Rob Browne

Ivy hoops roundup – May 13, 2019

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Former Penn and Temple coach Fran Dunphy was honored for the impact he made throughout his coaching career during a ceremony at City Hall in Philadelphia Monday, four days after he received an honorary degree as Temple University graduated its 132nd class last week.

Mickey Crowley, long-time NCAA basketball referee and former Ivy League Coordinator of Officials for men’s basketball, died on May 5 at the age of 85.  Crowley played for the All-Army baseball team from 1954-1957 and the Yankees minor league system in the early 1960s before turning his attention to basketball.  He was the assistant executive director of officiating for high school athletics for more than 20 years in Nassau County (Long Island) before becoming an NCAA referee.  He officiated in 21 straight NCAA Tournaments, including the 1989 and 1991 championships.  Crowley eventually became the head of officiating for the Ivy, Patriot and A-10 Leagues, retiring from the Ancient Eight in 2009.

“Mickey was a well-respected fixture in college basketball officiating thanks to his engaging personality, devotion to the integrity of the game and knowledge of the rules,” Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris said. “The Ivy League is deeply saddened to hear of his passing and we extends our sympathies to his wife Pat and entire family.”

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Looking at Princeton’s potential head coaching candidates to succeed Courtney Banghart

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Prior the arrival of Courtney Banghart in 2007, the Princeton women’s team had zero Ivy League titles.

Twelve years later, the Tigers have seven Ivy championships, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, two trips to the WNIT and two Ivy Tournament titles.  With Banghart’s departure to UNC Tuesday, Princeton athletic director Mollie Marcoux Samaan has an incredibly important hire to make.  If she chooses correctly, the Tigers may continue to hang onto their place atop the Ancient Eight.  If not, the Orange & Black run the risk of dropping into the second division, fighting for spots in the Ivy and NCAA Tournaments on an annual basis.

While Princeton Athletics has noted that a nationwide search has begun, there have been no specific names mentioned.  Who might Marcoux Samaan consider for the chance to add to the legacy that Banghart left behind?

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Ivy hoops roundup – May 4, 2019

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Another week full of Ivy news, with none bigger than Courtney Banghart’s move from Princeton to North Carolina.  The former Big Green All-Ivy guard and Tigers head coach signed a five-year contract to take over a Tar Heels program that needs a new start.  Per Jeff Gravely of WRAL in Raleigh, Banghart’s contract starts at $650,000 in 2019-2020 and increases to $730,000 in 2024-2025.  Athletic and academic bonuses are included that can increase the yearly salary by $10,000 to $470,000.

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Examining the response of Yale Athletics to incidents involving Jack Montague

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On Feb. 10, 2016, Yale’s University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct (UWC) found then-men’s basketball captain Jack Montague to be in violation of the school’s sexual misconduct policy and recommended expulsion. Two weeks later, Provost Benjamin Polak refused to hear Montague’s appeal request, and the senior guard was officially expelled from the university. In June 2016, he sued his former school in order to return and complete his studies.

Yale filed a motion of summary judgment in May 2018 to have Montague’s case dismissed, but Judge Alfred Covello of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled last month that the suit can go forward.

While the expulsion and subsequent lawsuit have attracted national attention to the university at large over the last three years, the response of Yale Athletics to Montague’s history of reportable incidents has largely evaded scrutiny.

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Reports: North Carolina to hire Princeton’s Courtney Banghart as coach

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Courtney Banghart is pictured appearing on CNBC in 2015 after being named one of Fortune Magazine’s 50 World’s Greatest Leaders, talking lessons in leadership on and off the court. Banghart’s strength as a leader will have to come to the fore at North Carolina, where she is expected to take over to succeed longtime coach Sylvia Hatchell, who resigned this month after an independent investigation found that Hatchell made racially offensive remarks and pressured players to compete while hurt. (CNBC)

Early Monday evening, Jeff Gravley of WRAL in Raleigh tweeted that North Carolina is expected to hire Princeton coach Courtney Banghart to fill the same role at UNC. The Associated Press reported late Monday night that Banghart would take over the Tar Heels.

If true, Banghart would replace Hall of Fame coach Sylvia Hatchell, who led the Tar Heels for 33 years and resigned on April 18 after an independent investigation found that the coach made racially insensitive remarks to her players, pressured players and medical staff to get athletes on the court before they were medically cleared and developed a breakdown of connectivity between herself and her players.

The UNC Board of Trustees will hold an emergency meeting by conference call Tuesday morning and is expected to approve Banghart’s contract, Gravley reported,

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Ivy hoops roundup – April 27, 2019

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Former Dartmouth assistant coach John Andrzejek has joined Kyle Smith’s staff at Washington State as its director of analytics.  This will be Andrzejek’s third stint with the former Lions head coach.  While completing his undergraduate degree in philosophy in just two and a half years from Columbia in 2013, Andrzejek served as the Lions’ team manager during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons before being hired as the team’s director of basketball operations in July of 2014.  He stayed in that spot until the 2016-2017 season, when he went west to join Smith as the University of San Francisco’s director of basketball operations for a year.

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Ivy hoops roundup – Apr. 20, 2019

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Harvard men’s basketball post-season banquet:
MVP – Bryce Aiken; Defensive Player of the Year – Justin Bassey
2019-2020 Captains – Seth Towns and Henry Welsh

Harvard women’s basketball post-season banquet:
Co-MVP – Katie Benzan and Madeline Raster; Defensive Player of the Year – Nani Redford; Most Improved Player – Rachel Levy

Brown women’s basketball post-season banquet:
MVP – Shayna Mehta; Most Improved Player – Haley Green

Princeton women’s basketball names Bella Alarie and Taylor Baur co-captains for the 2019-2020 season.  Coach Courtney Banghart discussed the two athletes, as well as their goals of another Ivy title and a Sweet 16 run, in the season-ending episode of The Court Report.

Yale coach James Jones just missed out on the St. John’s coaching job, but he did win the 2019 Ben Jobe Award, given by CollegeInsider.com to the top minority coach in Division I basketball.

Penn senior Princess Aghayere was named one of six recipients of the President’s Engagement Prize by university President Amy Gutmann.  Awarded annually, the Prizes empower Penn students to design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world. Each Prize-winning project will receive $100,000, as well as a $50,000 living stipend per team member. Student recipients will spend the next year implementing their projects.

Aghayere was chosen for her work with Rebound Liberia, which uses basketball as a tool to bridge the literacy gap between men and women and as a mechanism for youth to cope with the trauma and stress of daily life in post-conflict Liberia.

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News from around the Ivy League – Apr. 5, 2019

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Some Ivy updates before heading into Final Four weekends in Tampa and Minneapolis:

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Former Yale team captain Jack Montague is allowed to continue suit against university

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After being found guilty of violating Yale University’s sexual misconduct policy in the winter of 2016 and expelled a few months prior to his graduation, former basketball captain Jack Montague sued the school in June of 2016.  The suit, which requested a return to the school and monetary damages, claimed the University’s treatment of Montague was “wrong, unfairly determined, arbitrary and excessive by any rational measure,” while accusing the school of breach of contract, Title IX violations, breach of confidentiality and defamation.

U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello ruled Monday that Montague’s suit can go forward.

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