Q&A with Yale junior forward Miye Oni

Miye Oni took game MVP honors after Yale’s 77-73 win over Miami on Dec. 1 in the Hoophall Miami Invitational at American Airlines Arena. (Next Ones)

We recently connected with Yale junior forward Miye Oni, who ranks in the Ivy League’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, assists, free-throw percentage, three-point percentage, blocks and assist-to-turnover ratio, leading the Bulldogs to a share of their second Ivy League regular season championship in four years.

Ivy Hoops Online: You had an incredible season. Did it meet your preseason expectations?
Miye Oni: Thank you. The season so far has been great. I expected our team to win the championship and we did. Now we need to reach our next goal and get to the NCAA tournament.

IHO: How did the league differ this season from your previous two seasons?
MO: We were more upperclassman-heavy than most teams, which has not been the case for most of my time here at Yale. My freshman year Princeton was very experienced and you can see how that matters later on in the season.

IHO: Other than JLA, what is the toughest Ivy venue to play at and why?
MO: Probably the Palestra because the lighting is weird.
IHO: What is the toughest road trip and why?
MO: (The) Cornell-Columbia trip because Cornell is far. Really far.
IHO: What was it like playing a game in your home state, California? (Yale won, 94-90, in overtime at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 5.)
MO: It was awesome to play a game in Northridge in front of my friends and family. I’m glad that we were able to show the people back home that Ivy League hoopers can really play and got the win.
IHO: What was the biggest adjustment you had to make from high school to college?
MO: The biggest adjustment I had to make from high school to college was making sure my body was ready physically to be at the level I wanted to be coming in. I wanted to be able to play right away and I made sure I took the right steps to get there heading into my freshman year.

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