Ivy hoops roundup – Aug. 16, 2019

  • Princeton Bella Alarie and the rest of her USA teammates earned the silver medal at the recent Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.  The U.S. went 4-1 overall but lost the finals to Brazil, 79-73.  This is the second silver medal for the two-time Ivy Player of the Year, as she was a member of the U-19 FIBA World Cup team in the summer of 2017.
    Alarie finished the tournament averaging 6.6 points, 21.4 minutes and 5.6 rebounds a game.  Her four total blocks and eight steals led the team.  She shot 50% from two (15-for-30) and the free throw line (3-for-6), but missed all three attempts from beyond the arc.  After losing a 62-59 heartbreaker to the U.S. in the semifinals, Puerto Rico bounced back to defeat Columbia, 66-55, in the third-place game.
    Alarie wasn’t the only Ivy Leaguer to take part in the tournament.  Recent Dartmouth grad Isalys Quinones played for bronze medalist Puerto Rico.  Quinones, a second team All-Ivy forward in 2019, started four of the team’s five games and averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 22.4 minutes per contest.
  • In other Pan American Games action, Brown head coach Mike Martin helped lead the USA men’s team to a bronze medal after a 92-83 victory over the Dominican Republic on August 4.

  • Two present and one former Ancient Eight players won gold for the USA in the 2019 European Maccabia Games in Budapest, Hungary.  The team, captained by recent Harvard grad Robbie Feinberg, included his Crimson teammate Spencer Freedman and his brother Michael Feinberg from Yale.
    The USA squad initially included recent Penn grad Jake Silpe, when it was announced in April, but the Quaker guard was not on the final roster.  According to Penn Athletics, Silpe missed the tournament since he started a job as an investment banker in New York City.
  • NBC Olympic Talk profiled former Princeton player John Rogers, the godfather of 3×3 basketball.  Rogers player for the Tigers from 1977-1980. He founded Team Princeton, which included fellow Princetonians Craig Robinson and Kit Mueller, two decades ago and stopped playing in his 40s.
    Rogers, the chairman of Ariel Investments, the nation’s largest minority-owned investment firm, based the new game on the principals he learned from Hall of Fame Princeton coach Pete Carril.  With the inaugural 3×3 Olympic event at the 2020 Games in Tokyo next summer, Rogers will be in attendance and hopes to bring his 89-year former coach with him.
  • Former Tiger Kareem Maddox, hoping to be a part of that Olympic team, won the 3×3 event at the recent Pan American Games.  Earlier this summer, the 2011 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, won the FIBA 3×3 World Cup in the Netherlands.
    Maddox currently sits #56 in the 3×3 world rankings, with Princeton’s Dan Mavraides sitting at #46.
  • In women’s 3×3  action, Force 10, the first independently owned professional women’s 3×3 team, won the recent Seattle tournament and became the first two-time winners of USA Basketball’s Red Bull 3×3 qualifiers.  Force 10 was founded by Force 10 Management, which owns the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and is co-owned by former Yale basketball player and 2018 Legends of Ivy League basketball Lisa Brummel.
    Brummel and her Force 10 group, which includes former Yale rower Virginia “Ginny” Gilder, started the team to help the USA qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.  Only the seven top point-earning countries will join automatic qualifier Japan in next summer’s tournament.  With the U.S. currently sitting in 21st place and a number of USA Basketball’s players heading back to school or professional leagues, Force 10’s team assist the national organization by devoting themselves full-time to qualifying tournaments.
  • Columbia men’s head coach Jim Engles announced the hiring of assistant coach Justin Levine on August 5.  Levine was with Virginia Commonwealth’s men’s program from 2015-2017 as a graduate assistant before becoming the team’s video coordinator for the last two seasons.  Before heading down to Richmond, Levine worked for the Cornell men’s program from  2013-2015, while he was an undergraduate student at Ithaca College.
    Levine replaces Steve Ongley, who recently moved up to Hanover to be an assistant coach on Dave McLaughlin’s staff at Dartmouth.
    With the hiring of Levine, all eight men’s programs have completed their staffs for the 2019-2020 season.  The Dartmouth and Brown women are still searching for replacements for Taja Edwards and Sara Binkhorst, respectively.
  • Recent Penn grad and 2019 second team All-Ivy guard Ashley Russell has announced that she is heading to Ireland to play basketball for Dublin City University while pursuing a Master’s degree in Management.
  • On Friday, the league announced that Gary Prager is its new coordinator of officials for men’s basketball. He will hold the same position for the Patriot League.
    Prager has been an official for 36 years with 22 years at the collegiate level, including 17 years at the D-1 level. He has worked with the Ivy League and Patriot League in the past, but most of his time has been with the Big East.
    In addition to assigning officials for the Ivy League games, he will work with conference coaches and institutions to evaluate game performances during the season, and communicate rules changes and interpretations.  He will also aide in the identification and development of officials through the Men’s Basketball Officiating Alliance, a group that includes the ACC, A-10, Big East, Big South, CAA, MEAC, NEC and Division II Northeast-10 Conference.
    According to the Ivy League office, the contract of the previous Coordinator, Reggie Greenwood, expired and was not renewed. Greenwood had been the supervisor of Ivy League officials since 2009.  Prior to Greenwood, the league’s officials were led by Mickey Crowley, who passed away on May 5 at the age of 85.
    The league office confirmed that Debbie Williamson will continue in her role as Coordinator of Officials for women’s basketball.  Dr. Williamson, the former NCAA Women’s Basketball National Coordinator of Officiating (2011-2014), is also the Coordinator for the ACC, American Athletic, Atlantic 10, Big East and MAAC.