the field and maintaining near perfection from the charity stripe (83.3 percent, 30-36). Hausman has a unique ability to draw contact in the lane and finish shots off balance. Hausman finished the season as the scoring champion by a wide margin in conference games, and did it while shooting nearly 50 percent overall, helping carry a squad that suffered some critical injuries all the way to the Pool C bubble. Unfortunately, Bowdoin missed out on the NCAA Tournament. Fortunately, though, the NESCAC has one more year to enjoy watching Hausman play. Or unfortunately, if you’re an opposing coach.
F Dan Wohl ’15
Wohl was the POY favorite before Hausman caught fire, but nonetheless the senior put up a great campaign. Wohl was the fourth-leading scorer on the NCAA runner-up squad a year ago, but took on a lot more responsibility this season and responded incredibly well. As a case study of Wohl’s versatility – Wohl had a tough day from the field in the Ephs’ Quarterfinal loss to Bowdoin, yet the senior racked up 10 boards and seven assists against just a single turnover. Wohl also rebounded the ball extremely well and presented one of the toughest defensive challenges for opposing players in the league. His athleticism and length allowed Wohl to shutdown opposing team’s 2-4’s. For example, Wohl shut down Second-Teamer Dylan Sinnickson ’15 in Williams’ matchup with the Panthers to the tune of a 3-11 FG performance and 0-4 from deep. It may be even tougher for Williams to replace this year’s class of Wohl, Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 than last year’s, if that’s even imaginable.
F Connor Green ’16
Green came into the NESCAC’s final weekend as possibly hotter than Hausman, but hit a serious road block against Bowdoin and Wesleyan. Give those teams credit for forcing Green into tough shots and long threes, attempts that at other times Green seemed to hit as easily as lay ups. When you talk about guys that can score in different ways, Green is tops on the list. He handles the ball like a point guard, though he stands 6′ 4″, and his 200+ lbs. frame means that he can bully most defenders and is unaffected by contact inside. Not to mention his 48.2 three-point percentage in NESCAC games. Green is already comfortably a part of Amherst’s 1,000 point club, and if he stays healthy could find himself as the second-highest scorer in Amherst history by the time his career ends.
C John Swords ’15
Swords was the only member of the 2014 All-NESCAC First Team to return to the league this season, and his play warrants another nomination to the All-NESCAC team. We were concerned by the health of Swords’ knees when the season began, and even though he was less than 100 percent all season long, Swords played more than 30 minutes per game and discouraged teams from entering the paint all year. Swords grabbed 9.8 rebounds and tossed 2.1 blocks per game while putting up productive, if unspectacular numbers from the field. Swords scored “only” 12.9 points per game, but he did do it on 69.0 percent shooting, the fourth-highest mark in the NCAA as of March 1 among qualified players.
NbN Second Team All-NESCAC
G Joseph Lin ’15
If we were giving out the award, Lin would easily be the NESCAC’s Most Improved Player. Despite a late season injury that cut his campaign short, Lin was among the best distributors in the league on a team that we didn’t expect would have a ton of great shooters. Lin was in the top-ten nationally in assists per game, slightly ahead of Safford and Middlebury’s Jake Brown ’17, while also shooting for a better percentage from the field than either player.
G Luke Westman ’16
Two point guards make our All-NESCAC Second Team, but there should be no complaining as Westman was equally as impressive as Lin. Westman’s 73.2 percent from the field is basically unheard of from a guard, even though he just barely missed the cut to qualify for NCAA statistics (five made field goals per game). Westman is one of the most athletic guards in the NESCAC. He will return next year to lead inarguably the most talented class of rising seniors in the league.
F Dylan Sinnickson ’15
Sinnickson looked like a lock for All-NESCAC First Team consideration for much of the season, but his scoring took a major hit in conference games. Nonetheless his ability to grab rebounds (10.5 per game) was a difference-maker for a Middlebury team that lacked any consistency from its big men. Remember the name, because Sinnickson has one more year of NCAA eligibility, and there’s a better than 50-50 chance that the athletic swingman will be on the court for another NCAA college next season.
F Tom Palleschi ’17
Palleschi was a wild card coming into this season after missing all of 2013-14, but the reclassified sophomore didn’t miss a beat and improved on his statistics from his freshman year campaign, averaging 12.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG. Most impressively, once Hunter Sabety ’17 went down with a knee injury, Palleschi stepped up his game and became Tufts’ most important player, scoring double figures in seven of nine contests counting forward from the first game without Sabety. What’s more, Palleschi was a force defensively, rejecting 2.4 shots per game, 0.3 more than the seven-footer Swords. If anyone can challenge Green for most-diversified offensive game, it’s Palleschi, who can play with his back to the basket or face up from 15 feet away.
F Zuri Pavlin ’17
Amidst a disappointing season for the Camels, Pavlin shined once again, surpassing the Conn. College single-season rebounding record that he set last year as a freshman and leading the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game. Pavlin doesn’t have amazing height (6′ 5″) or strength, but he has an incredible knack for using his body to get rebounds. Watch out next year, as one more year under the belts of Pavlin and front court mate Isaiah Robinson ’18, a bruiser in his own right, could make for a fearsome front line.