Ivy League

How are the Ivy non-grad transfers doing?

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With the season two weeks old, here’s a first check on the 2023-24 Ivy stars who transferred prior to their graduation. This year, the student-athletes are all from the men’s side, but growing amounts of NIL money, more relaxed transfer rules and the lack of scholarships in the Ancient Eight should eventually (sadly) expand this list to the women’s division in the near future.

Over the opening few weeks, Kalu Anya, Malik Mack and Danny Wolf have continued their strong play from last year, while Chisom Okpara and Tyler Perkins are seeing reduced roles with their new teams.

We’ll take another look in a few weeks to see how everyone’s doing:

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Impressions from Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day

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The Ivy League hosted media day on Tuesday for the upcoming men’s basketball season.  

Here’s one key impression from interviews with players and coaches from each of the eight Ancient Eight programs:

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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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Check out The Madness of Ivy Basketball

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Ivy Hoops Online contributor Richard Kent has a new book out that entertainingly excels at making sense of its own title:  The Madness of Ivy Basketball. The work includes thoughtful recaps of the 2023-24 seasons for individual Ivy programs, a primer on Dartmouth men’s basketball’s historic unionization effort, reasons to be excited about the 2024-25 campaign and contributions from fellow IHO contributor Rob Browne and a bevy of other Ivy roundball experts. It’s available at Amazon here.

 

Five things I think I think about Penn men’s basketball, post-Ethan Roberts commitment

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The great Peter King, dean of football writers in America, retired earlier this year. I would put King — the longtime Sports Illustrated columnist and reporter — right up there with Lawrence Taylor, my father and Steve Sabol among the people who helped spark my lifelong love affair (obsession?) with sports.

In honor of King, I have a few more thoughts than usual on Penn’s position in the Ivy League landscape — and college basketball at large — after it picked up a high-upside transfer in the form of ex-Drake guard Ethan Roberts, a sophomore, last week.

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Quakeaways from Tyler Perkins entering transfer portal to leave Penn men’s basketball

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New transfer portal occupant Tyler Perkins averaged 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 29.8 minutes per game as a freshman in 2023-24. (Penn Athletics)

Penn’s offseason got off to a depressing start on Monday when standout freshman guard Tyler Perkins entered the transfer portal.

With the caveat that I possess no inside knowledge, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Georgetown fans who have been salivating over the Lorton, Va. native since the summer of 2023 finally got their wish.

The Quakers have now lost their best returning player for two consecutive offseasons. At least Perkins ripped the band-aid off early, hopping into the portal on the first day of its 45-day window. Jordan Dingle entered the portal more than a month later in 2023.

Much of this analysis could be rendered obsolete by the time the portal closes, but here’s a first stab at what Perkins’ departure means in the grand scheme of things for both the Quakers and Ivy League at large:

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#2BIDIVY! Princeton and Columbia women’s basketball both earn bids to the NCAA Tournament

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Princeton’s Carla Berube and Columbia’s Megan Griffith talk prior to Saturday’s Ivy League championship (Photo: Rob Browne)

Following Princeton’s victory over Columbia in Saturday night’s Ivy League championship, the thought of two conference teams making into the field of 68 seemed improbable.  However, Sunday night’s selection show provided a pleasant surprise for everyone connected to the Ancient Eight, with the announcement of an automatic qualifier spot for the Tigers and an at-large bid for the Lions.

This year’s decision marks the second time the Ivies have sent two teams to the Big Dance, with Princeton claiming the second bid and Penn taking the automatic spot in 2016.

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No. 4 Brown men’s basketball loses glass slipper in last-second Ivy League Tournament final loss to No. 2 Yale

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Kino Lilly Jr. and the rest of the Brown starters get ready to take on No. 1 Yale in Sunday’s Ivy League Tournament final. (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – With 27 seconds to go and a 60-54 lead, Brown appeared destined to punch its first NCAA Tournament ticket since 1986.

But Yale finished the game on an 8-1 run, punctuated by a short jumper by senior forward Matt Knowling at the buzzer, to end Brown’s season and claim the Bulldogs’ third Ivy League Tournament championship since the tourney was installed for the 2016-17 season.

While the future is bright for a team that returns its entire starting lineup in 2024-25, it doesn’t remove the  pain felt by the coaches, players and fans.

“Obviously, there is a lot in front of our people, but not this team, so that’s really hard,” the Brown alum and 12th-year head coach told the media immediately following the hard-fought battle “I felt like I let them down in the last minute of the game.”

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No. 2 Yale men’s basketball nips No. 4 Brown, 62-61, in instant classic to win Ivy Leagye

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NEW YORK –  By the slimmest of margins, Yale eked past Brown to win the Ivy League Tournament in an instant classic at Levien Gym Sunday afternoon.

“Business as usual”: No. 1 Princeton women’s basketball still class of Ivy League in 75-58 win over Columbia for fifth straight Ivy League Tournament title

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Princeton celebrates securing a fifth consecutive Ivy League Tournament crown at Levien Gym Saturday. (Photo by Steve Silverman)

Two down, one to go.

Princeton women’s basketball added an exclamation point to its already triumphant Ivy League season Saturday by soundly defeating the Columbia Lions, 75-58, for its fifth consecutive Ivy League Tournament championship.

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