Save an unlikely NIT invite, the season is complete. Thank you for an entertaining and enjoyable 2015-2016 season. While today was disappointing, the future is bright.

Tarpey is a huge loss for all of the things he does, especially his defense on a team that overall does not defend well. Sean and his steady growth into a solid CAA big was a pleasure to behold. Both will be missed on the court and the community.

I don't believe I'm alone in thinking that the Tribe potentially could be better next year than this year. There should be some shakeup atop the CAA. All of the top teams lose a lot, while we bring back the bulk of our league leading scoring. Our reserves have all taken big steps forward and their roles grew as the season progressed. Malinowski has only scratched the surface on how good he can be. Tot, Burchfield, Whitman, & Seacat all contributed. Omar should be a preseason POY candidate. I expect a "healthy" and confident Daniel Dixon to have an outstanding senior year. I believe Cohn is an all-CAA player in waiting. Add to that a very promising incoming class that could contribute right away.

So celebrate what has been accomplished, but know that the future is very promising indeed.

+1

Great call Mr. J!

So proud of these guys and this team! #MarchOnTribe

Well said!

Agreed. We need the Dixon of last year/1st half of this season to show up next year if we want to compete for the CAA title.

Burchfield showed a lot of development to me as he was willing to drive the ball to the hoop in the 2nd half of the conference schedule. Hopefully he can add some muscle to make himself even better.

Curious to see how Whitman and Seacat do next year on the offensive end. I don't think either of them pass the ball very well and see them having a difficult time filling the role Sheldon did in the high post.

Good shot we can make the CBI/CIT if we so choose

We will have a ton of players next season who can score. I think we need to really focus time in the off season on strength and agility.

From last season to this season we got real fast and could get it up and down the court.

If we can become a more physical team next year with the same speed, look out.

As much as I've been down on Whitman, I hope he can have an injury free off season and add 30 pounds to his frame. I know that sounds crazy, but my guess is that his lifting has been limited due to injury. He showed well in spurts when he's been healthy and he's got two years left.

Let's pick up a transfer while we're at it.

Supposedly, the CBI and CIT have both talked with W&M about interest in playing. It will be a dollars and cents decision by upper Administration.
I hope they choose to let them play, even if it does cost a bit. Keep the momentum of a growing program going.

Ill miss Terry and Sean...great young men with whom we've had the pleasure of having dinner. They represent the true meaning of student-athlete at William and Mary and are true W&M men. I cannot begin to tell you how dedicated they were to getting us to the NCAA Tourney...they are hurting this evening.

Congrats to the team and coaching staff for a third consecutive 20 win season...a remarkable feat at a college like W&M. The team was thrilling to watch all season long...the winter is certainly made better by going to our home games and watching these guys.

And I surely agree with others...this program continues to excel and improve; next season should be another terrific one.

Thank you for the well written post MrJ! As disappointed I am with the results today and I very proud of this team and will try to keep my chin up in anticipation for next year's squad.

As a diehard follower of Tribe hoops since the mid 90's, it is nice to see that we finally have a perennial contender, at least for now. There have been plenty of lean years at W&M as we all are aware.

Winning leads to recruiting success. Hopefully we continue to bring in top talent that fits our system.

(03-06-2016 06:56 PM)billymac Wrote:  Supposedly, the CBI and CIT have both talked with W&M about interest in playing. It will be a dollars and cents decision by upper Administration.
I hope they choose to let them play, even if it does cost a bit. Keep the momentum of a growing program going.

At the post-game presser, Daniel was asked about the post-season, and he indicated he wants to keep playing.

I pray we don't hear that the team decided not to play like we heard two years ago.

Thanks to the players, coaches and all who made the season possible. It hurts right now for me, so I'm sure it hurts even more for you. Know you are appreciated and we are proud of you.

Keep your heads high and use this pain to leapfrog ahead, both in the post season and next year.

It's not many teams that can lose their all-time leading scorer and come back to win 20 games.

Kudos.

Having attended Tribe BB for most home games over 44 years I have seen a lot. The last three years have been the most consistently good BB since the Parkhill days back in the 1970's! Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to all the players. I still remember what the Hall felt like when we REALLY packed it with 6,000+ fans!! Shaver has turned our program around and three straight 20 win seasons have been awesome.

The future is bright and hopefully the higher admin will invest in this team so they can play next year in a real tournament at the beginning of the season!! I would spend our money there first then if we can afford it send the team to play the CBI or CIT for the experience the players can get.

(03-06-2016 05:16 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  We will have a ton of players next season who can score. I think we need to really focus time in the off season on strength and agility.

From last season to this season we got real fast and could get it up and down the court.

If we can become a more physical team next year with the same speed, look out.

As much as I've been down on Whitman, I hope he can have an injury free off season and add 30 pounds to his frame. I know that sounds crazy, but my guess is that his lifting has been limited due to injury. He showed well in spurts when he's been healthy and he's got two years left.

Let's pick up a transfer while we're at it.

I don't think the comment on Whitman's lack of an offseason program for each of the last two seasons is crazy at all. The prospect of two years of weight training in his future is pretty cheering.

(03-06-2016 11:03 PM)wmmii Wrote:  Having attended Tribe BB for most home games over 44 years I have seen a lot. The last three years have been the most consistently good BB since the Parkhill days back in the 1970's! Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to all the players. I still remember what the Hall felt like when we REALLY packed it with 6,000+ fans!! Shaver has turned our program around and three straight 20 win seasons have been awesome.

The future is bright and hopefully the higher admin will invest in this team so they can play next year in a real tournament at the beginning of the season!! I would spend our money there first then if we can afford it send the team to play the CBI or CIT for the experience the players can get.

I am right there with you, wmmii. 40+ years for me also. There was a decade where all I ever wanted was to see us play a game in the semi finals. and now look where we are. I am very proud of my school, our program, and the coaches and student athletes who represent us on the court. No matter how crushing any tournament loss has been over the years, I will never criticize any player for what they did or did not do on the court in a given game. These are young men who give everything that they have for their team while keeping up their studies at a school that I considered a full time job. I love these guys.

Thanks for all of the joy that you have brought me the last three years.

Agree with everyone here. I'm really proud of our season and the positive strides our program is making. Rome wasn't built in a day and I feel like the best is yet to come for our program. I'm really going to miss Sheldon and Tarpey. Both guys were solid contributors throughout their time at the college. I will especially miss Tarpey's emphatic dunks! They really got the crowd excited (considering how infrequently we dunk).

(03-07-2016 09:24 AM)WMTRIBE75 Wrote:  

(03-06-2016 11:03 PM)wmmii Wrote:  Having attended Tribe BB for most home games over 44 years I have seen a lot. The last three years have been the most consistently good BB since the Parkhill days back in the 1970's! Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to all the players. I still remember what the Hall felt like when we REALLY packed it with 6,000+ fans!! Shaver has turned our program around and three straight 20 win seasons have been awesome.

The future is bright and hopefully the higher admin will invest in this team so they can play next year in a real tournament at the beginning of the season!! I would spend our money there first then if we can afford it send the team to play the CBI or CIT for the experience the players can get.

I am right there with you, wmmii. 40+ years for me also. There was a decade where all I ever wanted was to see us play a game in the semi finals. and now look where we are. I am very proud of my school, our program, and the coaches and student athletes who represent us on the court. No matter how crushing any tournament loss has been over the years, I will never criticize any player for what they did or did not do on the court in a given game. These are young men who give everything that they have for their team while keeping up their studies at a school that I considered a full time job. I love these guys.

Thanks for all of the joy that you have brought me the last three years.

I could not say it any better than the two of you did. Totally agree.

(03-07-2016 09:24 AM)WMTRIBE75 Wrote:  

(03-06-2016 11:03 PM)wmmii Wrote:  Having attended Tribe BB for most home games over 44 years I have seen a lot. The last three years have been the most consistently good BB since the Parkhill days back in the 1970's! Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to all the players. I still remember what the Hall felt like when we REALLY packed it with 6,000+ fans!! Shaver has turned our program around and three straight 20 win seasons have been awesome.

The future is bright and hopefully the higher admin will invest in this team so they can play next year in a real tournament at the beginning of the season!! I would spend our money there first then if we can afford it send the team to play the CBI or CIT for the experience the players can get.

I am right there with you, wmmii. 40+ years for me also. There was a decade where all I ever wanted was to see us play a game in the semi finals. and now look where we are. I am very proud of my school, our program, and the coaches and student athletes who represent us on the court. No matter how crushing any tournament loss has been over the years, I will never criticize any player for what they did or did not do on the court in a given game. These are young men who give everything that they have for their team while keeping up their studies at a school that I considered a full time job. I love these guys
Thanks for all of the joy that you have brought me the last three years.

There was a long stretch of hoping we did not have to participate in the play-in game or hoping we just won A game !

Proud to call you guys rivals. Your team deserves an NIT bid and I hope you all get that call this weekend. Looking forward to many more games with the Tribe, even though your boys seem to frustrate us like no one else

Agree on the comment about Rome not being built in a day.

After the Parkhill era we had some pretty terrible coaches with the exception of Woolham.

Now as we have built a good recruiting channel the athletic department needs to step up and put some money into the program.
1) pay the assistant coaches more
2) modernize the hall or tear it down
3) pay for a good preseason tournament every year
4) add a marketing campaign to attract more fans. The team is good now. No excuse.

As an aside, I went to the University of Tennessee on a college visit with my son this past weekend. Their team is horrible, but had 14,000 people show up on senior day. My son had Moe's Southwest Grill from one of the concessions. They had a full size apparel shop. Everyone wore Tennessee logos. Enough said.