Danny Wolf, a 2023-24 First-Team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore forward for Yale, has become the latest top-shelf Ivy talent to enter the transfer portal, extending a string of standouts leaving or poised to leave the Ivy League.
The 7-footer from Glencoe, Ill. and Northfield Mount Hermon played last summer in the 2023 FIBA Under-20 European Championships for Israel in Greece, won a silver medal and was second in scoring at 17.7 points per game and first in rebounding with 12 rebounds per outing.
Wolf had a tremendous sophomore season at Yale, leading the Ivy League Tournament champions in scoring at 14.1 points per game and rebounding with 9.7 boards per game. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Ivy tournament.
Although not yet listed on NBA draft boards, Wolf has NBA aspirations, and some close to him believe that he will improve more quickly by competing against the highest-level competition in a “power conference.” Others have opined that if you are as talented as Wolf, the NBA will find you, just like it found Yale’s Miye Oni, the 2018-19 Ivy Player of the Year who has played for the Orlando Magic, and Princeton alumnus Tosan Evbuomwan of the Detroit Pistons.
Wolf posted a “not to be contacted” notation on his portal entry, which usually indicates that a college destination has already been chosen.olf’s portal entry follows that of 2023-24 Ivy Rookie of the Year Malik Mack, Tyler Perkins, Penn’s second-leading scorer as a freshman guard this past season, and Nana Owusu-Anane, a 2023-24 All-Ivy Second Team selection as a sophomore forward for Brown.
Jordan Dingle left Penn for St. John’s via the transfer portal after he was named 2022-23 Ivy Player of the Year as a junior guard.
The Ivy League is being hollowed out by the transfer portal, NIL, and conference realignment. If the Ancient Eight wants to remain even somewhat relevant in D-1 hoops, some serious changes are going to have to be considered. When you see players giving up degrees at elite places like Harvard and Yale to go play somewhere else, it tells you that something has gone terribly wrong. Are more shoes soon to drop? Xavian Lee? Caden Pierce? Princeton may have dodged a bullet with Stanford hiring Kyle Smith instead of Mitch Henderson. Had Henderson been lured away to a power conference program, especially Stanford, something tells me Lee and/or Pierce may have been quick to follow. I think Yale would have been the favorite to win the League coming into the 2024-25 season, but now with Wolf departing, I think Princeton will be the favorite so long as Lee, Pierce, and Davis all return.