On the Vine – Jan. 26, 2017

The panel looks back at last weekend’s intriguing league finishes (Cornell-Columbia, Yale-Brown), talks expectations for Harvard and Dartmouth, compares this season’s Ivy freshman standouts and previews this weekend’s matchups. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO writers George Clark and Robert Crawford, along with special guest John Templon of NYC Buckets.

On the Vine – Jan. 13, 2017

In a special pregame edition of On the Vine, the panel previews Friday night’s Ivy matchups and looks ahead to Saturday night’s slate and beyond. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO writers George Clark and Rob Browne, with Clark joining in live from Jadwin Gym just prior to Princeton’s tip-off versus Brown.

On The Vine Special: Jim Engles Interview

Introduced one week ago as the 23rd coach in Columbia history, Jim Engles has a lot on his plate: hiring a staff, meeting new players, replacing a legendary senior class… and finding decent cell phone service in Levien Gymnasium.

Once we switched to a land line, I spoke with Coach Engles in a wide-ranging interview for this special episode of On The Vine. Among the news that will interest Lions fans: Kyle Smith’s entire 2016 recruiting class has committed to being at Columbia next year, Jesse Agel is definitely coming on board as an assistant coach, and one of Engles’ goals for next year’s team is making the Ivy League Tournament.

One moment that stood out to me came from near the end of the interview (a full transcript of which is available below the audio file). I asked Engles to speak directly to Columbia fans, and here’s part of what he said:

I watched the championship game on TV, and I saw how the crowd reacted, and I saw the gym packed. Those are moments for these people, because they want to see those moments. They want to win a championship. And that’s exactly how I envision this. That’s what I want to do. I really want to win for all those people who’ve been with Columbia for such a long time, and have been fans through the good times and the bad times.

Many thanks to Coach Engles for coming on the show, Columbia Athletics for making him available, and Miles Johnson and Sam Tydings for contributing questions.

Here’s the full transcript of the interview. Any errors of transcription are mine alone.

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On the Vine – Mar. 31, 2016

The panel looks back at Yale’s NCAA Tournament run, Columbia’s CIT championship and Princeton’s NIT matchup, analyzes the Ivy coaching carousel and looks ahead to the 2016-17 season. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO founder Ian Halpern, IHO writer George Clark and Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com for this final episode of the 2015-16 season:

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

On the Vine – Mar. 15, 2016

The panel looks ahead to Yale’s NCAA Tournament first-round showdown with Baylor, Princeton’s NIT matchup with Virginia Tech and Columbia’s CIT square-off with Norfolk State. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO writer Robert Crawford and Dallas Morning News contributor/Baylor expert Shehan Jeyarajah for this episode:

On the Vine – Mar. 11, 2016

The panel analyzes a historic weekend for Yale and a hump to get over for Princeton, the pros and cons of the Ivy League’s embrace of a conference tournament format, All-Ivy selections from the Ivy League and Ivy Hoops Online, and gives postseason predictions.

Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO founder Ian Halpern, IHO writers Rob Browne and George Clark, and Kevin Spacey for this episode.

On the Vine – Feb. 25, 2016

The panel looks back at Yale-Princeton and ahead to this weekend’s crucial Columbia-Princeton matchup, as well as assessing Cornell’s slide and Yale’s outlook now that Jack Montague has withdrawn from the school. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO founder Ian Halpern and IHO writer George Clark for this episode.