Harvard

Ivy Madness presale begins Monday, with general sale to start Wednesday

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Following the cancellation of the 2020 Ivy League Tournament at Harvard and the loss of the 2020-21 season, conference officials decided to return its double dose of final fours to Lavietes Pavilion on March 11-13, 2022.  On Monday morning, the Ivy League sent out an announcement to past tournament ticketholders that there would be a 48-hour presale with the general public being able to purchase tickets starting 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The 2020 schedule, which extended the event from two days to three, will be in effect for this year’s version of Ivy Madness.  As a result, the women’s semifinals will be played on Fri., Mar. 11 with the No. 1 vs. No. 4 matchup at 4:30 p.m. and the No. 2 vs No. 3 contest at 7:30 p.m.  On Saturday, the men’s semifinals will consist of the No. 1 vs. No. 4 game at 11 a.m. and the No. 2 vs. No. 3 battle will begin at 2 p.m. The women’s final will take place at 5 p.m. that same day.  On Selection Sunday, the men’s final will begin at noon.

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Undermanned Harvard men lose at UMass, 87-77

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The addition of starting forward Kale Catchings to Harvard’s already sizeable frontcourt disabled list proved too much, as UMass defeated Harvard, 87-77, at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon.

Facing a Minutemen squad that lives and dies at the three point line, Tommy Amaker, whose Crimson (5-4) have been without the services of forwards Mason Forbes, Justice Ajogbor and Bennett Pitcher for the first part of the season, opted to use highly touted rookie wing Louis Lesmond in place of Catchings and go with a four-guard lineup.

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Harvard sweeps post-Thanksgiving doubleheader at Lavietes

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The Harvard women and men hosted a pair of cross-town rivals on Saturday.  Things didn’t look so great for the home teams early, but strong second-half performances gave both teams big wins and sent the crowd home happy.

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Layoff, Shmayoff: A solid start for Ivy League hoops

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Announcers and writers around the nation focused a lot of attention to the 600-plus days between games for the Ivy League.  While many expected the teams to be a bit rusty out of the gates, the Ancient Eight acquitted itself quite well in the season’s first week.

Thirteen of the league’s 16 teams had at least one win, with the Princeton and Columbia women notching three victories each.  The Brown men almost upset No. 19 UNC without their top player, and the Princeton men just missed out on winning the Asheville Championship.

Check out some of the highlights from a very successful and welcome week of Ivy hoops:

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

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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 League men’s basketball Media Day roundup

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Two days after the Media Day for Ivy women’s hoops, the men had their turn at the virtual podium.  A day prior, the results of the preseason poll were released.  While five different teams earned top votes, the overall totals showed no changes from the last day of competition in 2020.

Yale, two-time defending Ivy champion, was again picked to come in first with 115 points and seven first-place votes.  Harvard, the 2019 co-champion, was close behind, tallying 110 points and four first-place votes.  Princeton, the 2017 title winner, closed out the top tier with 108 points and two first-place votes.

Penn, the 2018 co-champion, secured the last slot in the upper division with 93 points and two first-place selections.  Brown, which last held the title in 1986, again found itself behind the Quakers for fifth place with 79 points and a pair of title votes.

Dartmouth, which last entered the winner’s circle in 1959, was tabbed in the six slot with 43 points, four points more than Cornell, which last held the top spot in the Sweet Sixteen season of 2010.  Columbia, the 1968 champion, was projected to finish last with 25 points.

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Ivy League women’s basketball Media Day roundup

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One day after releasing the conference’s preseason poll, the Ivy League moved one step closer to normal by hosting the 2021-22 Media Day for women’s basketball Tuesday.  For the first time, the league used a Zoom format to create a stronger connection between the coaches, players and the media.

In Monday’s poll, three-time defending champion Princeton was again picked as the top team with 122 total points and 12 first-place votes.  Penn, the 2019 co-champion, was selected No. 2 with three first-place votes and 108 points. The next three teams were close, with only six points separating Columbia, Yale and Harvard.

The Lions, which earned their first Ivy League Tournament berth in 2020 before the tourney was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, moved up to third with 87 points. The Bulldogs, a third-place team in 2020, dropped to fourth at 82 points.  The Crimson, which finished fifth in 2020, received one first-place vote but missed the upper division by one point.

Cornell, the 2020 seventh-place squad, moved up to sixth for 2022 with 41 points.  Dartmouth and Brown, two teams with new coaching staffs, ended up with the last two spots, with the Big Green’s 29 points two ahead of the Bears.

Tuesday’s Media Day revealed the four tiers apparent in the preseason poll. But there could be a slight reordering near the top.

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

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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

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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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Yes, Virginia, there really are Ivy League schedules!

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As COVID-19 numbers increase from early summer lows and masking recommendations return for the start of another pandemic academic calendar, the Ivy League gave fans a bit of positive news on Thursday with the release of the 2022 conference schedule.  After skipping the entire 2020-21 season due to safety concerns, the Ancient Eight curtain is set to rise on January 2 with eight games – a mere 666 days after the last league games on March 7, 2020.

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