Ivy men’s media day was held virtually Tuesday. Veteran Yale coach James Jones was last to speak and in attendance for the Bulldogs with him were seniors Bez Mbeng and John Poulakidas.
Yale is coming off of an Ivy Madness title and a first-round upset of heavily favored Auburn last March. The Bulldogs have been slated by the Ivy media to finish second in league behind Princeton.
Jones noted that his team is “excited” that the season will start in three weeks and is anxious to play against competition.
While noting that “there are new faces in the program, which is really good,” Jones made it clear that he is dependent on his seniors, Poulakidas, Mbeng, Jack Molloy and Yassine Gharram, for leadership.
Jones is high on a number of underclassmen, including three talented frosh in Jordan Brathwaite, Isaac Celiscar and Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Riley Fox and made it clear that at Yale, “there is always someone waiting in the wings and the cream always rises to the top.”
Jones enters his 26th year at the Yale helm and boasts six regular-season Ivy titles and three Ivy tourney crowns in that span.
The Elis return 11 players who saw action last season.
Jones and staff struggle annually to get local high-major opponents to play their squad, including UConn, but was able to secure road games this season at national runner-up Purdue along with Minnesota.
The Elis have played at Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky in recent years.
Yale also plays in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip Off at Mohegan Sun against Fairfield and Delaware and opens the season at John J. Lee Amphitheater against Quinnipiac.