Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Bench series that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Izzy Wesley ‘29, a rising sophomore on the Brown women’s basketball team, is the second twin we have featured in this series. An innate teammate and ultimate family person, she brings “gioia di vivere” to the Bears, and she is channeling it in all the ways that make a team better:
Jess Deutsch
Off the Bench: Lucas Lueth of Penn men’s basketball
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Bench series that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
This time we are introduced to Lucas Lueth ’27, a rising senior on the Penn men’s basketball team from Ames, Iowa. While he aspires to take on a leadership role in healthcare down the road, he has his eyes on a pro basketball career, and a lot more, along the way. For this multi-talented Penn player, basketball is art, and art informs the way he sees the court as well as the world:
Off the Bench: Sarah Lessig of Princeton women’s basketball
Next, we get to know Sarah Lessig ’29, a rising Princeton women’s basketball sophomore from Seattle. A probable anthropology major and also a member of the Tigers softball team, Lessig is a study in fluidity — flowing seamlessly across sports, music, film — and West Coast to East Coast:
Off the Bench: Mataya Gayle of Penn women’s basketball
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and multi-dimensional humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents a new series, Off the Bench, that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or via your screen.
Next up is Mataya Gayle ’27, a rising senior on the Penn women’s basketball team, and a psychology major from Woodstock, Ga. While our previous installment highlighted the relationship of two brothers attending Princeton together, here we delve into the experience of a sibling with nine brothers and sisters at home! Through her eyes we see how her birth order and family system have prepared her for the key role she has played, and will play one more season, in the Palestra and beyond:
Off The Bench: Sebastian Whitfield of Princeton men’s basketball
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents a new series, Off the Bench, that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Next up is Sebastian Whitfield ’29, a rising sophomore guard/forward for Princeton men’s basketball, from Virginia Beach, Va. A likely economics major, Whitfield is also keeping all options on the table as he navigates Princeton alongside an older sibling. Whitfield’s story shows the joy of a shared connection that leaves plenty of room for improvisation.
Off the Bench: Mary Hollensteiner of Harvard women’s basketball
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents a new series, Off the Bench, that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Next up is Mary Hollensteiner ’27, a rising Harvard women’s basketball senior from Bethesda, Md. A psychology major with a minor in economics and a guard for the Crimson, Hollensteiner spoke with us as she prepared for a summer internship as a analyst at Hoffman & Associates in Washington, D.C. Hollensteiner reflects on legacy, leadership and laughter as the daughter of a former Harvard men’s basketball player and as a team leader making her own way at Lavietes Pavilion and beyond:
Off the Bench: Jeannot Basima of Yale men’s basketball
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents a new series, Off the Bench, that takes fans inside their stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
We begin with Jeannot Basima ’27, a rising Yale men’s basketball senior from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, a political science major, and guard for the Bulldogs. As Basima completes his undergraduate studies and prepares for his final season taking the floor at John J. Lee Amphitheater, he is motivated by a personal passion — creating educational opportunities for the children of his home country.
Jeannot Basima began his basketball journey as a six-year-old at Promo Jeune Basket (PJB), a local academy near his home in Goma. Near his home country’s border with Rwanda, PJB isn’t just about basketball. It’s a pathway to education, emphasizing the values of discipline, team, hard work and respect. As Basima sees it, he has been the beneficiary of several brotherhoods — his six siblings, PJB, the high schools he attended and the Yale basketball program.
Through a random connection between PJB’s president, Dario Melo, and Daniel Arnaud, a Belgian basketball parent who had travelled through Goma, 13-year-old Basima and one of his teammates found themselves selected for a summer camp in the United States. The camp got them on to the Global Squad AAU team, which led to scholarships to New York Military Academy for eighth grade and the John Carroll School for high school.
Basima had no idea when he left home at age 13 that he would not see his family again for five years.