Ivy 60 for 60 – Ivy Hoops Online

Ivy 60 for 60: Ron Haigler

October 23, 2019 by Paul Hutter

Ron Haigler averaged 18.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for his career, and Penn went to the NCAA Tournament in all three of his collegiate seasons.

Ivy Hoops Online announces the next entry in Ivy 60 for 60, our series running through 60 of the greatest players in Ivy League men’s basketball history after a hiatus to continue celebrating six decades of modern Ivy League basketball. An Ivy 60 for 60 for Ivy women’s basketball will follow.

Ron Haigler was the first great player of what could be called the “Penn Dynasty 2.0” (the Chuck Daly Era).

Dick Harter and his assistant, recruiter extraordinaire Digger Phelps, established Penn as both an Ivy dynasty and national power with their late ’60s recruiting of Dave Wohl, Steve Bilsky, Corky Calhoun and Bobby Morse among others. In 1971, after a 28-1 season during which Penn was ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press and reached what would now be considered the Elite 8, Harter and Phelps moved on to Oregon and Fordham, respectively. Future Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly was hired to replace them and he was greeted with a very deep pool of talent led by future NBA player Phil Hankinson. These players were followed in short order by Bob Bigelow, John Engles and Ron Haigler.

Ivy 60 for 60: Jeremy Lin

October 5, 2019 by Mike Tony

Before “Linsanity,” Jeremy Lin was a two-time All-Ivy selection at Harvard.

One of the few Ivy League basketball standouts known more for their professional basketball exploits, Jeremy Lin is also one of its most grateful.

Lin has given Ivy hoops fans a lot to be grateful for too.

Ivy 60 for 60: Justin Sears

September 2, 2019 by Richard Kent

Justin Sears excelled with joy in his four-year Yale basketball career, becoming just the sixth man to be named Ivy Player of the Year twice. (Justin Sears | Twitter)

Ivy Hoops Online announces the next entry in Ivy 60 for 60, our series running through 60 of the greatest players in Ivy League men’s basketball history to continue celebrating six decades of modern Ivy League basketball. An Ivy 60 for 60 for Ivy women’s basketball will follow.

He is the only player in the history of Yale basketball to be Ivy Player of the Year two years in a row. He was a fan favorite at John J. Lee Amphitheater throughout his career. He hails from Plainfield, N.J. He was a high school star with scholarship offers from many high level D-1 teams, but he chose academics first, much to the satisfaction of his parents.

His name is Justin Sears.

Ivy 60 for 60: Matt Morgan

August 10, 2019 by Nathan Solomon

Matt Morgan finished second on the all-time Ivy scoring list. (Cornell University Athletics)

Scoring 2,333 points, Matt Morgan had not only one of the most historic careers in Ivy League history but all of NCAA history. His sheer dominance as a member of the Cornell Big Red greatly contributed to the continuing rise of Ivy League Basketball over the last four years.

Ivy 60 for 60: Donald Fleming

August 15, 2019August 3, 2019 by Mike Tony

Donald Fleming was a rare force on multiple fronts as a student-athlete at Harvard. He was a husband, father and three-time first-team All-Ivy selection. (Harvard Varsity Club)

It’s hard to be an Ivy League student. It’s tough to be an Ivy League athlete. It can be a challenge to be a devoted husband. It’s an incredibly difficult responsibility to be a father at a young age.

Donald Fleming did all four at the same time.

Ivy 60 for 60: Steve Bilsky & Dave Wohl

August 1, 2019 by Paul Hutter

Steve Bilsky (10) helmed the offense for the greatest team in Ivy League history ..,

… and Dave Wohl was a primary scorer in that offense. (Photos: Bob Immerman)

In May of 1967, a cryptic but prescient one-paragraph article was to be found hidden away in the the nether regions of the Philadelphia Inquirer sports section. It stated that Steve Bilsky, Dave Wohl and Jim Wolf were about to become the core components of the 1967-68 Digger Phelps-recruited Penn freshman squad which could possibly be the “best freshman team in the country.”

In 1967, this meant a great deal.

Ivy 60 for 60: Rick Kaminsky

July 23, 2019 by Richard Kent

Rick Kaminsky averaged 20 points and 8.3 rebounds per game over the course of his three-year varsity basketball career at Yale. (Yale Class of 64)

Bill Bradley is without question the greatest Ivy League player ever. The 1965 Princeton graduate and New York Knicks star was rarely, if ever, held at bay.

But there is one exception. And that player played for Yale.

Rick Kaminsky, Yale ’64, had many great duels and battles with Bradley, both home and on the road. Kaminsky himself may be the greatest Eli hoopster of them all.

Ivy 60 for 60: John J. Lee

July 18, 2019 by Richard Kent

John J. Lee graced the cover of the Jan. 21, 1957 edition of Sports Illustrated, a cover that incidentally grabbed the attention of a high school freshman named Bill Bradley, who realized then that an Ivy League education could coexist with basketball excellence. (SI Covers).

There was a time when Yale basketball games were played at Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

The Yale men’s and women’s basketball teams now play at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Ivy 60 for 60: Kit Mueller

October 3, 2016 by Toothless Tiger

Image result for kit mueller princeton — Kit Mueller graduated in 1991 as Princeton’s second all-time leading scorer behind only Bill Bradley. He dished eight assists in each of his three NCAA Tournament games as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Following our countdown of the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s men’s basketball history this summer, Ivy Hoops Online is delighted to continue celebrating the 60^thanniversary of modern Ivy League basketball by honoring the top 60 players in Ivy hoops history (in no particular order). For the next entry in our Ivy 60 for 60 series, we cover one of the greatest players in ~~piranha~~ Princeton basketball history:

Ivy 60 for 60: Gary Walters

October 3, 2016September 21, 2016 by Toothless Tiger

Gary Walters – a classic Princeton Tiger in the classic Princeton era. (Princeton Varsity Club)

The contributions of Gary Walters to the Ivy League and to his beloved Tigers cannot be overstated. His ties to Princeton basketball began before the arrival of Pete Carril, and his professional role at the university continued for nearly two decades after Carril’s retirement.

Recruited as a point guard by Butch van Breda Kolff, Walters enjoyed great success at Reading (PA) High School playing for … you can’t make this stuff up … Pete Carril. A key player on Bill Bradley’s Final Four team in 1965, Walters led the 1966-67 Tigers to 25 wins and a top-five national ranking. No Tiger would win as many games for the next 30 years. A talented ball handler and passer, Walters is remembered as a tenacious defender, perhaps the best in the league over his career.