Welcome to the 2023-24 Ivy League basketball season preview edition of Inside Ivy Hoops. Ivy Hoops Online editor Mike Tony is joined by IHO writer Rob Browne for a wide-ranging discussion that takes stock of the Ivy men’s and women’s basketball preseason media polls and what to expect from all 16 teams, while also reflecting on off-the-court developments, including NIL (name, image and likeness), labor unionization momentum and more:
Ivy League
Ancient Nine: An Ivy hoops grid game
As we await the tip-off of a new season, let’s have some fun with an Ivy hoops trivia game I call Ancient Nine.
If you’ve seen Immaculate Grid or similar games, this works the same way: fill in each square with a player from the corresponding team who fits that category. For example, if the row was Penn and the column was Ivy Player of the Year, “Jordan Dingle” or “AJ Brodeur” would each be a correct answer.
Here’s today’s grid:
You can play in your head or visit this Google sheet to fill in answers directly (click File -> Make a Copy to get an editable version). Pick your favorite stars, your most hated opponents or the most obscure players you can think of–every square today has at least six possible answers.
When you’re done, see all the correct answers on the second tab (going back to 2010; if you want to go older, that’s great, but you’ll have to check them yourself). Then share your grid with us on social or in the comments below! We’ll have a few more men’s and women’s grids over the next couple weeks.
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.
Ivy hoops roundup – July 1, 2023
As we enter the July 4th holiday weekend, we at Ivy Hoops Online wanted to round up some postseason updates:
Picking up the pieces after Jordan Dingle leaves Penn men’s basketball behind
April 28, 2023 will go down as one of the darkest days in recent Penn basketball history.
That was the day news broke that reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Jordan Dingle had opted to enter the transfer portal instead of returning for his senior season and making one last run at an Ivy title and NCAA Tournament appearance with the Red and Blue.
This writer frequently looks for some sort of silver lining or happy takeaway, even after the worst Penn losses. There is none this time.
If you’re pessimistically inclined, Dingle’s departure arguably closes the book on Penn’s 2023-24 season, six months before it even begins.
Bart Torvik’s preseason 2023-24 rankings had Penn ranked 80th initially and 98th earlier this week as talent began to flow through the transfer portal. Sans Dingle, Penn now sits 150th, fifth in the Ivy League and only 36 spots clear of seventh-place Dartmouth.
With Dingle, Penn could reasonably have been called co-favorites for the Ivy title alongside Yale and an outside contender for a NCAA Tournament at-large bid with aggressive scheduling.
Now? It will be a battle to even qualify for the Ivy League Tournament.
The effects of Dingle’s exit — just a small handful of which are listed below — will be felt through not just the program but the Ivy League for years to come.
Inside Ivy Hoops 4-11-23
Ivy Hoops Online editor Mike Tony and IHO writer Rob Browne discuss memorable postseason runs for Princeton men’s and women’s basketball and Columbia and Harvard in the WNIT, the new “Big 5” (really City 6) Classic, the prospect and potential impact of athletic scholarships for Ivy hoopsters and much more:
Brown basketball veterans’ new lawsuit against Ivy schools looks to change conference athletics landscape
A 64-page lawsuit filed in federal court this month could reshape the future of Ivy athletics.
A paean to Princeton’s triumphant Ivy League Tournament and season
The Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams did more than punch tickets for the NCAA Tournament by winning championships at the Ivy League Tournament over the weekend. They also made history for the university and the Ivy League.
By winning both the men’s and women’s regular season and tournament titles, Princeton became the first school in Ivy League history to win four conference basketball championships in the same season. It’s a record that may be tied someday, but it can never be broken.
As the Princeton basketball community basks in the glory of this unparalleled success, here are three reflections from the perspective of a long-time follower and admirer of Princeton basketball:
Princeton men triumph over Yale to win Ivy League Tournament, clinch NCAA Tournament berth
Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Princeton’s 74-65 win over Yale at Jadwin Gym to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament:
And the Ivy Madness Oscar goes to …
Since the 95th Academy Award airs Sunday night, here are my choices for the Ivy Madness Oscars from day two of the Ivy League Tournament: