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Richard Kent We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Yale is next by request of Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears.
The 1961-62 Yale Bulldogs are undoubtedly one of the greatest teams in school history, finishing 13-1 in Ivy play and 18-6 overall while securing the Ivy League championship, the program’s second in a six-year span.
We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Yale is next by request of Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears:
Yale had suffered seven straight losing seasons, including a 4-22 finish in 1998-99, when it hired James Jones as its head coach on April 27, 1999. Things got better quickly.
Jones, a former Yale assistant coach (1995-97), led the Elis to a share of the Ivy title in 2002, though Penn would trump Yale in the league playoff game for a NCAA Tournament berth.
Yale has finished in the top half of the conference every season without fail since 2000. True, no NCAA Tournament appearances in that span (though a share of the title this season brought Yale as close as it could possibly get without getting over that hump), but still incredible consistency for a program that lacked it for decades before his arrival.
We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Yale is next by request of Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears, who had 12 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in our next all-time moment…
On Nov. 30, 2014, Yale did something it hadn’t done before: Defeat a defending national champion. And it did so in the most dramatic way possible.
We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Yale is next by request of Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears.
The 1962-63 Yale Bulldogs were solid.
Fresh off a NCAA Tournament appearance the previous year and led by legend Rick Kaminsky, the Elis finished 13-10, and more importantly, 11-3 in Ivy play, including a 62-61 win at Jadwin Gym (capping a four-game win streak over Princeton).
The first-year varsity star Bill Bradley-led Tigers had their revenge, though, nipping the Elis, 61-58, in New Haven on Feb. 9 and again in the Ivy playoff game on March 9, 65-53. Thus the 1962-63 season marked the first non-NCAA Tournament season in a 53-season streak that is still running. Still, the 1963 Elis won a share of the Ivy League championship and cemented their place in Ivy history.
We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Yale is next by request of Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears.
On the weekend of Feb. 18-19, 2002, Yale did something it hadn’t done in 14 years: It pulled off a home sweep of Penn and Princeton.
Huge crowds at Payne Whitney Gym got to see the Elis sweep the Ps in the middle of a seven-game Ivy win streak en route to a three-way tie atop the conference with … well, Penn and Princeton. By virtue of tiebreakers, Yale had to defeat Princeton before squaring off with Penn with a NCAA Tournament appearance on the line. The Elis fell to Penn, 77-58, but they weren’t done just yet. Led by four players with scoring averages in double figures (Edwin Draughan, Alex Gamboa, T.J. McHugh and Paul Vitelli), Yale still had postseason power to spare. More on that still to come in the countdown.
We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Yale is next by request of Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears, who is sure to show up on this list at some point himself:
Hey @IvyHoopsOnline , would it be too much to ask if Yale could go next? We need some good vibes in New Haven right now. #WorthAShotToAsk
— Justin Sears (@Jussears5) July 10, 2015
It isn”t the John J. Lee Amphitheater for nothing.
After gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated in January and averaging over 24 points per game in Ivy play, Lee led his Yale team to the 1957 NCAA Tournament, where the Elis fell at Madison Square Garden to highly regarded North Carolina, 90-74, despite Lee”s 25-point performance.
Our Richard Kent caught up with Yale head coach and freshly minted Ivy Coach of the Year James Jones in preparation for the Bulldogs’ playoff with Harvard Saturday at the Palestra.
IHO: How is the preparation different when you play a team as much as you have played Harvard this year?
JJ: No difference, just a little more rest time this week with only one game.
IHO: What do you see as the key to Saturday’s game?
JJ: Rebounding and transition defense. We have to control the glass again and not allow them to score in transition.
IHO: What has the response been from alumni, students and fans this week?
JJ: Everyone is super-excited about the opportunity and the season the team has had thus far.
The winner of Yale-Harvard in Boston Friday night will subsequently be just one further win away from a NCAA tournament berth. Harvard went dancing last year, while Yale hasn’t since 1962. For the Elis to finally get that March Madness monkey off their backs, here’s what they have to do:
Our Richard Kent caught up with Princeton women’s hoops coach Courtney Banghart, whose No. 16 Tigers are 24-0 with just six regular-season games left. Princeton’s 56-50 win at Yale last Saturday was its closest margin of victory all season.
IHO: Did Yale present any problems which were unanticipated?