As we move deep into the summer, I have begun my annual exercise of interviewing NEC coaches for the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Now that I have a stronger understanding of who’ll be rostered come November, I decided to offer my opinion on who the winners and losers of this offseason were. Continue reading “NEC Winners and Losers of the Offseason”
These conferences, in terms of average strength, are probably about where the current MAAC or Horizon League are down to the Patriot League. Continue reading “Realignment Conferences 23 Through 18”
I apologize in advance for quoting one of my favorite bands from my college days, but “I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend.” Continue reading “Projecting the Best NEC Players of the 2017-18 Season”
Last week, the NEC lost three very promising young players in sophomore guard Nisre Zouzoua (Bryant), sophomore center Josh Nebo (Saint Francis U.), and freshman forward Braden Burke (Robert Morris). Yesterday, we learned sophomore guard/forward Isaiah Still is leaving the Colonials as well.
Continue reading “The NEC Becoming The G-League of Mid-Majors”
Now that the postseason has kicked off it’s the return of “About Last Night.” I’ll take a quick look at how the teams in the area and conferences we cover fare in the postseason until they’re all eliminated. And we know at least a few will have some more games! Continue reading “About Last Night: March 14, 2017”
As the brackets for the NCAA Tournament and National Invitational Tournament are set by the NCAA, there are 48 other teams getting ready to play postseason basketball. Continue reading “A CIT and CBI Primer”
All Bashir Mason could do was smile. What else was there to do?
Keith Braxton faked, got stuck, and self-admittedly threw the ball at the basket, and it subsquently made one revolution around the rim and dropped, giving Saint Francis University a 71-70 victory in the NEC semifinals Saturday afternoon. As the ball finally finished its circuituous journey to the bottom of the net, it simultaneously stunned the home crowd at the Spiro Center and set off wild celebrations among the Red Flash and their faithful, as it marks the first time since 1991 they will be in the NEC final, well before anyone in uniform Saturday was born.
“Welcome to March Madness,” Mason said. “What else can you say?”
Continue reading “Wagner, St. Francis Classic Leaves Everyone Winners”
In our NEC tournament preview, I noted that the conference had the second highest rate of close games in the regular season – 30% of them ended within 4 points or were decided in overtime. We enjoyed more of the same in the NEC quarterfinals, as the league office couldn’t have asked for better drama, both on television and on NEC Front Row when Sacred Heart made a run at history. Continue reading “Thoughts From the Crazy NEC Tourney Quarterfinals”
In what many believed was a rebuilding year for the Northeast Conference as a whole, the season played out along those lines. Graduations, transfers and unexpected defections led to a youth movement throughout the conference – a movement that was necessary for the league to move up the conference RPI charts in the near future. Continue reading “The 2017 NEC Tournament Preview”
It went by way too fast, but here we are a few days away form the start of the NEC tournament. In the meantime, John and I diligently poured through the statistics and went through our recollections to determine the best NEC players of the 2016-17 season. Continue reading “NEC Awards and All-Conference Teams for the 2016-17 Season”
NYC Buckets Archive 