Harvard women’s coach Kathy Delaney-Smith to retire at end of upcoming 40th season

Kathy Delaney-Smith will retire after the 2021-22 season, her 40th at the Crimson’s helm. Delaney-Smith is the all-time winningest head coach of any sport in Ivy League history. (Harvard Athletics) 

One of the most successful eras in Ivy sports history is coming to an end.

Harvard Athletics announced Friday that Crimson women’s coach Kathy Delaney-Smith will retire at the end of the 2021-22 season, her 40th at Harvard’s helm.

“I have spent 40 incredible years doing the job that I love,” Delaney-Smith told Harvard Athletics. “I have always believed that sports is the greatest classroom for life. It has been my great honor to build the basketball program at Harvard and to mentor, coach, and work alongside such incredible people. I am so very proud of our players and alumnae. Their impact on me has been immeasurable.”

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Ivy Hoops Online preseason polls tab Princeton, Yale as women’s and men’s favorites

The Ivy League men’s and women’s preseason media polls amounted to a shrug with Yale emerging on top and a vote of confidence for Princeton, respectively.

So did polls of Ivy Hoops Online’s contributors.

Our contributors unanimously pegged Princeton to finish atop the Ancient Eight on the women’s side, but we were less sure on who would win the Ivy League championship on the men’s side. Penn edged out Columbia by a single point to take second place in our projected women’s standings, while Yale slipped past Harvard by one point to take fourth place, a finish that would knock Harvard out .

Yale received five first-place votes, while Harvard nabbed two and Penn one. While none of our contributors picked Princeton to win the league, three projected the Tigers will place second in the conference standings. We predicted the same order of finish as the men’s and women’s polls. So there’s consensus even amid all the unknowns that the 2020-21 season that wasn’t left the Ivy hoops landscape.

For a preview of what that landscape looks like heading into the first Ivy hoops action in 20 months coming up this week, check out our roundups of the men’s and women’s media days.

Ivy Hoops Online Preseason Polls:

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Ivy League 2021-22 season preview: Buy, hold and sell edition

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ were looking up at the end of last week, but more importantly, it’s a good time to be bullish about Ivy League basketball. There’s going to be an actual Ivy hoops season this year, and we’re here to herald its return together. Here’s how Ivy Hoops Online contributors feel about some of the storylines within that greater, happy story as the 2021-22 campaign approaches.

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Ivy hoops roundup – Hard roads, new hardwood and a Hamburger

The Ivy League conference schedules were released last month, but official releases of the Ivies’ nonconference slates have been trickling in and reveal that after the season that wasn’t, the Ancient Eight aren’t shying away from trekking throughout the country for out-of-conference competition. Meanwhile, the coaching carousel continues:

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Ivy hoops roundup – Olympic exploits, incoming classes and coaching moves

Former Ivy standouts’ Olympic exploits

Olympic action in Tokyo featured an Ivy-on-Ivy matchup Wednesday when Maodo Lo helped lead Germany to a 99-92 victory over Miye Oni’s Nigerian squad in Group B play at Saitama Super Arena. The 2016 Columbia graduate and the Lions men’s third-all-time leading scorer led the Germans with nine assists and added 13 points in 28 minutes.

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What will NCAA NIL policy impact be on Ivy League and its athletes?

The NCAA on July 1 enacted an interim policy allowing college athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness (NIL) for the first time with the following guidance:

  • Individuals can engage in NIL activities that are consistent with the law of the state where the school is located. Colleges and universities may be a resource for state law questions.
  • College athletes who attend a school in a state without an NIL law can engage in this type of activity without violating NCAA rules related to name, image and likeness.
  • Individuals can use a professional services provider for NIL activities.
  • Student-athletes should report NIL activities consistent with state law or school and conference requirements to their school.

The Ivy League has noted that it has adjusted rules to allow athletes to engage in NIL activity.

But what will the impact of the NCAA’s new NIL policy be on Ivy hoops athletes and the Ivy League itself? Ivy Hoops Online writers weigh in:

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Ivy hoops roundup – NIL gains and Olympic games

The NCAA’s new, long awaited policy of allowing players to use their name, image and likeness for commercial profit extends to the Ivy League, which says it has adjusted rules to allow players to take part in NIL activity.

Former Columbia Lions Tai Bibbs and Randy Brumant quickly signed a deal to advertise for GCDC, a Washington, D.C. grilled cheese bar, per Dafter having transferred from Morningside Heights to Howard to join former Columbia assistant coach Kenny Blakeney.

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Ivy hoops roundup – New opportunities

As Ivy League basketball emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, new opportunities abound for new and returning Ivy players, coaches and even windows:

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Devin Cannady out for rest of season after ankle fracture

Former Princeton men’s standout Devin Cannady’s path to playing in the NBA with the Orlando Magic has been a joy to behold in the past 18 days since his debut. Cannady showed what he can do in a 17-point, three-rebound, two-steal performance in 24 minutes Thursday.

But in his very next game Sunday, Cannady’s season came to a jarring stop.

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Devin Cannady’s Magic moment

Devin Cannady scored 14 points in 14 minutes in three games for the Orlando Magic on a 10-day contract before the team released him Tuesday. (ATG MVP Sports Highlights)

In these turbulent times, it’s nourishing to witness a story of redemption and just reward.

Let us all then take in the latest chapter in Devin Cannady’s life.

Less than a month after being named NBA G League Finals MVP, the former Princeton men’s standout and 2020 graduate Devin Cannady signed a 10-day contract with the Orlando Magic and scored his first NBA points last week.

 

“It’s been a great feeling,” Cannady said of his opportunity after a team practice last week.

Cannady scored 14 points in 14 minutes in three games for Orlando before the team released him from his 10-day deal Tuesday.

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