Hayden Rooke-Ley – Nothing But NESCAC

2016 NbN All-NESCAC Basketball Teams

Lucas Hausman '16 was an easy choice for the NbN NESCAC Player of the Year, and teammate Jack Simonds '19, seen here mesmerized by a Hausman drive, was a nearly as easy pick for Rookie of the Year. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — Lucas Hausman ’16 was an easy choice for the NbN NESCAC Player of the Year, and teammate Jack Simonds ’19, seen here mesmerized by a Hausman drive, was a nearly as easy pick for Rookie of the Year. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

So the NESCAC beat us to it by a day (though we actually made decisions on our team Tuesday night), releasing its All-Conference teams yesterday, but let’s be honest, no one really cares about that. The NbN All-NESCAC team is really where you want to be. What do all those silly coaches know anyway? They probably all vote for their starting five and then some dude in Hadley, MA, where the NESCAC headquarters is (by the way, is that like some guy’s really nice garage?), just fudges a few numbers and picks whomever he likes for the All-NESCAC team. Well we think we can do just as good of a job at throwing darts at a board of names. So here it goes.

First Team:

G Lucas Hausman ’16, Bowdoin (Player of the Year)

The NESCAC decided not to make Hausman the back-to-back Player of the Year, and we find that decision a little puzzling. We understand that Bowdoin didn’t have a great season at 4-6 in conference and a quarterfinal tournament exit, but C’MON MAN! Hausman gets buckets like nobody else in the NESCAC has ever. He scored 25.3 ppg, 2.5 more ppg than anybody else in NESCAC history. If you isolate for NESCAC games, the number rises to 26.0 ppg. All season long Hausman was performing a veritable Kobe Bryant impression, hitting fade-away and step-back jumpers at an unbelievable rate. He made an astounding 8.1 free throws per game during the NESCAC season. The next highest total was 5.1. I understand that Hausman is not a great defender or facilitator, but you can’t deny his greatness as a scorer. The NbN Player of the Year award doesn’t make up for losing out on the NESCAC Player of the Year, but I hope that it helps a little bit. -Adam

G Matt St. Amour ’17, Middlebury

Trying to not be too much of a homer, I started criticizing St. Amour’s one-on-one defense when Adam and I broke down our All-NESCAC teams. Then Adam reminded me that the Vermont native was the only go-to scorer on his team all long, the second-highest scorer in the conference, the leader in steals, great at getting and making free throws, takes charges at the biggest moments, and a darn good rebounding guard. He’s a nice guy, too.

G/F Dan Aronowitz ’16, Williams

Last season we got a glimpse of what Aronowitz can do when Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 was out with an injury. This year, Aronowitz was the best and most consistent player on the Ephs. He scored in double digits for 22 of the Ephs’ 25 games, and he was the best non-big man rebounder in the league pulling in 7.4 rpg, fifth best in the NESCAC. Aronowitz was also efficient, shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three. The year-to-year growth for Aronowitz from a seldom-used freshmen on an insanely talented team to junior leader on both ends of the court has been fun to watch. Next year he could make a strong push for POY honors. –Adam

F Shay Ajayi ’16, Trinity

All of those points that Hausman scored were just too eye-popping for us, but Ajayi made quite the case for POY laurels – after all, you add on what we saw as All-Defensive team caliber defense, and it’s hard to find a more complete player in the league. Ajayi tallied 14.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 42 steals (fourth in the NESCAC), 26 blocks (sixth) and was very efficient at 48.9 percent from the field.

C Tom Palleschi ’17, Tufts

Palleschi doesn’t look like much when he steps on the court – no offense, big guy – but he’s got some moves. Plus, he can stretch the floor all the way to the three-point line offensively. Defensively, there is a question about his ultimate impact, given how bad Tufts was as a unit, but his league-best (by far) 3.6 blocks per game suggest that he altered his fair share of shot attempts.

Second Team:

G BJ Davis ’16, Wesleyan University

Davis was headed for First Team status early on, but he and the Cards sort of petered out in the second half. Still, to elevate his game from just another option in the Cardinals rotating back court to “the guy” is a testament to his abilities. He’s remarkably quick, but could also shoot from anywhere, and hit 39.9 percent of his three pointers while scoring 16.4 ppg.

G Jake Brown ’17, Middlebury College

I’m happy to put another Panthers on the map here, and honestly I didn’t have to push too hard. Brown only scored 9.8 ppg, and All-League teams are usually just a mishmash of the highest scorers, but Brown really deserves this nod for his perimeter defense and control of the offense. Jack Daly ’18 is a good point guard in his own right, but Brown is truly elite at running a transition offense, and Middlebury would not be where they are right now without him. If you’re going by stats, Brown had 5.3 apg and a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio, both near the top of the league.

G Vinny Pace ’18, Tufts University

Pace burst on the scene this season by going for 25, 22, 22, 20 and 18 in his first five conference games after a strong early season non-conference showing. And even though Tarik Smith ’17 was the primary point guard, Pace racked up 2.8 apg and initiated the offense nearly as much as Smith.

G Connor Green ’16, Amherst College

Green was a First-Teamer a season ago, but got pushed by some great players this year to the Second Team. Still a great accomplishment, and one that Green can add to a long list of achievements, including being the third leading scorer all-time at Amherst with 1,679 points, 29 behind Steve Zieja ’03 for the second spot. He’s a match up problem for any team because of his ability to shoot, height and size, and averaged 6.3 rebounds per game.

C Ed Ogundeko ’16, Trinity College

Ed Ogundeko '17 (52) and Shay Ajayi '16 (44) are both NbN All-NESCAC and All-Defensive players. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics) — Ed Ogundeko ’17 (52) and Shay Ajayi ’16 (44) are both NbN All-NESCAC and All-Defensive players. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

If we gave out a Most Improved Award, it would have gone to Ogundeko, hands down. Last season the big guy looked clunky and awkward around the rim, but this year he was downright silky with the ability to step away from 10-15 feet and make a couple of shots. Mainly, though, he just did work around the rim. At 6’6″, 235 lbs, not a lot of guys could move him off the block, and he used that advantage to pace the NESCAC in rebounding. He only played just over 22 minutes per game, but he was fifth in the conference in points per 40 minutes. That’s efficiency.

All-Rookie Team:

F Jack Simonds, Bowdoin (Rookie of the Year)

It’s crazy that Bowdoin has the Player and Rookie of the Year on their team, but you certainly can’t argue that Simonds is worthy. The 6’6″ Maine native came in and from day one showed he could shoot the rock. He finished sixth overall with 16.3 ppg. His size makes him a nightmare to cover, and down the stretch he got into the lane and finished more and more. Simonds had one of the best freshman seasons in recent history, and he missed out on our second team by just a hair. As good as Hausman has been over the past two years, Simonds has a chance to have an even better career. -Adam

G Tyler Rowe, Conn College

Well, he got into Sports Illustrated, and that’s good enough for me. But in all seriousness, Rowe might have been Conn’s MVP, and that’s on a team with Zuri Pavlin ’17, the guy who had like 1,000 rebounds in two seasons. The weight has been lifted off of Pavlin somewhat because of this talented freshman crew that Rowe headlines. After scoring 12.8 ppg and shooting 41.7 percent from the field (and 85.1 percent from the line) the sky is the limit for this kid.

G Peter Hoffmann, Hamilton College

I think it’s pretty clear that Head Coach Adam Stockwell was committed to the rebuild this season. That’s not to say he did anything less than try to win, because playing his freshmen was probably the best way to do just that. Hoffmann started 18 games, played 27.7 mpg, and pretty much shot the ball any time he touched it. Usually they went in (40.0 percent from the field), but he needs to sharpen up that long range game. Still, Hoffmann looks destined to be a great scorer in this league.

F Kyle Scadlock, Williams College

Watching Scadlock early on, I was sure he would be a shoe-in for NESCAC Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, his production really trailed off with eight single-digit point games in his last 11, but Scadlock is truly an elite talent with a unique skill set. He’s kind of built like Ben Simmons, except with the potential to shoot the ball. More than anything, the way he assumed a pivotal starting role and still maintained productive play tells me that he deserves this.

F Andrew Groll, Hamilton College

Groll was a workhorse, pulling down 7.8 rpg, fourth-most in the NESCAC. He also made the game-winner against Middlebury. Kid’s got ice in his veins!

All-Defensive Team:

F Shay Ajayi, Trinity College (Defensive Player of the Year)

Length, athleticism, effort, it’s all there with this kid. The NESCAC had him as the POY, we’ve got him as the DPOY. Fifty years from now he’ll be telling his grand kids that he was the D-III National Player of the Year.

G Jack Daly ’18, Middlebury College

As if we haven’t praised the Panther backcourt enough, this should really go 50 percent to Daly and 25 percent to Brown and St. Amour, each. Daly gets the nod because one Middlebury teammates called him the toughest kid in the league, and he takes the opponent’s best perimeter player on most possessions. Did you know that St. Amour, Brown and Daly went Nos. 1, 2 and 4 in steals per game this season? Crazy.

G Johnny McCarthy ’18, Amherst College

Speaking of stealing the basketball from unsuspecting victims, no one sneaks into a passing lane quite like McCarthy. Once again, length is the key. He’s 6’5″, but I’m sure his wingspan stretches beyond that.

C Ed Ogundeko, Trinity College

What more can we say? You can’t go inside on him without getting knocked around. He blocked 39 shots and altered countless more, and was the league’s best defensive rebounder by a considerable margin.

C Tom Palleschi, Tufts University

The guy right behind Ogundeko in defensive rebounding is Palleschi, who’s got some girth to him in his own right. I’m scared to think what would have happened to the Jumbos defense without the imposing presence of Palleschi. Luckily, we don’t have to think about that.

Sixth Man of the Year: F Eric Conklin ’17, Amherst College and G Eric Gendron ’18, Trinity College

We just couldn’t decide on one Eric. I wanted Conklin, Adam wanted Gendron, so we split it to make everyone happy (we might be getting a little soft in our waning days running the site). Conklin didn’t play a whole lot, just 16.1 mpg, but they were always important minutes, and his role as David George’s ’17 offensive half was crucial for Amherst. He racked up 20.8 points per 40 minutes, good for 14th in the conference, which is impressive for a guy coming off the bench and trying to get into a rhythm, shot 60.6 percent from the field, and was a sneaky good rebounder with 4.3 per game in limited time. Gendron, meanwhile, matched Conklin with 8.3 ppg but did most of his damage from deep, sniping away at a 43.3 percent clip. He’s also a great free throw shooter, going 36-39 (92.3 percent) this year, which didn’t qualify for the leaderboards.

Coach of the Year: Jeff Brown, Middlebury College

I said it on Monday in the stock report, but this is probably Jeff Brown’s finest work. Without any All-Region or All-American type players, Brown took his team to its third NESCAC championship just one year after missing out on the playoffs. Of course, if Middlebury loses the NESCAC championship to Amherst we have a different story and Brown might not win the award, but that’s why you play the game.

2016 NbN Preseason All-NESCAC Basketball Teams

Is it any surprise that Lucas Hausman '16 is our choice to repeat as POY? No? Well, sorry to disappoint. He's just too good. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — Is it any surprise that Lucas Hausman ’16 is our choice to repeat as POY? No? Well, sorry to disappoint. He’s just too good. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

We came to the realization this fall that no matter much we may disagree, and no matter how smart we think we are, and no matter how witty our editorial commentary may be, our end-of-year All-NESCAC decisions aren’t going to be quite as weighty as the official All-NESCAC teams. That’s why we decided to put together an extensive awards list in lieu of the usual All-League format for the football season.

BUT! We remain the one and only place to find the picks for preseason All-League honors. Now you might say, “The season is halfway over. All you have to do is look at the top scorers and project them as All-League studs.” Oh, how wrong you are. NESCAC play is an entirely different beast, and those leaderboards are going to look a good bit different come March. Don’t believe us? Wait and see. These are our predictions for the guys who will win All-NESCAC honors.

First Team

Guard Lucas Hausman ’16 – Bowdoin

This one’s a no-brainer. He was an All-American a year ago, and he’s only gotten better. Despite the target on his back, he’s scored more points per game in fewer minutes and is shooting just as efficiently as a year ago. He was the top scorer in NESCAC games in 2015, and we expect that trend to continue. Hausman scores in unique ways. He’s not a phenomenal long-range shooter and he’s not very tall. What he is able to do is shoot off the dribble and finish in all kinds of traffic. There’s always a place for a guy that can put the ball in the hoop.

Guard BJ Davis ’16 – Wesleyan

What was an equal opportunity, three point guard team a season ago has turned in to the BJ Davis show. Recall for a moment that no Cardinal scored more than 11.9 ppg last season, and it was basically a six-man rotation. This year injuries to Jack Mackey ’16 and Joe Edmonds ’16 have made them ineffective (though Edmonds has shot the ball well percentage-wise), and the Cards have had to reshape their identity as the season has progressed. Through it all, Davis has been a scoring machine. He can shoot from anywhere and go by almost anyone. He has risen to another level.

Guard Connor Green ’16 – Amherst

I hemmed and hawed over this pick for awhile, because Green has a lot of questions around him. Being the primary scorer hasn’t seemed to suit the swingman over the past two seasons. His best work was done as a sophomore when he averaged 17.9 ppg and shot 44 percent. Before all of you in LJ country pick up your pitch forks, though, recognize that I’m still picking Green to be a First-Teamer. As the best player on the best team (so we think), Green is going to be worthy of some accolades. He’s still a matchup nightmare, and a great rebounder for his position. Johnny McCarthy ’18 might be ready to challenge Green for the title of top Jeff by the end of the season, and the wealth of talent around Green might cut into his numbers a little bit, but I believe his talent will shine through this season.

Center Tom Palleschi ’17 – Tufts

What a boon for Tufts to get this guy back after a heart condition kept him out of the 2013-14 campaign. Palleschi’s light feet allow him to slip right by lumbering big men and just get buckets. The Jumbos don’t have much in the way of size around Palleschi since Hunter Sabety – as we all know – departed, so his play is that much more impressive and important. He’s no slouch on defense either. Palleschi is at or near the top of the charts in every rebounding category and in blocked shots. The one other stat in which he leads the league disqualifications, i.e. foul outs. That won’t stop him from putting up big, First Team numbers, but it might stop Tufts from going deep in the NESCAC tournament.

Center Chris Hudnut ’16 – Colby

This pick is a bit speculative, as he joins Davis as the two guys who didn’t make All-NESCAC teams last season, and right now his numbers are not First Team worthy, and it’s hard for big guys to get All-League recognition. Last year five guards were First Teamers. However, I have faith that his best is yet to come. Hudnut can be an offensive juggernaut at times (see: 38 vs. Curry on Nov. 21 and 21 vs. Bowdoin on Nov. 5). However, he has disappeared against good frontcourts, too (see: four points on 1-6 shooting against Bates on Nov. 5). There are half a dozen front courts in the NESCAC (and that’s a lot, considering there are only 11 teams) with the ability to shut down Hudnut. Can he turn up the intensity in those games, or will he fail to realize his potential?

Second Team

Guard Jaquann Starks ’16 – Trinity

The hometown hero was a First Teamer last season because of the way he lead Trinity to the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC tournament, so this might be seen as a knock on Starks, but more than anything it’s a testament to how his supporting cast has elevated its game. The offense always ran more smoothly last season when the slender Andrew Hurd ’16 handled the basketball, and he’s really taken over signal-caller duties full-time this year, starting most games and averaging 5.2 apg. Perhaps Starks is still adjusting to the different role, because his percentages are down, but he’s still an elite player and adds intensity on the defensive side as the face of Trinity’s ferocious defense. Opponents are shooting just 35.4 percent from the field against the Bantams. That’s not from three-point land. That’s from the field. In case you were wondering, yes, that number was tops in the D-III nation as of Jan. 4.

Guard Johnny McCarthy ’18 – Amherst

McCarthy was the 2014-15 Rookie of the Year. In 2015-16, he will make his first of three appearances to come on the All-NESCAC list. He’s an iron horse, playing over 30.0 mpg, something that might not cause the coaches to vote for him, but it should, and in addition to scoring and rebounding possesses the unique skill of being able to steal the basketball. Steals are something that are often a result of luck – a tip from one player turns into a steal from another – but McCarthy is a legit threat to pick pockets and passing lanes alike.

Guard Dan Aronowitz ’17 – Williams

As good as this Williams team can be, they don’t have the senior leadership that characterized the last two editions of the Ephs – from Mike Mayer ’14 and Taylor Epley ’14 to Dan Wohl ’15 and Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15, there has been a put-the-team-on-your-back senior tandem the last two seasons. Despite the difficulty of emerging from a no-pressure, third- or fourth-option role into indisputable superstar, Aronowitz is better than ever. He’s shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from three while scoring 17.5 ppg. Oh yeah, he’s got 7.5 boards per game, too. Aronowtiz’s situation reminds me of Green a year ago, who was a junior leading a team devoid of impact seniors. He doesn’t have Green’s track record, but he could match the LJ’s 2014-15 stat line.

Guard Mike Boornazian ’16 – Bates

The Delpeche brothers are maybe the most fun duo to watch just because of their size and backstory as twins, but Bates will go only as far as Boornazian can take them. He has played second fiddle to Graham Safford ’15 the last few seasons, putting up solid numbers but deferring in the big moment. No more. The Bobcats are Boornazian’s team, and his current mark of 15.6 ppg could go up in conference play. He’ll tack on his fair share of rebounds and dimes as well, but this is one player whose intangibles and passion are noticeable.

Forward Jeff Racy ’16 – Amherst

Perhaps the biggest stretch of anyone chosen for these two teams, Racy has elevated his game to be Amherst’s second-highest scorer – more than McCarthy, more than big man David George ’17, more than D-I transfers Eric Conklin ’17 and Jayde Dawson ’18. Even though defenses know exactly what’s coming, they can’t stop it. Racy takes 8.7 shots per game and 7.2 of them are three pointers, which he is hitting at a 54.4 percent clip. Because he stands 6’5″, his range pulls an opposing swingman out of the paint, where guys like George, Green and Dawson do some of their best work. Racy’s ability to score in bunches will propel him to his first All-NESCAC honors.

Awards Predictions:

Player of the Year: Lucas Hausman

Hausman will repeat. There’s no reason to think that his play will drop during conference play.

Defensive Player of the Year: Jaquann Starks

This is always tough to predict. The past few years it was made much easier by the 7’0″ presence of John Swords ’15, but now there are a bevy of players who could deserve the honor, including some guys – i.e. Jake Brown ’17, David George – who aren’t even on our All-NESCAC roster. However, the honors are likely to go to someone who makes either the First or Second team, so we’re going with Starks, the front man for the league’s best defense.

Rookie of the Year: Kyle Scadlock ’19

Contributor Rory Ziomek just highlighted the best diaper dandies so far this season, which narrows down the field somewhat. The ROY battle is really a two-horse race between Scadlock and Bowdoin’s Jack Simonds ’19. Simonds is scoring at a better clip right now, but Scadlock adds the rebounding factor, and whomever wins the award will be more than worthy.

Coach of the Year: Damien Strahorn, Colby

This is basically like picking the team with the lowest expectations that will make a run for the NESCAC title. Strahorn benefits from having a five-man starting lineup of all seniors, but he’s done well to get those kids to this point. Now if he can just teach them to play defense, this will be a lock.

Trust Is the Key to Williams’ Success … and (Maybe) the Best Freshmen Class in the NESCAC: Williams Season Preview

The slender Bobby Casey '19 and his classmates might represent the best recruiting class in the NESCAC. (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — The slender Bobby Casey ’19 and his classmates might represent the best recruiting class in the NESCAC. (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Last season was a transition year for Williams. Even though their .500 record wasn’t the best in the ‘CAC, Williams made a strong run. Recent graduates Dan Wohl ’15 and Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 had outstanding and mirroring years, both leading the team in points per game with 19.7, earning All-NESCAC Honors and signing pro-contracts with teams in Israel. These two shooters will definitely be missed and whoever is going to fill their shoes has a mighty, but not impossible, job to do.

Williams lost in the NESCAC quarterfinals to Bowdoin 87-74 last season, which is tough to swallow after making it all the way to NCAA D-III Finals two years ago. Head Coach Kevin App cited trust as the missing link.

“We weren’t happy with the way we started or the way we finished, but when we played balanced and trusted one another on the court, we pretty much won every game. … It was hard for the team to open up and trust each other. The moments it did happen, I saw great things. … It’s like dating someone. You have to let your guard down at some point and open up to them.” – Head Coach Kevin App

2014-15 Record:

15-10 overall, 5-5 NESCAC (t-5th); lost in NESCAC Quarterfinals to Bowdoin 87-74; did not qualify for NCAAs

Coach: Kevin App, 2nd year, 15-10 (.600)

Returning Starters: Two

PG Mike Greenman ’17 (8.6 ppg, 4.4 apg, 2.7 rpg)
G Dan Aronowitz ’17 (10.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 45% FG)

With Wohl, Rooke-Ley and F Ryan Kilcullen ’15 having graduated, there are three vacancies in the starting lineup. A lot of scoring production is gone, but Greenman and Aronowitz are seasoned vets by this point who can lead their teammates.

Projected Starting Five:

PG Mike Greenman (8.6 ppg, 4.4 apg, 2.7 rpg)

Greenman played in all 25 games and averaged 8.6 points a game and was elected to be one of the three captains along with seniors Edward Flynn ’16 and Luke Thoreson ’16. Despite his diminutive size, Greenman runs the offense well and can occasionally hit a few shots if the defense doesn’t respect him. Greenman has had great success on the court and Coach App has full confidence that Greenman can lead this team to a winning season.

G Chris Galvin ’18 (2.5 ppg, 1.5 apg, 38.1% FG)

Galvin is going to be a much bigger factor this year. He provides a second option to Greenman with his ability to create for others, and at 6’3″ is going to be tough to guard.

G Cole Teal ’18 (3.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 A/TO)

Teal had a successful year as a freshman, according to App. He played a ton of games and has made impressive improvements on the court. The games that he did start, he put his best game forward, playing solid defense and adding points to his team’s rocky offense. Teal is going to be counted on to increase his production this season.

G Dan Aronowitz (10.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 45% FG)

Aronowitz had an outstanding season as a sophomore. He played in all 25 games last year, starting 23 of them and averaging 10.6 points per game. Though Aronowitz played only 13 minutes in the Ephs’ season opener, I’d be shocked if he didn’t lead the Ephmen in minutes and points by the end of the season. He scored 353 points in his first two seasons while playing second (and third, and fourth) fiddle to Wohl, Rooke-Ley and Taylor Epley ’14.

C Edward Flynn (1.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 58.3% FG)

Flynn is a senior center who knows the program inside and out. He has the ability to dominate the paint and therefore, open up shots for guards like Arnowitz and Greenman on the perimeter. He is also critical to what the Ephs want to do on offense. They need production from the paint in order to succeed with a four-out, one-in system, and while there are a bevy of first-years than can play center, Coach App would prefer his veteran and captain to really solidify himself in that role.

Breakout Player: G Chris Galvin

Be on the lookout for Chris Galvin ’18 who played in all 25 games last year as a freshman and averaged 20.2 mpg. This season could be huge for the sophomore guard.

Everything Else:

Last year’s team was heavily perimeter-oriented. With a deep recruiting class this year that features a couple of big, athletic frontcourt players, this edition of the Ephs will be much more balanced. The most established big man returning for Williams is center Edward Flynn, but he played just 6.1 mpg last season. There’s truly a void in the Williams frontcourt, but the coaching staff hopes that a few newcomers can step up to fill that space. It could be traditional big men Michael Kempton ’19 or Jake Porath ’19, but top of that list is Kyle Scadlock. At 6’6″, 205 pounds and very athletic, he’s not a traditional center, and he might remind some Ephs fans about current Michigan forward Duncan Robinson … Scadlock just so happens to wear Robinson’s old number, too. Scadlock’s stat line from his college debut: 5-10 FG for 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also ripped off at least three slam dunks in the game. Half of the teams in the league had three dunks all of last season.

While the starting lineup features four pure guards, Scadlock, F Marcos Soto and F James Heskett ’19 will get plenty of minutes off the bench and bring some height to the floor. Clearly, the Ephs have an athletic team, but will they be able to matchup with some of the better frontcourts that teams like Bates and Amherst can roll out?

Adding a talented frontcourt to an already loaded backcourt (and beefing up the backcourt, too; see, Bobby Casey ’19) will make the Ephs a force to be reckoned with once again. When they were competitive two years ago their offense flowed through All-World center Mike Mayer ’14. Who can be that guy? Scadlock doesn’t seem to be a sit-in-the-post type, but he still brings size and skill that Williams lacked last season. Flynn will need to take a monumental step forward if he is going to fill that void. Time will tell if this freshman class is as good as advertised. If so, the credit is due to Coach App and his staff for their recruiting efforts, and that bodes will for Ephs’ fans in the future as the program begins its climb back to national prominence.

Fun Facts from This Weekend’s NCAA Action

It was a shame to see the season end for the NESCAC Champ Wesleyan Cardinals and Amherst, but all NESCAC fans will have something to watch this Friday night when Trinity and Bates play for a shot at the Elite Eight and, potentially, a date with top-five Sectional host Babson. More on that to come, but right now here’s a couple quick hitters from a wild weekend of NCAA basketball for the NESCAC.

– Amherst’s Connor Green ’16 struggled offensively down the stretch, but he did manage to sink two trey balls in the Jeffs’ season-ending loss, giving him 78 on the season. That’s the highest total in the NESCAC this season, and one more than teammate Jeff Racy ’17 and Jack Mackey ’16 had on the year. The Jeff scoring leader also finished with 464 points on the season, third in the NESCAC and 73 behind scoring champ Lucas Hausman ’16.

– Mike Boornazian ’16 hit three free throws with 2:58 left in the second half last night to give him 17 points on the game and 1,000 in his career. With that make he joined teammate Graham Safford ’15, Williams’ Dan Wohl ’15 and Green as the players who shot their way into the 1,000 point club this season. On the list of departing seniors who got close are Dylan Sinnickson ’15 (884, and he didn’t play his sophomore season), John Swords ’15 (923), Hunter Merryman ’15 (948, just 51 in his freshman year), and, in gut-wrenching fashion, Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15, who scored 999 points in the midst of an injury-riddled career.

– Bates and Trinity are meeting in the Sweet 16 this Friday night. Two NESCAC teams haven’t met that deep into the NCAA Tournament since … oh yeah, last year’s Final Four, when Williams dominated Amherst in the semifinal, avenging three regular season losses to the Jeffs.

– More Bates news! The victory on Saturday was the Bobcats’ 21st of the year, a new program record. The previous high was 20, achieved in 2005-06 under current Wesleyan Head Coach Joe Reilly.

– Speaking of wins records and Wesleyan, the Cards finished the season at 19-9, one win shy of tying the program record set in 2011-12 when Wesleyan went 20-6.

– Friday was the first time that Amherst had played an NCAA First Round game since 2011. The Jeffs received a bye and hosted a Regional for three years from 2012-2014. The loss also stops a run of two straight Final Four appearances for Amherst. The Jeffs are now 37-17 all time in the NCAA Tournament.

– The Bantams hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament First Round game since 2004 when they beat Lasell but lost in the Second Round. The last Elite Eight trip for Trinity came in 1999, and the last Final Four in 1995. Trinity is now 10-8 all time in the NCAA Tournament.

Hope you enjoyed these fun facts. Let us know if we missed any historic events this weekend!

NESCAC All-Tournament Team

In case you hadn’t heard, March Madness has already begun. If you missed any of this past week’s NESCAC Tournament you missed some incredibly dramatic basketball games. You almost couldn’t script it any better. Wesleyan, a team that squeaked into the playoffs in the final weekend, sixth seed in a field of eight, had to travel to in-state rival Trinity and play on hostile territory. Not only did they defeat the host Bantams and cause a rare road team court storming, but they then shocked the NESCAC world for the second day in a row and knocked off the thrice-defending NESCAC Champion Amherst Lord Jeffs for the program’s first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Amidst all of this, there were some impressive individual performances, and not just from the eventual champions. Two Bowdoin players made our squad, even though the Polar Bears got bounced emphatically in the Semifinals. There weren’t too many big men that put up great stat lines during the Tournament, contributing to the decision to put the Bowdoin big man on the team. As for Wesleyan, it really was a team effort from the Cardinals, but one player made it onto our All-Tournament team. Read on to see who joined him.

First Team All-Tournament

Jayde Dawson-Gordon (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

PG Jayde Dawson ’18

Now that’s the player that we thought Dawson was going to be when he transferred from Division-I Fairleigh-Dickinson. Dawson has often made these pages for his disappointing play this season, but there is nothing negative to say about the transfer guard today. Dawson played a limited role in the Jeffs’ Quarterfinal matchup with Tufts, but exploded in the Semis and Finals for 35 points, seven assists and five boards. He showed off his athleticism on defense by disrupting passing lines and getting out in transition. We’ll find out later today if Amherst will be in the NCAA Tournament field. If they are, expect Dawson to take on a larger role, even if he continues to come off of the bench.

Jack Mackey '16 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Jack Mackey ’16 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Guard Jack Mackey ’16

Mackey’s numbers weren’t the prettiest over the course of the whole tournament, especially a 2-10 performance in the Semis, but Mackey was clutch for the Cards, and provided the highlight of the Tournament when he chucked a bounce pass through Malcolm Delpeche’s ’17 legs to Joseph Kuo ’17 for a monster slam dunk. Mackey also banged home a big-time three to open the scoring in overtime against Amherst. As we know, Mackey, BJ Davis ’16 and Harry Rafferty ’17 are all capable of handling the basketball, but from watching the Cards this weekend it just feels like Mackey is the emotional leader among the group, and he earns this nomination in part for that intangible factor.

Lucas Hausman '16 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — Lucas Hausman ’16 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

Guard Lucas Hausman ’16

This was about as easy of a choice as exists in this business. On Twitter, we praised Johnny McCarthy ’18 for handling Hausman well at halftime in the teams’ Semifinal game. Hausman ended up with 21 points on 8-16 shooting, this after he torched Williams for 37 on 11-20 shooting in the Quarters. Hausman is really good. He won three-straight Player of the Week awards this season, the first time that has happened in NESCAC history. And he’s on the shortlist (a very, very short list), for NESCAC Player of the Year.

Shay Ajayi '16 (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics) — Shay Ajayi ’16 (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

Forward Shay Ajayi ’16

Ajayi had an all-around solid tournament. He drew some favorable matchups and took advantage. Against Colby, a team known for its lack of height, Ajayi posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. The junior then tallied another 10 points and added six boards against eventual champion Wesleyan. Trinity will likely be playing some more basketball in March, so look for Ajayi to build on his performance in the NESCAC Tournament.

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

Center John Swords ’15

As always, Swords’ impact doesn’t translate completely to the box score. When Swords is in the paint there are no easy shots for the opposition. That being said, Swords’ numbers were pretty good over the course of Bowdoin’s two games. Swords tallied 37 points on 17-25 shooting (10-10 in the Quarterfinals), 20 boards and six blocks. The only knock on Swords this weekend is that opposing big men, namely Ryan Kilcullen ’15 and David George ’17, actually had pretty solid offensive games. Nonetheless, Swords was the most valuable center in the NESCAC all season.

Honorable Mentions:

Guard Connor Green ’15, Forward Sam Willson ’16, Guard Hayden Rooke Ley’15, Center Joseph Kuo ’17 and Guard Hart Gliedman ’15

Think we missed somebody? Let us know. And good luck to all of the Pool C bubble teams today as the NCAA Tournament field is decided.

Inconsistency a Constant for the Ephs: Williams Season Wrap-up

Dan Wohl '15 and Ryan Kilcullen '15 enjoyed their best statistical seasons as seniors. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — Dan Wohl ’15 and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 enjoyed their best statistical seasons as seniors. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

Record: 15-10 (5-5), lost to #2 Bowdoin in the NESCAC Quarterfinals

2013-2014 saw the Ephs come within a buzzer-beater of winning the National Championship, but expectations were much lower entering the season because of the departure of coach Mike Maker, transfer of Duncan Robinson ’17, and graduation of Michael Mayer ’14 and Taylor Epley ’14. The Ephs started the season with two bad losses. Then they righted the ship and went on a 10-2 stretch where their two losses came by a combined four points to Trinity and WPI who are now a combined 41-9. Dan Wohl ’15 stepped up to be the leader for Williams and was playing like one of the best players in the country.

However, an injury to sniper Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 was a major contributing factor to the Ephs never winning two games in a row in the 2015 calendar year. The Ephs were simply never able to play consistently because they relied so much on making shots from the perimeter. Center Ryan Kilcullen ’15 had by far his best season as an Eph offensively, but he was never a great interior defender or rebounder. Williams finished the conference season with a -10 rebounding margin, by far the worst margin in the NESCAC. Mike Greenman ’17 and Dan Aronowitz ’17 stepped into starting roles as sophomores, but Kevin App still had to rely heavily on his starting five. The Ephs led at halftime in their quarterfinal game against Bowdoin, but they ran out of steam and got outscored by 20 points in the second half. Now the Ephs will lose Kilcullen, Wohl and Rooke-Ley to graduation meaning their roster will look completely different than the one that nearly won a National Championship last season.

High Point: Victory over Amherst 71-70 on January 10

This wasn’t the best game that Williams played (that would be their rout of Middlebury a few weeks ago), but this game was everything you could ask for from the best rivalry in the NESCAC. The Ephs were coming off a crushing double OT loss the night before to Trinity and Rooke-Ley was injured so it would not have been surprising to see Williams struggle. Instead, Wohl played an incredible game finishing with 28 points and role players like Darrias Sime ’16 and Cole Teal ’18 stepped up big time. The Ephs were down eight with under four minutes to go, but they outscored Amherst 14-5 over the final 3:39 to pull out the win. Kilcullen’s three with under 10 seconds left won it for the Ephs, and the Williams faithful spilled out onto the court. At this point in the season the Ephs looked like they were in great shape. This was the conclusion of their 10-2 run mentioned above. The schedule looked easier going forward and we all knew Rooke-Ley would come back soon. Unfortunately, Williams never was able to play two good games in a row from that point forward.

MVP: Forward Dan Wohl ’15

One of the first things you have to consider about Wohl is that he was the fourth option for Williams just a year ago. Wohl still had 12.9 PPG and 6.0 RPG and we expected him to carry a heavy load all season. For most of the season, he did more than just bear the load as he was the best player in the conference and looked like a shoo-in for POY honors at the end of January. However, he struggled just a little bit down the stretch and will probably have to settle for First Team All-NESCAC. He still had an incredible season. Along with Rooke-Ley, Wohl tied for second in scoring in the conference with 19.7 PPG. He was far and away the best rebounder on Williams finishing with 8.6 RPG. Wohl leaves as the 13th all-time leading scorer for Williams, a somewhat amazing achievement considering he was only ever targeted for shots this season.

Player to Watch: Forward Dan Aronowitz ’17

Just like Wohl did this season, Aronowitz will become the go-to guy for Williams next season. Kevin App is unlikely to ask Aronowitz to do as much as Wohl did in 2014-15. Still, we got a glimpse of what Aronowitz can do when Rooke-Ley was injured and Williams needed a second scorer besides Wohl. He averaged 14.8 PPG on 39.7 percent shooting in the five games that Rooke-Ley was injured. Aronowitz will need to work on putting on a little more weight which will help him deal with contact when he drives the lane and when he guards bigger players. The present returning talent to Williamstown next season will struggle without the departing seniors unless players like Aronowitz make big leaps in 2015-2016. A strong freshman class in Kevin App’s first recruiting efforts would also be a huge boon.

NESCAC Quarterfinal Video Recap

In case you didn’t get a chance to watch all four NESCAC games today, we made a quick recap video with our analysis and thoughts on each of the games. Then at the end of the game we look forward to next weekend and the semifinal games.

Also, apologies for you having to look at Joe’s face for almost the entire video. I forgot to switch the camera views between us until the very end.

NESCAC Quarterfinal Preview: #7 Williams at #2 Bowdoin

The Bowdoin starters on the bench at the end of the game. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CIPhotography.com)

Bowdoin finished their NESCAC season on a three game winning streak against Bates, Middlebury and Tufts to jump up all the way to the #2 seed in the tournament. Williams just lost by more than 20 points at home to Wesleyan. Yet this might be the most intriguing quarterfinal game because it matches two very different styles of play against one another. Williams lives and dies on the perimeter with Dan Wohl ’15 and Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 while Bowdoin still relies on their strong interior defense.

Last time they played:

Bowdoin jumped out to a 17-point lead as Williams scored only 23 first half points. The lead got all the way up to 20 points for the Polar Bears before Williams starting chipping away. A Ryan Kilcullen ’15 three with 0:48 left brought the Ephs to within three, but Bowdoin was able to salt the game away with free throws to win 67-60. Williams barely ever went inside and finished the game with eight made two point field goals and 12 made three point field goals. The Ephs stayed in the game by upping their defensive intensity in the second half and allowing only 27 second half points.

The rosters look somewhat different from the first time these two played, however. Keegan Pieri ’15 led Bowdoin with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the last matchup, but he is out for the season. Also, Neil Fuller ’17 was out with a leg injury, but he is now back and has played some minutes to give Bowdoin more depth in the frontcourt. Meanwhile, Rooke-Ley did not play in the first game for Williams but is fully healthy now.

Bowdoin X-factor: Center John Swords ’15

Since the 6’7″ Kilcullen is Williams’ tallest player, one might have expected for Swords to dominate in the first match-up, but he only managed four points, tied for his season low. Bowdoin still scored a lot of easy points in the paint because of Pieri but without him, Swords needs to step up. He has been more aggressive offensively since Pieri went down. He has started to put the ball on the floor one time and make a move to the basket that usually ends in a layup. Smaller defenders often times can deal with his height, but it is the length that comes along with that height which really gives defenders problems. Swords will simply go around players who try to defend him straight up. A couple of baskets early for Swords would be huge. On the other end, if Bowdoin plays man, Swords has to be able to get out on Kilcullen on the perimeter and keep the Boston College transfer from hitting too many threes. Of course, that puts him in the conundrum of being away from the basket which is where he makes the biggest impact for Bowdoin.

Mike Greenman '17 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Mike Greenman ’17 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Williams X-Factor: Point Guard Mike Greenman ’17

We might be seeing a transformation in how Greenman plays point guard. The sophomore has never been afraid to shoot the ball and also got into the lane and turned the ball over a lot. In recent weeks, he has shot less and, more importantly, his turnovers are down. In conference play he has averaged 1.7 turnovers per game compared to 3.6 in out of conference games. Over his past seven games Greenman has a 3.5 assist/turnover ratio, far above his 1.6 ratio for the season. During that same seven game period, Greenman has scored less than 4.0 PPG and shot only 4-24 (16.7 percent) from three. Greenman knows he is struggling and is adjusting his play because of it. It was just one play, but on Tuesday against Castleton State we witnessed Greenman pass up a wide open three in order to pass to Dan Aronowitz ’17 who drove to the lane for an easy layup. He needs to keep making the right play, and if he makes a couple of early shots too? Look out.

Three Big Questions

1. How different are these teams from the last time they played?

On the surface the presence of Rooke-Ley and Fuller combined with the absence of Pieri would seem like it would have a huge effect. The truth though is that Bowdoin and Williams have played basically the same with or without those guys. Bowdoin’s conference record with Pieri was 3-1 and 4-2 without him, and they played a harder schedule after Pieri got hurt. The Ephs went 2-2 in conference without Rooke-Ley and 3-3 with him while playing harder games without him. It isn’t like those players don’t help their teams when they are on the floor, but when they are out, other players step up. For Williams that was Aronowitz, and Bowdoin has seen Matt Palecki ’16 and Jack Hewitt ’17 combine to help Bowdoin work without Pieri.

2. Can Bowdoin play zone?

Usually when a team has as many shooters as Williams does, it is unthinkable for a team to play zone against them. For Bowdoin, they might need to play zone because they don’t have personnel to stop everyone. The zone that Bowdoin plays is not a simple 2-3 zone with each player sitting in his zone. Instead, Bowdoin plays a matchup zone centered around Swords. He always stays near the basket and only leaves the paint as a last resort if an open player is going to get a three. The four other players basically float around the perimeter switching on screens and always having one player they guard. The scheme requires constant communication and no missteps on defense. On Monday, Husson burned Bowdoin at times with penetration and ball movement. The weakness of the defense is certainly in defending the three point line. If Williams starts whipping the ball around the three point line and hitting open threes, Bowdoin will have to go man.

3. How does Williams slow Lucas Hausman ’16?

Last Saturday Tufts managed to slow down Hausman simply by playing zone against Bowdoin. Williams is unlikely to take that route because they have played almost exclusively man-to-man all season. Wohl will likely get the first crack at Hausman, but Aronowitz should also draw the assignment at times. Both are good defenders and have the right combination of quickness and size to give Hausman problems in theory. No doubt Williams has spent this week dissecting all the film they have on Hausman. They know he likes to get a great first step when he drives right and LOVES to spin into a fadeaway jumper when he drives left. What makes Hausman hard to defend is that he doesn’t use pick and roll so you can only double him once he starts making a move to the basket. Limiting his chances in transition is also crucial for Williams.

What to Expect

I haven’t really even talked yet about the offensive fireworks that Wohl and Rooke-Ley regularly produce or the importance of Bryan Hurley ’15 to everything Bowdoin does. Wohl has struggled shooting the ball from the outside (30.4 percent from deep in NESCAC games). If he does guard Hausman, the outcome of that matchup very well could decide who wins NESCAC Player of the Year. Rooke-Ley is so dangerous from behind the arc that having a hand in his face often isn’t good enough. Hurley has looked more and more comfortable as the season has gone along, and Bowdoin will look to use him and Swords in pick and rolls to put pressure on the Ephs.

These two teams have very different roster makeups so each presents problems for the other. The team that is more effective in exploiting their mismatches will win. For Bowdoin, their advantage is their size inside. We covered Swords above, but the size difference extends to the power forward position where Palecki is tough to move around inside. The edge for Williams is on the perimeter obviously. They need to have everyone hitting their threes so that Bowdoin can’t key on Wohl and Rooke-Ley. Forcing turnovers and going on runs is also important for them. This might be the highest variable game because of how Williams plays. I can see a comfortable Williams win just as easily as a Bowdoin rout. In the end, I think Hausman and Hurley do enough to offset Wohl and Rooke-Ley and Bowdoin pulls out a very entertaining game.

Prediction: Bowdoin 78 – Williams 73

Cardinals Fly at Expense of Panthers: Stock Report 2/16

Going into the weekend, the biggest piece yet to be solved in the playoff puzzle was whether Middlebury or Wesleyan would take the final spot (Colby could have also fallen out under one unlikely scenario). On Friday the Cardinals breezed past Hamilton while Middlebury could not complete a miraculous comeback and fell just short to Trinity. Only a Wesleyan loss and Panther victory Sunday would send Middlebury to the playoffs. By late Saturday afternoon the playoff field was set. Wesleyan sucked out the drama from the proceedings when they opened up the second half with a 14-0 run to take a 20-point lead over Williams, eventually closing out the Ephs with a 74-52 victory. Middlebury actually finished the season on a high note with a nice win over Amherst, but their fate had already been sealed.

Stock Up

Point Guard Jack Mackey ’16 (Wesleyan)

If you look at his statistics from the weekend, it seems like Mackey had his normal productive if somewhat cursory weekend. That would miss the fact that he scored 13 straight points for Wesleyan in the second half when Williams tried to mount a comeback. More importantly, it would miss the defense that Mackey played on the Williams guards. Mackey was a big part in holding Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 to six points. Mackey is a tenacious and physical defender. Though he does not use his quickness very often on the offensive end, he has good lateral quickness which makes it hard for opponents to get into the lane against him. Mackey is a big reason why Wesleyan finished the season ranked third in the league in scoring defense with 64.0 PPG allowed.

Shooting Guard Lucas Hausman ’16 (Bowdoin)

Lucas Hausman '16 tallied 44 points on Friday night, the highest total recorded in the NESCAC this season. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CI Photography) — Lucas Hausman ’16 tallied 44 points on Friday night, the highest total recorded in the NESCAC this season. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CI Photography)

Hausman was absolutely on fire Friday night tying the Bowdoin single game record with 44 points. He went 20-25 from the field while scoring in almost every way imaginable: fast break layups, fall away jumpers off of his trademark spin move, and threes with a hand in his face. In fact, the only way he didn’t score was from the foul line where he went 0-1 on the night. Yet on the season he has made the most free throws in the NESCAC. Hausman cooled off Saturday against the Tufts zone, but he still scored 16 points as Bowdoin won to secure a home playoff game. Dan Wohl ’15 has been the favorite to win Player of the Year honors for most of the season, but Hausman is making a worthy late charge. Because the NESCAC tournament is also included when deciding who will win NESCAC honors, the award might come down to how Hausman and Wohl play against each other when Williams plays at Bowdoin in the first round.

Trinity

The Bantams already had the number one seed sewn up before the weekend, but they still were big winners because of two things. First, they went up and controlled the game against Middlebury. The bench, led by Rick Naylor ’16 and Ed Ogundeko ’15, had 29 of the team’s 39 first half points. Trinity’s 90 points in the game was a high for them in conference. The second thing that went well was Colby finishing with the eight seed. The Mules are still dangerous without Chris Hudnut ’16, but they simply do not have the size that Trinity has inside. The Mules are definitely a preferable matchup for Trinity compared to Middlebury or Wesleyan. I’m not saying that Colby can’t get hot shooting the ball and shock the Bantams this weekend, but it will take a heck of an effort to do it.

Stock Down

Amherst’s Sense of Urgency

Going into Sunday, Amherst knew a win got them the two seed while a loss dropped them all the way to the five seed and a trip to Tufts in the first round. That didn’t seem to show as Middlebury led wire-to-wire, and Amherst never really made a run. Maybe it was the delayed start time because the referees were late or that Amherst lacked somebody who could rally the team and tell them that this was a must-win. Whatever the case, the win cost the Jeffs and deprives us of a third Williams vs. Amherst matchup in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, Amherst has to take on Tufts, a team that blitzed them in a 27-point victory. Granted, the outcome is very unlikely to be the same because Hunter Sabety ’17 is hurt, but the Jeffs did themselves no favors this weekend.

Forward Marcus Delpeche ’17 (Bates)

Though we often lump them in as one unit, the Delpeches are in fact two different basketball players. Marcus has played slightly more and put up bigger numbers than Malcolm overall this season. Against Colby and Bowdoin, Marcus scored 7.0 PPG, not that far below his 9.7 PPG average on the season. What was concerning was that he had only four rebounds against Bowdoin and ONE against Colby. Bates still managed to do okay on the boards as a team. Don’t be fooled by Bowdoin having eight more rebounds than Bates on Friday. The reason for that was not Bates’ rebounding but their defense: since Bowdoin made 63.5 percent of their shots, there were less defensive rebounds for Bates to grab. Still, Marcus Delpeche should be getting way more than five rebounds over two games. Hopefully a return to Alumni Gym will get him going.

Williams

Saturday was senior day in Williamstown for Ryan Kilcullen ’15, Rooke-Ley and Wohl, but the day did not end the way supporters of the Ephs were hoping. The blowout loss to Wesleyan means Williams finishes the year at 5-5, seventh in the league standings. For all intents and purposes, this year’s team was the product of Mike Maker, the former Williams coach. He recruited all of the players on the roster, and though Kevin App changed some things schematic-wise, the team retained the same up-tempo three point heavy style. The talent still on the roster was properly recognized as one of the most talented in the league before the season began, but they have been inconsistent all season. While they blew out Middlebury, they also lost to Hamilton and struggled to put away Conn College. There is still a distinct possibility they get hot and make a run to win the NESCAC title. If not, then the season will end far short of where it did a season ago. The Ephs lose three starters in Rooke-Ley, Wohl and Kilcullen after this year. None of their juniors this year saw very significant minutes. This is going to be a very young team next season led by Dan Aronowitz ’17 and Mike Greenman ’17. The heavy lifting of the rebuilding process is just beginning for App.

The 10 Most Important People This Weekend

Graham Safford '15 might be holding flowers, but he still has his eyes on the prize: two wins this weekend. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics) — Graham Safford ’15 might be holding flowers, but he still has his eyes on the prize. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

Usually in our weekend preview we tell you three players who we think are going to have a significant impact on the weekend. Given how big of a weekend this one is, three is simply not going to be enough. The criteria for this is not simply the best players on each team. The most important players are the ones who will have the biggest impact on how we look back on the weekend.

10. Small Forward Peter Kazickas ’15 (Hamilton)

The emergence of Joseph Lin ’15 has overshadowed the improvement of Kazickas, another senior who has stepped up in his final season. Last season Kazickas was a secondary option for Hamilton and only made 0.4 threes per game. This season he is shooting an unfathomably hot 59.1 percent from three in conference while making four times as many threes as last year. Yes, Hamilton is officially eliminated from the tournament, but as Williams learned earlier, traveling to Clinton is not an easy task. The Continentals could play spoiler to Wesleyan, if Kazickas shoots like he has been recently.

9. David George ’17 (Amherst)

If George watched the Middlebury-Bowdoin game, he was salivating at all the dunks John Swords ’15 had against the Panther frontline. He could have a great game Sunday if Amherst makes a concerted effort to get him the ball. George has been a very good player this year for the Jeffs, but he has not been close to the dominant force he looked like for parts of the NCAA tournament. He is shooting 52.8 percent from the field which honestly is not a great percentage for a big man. A big game going into the NESCAC tournament will put fear in Amherst’s opponents.

8. Shooting Guard Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 (Williams)

Any doubt about who the best pure shooter in the NESCAC is was put to rest by Rooke-Ley Friday night against Bates. He went 6-8 from three, many of them with a hand in his face. To shoot for the season 46.7 percent from three given the difficulty of most of those shots is impressive. Finding him in transition is an absolute must. Rooke-Ley might not create very many opportunities for others, but he cashes in on the ones he has. At 4-4, Williams could be primed for a 2-0 weekend against Wesleyan and Conn College. If they got to 6-4, it would be the first time all season they have been more than a game away from .500 in conference.

7. Guard BJ Davis ’16 (Wesleyan)

Staying in front of Davis is a nightmare, and he gives Wesleyan more dynamism in their offense now that the Cardinals are running more offense through him. The Cardinals might need to win both of their games this weekend, and Davis is the one player who can truly be a difference maker for them. His shooting percentages are not great recently as he is drawing opponents’ top defenders. In conference games Davis is Wesleyan’s leading scorer and passer with 13.6 PPG and 4.0 APG. It is possible that on Saturday Williams puts Dan Wohl ’15 on Davis. If that is the case, Davis will probably try to use his quickness to get in the lane and forgo shooting from outside.

6. Point Guard Jake Brown ’17 (Middlebury)

Nobody thought that Middlebury would be here, needing at least one victory in the final weekend against Trinity or Amherst to even think about making the tournament. Brown could be important in very different ways. Friday against Trinity, Brown will defend Jaquann Starks ’16. Starks has been in double-digits the last five games, but Brown will be a real challenge for him. If Brown shuts down Starks, the Bantams offense could grind to a halt for long periods. Then, on Sunday Brown might take advantage of his athleticism against Reid Berman ’17 to get into the lane and cause Amherst headaches. Last Sunday Brown was limping at periods with what looked like an ankle injury, and if he is less than 100 percent, Middlebury will be in even bigger trouble than they are already.

5. Center John Swords ’15 (Bowdoin)

A fired up Swords is the best type of Swords, and that is the version we saw on Sunday against Middlebury. It probably helped that he only had one game that weekend and did not have to worry about his knees. Though his offensive production against Middlebury was great, it will be his defense and rebounding that Bowdoin really relies on this weekend. Because Tom Palleschi ’16 did not play last year, Swords and him have not matched up for significant minutes yet. The two will likely spend the beginning of the game feeling each other out with Palleschi probably relying on his jump shot initially.

4. Power Forward Sam Willson ’16 (Colby)

Willson is basically the entire Colby frontcourt right now. We aren’t sure because Colby does not publish the height of their players on their website, but based off of this photo, after Willson, Luke Westman ’16 was the second tallest player who played for Colby against Middlebury. Willson wasn’t even supposed to start this year, but a preseason injury to Patrick Stewart ’16 and more recent injury to Chris Hudnut ’16 leaves Willson as the only big man left. Offensively his role is the same as he is still really a stretch four who is good in pick and roll situations. On defense is where he will really make or break the Mules’ weekend. He could have a tough time going against Tom Palleschi ’16 and Marcus Delepeche ’17. He will need to use his strength and rely on help from his teammates to keep Colby afloat down low.

3. Center Tom Palleschi ’16 (Tufts)

In the first half against Williams, Palleschi looked unstoppable draining midrange jumpers, hook shots, and layups down low on his way to 22 points. Then suddenly in the second half he went cold and didn’t score in the final 17:20 of the game. That was a big reason why Williams came back to win and plunge Tufts back into the thick of things. Without Hunter Sabety ’17, Palleschi is the only inside threat for Tufts. He has to exploit Colby who is still playing without Chris Hudnut ’16. If Tufts stumbles Friday then Palleschi will have to deal with Swords. His ability to hit shots from outside might give Swords problems, but he has to make them first.

2. Power Forward Dylan Sinnickson ’15

His Player of the Year candidacy is over after last weekend, and Sinnickson just has not looked like the same explosive inside-out threat that we saw earlier this year. In his past four conference games, Hamilton was the only one where he scored more than 13 points or grabbed more than nine rebounds. He needs to be the man for Middlebury for at least one game this weekend. Something like a 20 and 15 performance. He most certainly has to outplay Connor Green ’16 when those two meet on Sunday. Maybe returning to Pepin will help Sinnickson to get back to the player who looked almost unstoppable for stretches earlier in the season.

1. Point Guard Graham Safford ’15 (Bates)

We have been saying all season that Safford is the single most important player to any team. There is a reason why he is averaging an insane 36.9 MPG. But how much of a toll is it taking on him? The last two Friday NESCAC games Safford has averaged 26.0 PPG, but on Saturday that average dips all the way down to 9.5 PPG. Both of those games have still been wins, but they were against Hamilton and Conn College, the two worst teams in the NESCAC. Bates might struggle Saturday against Colby. So maybe Safford knows that Friday is the game that Bates needs to win. After all, he was in the Bowdoin gym Sunday afternoon watching Middlebury and Bowdoin play.