WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. – In late spring of 1993 the NESCAC voted to allow team participation in NCAA Championship Tournaments on a three-year experimental basis. NESCAC teams could also continue to participate in ECAC Regional Tournaments.
One of the founding tenets of the NESCAC in 1971 that had been carried forward by Williams College was that individuals could always choose to participate in NCAA Championship events if they qualified as individuals, but teams would not be allowed to compete.
There were two reasons the NESCAC adopted this position. The first reason was that in 1961 when the Williams basketball team participated in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals Eph administrators who traveled with the team were not pleased with the behavior of the team members and fans of the teams that lost on the first day of the tournament.
The second reason the NESCAC did not allow team participation centered around a fear that a team member who was saddled with high academic demands during the tournament time period would feel pressured to compete with his/her team and possibly would suffer academically.
The 1992-93 Ephs had posted a record of 23-4 overall and 12-2 in versus NESCAC teams. There was no NESCAC championship tournament that year or in 1993-94.
Harry Sheehy's 1993-94 Ephs looked poised to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1961 when the 1993-94 season opened with a solid corps of returning veterans.
Sports Illustrated called Eph Sports Information in early October, saying they were going to rank the Eph men's basketball team in their top 10 and because the Ephs had not competed in the NCAA Tournament since 1961 (via a self-imposed restriction) that NESCAC had later adopted when founded, that is until the fall of 1993.
Five minutes before the arrival of writer Michael Jaffe and photographer Manny Millan on campus a call from
Sports Illustrated in New York City requested that the photo of the Eph team members for the story include the Eph players in their warm-ups standing next to a live cow.
Sports Information Director
Dick Quinn called Dickie Cummings, the Ephs' Equipment Room Manager, to ask for assistance. Quinn recalls, "Dickie said, Fritzy Phelps can help us out. I'll call him."
Not only did Dickie Cummings rustle up a live cow in less than two minutes it was Cummings who had to get the cow out of the barn with his strength, while always being careful not to hurt the cow, and into position for the photo.
Cummings later remarked, "I was going to the photo shoot anyway because I did not want the guys to mess up their warm-ups, but until we got to the farm I had no idea I would be the one getting the cow out of the barn for the photo."
It all worked out perfectly with a great photo and no damage to the warm-ups.
The Ephs opened the season winning their first seven games before losing to Union 80-78.
The 1993-94 Ephs did make the NCAA Tournament and posted a first round win over Worcester State 108-88 that featured a two-handed slam off a baseline drive by Chris Jones that brought down the house in Chandler Gym.
In the NCAA Second Round the Ephs fell at UMass Dartmouth 82-78 and finished the year with a 22-4 record.
Senior forward Rob Bice led the Ephs in scoring with 18.8 ppg and he was joined in double figures by classmate and forward Rob Williams (12.3), junior guard Noah Clarke (11.0), and senior guard Lenny Miller (10.0).
Rob Bice collected 158 rebounds on the year and Rob Williams hauled in 156. Noah Clarke led the Ephs with 155 assists.
Junior center Eric Gingold went on to play internationally and had two tryouts with the Michael Jordan-led Bulls and made a cameo appearance in the "The Last Dance" documentary on Jordan's last season with the Bulls that was directed by Eph alum Jason Hehir '98.
Harry Sheehy later became the Athletic Director at Williams before moving on to the same position at Dartmouth.
Most recently Raf Stone, a backup senior point guard, in 1993-94, was named the General Manager of the Houston Rockets.
Link to Michael Jaffe's story: https://bit.ly/37aW08
We must credit junior center Matt Freeman with an assist on this story for still having a copy of the Sports Illustrated article in his possession. Freeman appeared in all 26 games and averaged 9.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg.
