Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: the 2019-20 Ivy Hoops Online All-Ivy Men’s honorees as selected by IHO contributors, which are quite bit different from the selections that the Ivy League released:
Player of the Year
AJ Brodeur, Penn (Sr., F – Northborough, Mass.)
No one motored like Brodeur.
The senior did everything for Penn, anchoring the Red & Blue at both ends of the floor. Brodeur finished fourth in the league in scoring, second in rebounding, seventh in field-goal percentage and fourth in minutes, all while leading the league in assists by a comfortable margin. Brodeur’s game got even more well-rounded in his senior campaign, as his free-throw shooting percentage rose from 57.6% as a junior to 71.6%, eighth-best in the conference. Brodeur was the KenPom game MVP in 12 of Penn’s 26 Division I games this season, including each of his final four collegiate games down the stretch as Penn competed for and ultimately nabbed a No. 4 seed in an Ivy League Tournament that never happened due to the coronavirus outbreak. The last one of those, in which Brodeur notched the program’s first-ever triple-double, passed Ernie Beck ’53 as the program’s all-time leading scorer and Geoff Owens ’01 as the program’s all-time leading shot-blocker, cemented his place as one of the Ivy League’s best players of all time.
Rookie of the Year
Jordan Dingle, Penn (Fy., G – Valley Stream, N.Y.)
Dingle made a terrific first impression for Penn, posting 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting in his collegiate debut, including the game-winning shot, in a win at Alabama. Dingle later scored 27 points in a strong showing at Arizona, a team-high 21 against Princeton at the Palestra and 17 in an Ivy League Tournament qualification-salvaging win at Brown, showing repeatedly he can be counted on to rise to the occasion in big games. The first-year established himself as a deep shooting threat, finishing second in the league in made three-pointers and 10th in scoring.
Honorable Mention: Chris Ledlum, Harvard (Fy., F – Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Co-Defensive Players of the Year
AJ Brodeur, Penn (Sr., F – Northborough, Mass.)
Brodeur finished second among all Ivies in blocks behind Brown sophomore forward Jaylan Gainey and 10th in steals, serving as a characteristically effective rim protector in an interior defense that got stingy in Ivy play, allowing the lowest two-point percentage in league action. Brodeur also finished second in the league in defensive rebounds behind …
Jordan Bruner, Yale (Sr., F – Columbia, S.C.)
Bruner was again one of the league’s most effective shot-alterers, finishing third in the conference in blocks. He also pocketed 12 steals in Yale’s final four games, including a pivotal one late to help complete a remarkable comeback over Penn, helping lift the Bulldogs to an outright Ivy League championship.
Honorable Mention: Jalen Gabbidon, Yale (Jr., G – Harrisburg, Pa.)
Honorable Mention: Jaylan Gainey, Brown (So., F – Greensboro, N.C.)
Coach of the Year
James Jones, Yale
Sure, the Bulldogs finished in the league’s top four for the 20th straight season under Jones. That’s nothing new, and it speaks volumes about what Jones has done with his program that Yale fans have been able to take such finishes for granted for a long time now. But leading Yale to its fourth Ivy League title in six seasons after losing stat sheet-stuffer Miye Oni to the NBA Draft and defensive stalwart Trey Phills, pure scorer Alex Copeland and underrated scorer and rebounder Blake Reynolds to graduation was an especially impressive feat. The season finale at Harvard, a meaningless game for Yale from an Ivy standings standpoint, was the only game of the 2019-20 campaign in which Yale was out of the contest down the stretch. Not bad for a team picked to finish just third in the preseason poll.
Most Improved Player of the Year
Eric Monroe, Yale (Sr., G – San Diego)
After playing sparingly his first three seasons (especially his rookie and junior campaigns), Monroe started every game and was indispensable down the stretch run toward Yale’s Ivy title, contributing 15 points and seven assists in a double overtime win at Cornell and pivotally blocking a AJ Brodeur layup amid Yale’s comeback over Penn. Monroe also had the third-best effective field-goal percentage in Ivy play and was a terrific ball distributor, finishing third in the league and first on the team in assists for a Yale squad that had characteristically terrific ball movement.
Honorable Mention: Jalen Gabbidon, Yale (Jr., G – Harrisburg, Pa.)
Honorable Mention: Jaylan Gainey, Brown (So., F – Greensboro, N.C.)
Game of the Year
All-Ivy First Team
AJ Brodeur, Penn (Sr., F – Northborough, Mass.)
Paul Atkinson, Yale (Jr., F – West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Atkinson narrowly finished behind Brodeur for Player of the Year in our voting, but Atkinson certainly had a POY-caliber season (the league certainly thought so, naming Atkinson and Brodeur co-Players of the Year), finishing third in the league in scoring, fifth in rebounding, first in free-throw percentage, seventh in steals and 10th in blocks. Atkinson dominated in the paint game after game, outmaneuvering rim protectors and powering his way to easy buckets. The junior finished second in Ivy play in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, proof of how hard he was to guard. Atkinson turned in 11 KenPom game MVP performances and was arguably the best player on the conference’s best team.
Mike Smith, Columbia (Sr., G – Burr Ridge, Ill.)
To say that Columbia had a rough season would be an understatement. The Lions went 1-13 in Ivy play and 6-24 overall, losing all seven games decided by three or fewer points or in overtime. It would have been even worse if not for Smith, who carried a squad that had the league’s worst offense. Smith led the league in scoring with 22.8 points per game, a whopping 5.1 more per contest than the next-highest scorer, Brown senior guard Brandon Anderson. Smith led the league in conference play in percentage of shots taken and usage rate, showing how much the team leaned on him. But Smith was no black hole offensively, placing second in the league in assists, fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio and 14th in field-goal percentage, proving he wasn’t an inefficient turnover machine that ignored his teammates. Smith also finished third in the league in steals, and not surprisingly given his workload, first in minutes.
Jordan Bruner, Yale (Sr., F – Columbia, S.C.)
Like Brodeur, Bruner has been an efficient passer as a big man, finishing fourth in the league in assists. Bruner’s triple-double (14 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists in 42 minutes) in a double overtime win at Cornell showed how versatile the NBA Draft hopeful really is.
Brandon Anderson, Brown (Sr., G – Mahwah, N.J.)
Anderson was relentless as Brown’s offensive fulcrum in his senior campaign, finishing second in the league in scoring, ninth in assists, eighth in three-pointers made and third in minutes. Like he always has, Anderson gouged teams from the foul line, finishing fourth in the league in fouls drawn per 40 minutes and third in free-throw percentage. Anderson also finished second in the conference in steals, including five at Dartmouth in his final collegiate game. Even in a league full of stellar guards, Anderson stood out because of his playmaking ability.
All-Ivy Second Team
Jaelin Llewellyn, Princeton (So., G – Mississauga, Ont.)
Llewellyn took a significant step forward in his sophomore season, establishing himself as one of the league’s most potent scorers. The conduit of Princeton’s offense finished sixth in league play in scoring, fifth in free-throw percentage, ninth in three-point percentage, seventh in minutes played and fifth in percentage of shots taken.
Azar Swain, Yale (Jr., G – Brockton, Mass.)
The league’s most prolific three-point shooter this season, Swain complemented Atkinson’s inside scoring well. The junior attempted 240 three-pointers, 57 more than anyone else that ranked in the league’s top 10 in three-point percentage. Swain also led the Bulldogs in minutes played, ranking sixth in that category across the league.
Noah Kirkwood, Harvard (So., G – Ottawa, Ont.)
Kirkwood quietly helped lead Harvard to a 10-4 showing in Ivy play, finishing ninth in the league in usage rate. Kirkwood’s ability to score from anywhere came in handy often for the Crimson, as did his defensive rebounding and floor vision.
Tamenang Choh, Brown (Jr., F – Lowell, Mass.)
A classic stat sheet-stuffer, Choh finished 11th in the league in scoring, third in rebounding and fifth in assists, leading the conference in fouls drawn per 40 minutes. Choh continued to do it all for Brown as a junior and is poised for a dynamic senior season.
Chris Knight, Dartmouth (Jr., F – Madison, Wisc.)
Arguably no player in the Ivy League was more indispensable to his team this season than Knight, who placed second in the league in conference play in usage rate, percentage of shots taken and effective field goal percentage. Knight was KenPom MVP of eight games this season, ranking in the league’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocks.
All-Ivy Honorable Mentions
Richmond Aririguzoh, Princeton (Sr., C – Ewing, N.J.)
Jimmy Boeheim, Cornell (Jr., F – Fayetteville, N.Y.)
Devon Goodman, Penn (Sr., G – Laverock, Pa.)
Chris Lewis, Harvard (Sr., F – Alpharetta, Ga.)
Terrance McBride, Cornell (Jr., G – Lynwood, Calif.)