Ivy hoops roundup – Olympic exploits, incoming classes and coaching moves

Former Ivy standouts’ Olympic exploits

Olympic action in Tokyo featured an Ivy-on-Ivy matchup Wednesday when Maodo Lo helped lead Germany to a 99-92 victory over Miye Oni’s Nigerian squad in Group B play at Saitama Super Arena. The 2016 Columbia graduate and the Lions men’s third-all-time leading scorer led the Germans with nine assists and added 13 points in 28 minutes.

Coming off a disappointing playoff exit with the top-seeded Utah Jazz, Oni, a 2020 Yale grad who left Yale a year before graduating to become the first Ivy Leaguer taken in the NBA Draft in 24 years, contributed 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting, all of his field goals coming from three-point range.

Germany awaits a quarterfinal matchup with Slovenia Tuesday after losing 89-76 to Australia in Group B Saturday. Lo again led Germany in assists, recording five dishes plus six points and four rebounds in 28 minutes as the Australians swept.

Nigeria lost 80-71 to Italy Saturday, with Oni adding three points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field as Italy advanced to the quarterfinals and ended Nigeria’s Olympic run.

2019 Dartmouth graduate Isalys Quinones contributed four boards, three points and two steals in 31 minutes for the Puerto Rico women in their 87-52 loss to Belgium in Group C Friday. Puerto Rico faces Australia Monday after having lost 97-55 to China Tuesday – a game in which Quinones led her team with five rebounds while posting 10 points in 22 minutes.

Columbia men’s new class 

The Columbia men have announced their five-member recruiting class:

Jaden Cooper, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard from Goldsboro, N.C. (Wayne Country Day School) who was named Coastal Plains Independent Conference Player of the Year in 2021 and a three-time Coastal Plains Independent Conference All-Tournament selection.

Noah Robledo, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound forward from Leander, Texas (Leander) who was a four-time all-district selection and averaged a double-double as a senior.

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard from Santiago, Dominican Republic (Spring Creek Academy in Texas) who scored more than 2,000 points during his high school career which included a state championship in California his sophomore year at Brookside Christian in Stockton, Calif.

Robbie Stankard, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward from Westwood, Mass. (Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire) who was an All-NEPSAC Class A Honorable Mention in 2020 before his senior season was canceled due to COVID-19.

Jake Tavroff, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward from Oceanside, N.Y. (Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts) whose team was National Prep Championship runner-up in 2020 and won a NEPSAC AA championship in 2019.

Penn women’s new class

The Penn women have announced their six-member recruiting class:

Stina Almqvist, a 6-foot guard from Kinna, Sweden (Marks Gymnasium) who played two seasons in a Swedish professional league and was a European Girls Basketball league’s All-Star team selection

Lexy Calhoun, a 5-foot-8 guard from Barrington, R.I. (Harriton) who played at Harriton for Dartmouth women’s coaching legend Chris Wielgus and was three-year captain of her AAU basketball team, Philly Roots.

Lizzy Groetsch, a 5-foot-11 guard from Sewickley, Pa. (North Allegheny) who was two-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Girls Basketball Player of the Year and 2021 Pennsylvania Player of the Year for Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 6A.

Marianna Papazoglou, a 5-foot-10 guard from Wildwood, N.J. (Wildwood Catholic Academy) who became the program’s all-time leading scorer and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee.

Iyanna Rogers, a 6-foot-1 forward from Richmond, Va. (Highland Springs) who was a second-team all-state selection and a McDonald’s All-American nominee.

Sima Visockaite, a 6-foot-2 forward from Kaunas, Lithuania (Long Island Lutheran) who was named best under-18 Lithuania player in 2019 and played in three FIBA European women’s championships.

Back to the Big Red

2018 Cornell graduate Max Ginsberg is back with the Big Red men as an assistant coach after spending the past three seasons at Holy Cross as director of basketball operations. Ginsberg had served as assistant to the director of basketball operations in 2017-18 and as Cornell’s head student manager for three years, having also directed the Cornell summer basketball camp in 2017.

Headed for Myrtle Beach

Details have emerged on the 2021 Myrtle Beach Invitational that the Penn men will participate in. The invitational will be held in November at the HTC Center at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. Penn will make its Myrtle Beach Invitational debut against Utah State on Thurs., Nov. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU as the Aggies come off an at-large NCAA Tournament appearance. Penn will play Davidson or New Mexico State in the second round. The other half of the bracket includes Oklahoma, East Carolina, Indiana State and Old Dominion – one of which Penn will face on Sun., Nov. 21.

New DOBO in Princeton 

The Princeton women have named a new director of basketball operations: Lilly Paro, who graduated from Princeton coach Carla Berube’s former school Tufts in 2020. Paro was a learning specialist at the Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Md., where she coached basketball and lacrosse and was a volunteer assistant at Smith College.

Paro succeeds Helen Tau, who joined Colgate as an assistant coach in May.

Milwaukee-bound Mike

Mike Winans left his position as the Harvard men’s volunteer video coordinator to become director of basketball operations at Milwaukee. Mike Winans had been on Tommy Amaker’s staff at Harvard the past four seasons.

Helming Malvern

Former Penn men’s great Paul Romanczuk ’99 has been named head coach at Malvern Prep after serving leading his alma mater Archbishop Carroll to 10 straight 20 win seasons and 10 straight appearances in the PIAA state playoffs from 2008 to 2018, when he stepped down as coach. Romanczuk was a first-team All-Ivy selection with Penn in 1998-99.