By Daniel Ogden
Hark! Hark! Hark upon the new season. As Halloween marks the thinning of the veil between worlds allowing ours to be invaded by the spirits of candy and chicanery, it too marks the beginning of the College Basketball season.
While the season kicked off as Catholics matched up in the Eternal City, Tribe Men’s Basketball seeks to be eternalized by making the Big Tournament for the first time. Coach Earl welcomed 13 new faces to the roster (2 Freshmen, 5 Mid Major Transfers, 2 Power level transfers, and 4 lower division transfers) on top of returning Senior Ethan Connery and Junior Colin Lamine Ndaw.
Stas Sivka (George Mason) will be one of the tallest players Earl has had while at William & Mary. Josh Baldwin (Cornell), Tre Blassingame (FDU then Idaho), ZZ Clark (UCSB), and Jesse McIntosh (South Dakota) bring great experience and production from other mid major conferences. Josh Baldwin was originally recruited to Cornell by Earl before both found their way to Williamsburg. Tre Blassingame has 2 March Madness Appearances, one at FDU and one at Idaho, with Blassingame playing a massive role for the Vandals (.438/.390/.692 FG/3P/FT on 18.7 minutes per game the last two seasons at Idaho). Sivka and McIntosh bring pro experience from Slovenia and Australia respectively.
Jayden Forsythe (West Virginia) is one of the most conventionally highly rated talents to step foot in Kaplan, as a top 5 recruit out of Pennsylvania for the HS Class of 2025 with 4 stars on 24/7. Nilavan Daniels (Providence), a former walk-on for the Friars who worked his way to full scholarship, looks to take a step up and maximize his opportunities in Williamsburg. John Roland Jr. (Lynn), Brian Carter Jr. (Walters State), Will Feagles (Pima CC), and Gavin Ward (USC Salkehatchie) all bring excellent production and look to remind the Coastal that skill translates to all levels. Not to mention Freshmen Nick Byrd’s and Chris Richards’ chance to acclimate and excel.
The Tribe’s non-conference schedule leaves plenty of opportunity for the Men’s to make a national statement. After Opening on Nov. 2 against ODAC (D-III) powerhouse Bridgewater College, the Tribe host the Spartans of Norfolk State on Sunday Nov. 8th. William & Mary then start a Dusty May appreciation tour by travelling to sunny Boca Raton (the Mouth of the Rat if you will) on Nov. 11 to play the Owls of Florida Atlantic. The Tribe follow this up with a little game against the reigning National Champion No. 16 Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Nov. 15. Two days later the team comes home to face Bowling Green.
Nov. 20 sees a tune up game v. Averett (D-III) before the Youngstown St. Multi-Team Event (MTE). The MTE sees the Tribe matchup against Youngstown St. on Nov. 22 and IU Indy on Nov. 23. Two away games versus in-state rivals sandwich an important stretch of Non-con play. Earl and the team go up to Harrisonburg to face the Dukes on Nov. 29, the Tribe play D-II Winston-Salem State, before going on a 3-game road trip: Ole Miss on Dec. 7, Delaware on Dec. 10, and Henrico County Spiders on Dec. 18. Non-conference ends at home against the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina on Dec. 22.
The non-conference schedule will tell us a lot about this team’s ability to compete. Bridgewater and Norfolk St will hopefully provide a runway of hope and confidence into FAU and Michigan. Those games will acclimate the team to high level of play and execution, because they will need to be almost perfect to be able to win those games.
Luckily Tre Blassingame could provide some guidance as he saw firsthand how to take down giants at FDU. Next Bowling Green, Youngstown St, and IU Indy are all mid-major teams that the Tribe can beat. Last if the Tribe can show out in the back half of the non-con and show that they are still ready to compete every game whether its an expected win against Averett, a toss up against some other state school in the Old Dominion, or a tussle with Goliath in Oxford, then we can start to get excited.
If the Tribe take advantage of this tough non-conference schedule, they will be tested for a favorable CAA schedule and can earn a better path to the Dance.
In CAA play last year, William & Mary went 10-8, and to finish above 6th place this year the Tribe will need to do more. The Tribe get Elon, Northeastern, Hampton, Campbell, UNCW, and Towson as home and away games. The Tribe play Hofstra, Stony Brook, and NC A&T once away and Drexel, Charleston, and Monmouth once at home.
The schedule plays out favorably with the majority of the home and aways and single away games coming against the basement of the league from last year (Northeastern 13th, NC A&T 12th, Elon 11th, Hampton 10th, Campbell 9th, Stony Brook 8th, and Towson 7th). William & Mary will have to play UNCW, who finished first in the regular season, home and away and Hofstra who won the CAA tournament away.
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However, the solo home games are all against great competitors in the CAA with Drexel finishing 5th last year, Charleston 2nd, and Monmouth in 4th. The home crowd at Kaplan will give the Tribe the edge in these tough games and the plan would be to capitalize on this favorable schedule, get a good seed for the CAA, and get an easy route to making the first appearance in the Men’s Tournament in the history of the College of William & Mary.
The Tribe will then travel up to Washington D.C. March 5th – 9th for the CAA Tournament. If things go to plan, the season will not end there… I look forward to seeing you all at Kaplan. Go Tribe!
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Photos courtesy of the William & Mary Sports Blog.
