Yale men’s basketball enters Jones’ 25th year at the helm loaded

Junior guard Bez Mbeng, who coach James Jones has told Ivy Hoops Online is the best on-ball defender he’s ever coached, is among the many talented veterans on Yale men’s basketball’s 2023-24 roster. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Seems like you can never have too much money or happiness in life.

The same goes for depth in team sports.

We’ll find out about this last adage in March, as Yale men’s basketball may actually have too much depth. Sound impossible? Not really.

Read more

A close look at Dartmouth men’s basketball’s unionization effort

Nearly a decade ago, members of the Northwestern football team tried to unionize.

The National Labor Relations Board, an independent federal agency charged with protecting employees’ rights to organize and determining whether to have unions as their bargaining representatives, voted unanimously in Aug. 2015 to decline to assert jurisdiction in the case. The NLRB held that asserting jurisdiction over a single team wouldn’t promote stability in labor relations league-wide, as the NCAA and conference maintain significant control over individual teams.

The NLRB noted the decision applied only to the players in the case and didn’t preclude reconsideration of this issue in the future.

Fast forward to 2021, when the United States Supreme Court decided in a 9-0 ruling that antitrust laws prohibit the NCAA from limiting its Division I schools from offering “education-related compensation or benefits” to student-athletes.

Read more

Q&A with Yale men’s coach James Jones post-Greece trip

Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones led his squad a 3-0 showing in Greece this month. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Yale men’s basketball went 3-0 on its summer three-game, 10-day trip to Greece it wrapped Monday, led by a surprise leading scorer, sophomore forward Nick Townsend. The Bulldogs opened play by besting the Thessaloniki All-Stars, 91-75, before 89-79 and 100-94 wins over the University of Calgary, wrapping . We caught up with coach James Jones, who is entering his 25th year at Yale’s helm, upon his return:

Read more

“Can’t wait till tip-off”: Rutgers men poised to finally play Princeton again

Missing a decade of games is a long time for the Rutgers-Princeton basketball rivalry.

The series began in 1917 and has resulted in 120 games played, many of them memorable.

Separated by only 15 miles and both original colonial colleges, played virtually every year and sometimes twice a year from 1917 until 2013, when new Rutgers basketball coach Eddie Jordan put the games on hiatus.

Jordan was fired in 2016 after only three seasons, and new Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell chose not to play the Tigers. That policy has come to an end.

Read more

Columbia women to host Duke, Seton Hall in 2023-24

Columbia women’s basketball will host Duke and Seton Hall at Levien Gym this upcoming season. (Columbia Athletics)

Columbia women’s basketball will face stiff tests in the 2023-24 nonconference slate.

The Lions will host Duke and Seton Hall at Levien Gym next season in addition to making a previously announced trip to Bahamas to join the Baha Mars Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship 10-team field in November.

Read more

Columbia women return to WNIT Super 16 after pushing past Fordham

 Columbia is back in the WNIT Super 16 after a 78-73 defeat of Fordham in a tight interborough contest Monday night.

The Lions closed a nail biter on a 12-2 run to secure the victory.

”We stepped up and made some big plays,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said.

Read more

Yale men fall at Vanderbilt in first round of NIT

It was déjà vu all over again for Yale in the first round of the NIT as host Vanderbilt defeated the Bulldogs at Memorial Gymnasium, 71-62.

Vanderbilt jumped out to an 11-0 lead two days after Yale fell behind in a 12-0 role against Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament final. The deficit proved too much for Yale to overcome.

Read more

Princeton men notch Ivy League Tournament final win over Yale to clinch NCAA Tournament berth with key adjustments

Stopping John Poulakidas was the Princeton game plan.
Mission accomplished.
2021-22 Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan and a variety of double teams held the Yale sophomore guard to seven points on 2-for-7 shooting as the Tigers defeated Yale, 74-65, to earn their first NCAA Tournament biid since 2017.

Read more

Yale handles Cornell in Ivy League Tournament men’s semifinal

Yale coach James Jones lauded his team’s execution after the Bulldogs’ 80-60 win over Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal Saturday. (James Jones’ Twitter page)
PRINCETON, N.J. – A 12-0 run at the start of the second half fueled No. 1 Yale to an 80-60 win over No. 4 Cornell to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final Sunday.
Yale had difficulty with the Cornell press in the first half, especially without sophomore guard Bez Mbeng, who picked up two early fouls.
“[I’m] really happy how we executed,” Yale coach James Jones said.

Read more