Photos by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com; Tufts athletics; CIphotography.com

By Ryan Scott
D3sports.com

No. 1 Tufts topped No. 2 Bowdoin Friday night in what might have been the best regular season Division III game I’ve ever seen. Games like this one have become almost commonplace in the NESCAC of late. A “Big Three” (along with Amherst) has emerged over the last decade, but they’ve had unprecedented success in recent years.

The Jumbos, Polar Bears, and Mammoths have finished in the top six of the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll each of the last two years and are currently in the top eight. WashU has historically been the most successful Division III women’s team, but even the vaunted UAA, with multiple ranked teams each season, has never had the kind of sustained, upper-echelon performance these NESCAC programs are achieving right now.

At least one team has been in the Final Four every season since 2009. Amherst leads the pack with eight appearances; they and Tufts have each been to four in a row. Before Amherst lost to Hamilton last weekend, none of the three had lost a conference game to anyone except each other since 2014; Tufts’ streak goes to 2011.

“Of course it all starts with the players,” says Adrienne Shibles of Bowdoin. “We recruit high achieving student athletes with high standards and high expectations. We aren’t allowed to start practice until Nov. 1 each season, which is a strong disadvantage, so we need players with a strong work ethic.”

I’m not sure you’d hear a different perspective from any coach in the country, the NESCAC difference is that they tend to get some of the very best players on a regular basis. It’s very much an easier said than done situation.

Some of that recruiting success comes from having an incredible academic product to sell. In the most recent US News & World Report rankings, Amherst is No. 2 in the Liberal Arts Colleges category, with Bowdoin No. 6; Tufts is tied for No. 29 in National Universities. Having that elite academic environment augmented by sustained athletic success makes a strong case for student athletes to turn down bigger or more high profile options.

“I don’t know how they do it,” says Jim Scheible, head coach at Rochester (one of the schools tied with Tufts at 29), “It’s not easy; we’ve struggled, over the last two years, to keep four strong classes intact. So many kids, especially those from New England, want to go to those schools; they’re zeroed in.”

Scheible credits not just the players, but the coaches who successfully recruit them and maintain a high level of success: “It’s even more impressive that they all approach things differently: Amherst has 10 really good players who can hit mid-range jumpers, a skill you don’t see much at this level, but those are the shots you often need at the end of games; Tufts has always been about size and defense, while Bowdoin runs and presses, which requires a depth of quality that’s hard to find.”

Each of the coaches, though, mentioned the same recruiting philosophy: fit. All said they routinely pass up talented players for those who fit the system. Shibles cited Kate Kerrigan, the 2017-18 D3hoops.com Player of the Year: “Kate always gave space to her teammates; we want players who celebrate their teammates and are focused on both ends of the floor.”

Jill Pace, a former Bowdoin player and Tufts assistant, took over the Jumbos program this season after longtime coach Carla Berube headed off to the Ivy League. Other coaches have noted how difficult it is to maintain the kind of excellence to which Tufts is accustomed, but Pace downplays her own significance: “The alumni support is so essential; it really is a legacy and our current players understand what’s come before them and what it means to play Tufts basketball.”

Her Jumbos have won at Amherst to take over No. 1 in the national poll and at Bowdoin to secure the position. The most difficult task when you win so often is the fight against complacency. Players at this level don’t often get lazy or lose focus, but it’s harder to learn lessons and improve when your outlook is just a sea of W’s.

“Every day in practice we have concrete things we work to improve,” says Pace. “Specific goals we can achieve that help us focus on the next game.” Students who can get in to these schools are used to difficult challenges and accustomed to success; there’s no reason this shouldn’t translate onto the court as well.

Amherst’s GP Gromacki adds that having such strong competition in conference drives everyone to be better. “It’s a fun atmosphere,” he says, “We know these other teams are out there working just as hard, if not harder; I’m not sure any of us are playing yet as well as we have in the past.”

That’s a scary thought (and one expressed before the stellar shooting by both teams Friday night), but it hits on what might be the secret to this exacting standard of excellence that’s become synonymous with this NESCAC “Big Three.” There are good players and good coaches all over the country; you need them to win. But just being good doesn’t explain the sustained success of recent years. I wonder if that doesn’t have something to do with the thin margin for error with which these schools grapple.

UAA teams don’t have to compete in the same region for at-large bids and hosting opportunities in the NCAA Tournament. Bowdoin, Amherst, and Tufts have to go through each other to secure the best positions in March. A non-conference loss in November might be the difference between hosting two weekends and going on the road for round one. Each and every game is a must win – not to save the season, but to best position the team for a postseason run.

“We don’t specifically tie wins and losses to the future,” says Pace, “but the players know it.”

“I’m not sure if our players are aware [of how performance affects hosting]; it’s not something we talk about,” says Gromacki, “but it’s something I think about a lot.”

Even if the players can keep the larger implications of their game results out of their minds, it has to have, at least, a subconscious effect on focus and execution. One extra free throw, one fewer turnover might be the difference in a win.

“A few bounces different,” says Gromacki, “we might be undefeated.” Amherst’s three losses have come by a combined eight points and included an overtime game with Tufts and a loss to Emmanuel, led by the winningest coach of all time.

That slim margin for error is even more stark for Amherst, where Gromacki intentionally keeps the roster small, often no more than ten deep. “It’s a number I’m comfortable with,” he says. A short bench, though, leaves fewer options for games when someone has an off night.

“I didn’t worry about that until this year,” says Gromacki. That’s not at all a knock on his team, just a recognition that they’ve so rarely lost. The Mammoths have made at least the Sweet 16 in every season Gromacki has been on the bench – jumping from 12 to 27 wins in his first year.

This year’s Amherst squad is relying on freshmen a bit more than is typical, but they are a very talented class and look entirely capable of sustaining “Amherst” levels of success. “I think one of the great things about this season will be seeing how much our young players grow,” Gromacki said.

This is a team that was preseason No. 1 in the nation – and they may well prove that ranking right, come March. To do it, though, they’ll have to get through Tufts and Bowdoin, not just once, but over and over again.

The Mammoths host the Polar Bears this coming weekend and, as strange as it sounds, it’s almost a must-win game. A loss likely won’t hurt their chances of making the NCAA Tournament, but it would signify to many that the mystique might be fading.

That kind of thinking is downright cruel for us to put on the shoulders of these 18-22 year olds, but it’s also the kind of expectation that’s welcomed in each of these programs. “There can be no complacency,” says Shibles, “Nothing is handed to you in this league; there is no waltz to the conference title.”

The focus might be on the next game, but make no mistake, the ultimate goal for Bowdoin, Tufts, and Amherst is to be the last team standing. Having to go through a gauntlet like the NESCAC could easily wear teams down, but this competition seems to only bring the best out of each team and further prepare them to face whatever comes next.