Of course the big news this week is Bryant leaving the Northeast Conference for the America East. I really don't have much to say about it; this has been in motion for weeks, and it's a fact that the AE is a step up from the NEC. The NEC came out with the following release: I'm not sure what options the league has to replace Bryant. The rumor mill has the University of New Haven, as well as Stonehill College, as possible replacements. Could the NEC tempt any MEAC schools? How

Poor, Anthony Latina. Time and time again he's been burned by transfers; first it was Cane Broome, and Quincy McKnight, followed by E.J. Anosike, then two years ago it was Cameron Parker and Koreem Ozier. Unfortunately for Latina and the Pios, the hits keep on coming; point guard Aaron Clarke entered the Portal last week, and yesterday it was Tyler Thomas. Thomas, who finished 6th in the NEC in scoring this past season at 16.4 ppg after leading the league in points per game

Last week wasn't as busy as I had expected in terms of players entering the Transfer Portal, at least until Friday, when both Aaron Clarke (Sacred Heart) and Ian Krishnan (CCSU) entered. Both deserved their own write-ups, but I've included them here since I'm writing them at the same time. In case you missed it: Brandon Rush committed to Youngstown St. I wrote about his transfer a couple of weeks ago. Rush grew up about an hour from YSU's campus, and it feels like a good fit

I expected this week to be busy from a portal perspective, but I didn't expect this: Mezie Offurum was a complete unicorn at this level; his size (6'8" 230 lbs.) and athleticism allowed him to effectively guard every position on the floor, which made him one of the best defenders in the Northeast Conference. While his ability to defend isn't reflected in the data, take a look at what Offurum, Nana Opoku, and Malik Jefferson were able to do together, according to Hoop-Explorer

Things will be fast moving in the coming weeks as we will see many players entering the Transfer Portal. If any major players enter the Portal (i.e. an all-conference level guy), then I will probably write something as soon as possible, as I did with Brandon Rush. Otherwise, I'll post these every week or two, depending on how much movement there has been. This week, we've had five players enter the Transfer Portal: 1) Devon Dunn, Fairleigh Dickinson 2) Jeriah Coleman, St. Fra

The Bryant Bulldogs, the team I picked to win the league way back in November, are your 2022 NEC Champions! Obviously because of what happened in the stands combined with the lopsided score, the headlines aren't related to the game. However, let's hit some game reactions in bullet form: Congrats to the Bryant coaching staff and players. This was a few years in the making, and it shows what kind of damage you can do if you utilize the Portal well at this level. In fact, Charle

With all due respect to Derek Kellogg, Dan Engelstad, and their respective programs, Wagner at Bryant is what we all needed, right? The NEC gets to show off their best two teams in, at least in 2022, the best atmosphere in the Northeast Conference. I didn't get to watch the semifinal games in real-time due to some youth sports commitments, but I did want to drop a few observations that I had. First Bryant-Mount St. Mary's: In a losing effort, Dan Engelstad showed why he's one

Chalk reigned supreme on Wednesday night, as the top 4 seeds took care of business at home. However, at least for #1 seed Bryant and #3 seed Long Island, it wasn't easy; Central Connecticut cut Bryant's lead to as few as 5 points in the 2nd half, while Sacred Heart got to within two points of LIU with less than 10 minutes remaining. If you work at the NEC offices, this is exactly what you wanted; an opportunity to showcase your best four teams on SNY/ESPN3 on Saturday night.

It's officially Transfer Portal Season, ya'll. Fairleigh Dickinson's Brandon Rush became the first NEC player to enter the Transfer Portal this off-season after averaging 14.2 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game as a 3rd year junior. The 6'3" wing had a breakout season as a sophomore, going from a lightly used role player as a freshman to becoming a legitimate secondary scoring option behind Jahlil Jenkins and Elyjah Williams, and filled the void left when Xzavier Ma

Yesterday the Northeast Conference announced its award winners. Let's remember; the coaches vote on these awards. And in my experience, basketball coaches (not just in the NEC) are terrible at voting on these things. Why? Because they're paid to coach their teams, not vote on awards. Here is who I voted as the NEC's award winners. With that said, I still have a few bones to pick: If you just go by the numbers, Josh Cohen 100% deserved to be on one of the three teams. If you l