NEC Tournament Preview 2021
3MW’s All Conference Team:
Player of the Year: Alex Morales, R Sr., Wagner
Coach of the Year: Bashir Mason, Wagner
Newcomer of the Year: Peter Kiss, R Jr., Bryant
Freshman of the Year: DeLonnie Hunt, Fr., Wagner
Season Storylines:
The NEC was a jumbled mess this year, featuring some of the highest degree of parity you’ll see in any league in the country. Wagner and Bryant stood head and shoulders above the field, but after that it was a total crapshoot. Two teams finished 9-7, three more finished 9-9, and another finished 8-10. Given the weird COVID season and the degree of parity, it really is a shame the NEC opted to chop its conference tournament down to just four participants. Alas.
Give Bashir Mason a ton of credit, he far exceeded my expectations and got his program back to its rightful place at the top of the league. The Seahawks had the best player in the NEC this year in Alex Morales as well as the best freshman in DeLonnie Hunt. With four senior starters, Wagner will be a tough out in the postseason.
Bryant is still the best team for my money in the league - they have the most talented roster top-to-bottom in the conference and arguably the best coach in Jared Grasso. COVID limited Bryant’s ability to play games, otherwise we might have seen the Bulldogs wearing that 1-seed badge.
The NEC’s other two tourney qualifiers, Mount Saint Mary’s and Sacred Heart, each enjoyed solid seasons of their own. The Mount overcame an early season-ending injury to star guard Jalen Gibbs and used lock-down defense to claw its way to the 4-seed. Sacred Heart frankly got a but lucky. Per Kenpom the Pioneers were actually the second-worst team in the NEC this season, but their incredible ability to at least split every single NEC series in which they played helped them earn a spot in the conference dance. Please everyone take notice of head coach Anthony Latina — he did an unbelievable job this year with an inexperienced roster.
My preseason champion, FDU, let me down. The Knights looked to be figuring things out with back-to-back sweeps of Bryant and LIU at the end of January but ultimately fell short of the postseason. That is a major underachievement considering the amount of talent on that roster. LIU was its typical self under Derek Kellogg, and I mean that quite literally. Check out the KenPom ranks and conference records of the Sharks/Blackbirds under Kellogg’s four-year tenure:
Merrimack overachieved by finishing 9-9 in the league. Expect a lot more of that as long as Joe Gallo sits at the helm. Central Connecticut finished expectedly in dead last, though the Blue Devils were wayyy more competitive than expected. Finally, the St. Francis schools get mixed reviews. St. Francis PA underachieved in my eyes, though it did get hit with significant roster turnover. St. Francis NY outperformed expectations, though you could argue it still finished lower than it should have considering its talent.
For what it’s worth, Bryant could be down a few players and/or a bit out of whack for the Tourney due to a quick turnaround following a COVID pause. I still think the Bulldogs are a good bet for the auto-bid — Grasso has talent for days up and down his roster.
Tournament Preview
Tournament Predictions
(1) Wagner over (4) Mount Saint Mary’s
(2) Bryant (3) Sacred Heart
(2) Bryant over (1) Wagner