Welcome back to another season, such as it is, of regional basketball. After a hiatus of roughly 10 months, and following on the heels of an incomplete season that was halted on the eve of the NCAA Regional in Bridgeport last March due to Covid, live college hoops is upon us once again, albeit with no spectators and various other alterations. In another humbling example of life not being fair, the lack of finality to last year may have hurt as reporters, coaches and fans, but my thoughts and sympathies remain with the student-athletes... primarily those shortchanged seniors who were robbed of proper career closure. The NCAA has offered this year’s seniors a do-over in the form of a waiver, affording them the opportunity to play basketball next season, if conditions allow.
As my colleague and co-purveyor of this website, Steve Zerdelian perfectly stated in his opening column, our coverage will have a different look this campaign, and that’s not solely a result of the virus-ravaged schedule. While we will still report and tweet out all noteworthy stories and accomplishments, we no longer will be publishing recaps of every game on the schedule. Back when we began this venture in the early days of the Internet, it was much more difficult to find detailed game stories and boxscores, and that void was what inspired us to produce our email blasts. Now that there is exponentially more information available to fans, our coverage will shift to include more history, opinion and even humor. That being said, there will be no sociopolitical content, as we plan to keep basketball our sole focus. Along with Tim McCaffrey’s much-anticipated Musings, Steve and I will offer feature-oriented content twice per week, with at least one of mine being the popular Around the Rim column. Beginning next week, Steve and I will present the first instalments of our Super 75 series, highlighting the regional players that most turned our heads over our roughly four decades of covering D2 hoops. And of course, you can depend on our site for up-to-date scores, standings and leaders, as usual.
On the court, the highly truncated 2021 season is upon us, and the NCAA has mandated that in order for a program to qualify for the NCAA tournament, it must play a minimum of 11 games. Here inthe East Region, roughly 39% of the member institutions (15 of 38) have opted in with the hopes of reaching a regional field consisting of just six berths, down from eight at the D2 level for the first time since 2002. The 15 schools willing to give it a go as of this publication are as follows:
Half the CACC field will participate (Bloomfield, Caldwell, Concordia, Dominican, Felician, Georgian Court and Nyack). Playing without divisions for the first time since 2007, the conference kicks off its campaign with three games on Thursday, January 28, including the first “home” game for Nyack in another state – at New Jersey City College.
Six of the 10 ECC clubs are ready to compete (Daemen, Mercy, Molloy, Roberts Wesleyan, St. Thomas Aquinas and newcomer d’Youville, which is transitioning from D3 and is not eligible to compete in the postseason. The first conference game is slated for Friday, January 22 as the Saints play crosstown foe Daemen in Amherst. The debut of ECC newcomer Staten Island will be delayed at least one year, and in the case of New York Tech, the Bears have suspended intercollegiate athletics for a couple of years, with any future participation to be as a D3 institution, so we say goodbye to yet another longtime regional friend – the fourth Long Island school to leave our ranks since 2005 (Southampton, Dowling and LIU Post were the others).
In addition to both the CACC and ECC planning league slates, they will also host tournaments. The NE10 will not follow suit, however, choosing to cancel conference play and its postseason tourney. Still, three schools in the circuit have decided to lace up the sneakers at some point this winter, technically as independent entities: American International, Franklin Pierce and Saint Rose.
During the expansive off-season, there were two head coaching changes in the region, and both hires were made in the same city of Philadelphia. Even though they won’t be patrolling the sidelines this winter, we welcome into the family longtime D1 coach Michael Connors at University of the Sciences and J.J. Butler, who returns to Chestnut Hill, where he finished his playing career in 2017. We also extend hearty hellos to Earl Schunk, who is entering his 10th season as d’Youville’s coach, and T.J. Tibbs, who has helmed Staten Island the past three years after having played for the same Dolphins team.
The regional master schedule – which has had more phases than the moon – is now posted but more changes are inevitable. One team has already played, with Roberts Wesleyan defeating USCAA member Bryant & Stratton of Buffalo last Sunday in Rochester. Daemen will play nationally ranked Mercyhurst (PA) this coming Saturday, and then the East action resumes the following weekend, with no more than six games scheduled on any one day at things stand right now.
We are glad you are with us as we gear up for this unexpected, unconventional ride that is the 2021 regional basketball season. As always, feel free to ask questions or leave comments at any time. God bless and stay safe!