Four Questions with Matt Langel

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Colgate's shooting for yet another title

Some things don't change: Colgate's in the midst of yet another impressive Patriot League season. The Raiders are 17-7 overall, and boast a sparkling 11-0 league record. They've flirted with unbeaten conference seasons the last two years, losing just three games over that span thanks to a roster that usually boasts balance and top-shelf shooting, mixed with a healthy dollop of experience.

That formula's at work again this season, but with an added wrinkle: A freshman is running the show. Braeden Smith (no, not that one), has meshed with four seniors — Tucker Richardson, Keegan Records, Oliver Lynch-Daniels and Ryan Moffatt — to comprise the best-shooting team in D-I.

Not bad. Coach Matt Langel, now in his 12th season at Colgate, took some time for the latest Four Questions.

Q: Colgate’s had good offensive teams the last few years, mostly driven by high-percentage shooting and taking care of the ball. But this year you lead D-I in effective field goal percentage (58.2%) and only 17 teams turn the ball over less frequently. It’s like you leveled up. What’s driving that?

Matt Langel: I wish I could put my finger on it. I'd bottle it up and get out of the profession. Jokes aside, the answer is we have really good players. Tucker Richardson is a really cerebral player now in his fifth year. I would say he's the engine. We have two big guys who are in their third and fourth year of college, and a fourth-year forward, a guy in his sixth year of college and fourth year with us. We've got a freshman point guard, who is the outlier in that he's only 18-years-old. And I think the fact that we have multiple guys who can make shots and stretch the floor is is valuable. It allows us to get high-percentage shots and the guys are committed to that.

A number of guys could average more points doing different things, but they really do what they can to help the team win. And that's to get the best shot for the team on every possession. And when you do that and you don't turn it over, the the results are where they are.

Q: Colgate doesn't typically start freshmen – mostly because you’ve had experienced teams. But Braeden Smith’s been your lead guard all season, and with some impressive results. You mentioned him as the outlier, but did you know he'd be this good?

Matt Langel: I think it's a combination of the team that he's on, meaning there's a bunch of selfless guys. There's no issue with having a talented young guy come in and play 30+ minutes, make decisions and and have the ball in his hands. And he's a really mature, 18-year-old kid. He was really well coached in high school and was a very accomplished football player as a quarterback, so I don't know if that plays a part in his court vision and understanding. 

He's just fit right in. Nelly Cummings graduated last December and couldn't come back (he's doing just fine at Pitt), so there. Not that not that he doesn't make freshman mistakes, but he's played great. He's a good athlete. He's got a great body control. He makes good decisions with the ball and it helps that he's got a lot of guys around him who can shoot, know where to be and and and they're in the spot for him to deliver some passes. 

Q: Seven of the Patriot’s League 10 coaches have been with their programs for at least seven seasons, which makes for incredible consistency. Does that make conference play more challenging because of that familiarity? And has the extra year because of COVID just added to that layer of experience?

Matt Langel: There's adjustments year to year no matter what conference you're in, but it's rare that somebody totally flips the script and does something entirely different. So you get to know tendencies and and situations and offenses and defenses. Obviously the personnel changes and there are small tweaks, but when there's that much continuity, you know how the games are gonna, you know, play out, whether it's style of play or pace of play. You can't really surprise anybody. In my 12 years I think maybe everybody but Army and Loyola, have either won the regular season or been to the NCAA tournament. So that's pretty significant in terms of parity. 

Q: When you tell people about your playing career, do you get strange looks when you tell people you played with Mike Jordan? Or is it more strange to see a former teammate and good friend coaching at a rival in Lafeyette?

Matt Langel: Yeah, people really don't ask me about my playing career that much anymore. It was strange the other night when we coached against each other for the first time, after spending so many years together playing and coaching together.

They they have three guys on their staff, one who played for us and then worked with us, and two other guys who worked with us. They were such a part of this. We're a really small community here in Hamilton and they were such a part of the community for so long, that it was a little weird, not to mention that you're playing against people that are your family. So that's that's never easy, not to mention they're people who know exactly what you're trying to do and how you're thinking.

Colgate plays at American this Saturday.