Ivy League

Kent: Does Ivy League hear alarm bells with another departure?

by

With the news that Alexander Lesburt Jr. is pulling a Caden Pierce at Brown men’s basketball, sitting out his senior season and entering the portal, the alarm bells are getting louder and louder.

First, as to Lesburt. He was expected to be a key player for Mike Martin after averaging 10.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season and is a skilled three-point shooter. But he is no longer on the team, Brown announced Tuesday, noting he left the program to preserve his final year of eligibility.

Numerous Ivy players in basketball and other sports are exploring this three-year graduation route to obtain a coveted Ivy League degree and get another payday year elsewhere.

Read more

2025-26 Ivy League women’s basketball preview

by

The release of the Ivy League preseason media poll and 2025-26 Media Day revealed Princeton as the favorite heading into the 2025-26 season, followed by three-time defending champion Columbia, 2025 Ivy Madness title-holder Harvard in third and Penn rounding out the upper half of the conference.

Brown, which has tied the Quakers for fourth place the last two years, is the clear choice for the fifth slot. Dartmouth, Cornell and Yale are pegged for the last three spots, with the Big Green one point ahead of the Big Red and seven points in front of the Bulldogs.

Read more

Q&A with Penn men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery, part two

by
Fran McCaffery speaks at his introductory press conference at the Palestra on April 7, 2025. (Penn Sports Network)
With the NCAA men’s basketball season tipping off Monday and Penn’s season opener coming a few days later, Ivy Hoops Online caught up with new Quakers head coach Fran McCaffery for an extensive Q&A about his coaching philosophy, players and the state of the sport. 
Both questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length. Check out part one of the conversation here. 

Read more

2025-26 IHO Men’s Preseason Poll

by

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:

Read more

2025-26 IHO Women’s Preseason Poll

by

The 2025-26 Ivy women’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:

Read more

Kent: Why Ivy League men’s media day was another lost opportunity for the conference

by

If you were one of the 46 people tuned into the Ivy League’s men’s media day hosted by the Field of 68 and Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman Tuesday, then you learned a lot on certain topics.

You know the difference between Boston and Cambridge. You are schooled in the athletic prowess of Goodman. You have a good feel about 2K games. You certainly know who the best dunkers are on most of the teams. You might be able to bet on Mitch Henderson winning a one-on-one basketball game. You were told that James Jones was once a great card player and was known as the professor. You even heard about a guard at The Palestra.

Read more

Yale men’s basketball remains the team to beat

by

When a team loses arguably two of the top 10 players in its basketball history in John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, it is tough to believe that it would be the overwhelming favorite to win the Ivy League.

But don’t tell that to James Jones. You see, Yale merely reloads each season.

Read more

A conversation with former Princeton coach and Dartmouth guard Courtney Banghart

by
Courtney Banghart was named the 2015 Naismith National Coach of the Year and one of Fortune Magazine’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders during her 12 seasons as Princeton coach from 2007 to 2019, a span during which the Tigers went 254-103 (.711) and won seven Ivy titles after previously never having played in the NCAA Tournament. (University of North Carolina Athletics)

Princeton coaching and Dartmouth playing legend Courtney Banghart spent 45 minutes in conversation with Ivy Hoops Online contributor Steve Silverman.

Read more

Kent: Ivy League continuing to move backward on NIL

by

Call it what you want, leaderless or rudderless. That’s what some Ivy League coaches, alumni and donors are saying right now in droves. And it is spot on. Those terms apply to the recent Ivy mandate further restricting the ability of its student-athletes to receive NIL compensation.

Nothing exemplifies this more than the recent Ivy mandate further restricting the ability of its student-athletes to receive NIL.

Read more

It’s time to change, Ivy League

by

Ivy basketball is at a crossroads.

There is no other way to say it. Could the Ivy be Division III in five years? Although it’s highly unlikely, it’s not impossible like it was 10 years ago.

The triple whammy of no sanctioned NIL, opting out of revenue share and no graduate transfer eligibility has cast a shroud over the league – one which is perceptible on the recruiting trails and on the court.

After a series of player and coach interviews, it is clear that there is no consensus on the direction of Ivy athletics but a clear consensus that the Ivy presidents and some athletic directors are clueless about the current landscape of college athletics.

Call it ignorance. Call it arrogance. It is both and more.

Read more