Home of the Roundball Poets
MANHATTAN — At a hastily called press conference in Low Memorial Library, Columbia star guard Maodo Lo announced his retirement from the game of basketball, citing his intent to begin a career as an artist.
Though most in attendance expected Lo, the third leading scorer in Columbia history, to declare for the NBA Draft, the 6-foot-2 scoring guard stated that he felt a call to the world of studio art.
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)
The only thing surprising about the news was its timing: hours before Columbia was set to host UC Irvine in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament final, a report that coach Kyle Smith would accept the same position at the University of San Francisco as soon as Thursday emerged from TV station KPIX.
Smith’s departure, confirmed with an announcement from USF Tuesday, has been a topic of discussion for years, more so now after he coached the Lions this year to what is one of their best seasons ever — a school-record 25 wins, plus the first postseason championship banner of any kind in Levien Gym. Add in the fact that three head coaching jobs opened up in the West Coast Conference this year — where Smith spent almost a decade as an assistant at Saint Mary’s — and the concept became more “probability” than “possibility.”
I have spoken, written, and typed many words about Columbia sporting events since I first stepped on campus and tonight I used a word to describe the experience that I had not used before: fun. Tonight’s environment in Levien felt more like an Ivy clincher than the championship game of a fourth-tier, mid-major only, buy-your-home-court-advantage tournament with teams selected in part by San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates. It was the first postseason tournament victory for the Ivy League in more than 40 years but more importantly than that, it was a happy ending to many eras.
NEW YORK — For Columbia, getting past UC Irvine and winning the CIT title will be a tall order — in every sense of the word.
The Anteaters’ defense is ranked 36th in the country in KenPom in opponent-adjusted points per possession (96.7). They’re probably the toughest defensive puzzle the Lions will have to solve this season outside of Yale.
The big reason for UC Irvine’s defensive success is the presence of 7-foot-6 center Mamadou N’Diaye. After introducing himself to the country with a strong performance in a narrow loss to Louisville in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the Senegal product has turned in his best statistical effort this year.
Columbia Athletics announced Monday that Megan Griffith has been hired as Columbia’s next women’s basketball coach.
Griffith was an assistant at Princeton for the past four seasons and also served as Princeton’s director of basketball operations from 2010-12. The Tigers went 54-7 in that span.
Griffith succeeds Sheila Roux, who coached the 2015-16 season as an interim coach after Stephanie Glance stepped down in September 2015 to become the Executive Director of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
Griffith was captain of the Lions for three seasons and earned All-Ivy League honors in both 2006 and 2007.
Maodo Lo picked a great time to reach his season high in scoring.
The senior guard scored 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting and added six assists, three steals, three rebounds and two blocks, lifting the Lions past NJIT, 80-65, at Levien Gym and into a CIT final matchup with UC Irvine that will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Levien. The win marked coach Kyle Smith’s 100th victory in six seasons at Columbia.
A 9-2 Lions run gave Columbia a 55-42 lead with 9:45 remaining that it would not relinquish. Freshman Lukas Meisner added 11 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench for Columbia, which outscored the Highlanders 16-5 at the free throw line and outrebounded them 39-29.
The Yale Bulldogs’ terrific showing in this year’s NCAA Tournament has inspired a new national narrative. As a Wall Street Journal headline put it, “The Ivy League finally merits your respect.”
But as someone who has been following Ivy League basketball for more than forty years, the story that’s being promoted in certain circles is revisionist history that just makes me want to scream.
Columbia earned a berth in the CIT semifinals with a hard-fought 69-67 win over Ball State at Levien Gym Wednesday.
Junior forward Luke Petrasek hit the game-winning free throws for the Lions, breaking the 67-67 tie with 48 seconds left and registering a crucial block six seconds later. Petrasek also got the game-winning rebound off an intentional missed free throw from Ball State’s Sean Sellers with two seconds left after Sellers missed the free throw.
Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated reported Monday Yale sophomore guard Makai Mason is declaring for the NBA Draft.
Under new NBA Draft rules, players can see where they are projected to be chosen and subsequently decide to return to school at their discretion.
“We want to take advantage of that new rule, show people beyond the Ivy League what he’s capable of,” Mason’s father Dan told Thamel.
Mason scored a career-high 31 points in No. 12 Yale’s 79–75 upset of No. 5 Baylor in the first round Thursday and went 2-for-12 from the floor in Yale’s 71-64 loss to No. 4 Duke Saturday.