For the fifth time in Eph head coach
Kevin App's tenure, the Williams College Ephs men's basketball program is heading to the NCAA Tournament. A 22-4 record was more than enough to earn the Ephs an at-large bid in the field of 64, as they officially enter the "win or go home" stage of the year. To begin their tournament campaign, the Ephs will make the 2.5-hour drive to West Hartford, CT to take on the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Friday afternoon. With a victory, the Ephs would play again the following day against the winner of the weekend's host, Saint Joseph, and Chatham.
"It's unbelievable," App commented on the feeling of making the Big Dance. "I've gotten probably 10 texts from alumni saying 'congrats' and 'don't take it for granted' to be back in the tournament. It's our major goal every year to get in, to be one of the 64 teams that has your name called on Selection Monday. When you get into college basketball that's what you envision. For this group to make it in back to back years — it's huge. We get another week and look forward to competing Friday."
Perhaps for the better given their upcoming travel, the classic "home court advantage" is not attributable to the Ephs this season. Three of the squad's four losses this season have come in Chandler Gym. Most recently, a NESCAC semifinal loss to Colby ended the team's conference title hopes. App, however, is just excited to still be playing in March — irrespective of location.
"You're really just applying what you've learned all year and I think we're confident every time we step out and compete. We want to be as good a version of ourselves as we can be that day."
While the bus rides to games can be loads of fun, the team is pleased for a shorter travel day than last year's first weekend, which saw them drive over eight hours to Alliance, Ohio. Their first foe, Pomona-Pitzer, will have quite a journey on their hands across the country. Needless to say, they will be as motivated as possible to take down the Ephs.
Before losing in the SCIAC championship, the Sagehens were riding an 11-game win streak. Four of their five starters average double digits; in fact, all four of those players stand 6'5" or taller, rivaling the Ephs' length. Pomona-Pitzer scores 76.5 points-per-game; the Ephs have the #8 scoring defense in the country — they've let in just 58.9 points on average this season.
While App will scout out the opponent and aim to mitigate their advantages, he has confidence in the Ephs' ability to navigate any foe. "It's more about us and what we do than who we're playing and what they do. So, that'll be most of our attention this week. We're just treating it like every other game up until this point, where we highlight the other team's strengths, and they'll highlight ours."
If they Ephs end up playing Saint Joseph, it won't be the first time for App and the current juniors and seniors. In the 2019-20 season, the Ephs fell to the Blue Jays by a score of 85-79. At the time, UConn coaching legend Jim Calhoun was head coach of the newly founded program. Although Calhoun passed the keys off as of last season, Glen Miller has continued the development of the program, guiding the program to a 27-1 record this this season. App calls Miller, who has significant experience coaching at UConn himself, "as good as they come." The Blue Jays, who were the final remaining undefeated team in the country, lost in their conference championship on Sunday.
Critics may focus on the Ephs' losses, but App knows he coaches a program built to win in March. "We're 22-4, and people like to highlight what went wrong in the four losses. I think sometimes when you highlight sections of games, you take away from what the other team is doing — doing very well. We just have to enjoy competing, get out there, do our best. It's that time of year where everybody knows what their strength is individually, knows what the group identity is, and we just have to go do it. It's more of a mindset."
With that, the Ephs will lock in to face Pomona-Pitzer at 4:15pm on Friday.
For fans who plan to watch the Ephs in person, tickets can be found
here once they are made available.
