The 2025-26 Ivy men’s basketball season tips off Friday, so it’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s preseason poll – not to be confused with the Ivy League-released media preseason poll. Here’s how our contributors collectively predict the league will shake out, with select observations from some of them:
Dalen Davis
Caden Pierce to sit out his senior year at Princeton, the latest jolt to Tigers men’s basketball
Caden Pierce announced on Tuesday that he will step away from basketball during his senior year at Princeton. The two-time All-Ivy League forward told ESPN that he plans to graduate next May from Princeton and enter the transfer portal to play his final year of NCAA eligibility as a graduate student.
Pierce’s withdrawal from the Princeton men’s basketball team is the latest and perhaps heaviest blow to hit Mitch Henderson’s squad since the 2024-25 season ended with a heartbreaking loss to Yale in the semifinals of the 2025 Ivy League Tournament.
The offseason started ominously for Princeton with the news breaking in late March that two key assistant coaches, Brett MacConnell and Lawrence Rowley, would not return to Mitch Henderson’s coaching staff for the 2025-26 season.
There was no obvious explanation for the coaching staff shakeup, other than Princeton’s leadership perhaps deciding that something needed to change after the Tigers underperformed expectations during the 2024-25 season.
A wave of player defections then descended on Old Nassau.
Ivy men’s semifinal: No. 1 Yale gets big plays late to take down No. 4 Princeton, 59-57
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – They say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season, but it’s more likely when you have as talented and poised a team as Yale.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (21-7) relied on clutch plays from their three First-Team All-Ivy stars, senior guard Bez Mbeng, senior guard John Poulakidas and junior forward Nick Townsend to overcome a furious second-half Princeton rally to take Saturday’s opening Ivy League Tournament semifinal at the Pizzitola Sports Center, 59-57.
“I thought our kids were gutty and played hard, and we had controlled the game for 30-some-odd minutes until the end, when Princeton took over,” coach James Jones said after the hard-fought contest. “What was great about my guys, there was no hesitation, there was no nervousness. They stayed with the game plan and were able to make some great pays and pull it out.”
The Tigers (19-11), blown out in both regular-season losses to the Bulldogs, battled back from a sluggish start to have a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but a right-elbow three from the Orange and Black’s First-Team All-Ivy guard, junior Xaivian Lee, clanked off the back of the net and fell to the court.
Jones’ squad, which looks to be the first No. 1 seed to win Ivy Madness since Princeton in 2017, lives another day to take on No. 2 Cornell, which defeated No. 3 Dartmouth, 87-71, in the day’s second game.
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball claws past Columbia, 73-68
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 73-68 win for Princeton (18-9, 7-5 Ivy) at Columbia (12-13, 1-11) Friday:
LISTEN: Dartmouth men’s basketball downs Princeton, 76-61
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 76-61 defeat for Princeton (17-9, 6-5 Ivy) versus Dartmouth (13-11, 7-4) at Jadwin Gym Saturday:
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball tops Harvard, 76-71
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 76-71 win Friday for Princeton (17-8, 6-4 Ivy) over Harvard (9-14, 4-6) at Jadwin Gym:
LISTEN: Brown men’s basketball bests Princeton, 70-56
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Friday’s 70-56 loss for Princeton (16-7, 5-3 Ivy) at Brown (11-10, 3-5):
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball postgame press conference and recap after 61-59 win at Penn
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the audio of the postgame press conference for Princeton after its dramatic 61-59 win at Penn Friday evening:
Clark recaps the action between Princeton (16-6, 5-2 Ivy) and Penn (6-14, 2-5) at the Palestra:
LISTEN: Reflecting on Princeton men’s basketball’s wild road so far
Princeton correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reflects on what has been a wild road for the Tigers (15-6, 4-2 Ivy) this season as they near the midway point of Ivy League play:
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball shuts down Brown, 69-49
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 69-49 win for Princeton (15-6, 4-2 Ivy) over Brown (10-9, 2-4) at Jadwin Gym Saturday: