MIT Basketball Lab: Day 6

MIT Basketball Lab: Day 6 from MIT Hoops

MIT Basketball Lab: Day 1

The MIT Basketball team donned white t-shirts with individual names scribbled on by markers in the program's first practice of this season last night, their practice jerseys still sitting in a box untouched in MIT Athletic's equipment room.

"We are not a team yet," Head Coach Larry Anderson said as the reason for not wearing the jerseys. "We are working towards that."

And working towards "that" they did.

On the first official day of practice for NCAA Division III teams, October 15th, the MIT Basketball team conditioned, drilled, and conditioned some more for 120 grueling minutes. After a cool-down and yoga-inspired stretch, the players decided to stay longer to put in extra work.

"I'm pretty pleased with the first day, but we have a long way to go."

The squad is coming off five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and five straight seasons of winning either the Regular Season or Conference Tournament Championship, or both.

But for the 2013-2014 season, the group knows they haven't earned anything yet, including their practice jerseys.

So when can you find MIT Basketball wearing these jerseys?

"When the captains, and each player, and the coaching staff decide we have become a team," Coach Anderson said.

"We're going to take the championship approach, we're going to be accountable, we're going to be unselfish, we're going to do what we are supposed to do in the classroom, and become valued members of this community outside of what we do on the basketball court, then we want to put those practice uniforms on."

"We want to earn the right to become ambassadors for MIT."

MITHoops.NET will be visiting their basketball laboratory as MIT Basketball uncovers what it takes to become ambassadors, and a team.

MIT Basketball Lab: Day 1 by MIT Hoops

Tashman Interview by Noontime Sports

Tashman registered 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks versus Harvard. Harvard is currently #22 in Division I (Pic: Tom Gearty)

Click on the link below for a recap of last night's game as well as a post-game interview with 6'8" Junior Will Tashman by Noontime Sports. This publication extensively covers New England sports: http://noontimesports.com/2012/01/04/recap-no-4-mit-67-springfield-college-59/

Noontime Sports also listed MIT as the #1 team in Massachusetts in Division III:

http://noontimesports.com/2012/01/04/massachusetts-college-basketball-mens-top-5-poll-updated/

#7 MIT Wins Thriller at Tufts

The nationally-ranked MIT Engineers took down Tufts University in dramatic fashion in front of a bustling crowd at Cousens Gynasium yesterday afternoon. Down six with four minutes left, Tech scored on timely possessions to grab their 11th victory in a row, and solidify a nation-best 11-0 record.

The hero of the game was none other than All-Conference point guard Mitchell Kates. Kates scored on several key possessions, and stole two key balls on defense, one of which sealed the game. The captain finished the night with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists.

All-American Noel Hollingsworth dominated throughout, scoring 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting along with 11 rebounds. All-Region performer Will Tashman grabbed 6 caroms off the glass, including a block that saved the Engineers, while Billy Bender and Jamie Karraker pitched in 8 points and 7 points, respectively. 6'7" Freshman Dennis Levene played 15 valuable minutes for MIT, grabbing timely rebounds and two momentum-changing charges.

MIT finishes off the semester with Wheelock College on Wednesday at 7PM in Rockwell Cage.

MIT vs. Newbury Highlights

MIT vs. RPI Highlights

MIT vs. Harvard Highlights

MIT takes on cross-town Division I Harvard in preseason tune-up. Harvard would go on to beat #20 Florida State University two weeks later.

Nick Davis Dunk Highlights

Image Courtesy of Tom Gearty
6'5" freshman G/F Nick Davis arrived on campus this fall with a reputation for being a high-flyer. He has not disappointed. In the highlights below, Davis dunks three times in consecutive games against UMass-Boston, Salem State, and Lesley.

MIT Basketball Class of 2014

Introducing the newest members of the MIT basketball program, the class of 2014...

Interview with Former MIT Assistant Basketball Coach Gunnar Hagstrom

In his recent trip back to Boston, former MIT assistant basketball coach Gunnar Hagstrom took time out of his busy schedule to talk about what he has been up to since leaving the MIT basketball program prior to last season. In this clip, Gunnar talks about his experiences living abroad and his plans for next year. While abroad, Gunnar has also picked up some Greek and Turkish, and he drops some lines in this interview (see translation guide below).



Turkish translation guide:
tamam = okay
günaydın = good morning
teşekkürler = thanks
çok sağol = thank you very much

Jimmy Bartolotta Sits Down with The Blog

It has been over a year since MIT made its surprise run to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2009. The leader of that team, and MIT's all-time leading scorer, Jimmy Bartolotta has rode the success and media exposure from his senior season to a life he never envisioned entering MIT. The whirlwind began when MIT shocked the DIII world by winning their first ever NEWMAC tourney. After enjoying some success in the NCAA tournament, Bartolotta was awarded every major personal honor possible for a DIII basketball player, including D3hoops.com Player of the Year, NABC Player of the Year, ESPN/COSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, and the prestigious Jostens Award. Following the season, Bartolotta was invited to the site of the DI Final Four to compete in the NABC/Hershey's Senior All-Star Game. While there, Bartolotta was the media darling, receiving congratulations from Wisonsin head coach Bo Ryan, and being featured in articles in the New York Times, Boston Globe (written by Bob Ryan), the Denver Post, and ESPN, among others. With the media flurry, Bartolotta was approached by many international agents, finally signing with Mario Scotti of the Two Points agency. Following that, Bartolotta signed with Air Avellino of Italy's Serie A, joining former NBA and NCAA stars such as Dee Brown (Illinois), DeMarcus Nelson (Duke), and Chevon Troutman (Pittsburgh), as well as internationl stars such as Cenk Akyol (Turkey).

In this two-part interview, Bartolotta discusses his time in Italy, as well as his observations and expectations of the current MIT squad.

Part 1


Part 2


Check back to mitbasketball.blogspot.com for full coverage of MIT basketball.

2010 Player Highlights: Patrick Sissman and Eric Zuk

For this installment of the MIT Hoops Blog's 2010 Player Highlights, we focus on two of this year's squad's captains: senior guard Patrick Sissman and junior guard/forward Eric Zuk. Both players' contributions to the program are not measurable with just statistics, as they broght vital intangibles to the squad, including leadership, toughness, and a team-first mentality. Both players are showcased in the combined highlight reel below.

Video Flashback: 2009 NEWMAC Tournament Championship

A few days ago, the focus of our "Turn Back the Clock" article was last year's exciting run to the NEWMAC crown. Keeping with that theme, in today's "Video Flashback" we bring you the highlights of the NEWMAC tournament championship game between MIT and Springfield. The entire clip is only about 9 minutes and you won't miss a single bucket. MIT was led in the contest by Jimmy Bartolotta, who set a tournament single-game scoring record with 37 points. The box score for the game can be found here: 2009 NEWMAC Championsip Game Box Score.

Video Flashback 2009: Coach Larry Anderson Interviewed by ESPN U

For this flashback we travel back about a year, as MIT had just won its first ever NEWMAC conference tourney and clinched the automatic bid to make its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. Not only was this big news on the Division III landscape, but ESPN picked up the story on several fronts, writing a column on Page 2 and inviting Coach Anderson to be interviewed on ESPN U. Below is the recording of that interview, which aired in early March 2009.

Video Flashback: Jimmy Bartolotta

It has been a year since MIT's only National Player of the Year, Jimmy Bartolotta, has graduated. To remember his great career, here are some video highlights of him while playing at MIT. He is currently playing in Italy's Serie A for Air Avellino.

Video Interviews: Billy Bender and Jamie Karraker

In the last installment of player video interviews for this week, we talk with two sophomore guards for MIT: Billy Bender and Jamie Karraker.

Billy discusses his expectations going into this season, how he prepares to defend the opposing team's best players, and what has made him so successful in making shots in crunch time.

Jamie discusses how frustrating it has been having to watch his teammates from the sideline this year, when he expects to get back on the court, the similarities between this year and last year's team, and how playing a prep year at Phillips Exeter Academy has prepared him for the college game.

Video Interviews: Devin Dee and Bradley Gampel

In this episode of player interviews, we have two guards at opposite ends of the spectrum of their playing careers. Bradley Gampel was a big part of last year's successful MIT basketball team, but is a year removed from organized basketball. Meanwhile, Devin Dee is a freshman guard, out of Hillsborough, CA, who is in his first year with the MIT team.

Brad compares this year's team to last year's team, talks about how it has been coaching this year at his former high school, and discusses how his game compares to this year's starting point guard's (Mitchell Kates).

Devin discusses balancing school, basketball, and Naval ROTC, the team's strengths, and his most memorable experience of the season.

Check back tomorrow for our final episode of video interviews for the week with Billy Bender and Jamie Karraker featured.

Video Interviews: Arni Lehto and Patrick Gichuiri

In today's player video interviews, we have an international flavor as we interview the two players on this year's squad who went to high school across the Atlantic.

Arni Lehto discusses basketball in his homeland of Finland, how this year's team compares to last year's team, and what the team's mentality is going into the postseason.

Patrick Gichuiri discusses basketball in his native Kenya, his favorite part of being on the MIT basketball team, and his thoughts on the team's strength going into the postseason.

MIT Basketball NCAA Selection Reaction

Below is a clip of the MIT basketball team watching the NCAA Division III selection show. We pick up the action as the right hand side of the brackets are being announced and the tension is building as MIT awaits to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney. MIT was the last team announced because of their location on the bracket. Coach Anderson addresses his team briefly at the end of the clip.

Video Interviews: Eric Zuk and Noel Hollingsworth

We are back for this week's final installment of player video interviews. Today we have interviews with junior captain Eric Zuk and sophomore center Noel Hollingsworth.

Eric discusses the atmosphere in last weekend's NEWMAC clinching win over Springfield, about his expectations for the season, and how differently teams have been preparing for MIT this year than in years past.

Noel discusses his transition from the Ivy League to MIT, advice he would give to other players in his sitatuion, and how it has been working with formner NBA center Paul Grant on the coaching staff here at MIT.