The Harvard women and men hosted a pair of cross-town rivals on Saturday. Things didn’t look so great for the home teams early, but strong second-half performances gave both teams big wins and sent the crowd home happy.
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Harvard women’s coach Kathy Delaney-Smith to retire at end of upcoming 40th season
One of the most successful eras in Ivy sports history is coming to an end.
Harvard Athletics announced Friday that Crimson women’s coach Kathy Delaney-Smith will retire at the end of the 2021-22 season, her 40th at Harvard’s helm.
“I have spent 40 incredible years doing the job that I love,” Delaney-Smith told Harvard Athletics. “I have always believed that sports is the greatest classroom for life. It has been my great honor to build the basketball program at Harvard and to mentor, coach, and work alongside such incredible people. I am so very proud of our players and alumnae. Their impact on me has been immeasurable.”
Ivy League women’s basketball Media Day roundup
One day after releasing the conference’s preseason poll, the Ivy League moved one step closer to normal by hosting the 2021-22 Media Day for women’s basketball Tuesday. For the first time, the league used a Zoom format to create a stronger connection between the coaches, players and the media.
In Monday’s poll, three-time defending champion Princeton was again picked as the top team with 122 total points and 12 first-place votes. Penn, the 2019 co-champion, was selected No. 2 with three first-place votes and 108 points. The next three teams were close, with only six points separating Columbia, Yale and Harvard.
The Lions, which earned their first Ivy League Tournament berth in 2020 before the tourney was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, moved up to third with 87 points. The Bulldogs, a third-place team in 2020, dropped to fourth at 82 points. The Crimson, which finished fifth in 2020, received one first-place vote but missed the upper division by one point.
Cornell, the 2020 seventh-place squad, moved up to sixth for 2022 with 41 points. Dartmouth and Brown, two teams with new coaching staffs, ended up with the last two spots, with the Big Green’s 29 points two ahead of the Bears.
Tuesday’s Media Day revealed the four tiers apparent in the preseason poll. But there could be a slight reordering near the top.
Ivy League 2021-22 season preview: Buy, hold and sell edition
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ were looking up at the end of last week, but more importantly, it’s a good time to be bullish about Ivy League basketball. There’s going to be an actual Ivy hoops season this year, and we’re here to herald its return together. Here’s how Ivy Hoops Online contributors feel about some of the storylines within that greater, happy story as the 2021-22 campaign approaches.
Ivy hoops roundup – Hard roads, new hardwood and a Hamburger
The Ivy League conference schedules were released last month, but official releases of the Ivies’ nonconference slates have been trickling in and reveal that after the season that wasn’t, the Ancient Eight aren’t shying away from trekking throughout the country for out-of-conference competition. Meanwhile, the coaching carousel continues:
Yes, Virginia, there really are Ivy League schedules!
As COVID-19 numbers increase from early summer lows and masking recommendations return for the start of another pandemic academic calendar, the Ivy League gave fans a bit of positive news on Thursday with the release of the 2022 conference schedule. After skipping the entire 2020-21 season due to safety concerns, the Ancient Eight curtain is set to rise on January 2 with eight games – a mere 666 days after the last league games on March 7, 2020.
Ivy hoops roundup – Olympic exploits, incoming classes and coaching moves
Former Ivy standouts’ Olympic exploits
Olympic action in Tokyo featured an Ivy-on-Ivy matchup Wednesday when Maodo Lo helped lead Germany to a 99-92 victory over Miye Oni’s Nigerian squad in Group B play at Saitama Super Arena. The 2016 Columbia graduate and the Lions men’s third-all-time leading scorer led the Germans with nine assists and added 13 points in 28 minutes.
Ivy hoops roundup – New opportunities
As Ivy League basketball emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, new opportunities abound for new and returning Ivy players, coaches and even windows:
Ivy hoops roundup – Feb. 13, 2021
Bruno says hello
Brown men’s basketball last week announced the program’s five early decision admits that are part of the Class of 2025 and will join the Bears for the 2021-22 season:
- Aaron Cooley, 6-5 G/F from Roxbury, Mass., All-NEPSAC Class A in 2019 and All-NEPSAC Class B in 2020
- Lyndel Erold, 6-3 G from Boston, ISL Honorable Mention
- Sam Klores, 6-1 G from New York, New York State Class B Player of the Year in 2020-21
- Kino Lilly, Jr., 6-0 G from Glenn Dale, Md., Dematha Summer League MVP in 2018
- Nana Owusu-Anane, 6-8 F from Burlington, Ont., won a gold medal with Team Ontario
What to expect when Ivy League basketball returns
As this Ivy non-season progresses, we thought it’d make sense for us to do an Ivy Hoops Online contributors’ roundtable looking ahead to next season, assuming there is one: