Tag: Jaleen Smith

New Hampshire 81, Hartford 56: Wildcats Built From The Bottom

(photo courtesy: New Hampshire Athletics)

Had they been wearing different uniforms, New Hampshire might have been taken a little more seriously this season. The America East coaches knew better, of course, picking the Wildcats second behind Vermont, with three of the eight who were not Bill Herrion putting New Hampshire first.

That, of course, is a long, long way from most of the history of the program, which can’t really be called checkered because there aren’t enough successful data points to offset the 19 (?!?) straight losing seasons from 1995-2014. The Wildcats only had one winning campaign in the previous decade to that as well, so it probably goes without saying they’ve never been to the NCAA Tournament (becoming Division I in 1977).

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New Hampshire 77, Fairfield 62: Future Is Bright For Both Teams

(photo courtesy: America East)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – We can debate the relative merits of the CIT and whether it belongs in the current college basketball landscape, but the fact is that Fairfield and New Hampshire had 2015-16 campaigns that deserved some kind of recognition, even though neither could get past their respective conference semifinals.

For the host Stags, it was a 12-win increase not only over last season, but the last two campaigns, and probably served to help save Sydney Johnson’s job as their new up tempo style got them 12 MAAC wins. For the Wildcats, they were chasing a school record 20th win after getting 19 a year ago at one of the most stubborn Division I campuses to win. Like Johnson, Bill Herrion was probably heading toward a pink slip last season before the fairly astounding turnaround.

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