Bella Alarie goes to Dallas with the fifth pick in the WNBA Draft

by
Bella Alarie is a Dallas Wing now. (WNBA)

Princeton’s Bella Alarie didn’t have to wait long to hear her name, as she was called with the fifth overall pick by the Dallas Wings in Friday night’s WNBA Draft.

“It’s been my lifelong dream to play in the WNBA, so it was a really special moment,” Alarie told WNBA media. “I’m glad I got to share it with my family.”

Earlier in the week, Dallas President, CEO and General Manager Greg Bibb discussed his interest in Alarie with Ivy Hoops Online and sealed the deal with the team’s second pick of the first round.

Bella becomes the second member of the family chosen in the first round, following her father, Mark, who went to the Denver Nuggets with the 18th pick in the 1986 NBA Draft.  She also joins former teammate Leslie Robinson as the only other Tiger to be drafted in the WNBA and equals the highest spot ever by an Ivy League hoopster with Harvard’s Allison Feaster (1998; Los Angeles Sparks).

Read more

Pre-WNBA Draft buzz for Princeton’s Bella Alarie

by
Three-time Ivy Player of the Year Bella Alarie has long demonstrated that she’s a WNBA-caliber talent, and league evaluators are taking stock of her potential for success there. (Princeton Athletics)

With the nation continuing its fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the sports world on hiatus, the WNBA will provide some actual live entertainment on Friday night as the league’s draft will be televised at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN. Ivy hoops fans will have an additional bit of interest waiting to hear Bella Alarie’s name.

Alarie, a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year, four-time first team All-Ivy, two-time AP Honorable Mention All-America and all-time Princeton leader in both points and blocks, looks to be the third Ancient Eight athlete picked in Draft history and the first chosen in the opening round since Harvard’s Allison Feaster went No. 5 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks in 1998.

Read more

Ivy hoops roundup – On the move

by

Our latest Ivy hoops roundup features the 2019-20 Academic All-Ivies and a whole lot of Ivy graduate transfers on the move:

Academic All-Ivies announced 

The Ivy League released its winter edition of the 2019-20 Academic All-Ivy list Thursday. The basketball honorees were:

Read more

Brown chooses Monique LeBlanc as its new women’s head coach

by
Monique LeBlanc takes over the helm of the Bown women’s basketball program after a nine-year tenure at Merrimack. (Brown Athletics)

On Friday afternoon, Brown Athletic Director Jack Hayes announced the hiring of Monique LeBlanc as the Bears’ new women’s basketball coach, the fifth in program history.

LeBlanc, a native of Cumberland, R.I., will arrive in Providence after a nine-year tenure at Merrimack College.  This past season, when the Warriors made the jump from Division II to Division I, LeBlanc had her best season with a 20-10 record and a 13-5 third-place finish in the Northeast Conference.

Read more

How to help the helpers

by

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate the nation, the areas surrounding all eight Ivies are doing what they can to protect others. Here are some ways to help the helpers, categorized by Ivy area. If you know of other organizations helping out in these areas, please email [email protected] or post it in a comment below.

BOSTON/CAMBRIDGE

Boston Children’s Hospital is seeking donations for masks, gowns and other miscellaneous items and will accept all donations in original, unopened packaging. From outside the organization, please ship to

BCH-DONATIONS

MA2 Receiving

53 Binney Street

Boston, MA 02115

ATTN:  Brian Becquart

Anyone with questions may contact Erica Denhoff directly at [email protected].

Read more

Ivy hoops roundup – April 3, 2020

by

Take two for Tapé

Former Columbia standout Patrick Tapé decommitted from Duke, 247Sports reported Thursday, just nine days after the Charlotte, N.C. native reportedly chose Duke over Syracuse, USC and Ohio State, citing close proximity to his family.

Read more

Reports: Brendan Barry to return to Dartmouth

by
Brendan Barry has averaged 9.8 points and three assists per game in his three seasons at Dartmouth. (Dartmouth Athletics)

In a huge boost for Dartmouth, reports emerged Monday that Brendan Barry will return to the Big Green rather than play elsewhere as a graduate transfer.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN reported that Barry would take off the final quarter of this academic year and graduate next spring, allowing him to play a fourth year for the Big Green, who missed his ball distribution and three-point shooting last season.

As a junior in 2018-19, Barry led the Ivy League in three-point percentage (44.1%), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and minutes per game (35.5), averaging 13 points and 3.2 assists per contest.

Without Barry in 2019-20, the Big Green’s three-point shooting percentage plummeted to 31.1% (285th nationally) from 35.6% (105th nationally) the season before.

Read more

IHO staff share favorite NCAA Tournament moments for Ivies

by

It’s been a long month.

But since this is STILL March, as Jon Rothstein has noted – one without a NCAA Tournament – now’s as good a time as ever for Ivy Hoops Online’s contributors to reflect back on our favorite moments for Ivies in the Big Dance.

Read more

Columbia graduate transfer Patrick Tapé chooses Duke

by

Columbia graduate transfer Patrick Tapé is headed for Duke.

Tapé will be immediately eligible after sitting out this season, as his loss proved a significant blow for the Lions. Tapé averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in three seasons for Columbia, establishing himself as a strong inside presence and efficient scorer. He was an All-Ivy honorable mention as a junior in 2018-19, averaging 11.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

The 6-foot-10, 220-pound Charlotte, N.C. native was in the top 10 of ESPN’s graduate transfer rankings and told ESPN that choosing Duke over Syracuse, USC and Ohio State came down to proximity.

“[It was] really just being close to home and having my family come see me, the excellent tradition they have there and the opportunity to play for the best coach of all time,” Tapé said.

Tapé’s decision was the inverse of Harvard graduate transfer Seth Towns’s decision to commit to Ohio State over Duke.

Sarah Behn steps down as Brown women’s coach

by
Sarah Behn’s tenure as Brown coach is over. (Brown Athletics)

Brown announced Monday that Sarah Behn has stepped down from her role as Brown women’s basketball coach after six seasons at the helm.

Behn went 74-96 (20-64 Ivy) since taking over in 2014 for 26-year coach Jean Marie Burr, leading Brown to an appearance in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament in 2017 and a berth in the 2017 Women’s Basketball Invitational, gaining the program’s first-ever win in a national postseason tournament with a first-round victory over UMBC.

Read more