Erica Denhoff

Jimmy Boeheim credits Cornell experience for success at Syracuse

February 20, 2022 by Erica Denhoff

Jimmy Boeheim averaged 10.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 78 career games over three seasons for Cornell. {Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Syracuse forward and former Cornell star Jimmy Boeheim has lit up the Atlantic Coast Conference in his first season in league action. He and his younger brother Buddy are the highest-scoring sibling duo in college basketball, averaging around 30 points per game for their father, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Boeheim, in his 46nd year at the helm.

Jimmy graduated from Cornell with a finance degree in the spring of 2021 after three years of Ivy hoops. Buddy was a 2020-21 first-team All-ACC preseason selection after averaging 17.8 points per game last season. This season, Buddy and Jimmy are scoring 18.8 and 13.4 points per game, respectively, ranking them both in the top 25 in the ACC.

Jimmy says that the transition from playing in the Ivy League to the ACC isn’t the big jump that people make it out to be.

Brown senior forward Ashley Ducharme makes cards in between baskets

February 12, 2022 by Erica Denhoff

In between hitting the hardwood, Brown senior forward Ashley Ducharme runs a handmade card company. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

If you are a college basketball fan, it’s likely you’ve heard of Connecticut Huskies freshman phenom guard Caroline Ducharme.

Ducharme inked a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deal with ISlide, a sandal company, for a sandal featuring the quote, “When it gets hard, think about why you started.”

“My ‘why’ is my family, specifically my older sister Ashley,” Ducharme wrote on Instagram. “It’s hard to describe the impact that she’s had on me as a player and who I am as a person. There’s no one who inspires, challenges, and supports me more than she does. Will always be my favorite teammate.”

Her sister is Brown Bears senior forward Ashley Ducharme. Ashley may be the lesser-known Ducharme sister, but she is impressive in her own right.

Will Venable: From Princeton-Penn to Red Sox-Yankees

October 31, 2021 by Erica Denhoff

Will Venable surveys the Cameron Indoor Stadium floor during Princeton’s battle versus Duke on Jan. 5, 2005. | Photo by Beverly Schaefer

Editor’s note: Ivy Hoops Online contributor Erica Denhoff caught up with former Princeton hoops great Will Venable, who just finished his first season as Boston Red Sox bench coach and reflected on a remarkable two-sport career and Ivy League basketball’s place in it.

Will Venable, Princeton ‘05, shines brightest on the biggest stages.

Against JJ Redick-led No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 5, 2005, Venable, a senior guard, played 39 minutes and put on an offensive skills clinic. He scored 21 points, dished out three assists and collected four rebounds in a 59-46 loss for the Tigers. Venable’s athletic defensive play came to the fore as he stole the ball three times from the Blue Devils.

“Venable was terrific tonight,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ” … He is a heck of a competitor, in the Ivy League or any league.”

“As we go into our league play, I know that Will Venable is going to give me that 100 percent effort for 40 minutes every single night,” then-Princeton coach Joe Scott said.

Almost one month to the day later, Venable demonstrated both coaches described him accurately.

Reporter’s Notebook: What it’s like covering WNBA basketball in a pandemic

July 15, 2021July 11, 2021 by Erica Denhoff

Ivy Hoops Online’s Erica Denhoff covered the Dallas Wings’ trip to take on the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville on June 22. Here are her thoughts on the experience:

The last time I covered a sporting event was March 6, 2020. With my cameras and my spot on the baseline, I captured Brown men’s basketball claiming victory against Harvard to keep Bruno’s Ivy Madness hopes alive. Early the next morning, I boarded a plane to go on vacation to watch MLB’s Grapefruit League spring training games in Florida. The plan was to return back to Boston in time to cover Ivy Madness.

The importance of Ivy school spirit

February 22, 2020February 22, 2020 by Erica Denhoff

Erica Denhoff and her parents, Joseph Denhoff and Amy Abramson-Denhoff, cheer on the Penn Quakers men’s lacrosse team at Harvard Stadium on April 13, 2019.

One could say I was born into it. My grandpa was one of the first professors at Brown’s Medical School and as a result of his medical discoveries, Brown awarded him with an honorary doctorate. He was a huge Brown sports fan and as a faculty member, he received four tickets to every Brown home sporting event and attended even if there was snow or ice. When my dad was a young child, the family beagle ran away from home and found his way onto the Brown Stadium football field during a game and started eating the Brown bear’s dog food. This was when there was an actual bear on the sidelines.

As I was growing up, we lived close to Brown and my grandma, who we were always visiting, lived one block away from Brown Stadium. My grandpa passed away four years before I was born but school spirit for Brown stayed alive in our family. One of my earliest memories is when I was about five years old walking home from synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. My dad bought me a Brown football pennant from the souvenir stand outside the stadium. It was my reward for being good and sitting through services. This pennant made me just as happy as a new Barbie doll would. Brown football was something really special and I was proud to show my spirit.