Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Benchseriesthat takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Cate MacDonald ‘27, a rising senior on the Dartmouth women’s basketball team from Lynnfield, Mass., shares a particularly inspiring journey to the Ivy League. A learning difference made school a challenge for her early on. Basketball was a comfort and a constant. With persistence and clarity about what she needs to thrive, there seems to be no stopping her.
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Benchseriesthat takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Mateen Rafiq ‘28, a rising junior on the Cornell men’s basketball team, is our next featured player. Rafiq’s humility, discipline and ambitions are outsized (no matter that he is a 6-foot-0 guard), and there’s no doubt he is building toward something bigger.
Mike Martin, Brown’s all-time winningest head coach, leaves his alma mater to join the Michigan coaching staff. (Photo: Brown Athletics)
Ivy League head coaching departures typically don’t happen in mid-July, but Monday brought an exception with the surprise announcement of longtime Brown men’s basketball coach Mike Martin stepping down to take an assistant coaching role at Michigan.
“Brown has changed my life,” Martin told Brown Athletics. “The relationships we’ve built here — with our players, staff, alumni, and the broader community — are so meaningful to my family. As a proud Brown alumnus, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to have led this program for the past 14 years and to have worked alongside so many remarkable young men. Brown will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Martin joins the staff of newly minted head coach Mike Boynton, Jr., who shed the interim tag and was given a two-year contract three weeks after the Dallas Mavericks hired Dusty May away from the defending national champions.
“Mike is someone I’ve admired for a long time,” Boynton said in a statement. “He’s an outstanding coach, an exceptional teacher and one of the best recruiters in the game, but more than anything, he’s a great person who truly invests in his players. At Brown, he’s built consistently competitive teams through player development and a winning culture, and those values align perfectly with what we’re building here in Ann Arbor. We’re excited to welcome Mike, Kristin and their daughters to the Michigan family.”
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Benchseriesthat takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Izzy Wesley ‘29, a rising sophomore on the Brown women’s basketball team, is the second twin we have featured in this series. An innate teammate and ultimate family person, she brings “gioia di vivere” to the Bears, and she is channeling it in all the ways that make a team better:
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Benchseriesthat takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
This time we are introduced to Lucas Lueth ’27, a rising senior on the Penn men’s basketball team from Ames, Iowa. While he aspires to take on a leadership role in healthcare down the road, he has his eyes on a pro basketball career, and a lot more, along the way. For this multi-talented Penn player, basketball is art, and art informs the way he sees the court as well as the world:
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Bench seriesthat takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Next, we get to know Sarah Lessig ’29, a rising Princeton women’s basketball sophomore from Seattle. A probable anthropology major and also a member of the Tigers softball team, Lessig is a study in fluidity — flowing seamlessly across sports, music, film — and West Coast to East Coast:
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and multi-dimensional humans off it. Ivy Hoops Onlinepresents a new series, Off the Bench,that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or via your screen.
Next up is Mataya Gayle ’27, a rising senior on the Penn women’s basketball team, and a psychology major from Woodstock, Ga. While our previous installment highlighted the relationship of two brothers attending Princeton together, here we delve into the experience of a sibling with nine brothers and sisters at home! Through her eyes we see how her birth order and family system have prepared her for the key role she has played, and will play one more season, in the Palestra and beyond:
Sebastian and Tristan Whitfield in the Jadwin Gym lobby. (photo courtesy of Sebastian Whitfield)
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Onlinepresents a new series, Off the Bench,that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Next up is Sebastian Whitfield ’29, a rising sophomore guard/forward for Princeton men’s basketball, from Virginia Beach, Va. A likely economics major, Whitfield is also keeping all options on the table as he navigates Princeton alongside an older sibling. Whitfield’s story shows the joy of a shared connection that leaves plenty of room for improvisation.
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Onlinepresents a new series, Off the Bench,that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Next up is Mary Hollensteiner ’27, a rising Harvard women’s basketball senior from Bethesda, Md. A psychology major with a minor in economics and a guard for the Crimson, Hollensteiner spoke with us as she prepared for a summer internship as a analyst at Hoffman & Associates in Washington, D.C. Hollensteiner reflects on legacy, leadership and laughter as the daughter of a former Harvard men’s basketball player and as a team leader making her own way at Lavietes Pavilion and beyond:
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents a new series, Off the Bench,that takes fans inside their stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
We begin with Jeannot Basima ’27, a rising Yale men’s basketball senior from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, a political science major, and guard for the Bulldogs. As Basima completes his undergraduate studies and prepares for his final season taking the floor at John J. Lee Amphitheater, he is motivated by a personal passion — creating educational opportunities for the children of his home country.
Jeannot Basima is surrounded by the students of Promo Jeune Basket during his camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 24, 2023. (courtesy of Key Castofas)
Jeannot Basima began his basketball journey as a six-year-old at Promo Jeune Basket (PJB), a local academy near his home in Goma. Near his home country’s border with Rwanda, PJB isn’t just about basketball. It’s a pathway to education, emphasizing the values of discipline, team, hard work and respect. As Basima sees it, he has been the beneficiary of several brotherhoods — his six siblings, PJB, the high schools he attended and the Yale basketball program.
Through a random connection between PJB’s president, Dario Melo, and Daniel Arnaud, a Belgian basketball parent who had travelled through Goma, 13-year-old Basima and one of his teammates found themselves selected for a summer camp in the United States. The camp got them on to the Global Squad AAU team, which led to scholarships to New York Military Academy for eighth grade and the John Carroll School for high school.
Basima had no idea when he left home at age 13 that he would not see his family again for five years.
