It’s year three of Brian Earl’s reinvented, high-pace Princeton offense. Much like the first two seasons, it’s worked quite well.
Ten games into the 2023-24 season, the Cornell men are off to an 8-2 start – drawing similarities to previous seasons. Two years ago, the Big Red started 8-1 before eventually tapering off in conference play and ending 15-10. Last season, Cornell started 7-1, improved to as well as 14-4 before again tapering off late. Both seasons resulted in semifinal exits of the Ivy League Tournament.
Right now, things look good for the squad from Ithaca. Its only losses are to George Mason of the Atlantic 10 and Syracuse of the ACC. But it’s always a work in progress for coach Brian Earl.
“We’re still tweaking some things, and so every game until the Ivy, we will keep doing that,” said Earl after a 95-74 win over Siena on Monday night. “We have a good group of guys who have been at it for a long time and are very willing to experiment with us, which is not always the case in college basketball, especially now. So it’s a pleasure to get to do it with them.
“Sometimes, we screw up – the staff doing stuff that maybe gets away from us, but our guys have sort of locked in and sacrificed a bit personally for the greater good.”
Through Dec. 21, Cornell ranked No. 16 in KenPom in adjusted tempo and seventh in average possession length at 14.7 seconds. They’re fourth in the country in two-point percentage at 61.5% but also shoot nearly 48% of their field goals from distance.
“We have a lot of veterans at this point, a lot of seniors who have been here from the start of it,” said senior guard Isaiah Gray, who’s averaging a career-best 9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists. “We’ve kind of progressed and grown, as the coaches have as well. We’re all learning the different nuances and subtleties. We’re all really comfortable with each other.”
The message remains simple – shoot.
“More often than not, I’m yelling at kids to shoot it,” Earl said. “We’ll take what’s given to us. We got some good uncontested layups [against Siena], so it’s a trade-off. Sometimes teams try and take away one or the other, but hopefully, we’re doing the right thing and taking what’s given to us.”
The Big Red have benefited from a rebound year for senior forward Keller Boothby, who’s averaging 6.5 points and shooting 45% from distance. In his rookie campaign, he shot 49% from range – a number that would’ve led the country if qualified. Last year, he shot just 35%.
“I’m just taking what the defense gives me, looking for cuts, setting up me coming off for three-pointers,” Boothby said. “And just being a little more confident in my shot, knowing that teams are going to push up heavy on me and knowing that even with just a little bit of space, I got to shoot it because it’s a good shot for us.
“I think [the system has] been working for us, but we got to get over the hump. We need a few more tweaks here and there, and I think that’ll help us out.”
While Boothby again isn’t qualified in three-point percentage, sophomore guard Cooper Noard is. Connecting on 47.5% of his threes, Noard is eighth in the country. After playing just 75 total minutes in his freshman campaign, he leads the team in scoring at 11.9 points per contest.
He, along with sophomore AK Okereke (6.7 ppg) and the freshmen duo of Jacob Beccles (4.9 ppg) and Jake Fiegen (1.4 ppg), have fit right into the rotation.
“[T]he guys do a good job,” Earl said when asked about his newer pieces. “We’re really disappointed when somebody misses a shot that they were making or pushing the ball, if they’re good at pushing. So you got to be OK with them doing what they do well.”
Still, the Big Red have many of the same contributors. Senior forward Sean Hansen is second on the team at 10.9 points and senior guard Chris Manon is third at 10.2. Junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. is averaging 9.5 and knocking down 39% of his perimeter shots. Off the bench, Nazir Williams is averaging 8.4 points, a step back from last year after an off-season knee procedure.
Long story short – Cornell remains one of the deepest teams in the country.
The Big Red have three tests left before Ivy play opens against Columbia. They’ll face Robert Morris on Friday, and after Christmas, they’ll host Colgate on Dec. 30. Afterward, it’s a trip to Texas for a date with Baylor.
“I feel like we’re in a good place, but we’ve been here before,” Gray said. “It’s a whole different atmosphere once league play comes, so we’re just trying to get better, win when we can win, and then really lock in for when it really matters.”