Yale doesn’t rebuild. It reloads.
It is trite but true. Yale and Princeton have been the premier Ivy programs since 2015. But it looks as if Yale will hold that mantle this year, as it has the last two regular seasons.
Incoming frosh will be vastly better than their recruiting rankings, and sophomores will become contributors and then ultimately stars. It always happens for Yale.
Just recall names like Matt Knowling, Bez Mbeng, John Poulakidas and a host of others.
In November, we should see senior forward Nick Townsend play like a Player of the Year candidate. Can you think of anyone but him or Harvard sophomore forward Robert Hinton?
Yale sophomore forward Isaac Celiscar could well be the most talented and certainly the most athletic Bulldog. He should be First Team All-Ivy. Think Miye Oni back in 2019.
Throw in junior center Samson Aletan. The Dallas native is so talented that Baylor coach Scott Drew came calling and added him to his Team USA roster, which competed in the 2025 Rhine-Ruhr (Germany) Summer World University Games, ending as silver medalists.
Add in sophomore guard Riley Fox, a sweet shooter from deep who was Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year but only saw 9.1 minutes per game as a freshman. Do the same with senior and tremendous defender Casey Simmons, who started for Northwestern as a rookie. Ditto junior point guard Trevor Mullin. That’s more than enough talent to comprise a formidable starting five.
First-year guard Courtney Wallace will push Mullin at the point. The Pittsburgh native is that good and mature. And don ‘t rule out sophomore Jordan Brathwaite at the point, either.
Yale has size and more size. It lacks some experience in the backcourt, having to replace Mbeng and Poulakidas, two of the greatest Yale players of all time.
Yale did lose primo recruiter and big man coach Justin Simon, who took over the helm at Carnegie Mellon in May after 14 years on Yale head coach James Jones’ staff.
Jones relishes seeing this team on the floor.
“We’ve added depth to our roster with the first-year additions, and our overall team experience is our greatest strength,” Jones said.
Watch out, Ivy League. Yale is loaded again.
The Bulldogs open their season at Navy on November 7.