The slew of top-flight talent leaving the Ivy League just keep gets bigger.
Together again as Tar Heels
Princeton women’s senior guard Carlie Littlefield delivered the news on Twitter Monday that she’ll be reuniting with Courtney Banghart, the coach she played for at Princeton as a rookie and sophomore, at North Carolina. An Economics major at Princeton, Littlefield will play at UNC as a graduate transfer and earn a Master of Business Administration degree there.
Incredibly grateful for my coaches, my teammates, and all of the support I have received during my time at Princeton. Excited to announce that after graduation, I will continue my basketball career and pursue an MBA at the University of North Carolina! #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/CDCuYu3pND
— Carlie Littlefield (@clittlefield33) March 8, 2021
Littlefield has been one of the most authoritative floor generals in recent Ivy memory, a consummate ball distributor at one end and a lockdown defender and persistent pickpocket at the other, finishing fourth in the league in steals in 2019-20 as a key part of the stingiest defense in all of Division I.
After averaging 11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, winning three Ivy League titles in three seasons alongside Bella Alarie before COVID-19 robbed her of a senior season with the Tigers in 2020-21, Littlefield told The Next that taking a year off from school and returning to Princeton in 2021-22 didn’t make sense for her academically with only one year left.
The Waukee, Iowa native hopes that UNC’s MBA program will prepare her for her dream job of working for the NBA, according to The Next, which noted that her thesis analyzes societal attitudes and economic opportunities for women in different countries and how those compare with the performance of female athletes from those countries in the Olympics.
Second act in UVA
Penn women’s senior center Eleah Parker announced on Twitter Monday that she’ll be transferring to Virginia and pursuing a Master’s degree there,
This past year has changed a lot of plans for everyone but has also opened up many opportunities… I’m excited to announce that I will continue playing basketball while pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Virginia!! ⚔💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/1ND9C9m4Z6
— Eleah Parker (@eleah_jade) March 8, 2021
Parker was one of the Ivy League’s most tenacious defenders, rebounders and inside scorers in three seasons at Penn, a two-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year. She’ll be joining fellow Ivy transfer McKenna Dale, who earned 2019-20 Ivy Hoops Online co-Most Improved Player of the Year honors after being inserted into the starting lineup midway through nonconference play and going on to finish ninth in the league in scoring, sixth in three-pointers made and blocks while easily leading the conference in free-throw percentage (84.8%).
Headed for Howard
Another pair to be reunited transferring away from the Ivy League is Columbia guard Tai Bibbs and forward Randy Brumant, seniors who will play at Howard for former Columbia (and Harvard) men’s assistant Kenny Blakeney, who will enter his third season helming the Bison. Both Bibbs and Brumant started every game they played as juniors, the former averaging 6.5 points and 3.4 assists and the latter contributing 6.3 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest.
Silicon Valley-bound
Harvard men’s senior forward Danilo Djuricic announced on Twitter Thursday he’ll be continuing his education and collegiate hoops career at Santa Clara, news first reported by Amir Mandani. The Brampton, Ontario native averaged 6.1 points and a career-high 4.3 rebounds as a junior in 2019-20.
The Ivy exodus quantified
This updated 2020-21 men’s transfer list from Jeff Goodman of Stadium shows just how much talent is moving on from the Ancient Eight. There are 23 Ivy transfers, about a third of whom have committed elsewhere so far. These women’s transfer lists from WBB Blog and The Next show similar talent drain.
Blast from Penn’s past
For those that don’t have Twitter or missed this thread from Penn men’s basketball’s account the first time around Wednesday, here’s a chronicle of just how different the NCAA Tournament appearance was for that year’s Penn squad that enjoyed an undefeated regular season.
Leadership from Lin
Jeremy Lin touted the importance of building awareness and promoting solidarity in an appearance on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon last week as he recalled being called “coronavirus” while he was playing during a NBA G League game. “Fighting ignorance with ignorance will get us nowhere,” Lin recently tweeted.