After the dust settled on a frantic Saturday afternoon, your William and Mary Tribe (10-7, 4-0 CAA) sits all alone atop the Coastal Athletic Association standings after the second weekend of action. 4-0 is the best start to league play for the Tribe since it rattled off six straight wins in the 2019-20 season. For a fanbase that is used to heartbreak in March, the Tribe’s impressive start has us all wondering the same question: Is this the year?
William and Mary has its own infamous history when it comes to the nation’s biggest sporting event. By now, we can all probably recite this same sad statistic: William and Mary is one of the three teams in the nation to have been eligible for every NCAA tournament and never made the field of 68.
There have been some close calls of course, the Tribe are 0-9 in tournament-clinching games. We all remember the incredible game-winner from Daniel Dixon in the CAA Tournament semifinals in 2015, only to be followed by an 11-point loss in the Championship game to Northeastern. In the 2019-20 season, the Tribe finished with a school-record 21 wins, yet was bounced from the CAA tournament in the quarterfinals by Elon. Something feels different though. Is this the year?
Before we answer that question, we need to unpack the last four games in which the Green and Gold has looked downright impressive. William and Mary made the trek up north to Long Island for a pair of games against perennial CAA powerhouse Hofstra and the Stony Brook Seawolves. The Tribe shot the lights out in Hempstead to the tune of 67% from three in the first half to build an impressive 48-27 lead at the break.
Up until this point, the Tribe was winless on the road. Hofstra battled back slightly in the second half, but this one was never close and William and Mary throttled one of the best teams in the CAA 74-56. Four players scored in double figures, as Matteus Case led the way with 15 points. Stony Brook was a tougher out though, and the Tribe were locked in a battle from the opening tip.
Five players finished in double figures, led by freshman (!) Isaiah Mbeng with a career-high 15 points. Despite losing the rebounding battle, the Tribe only turned the ball over five times, and shot 52% to sink the Seawolves and complete the Long Island sweep. The Tribe had never beaten Stony Brook on the road up until that point.
Then came the second week of action. Thursday night, the Tribe welcomed one of the nation’s top rebounding teams in Elon to Kaplan Arena. The Phoenix, led by Sam Sherry and Nick Dorn, defeated Notre Dame on the road earlier in the season and the Tribe knew they were in for a very tough matchup.
The Tribe got off to a slow start, but kept the game close in the first half with stout defense and stellar free throw shooting. The second half really started to show the effect that Brian Earl’s high-tempo style of play can have on a team. William and Mary started implementing the full court press on defense and continued their frantic pace on offense as well and the lead continued to grow for the Green and Gold en route to a 78-65 victory.
Keller Boothby led the way for the Tribe with 19 points and 2 steals. Chase Lowe filled the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
On Saturday afternoon, as the snow began to melt outside Kaplan Arena, the Aggies of North Carolina A&T rolled into Williamsburg with an upset on their mind. The game was back and forth the whole way, much to the dismay of the 2,641 strong who braved the conditions to see their beloved team. Ryan Forrest and Landon Glasper were stellar for the Aggies, turning in 27 and 24 points, respectively. Despite 16 turnovers, the Tribe hung around for 39 minutes and gave themselves a fighting chance. With 4 seconds remaining, the Aggies’ Jonathan Lamothe drained a game-tying three pointer to silence the Kaplan faithful. But there was still hope. The clock read 3.8 seconds.
If your memory is like mine, you firmly remember the coast-to-coast last-second layup by Nathan Knight to sink Northeastern back in 2020. Times have changed, and this is a new era. Caleb Dorsey inbounded the ball to Chase Lowe, who sprinted in front of the scorer’s table as the precious seconds slipped away. He flipped a pass to the middle of the court to Boothby, who pulled up from Toano. In what felt like an eternity, the ball floated through the air, with the Tribe’s first-place aspirations hanging in the balance.
As the buzzer sounded, Boothby’s shot finally came down from its high arc. Nothing but net. Chaos ensued as the Green and Gold mobbed Boothby and the Tribe faithful stood in disbelief. We are all thinking the same thing: Is this the year?
Let’s finally answer the question: maybe, calm down. The CAA is still a one-bid league, meaning the Tribe will have to win the CAA tournament if they want to play in the NCAA tournament rather than watching it at Paul’s Deli like the rest of us. But we can’t help but admit that this year feels different. Brian Earl basketball is fun. Plain and simple. Frantic defense and hurling three pointers for 40 minutes straight is pure entertainment.
The last five years for Tribe fans have been tough, needless to say. There was a global pandemic, a shortened season, a 5-27 season, and countless disappointing showings. Regardless of what happens in March, Brian Earl and his staff have flipped the script in Kaplan. CBS Sports Network put it nicely: “William and Mary is back on the map!”
So will the Tribe go dancing this year? We don’t know. What we do know is we better get to Kaplan as fast as we can because William and Mary basketball is BACK.
Photos Courtesy of Tribe Athletics
The William & Mary Sports Blog 
Hi Collin,
Nice piece. Really enjoying Tribe Hoops this year!
Doug Brown ‘71, JD ‘74
Well, the answer turned out to be no… but then a surprise sideways yes. This year’s CAA hoops tourneys featured,Cinderella runs. The Tribe men were victims of the Cinderella run by 12-seed Delaware who won four,straight to reach the CAA final (only to lose to UNXW). But on the women’s side, W&M was the Cinderelka team AND THE GLASS SLIPPER FIT! Congrats to the Tribe women, winners of four straight tourney games and 2024-25 CAA tournament chanos!
Dave Montuori ’85