Richard Kent

Yale women’s basketball looks to move up in Ivy pecking order

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The Yale women finished last season at 8-19 and 5-9 in the Ivy League. Gone from last year are leading scorer and assist leader Jenna Clark, leading rebounder Nyla McGill and third-leading scorer Brenna McDonald. Good news or bad news?

Well, Ivy media has pegged Yale as a sixth-place finisher.

Yale third-year coach Dalila Eshe says her team will have improved “culture” and be “incredibly athletic, running a high-octane offense.” She defines culture as “buying into the program and [being] like-minded.”

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Yale men’s basketball looks to defend Ivy Madness title

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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.

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Brown basketball veterans’ lawsuit against Ivy schools ripe for appeal

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United States District of Connecticut Judge Alvin Thompson, a Princeton and Yale Law School graduate, handed a significant victory to the Ivy League Thursday.

Thompson granted an Ivy League motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two former Brown basketball players alleges that the Ivy League not offering athletic scholarships violates the Sherman Antitrust Act by price-fixing, raising the net price of education that Ivy athletes pay and suppressing compensation for the athletic services they provide Ivy schools.

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Q&A with Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones

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(James Jones’s Twitter page)

Ivy Hoops Online caught up with James Jones as he begins his 26th year at Yale with early-season September workouts to prepare his team for the 2024-25 slate:

IHO: What are the strengths of your team this season?

JJ: Confidence, which comes from our success. We are smaller than we have been with a higher work ethic. Everyone on the team has it. Last season we had a good work ethic, but not like this.

IHO: Talk about John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, both seniors.

JJ: They are comparable to any of our top two seniors over the years. Like Brandon Sherrod and Justin Sears.

IHO: Who are some guys that you think might have breakout seasons?

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Q&A with Yale men’s basketball transfer Matt Knowling

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Matt Knowling is headed for Southern California to be a Trojan. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Yale senior Matt Knowling, from Ellington, Conn. recently announced his decision to continue his basketball career as a graduate transfer at USC. Knowling was a First Team All-Ivy selection is 2022-23.

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Danny Wolf to transfer from Yale men’s basketball to Michigan

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Danny Wolf averaged 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds as a sophomore forward in 2023-24 before entering the transfer portal. (Yale Athletics)

Danny Wolf is bound for Michigan.

The 7-foot sophomore entered the transfer portal on March 30 with a do-not-contact notation, six days after his breakout campaign ended in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Wolf visited the University of Michigan last weekend and had a visit to the University of North Carolina scheduled for Thursday. It was unknown as of Saturday afternoon if he actually made that visit.

Wolf was at Yale’s end-of-season banquet at BAR New Haven on Wednesday night and won the team MVP award. At the time, Wolf said that he was conflicted and had not made up his mind on a destination. The unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection also indicated that staying at Yale was still a possibility.

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Danny Wolf enters transfer portal after standout season for Yale men’s basketball

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Danny Wolf averaged 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds as a sophomore forward in 2023-24 before entering the transfer portal. (Yale Athletics)

Danny Wolf, a 2023-24 First-Team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore forward for Yale, has become the latest top-shelf Ivy talent to enter the transfer portal, extending a string of standouts leaving or poised to leave the Ivy League.

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Q&A with Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones

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James Jones led Yale men’s basketball to its second ever NCAA Tournament win last week. (James Jones’s Twitter page)

Ivy Hoops Online caught up with Yale coach James Jones Wednesday following his return from Spokane, Wash., where his team notched the second ever NCAA Tournament win in program history last week with a triumph over Auburn before falling to San Diego State in the Round of 32:

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No. 13 Yale men’s basketball falls to No. 5 San Diego State, 85-57, in NCAA Tournament second round

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Yale senior forward Matt Knowling, senior guard August Mahoney and coach James Jones sit for their postgame press conference following an 85-57 loss to San Diego State Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. (March Madness video broadcast)

No. 13 Yale’s NCAA Tournament run ended with a second-round thud Sunday night local time in Spokane, Wash. in an 85-57 loss to No. 5 San Diego State.

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