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:
Yale
Ivy men’s basketball Media Day highlights
With the non-conference schedule set to begin in less than three weeks, the Ivy League held its annual Media Day on Tuesday afternoon. The three-hour event, hosted by Lance Medow, featured coaches and players from each of the eight programs.
Fans can check out the recording on the conference’s YouTube channel.
Below are some highlights:
Yale men’s basketball looks to defend Ivy Madness title
Ivy men’s media day was held virtually Tuesday. Veteran Yale coach James Jones was last to speak and in attendance for the Bulldogs with him were seniors Bez Mbeng and John Poulakidas.
Yale is coming off of an Ivy Madness title and a first-round upset of heavily favored Auburn last March. The Bulldogs have been slated by the Ivy media to finish second in league behind Princeton.
Jones noted that his team is “excited” that the season will start in three weeks and is anxious to play against competition.
Princeton men picked as preseason Ivy favorites in media poll
Princeton, last year’s undisputed regular season champions, were picked to take home the 2025 Ivy title in the preseason media poll released on Tuesday.
Led by junior forward Caden Pierce, the 2024 Player of the Year, and first team All-Ivy junior guard Xaivian Lee, Mitch Henderson’s Tigers picked up 15 of 16 first place votes and 127 of a maximum 128 points.
Q&A with Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones
Ivy Hoops Online caught up with James Jones as he begins his 26th year at Yale with early-season September workouts to prepare his team for the 2024-25 slate:
IHO: What are the strengths of your team this season?
JJ: Confidence, which comes from our success. We are smaller than we have been with a higher work ethic. Everyone on the team has it. Last season we had a good work ethic, but not like this.
IHO: Talk about John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, both seniors.
JJ: They are comparable to any of our top two seniors over the years. Like Brandon Sherrod and Justin Sears.
IHO: Who are some guys that you think might have breakout seasons?
Q&A with new Yale men’s basketball captain Teo Rice
Teo Rice is a 6-foot-2 Yale men’s basketball junior from Bethesda, Md. who was just elected as captain of the 2024-25 Bulldogs. Rice appeared in 11 games this season off the bench. He recently sat down with Ivy Hoops Online for an interview:
Q&A with Yale men’s basketball transfer Matt Knowling
Yale senior Matt Knowling, from Ellington, Conn. recently announced his decision to continue his basketball career as a graduate transfer at USC. Knowling was a First Team All-Ivy selection is 2022-23.
Danny Wolf to transfer from Yale men’s basketball to Michigan
Danny Wolf is bound for Michigan.
The 7-foot sophomore entered the transfer portal on March 30 with a do-not-contact notation, six days after his breakout campaign ended in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Wolf visited the University of Michigan last weekend and had a visit to the University of North Carolina scheduled for Thursday. It was unknown as of Saturday afternoon if he actually made that visit.
Wolf was at Yale’s end-of-season banquet at BAR New Haven on Wednesday night and won the team MVP award. At the time, Wolf said that he was conflicted and had not made up his mind on a destination. The unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection also indicated that staying at Yale was still a possibility.
Danny Wolf enters transfer portal after standout season for Yale men’s basketball
Danny Wolf, a 2023-24 First-Team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore forward for Yale, has become the latest top-shelf Ivy talent to enter the transfer portal, extending a string of standouts leaving or poised to leave the Ivy League.
Q&A with Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones
Ivy Hoops Online caught up with Yale coach James Jones Wednesday following his return from Spokane, Wash., where his team notched the second ever NCAA Tournament win in program history last week with a triumph over Auburn before falling to San Diego State in the Round of 32: