ivy – Ivy Hoops Online

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

November 20, 2025 by Richard Kent

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.

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

November 20, 2025October 28, 2025 by Richard Kent

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.

Kent: Ivy League continuing to move backward on NIL

September 17, 2025 by Richard Kent

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.

New year, same goal for Brown men’s hoops

August 31, 2025 by Pete Janny

Brown men’s basketball has not danced since 1986, but head coach Mike Martin is like a kid in a candy store when he talks about that goal. With year 14 fast approaching for Martin, it’s the furious pursuit of March magic that keeps his feet planted in Providence.

“The administration here, president [Christina] Paxson and [vice president for athletics and recreation] Grace Calhoun have been incredibly supportive in trying to help grow our program,” Martin told Ivy Hoops Online. “This is the job I’ve always wanted.”

Ivy Madness day two – Reporter’s notebook

March 15, 2025 by Richard Kent

Lots of alumni, former players and others from the basketball world at the Pizzitola Sports Center for the second day of the Ivy League Tournament Saturday.

Seated in row one were Harvard’s Ivy Rookie of the Year Robert Hinton, his mother, and his father Robert, a former Princeton quarterback in the 1970s. The Hintons sat through both men’s games to cheer on Princeton and also Cornell, where the Harvard standout’s brother Adam is a strong contributor.

Hinton will definitely be back at Harvard next season in this age of NIL and player poaching.

Robert was the No. 97 recruit in the class of 2024 and verbally committed to Harvard in his sophomore year at Harvard-Westlake. His finalists were Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

Former Yale players Steve Leondis, Chris Dudley, Azar Swain, Matt Minoff and Mike Williams were in attendance to cheer on the Bulldogs, as was former Yale president Peter Salovey.

Bill Kingston, former Princeton guard on the 1965 Final Four team and Bill Bradley’s roommate, was seated in the second row.

For the second consecutive year, the Legends of Ivy Basketball remained on hiatus, with hopes that the ceremony will resume in 2026 at Cornell.

Many writers, Ivy officials and former players offered varied explanations of the 2.9 seconds which were “added” to the clock at the end of the Princeton-Yale game. The supervisor of officials said that the clock did not appropriately stop after John Poulakidas hit his trey to seal the victory. Others differed.

The coaching changes at Columbia and Penn were also a subject of much media and Ivy administrators. There was a consensus that Penn alum and NYU coach Dave Klatsky will be in play at both schools. Also, there were rumblings that Colgate coach and former Penn player Matt Langel might have interest in the Penn vacancy. Some Princeton and Yale assistants were also discussed as possible Columbia hires. Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling was mum on topic but did add, perhaps in jest, that he had his phone turned off during the Ivy tourney.

Some media grumbled about the Ivy clearing out the gym in between all games and opined that with a potential paucity of attendees at Cornell next year, the league should rethink that policy – one not in place at the Big East or the ACC tourneys.

Yale men’s basketball bulldozes Princeton, 84-57

February 15, 2025 by Richard Kent

It took 71 years to accomplish it, but Yale men’s basketball is 9-0 in Ivy League play for the first time in program history.

The Bulldogs made that history emphatically Saturday night with an 84-57 win over Princeton in snowy New Haven at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

“I mean it is another part of history,” Yale coach James Jones said. “There’s so many things these guys have done over a career.”

Yale (16-6, 9-0 Ivy) led by as many as 34 points, 73-39, on a wide-open Bez Mbeng corner trey.

Princeton (16-8, 5-4) started with more energy than its loss to Yale at Jadwin Gym two weeks ago or its defeat Friday evening at Brown. The Tigers went up 8-3 on a trey from senior guard Blake Peters, 90% of whose shots this season have been from long distance.

Yale went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-12 lead.

The Bulldogs led 32-20 at the half against a Tiger team averaging 75 points per game.

Princeton scored only eight points in the last 11 minutes of the half and shot 23% from the field.

“That was as good a defensive effort as we have all year,” Jones said.

Yale went on a 10-0 run in the second half to effectively end the game at 56-31.

The Bulldogs proved once again that they could be dominant even on an off night from the Ivy League’s leading scorer, senior John Poulakidas, who was held to 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting.

The home team was led in scoring by junior forward Nick Townsend, who tallied 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Senior guard Bez Mbeng added 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting.

Junior guard Xaivian Lee was the only bright light for the Tigers with 19 points.

Junior forward Caden Pierce, reigning Ivy Player of the Year, stayed in his funk with no field goals and two free throws.

Yale clinched a slot in Ivy Madness with the win.

The Bulldogs are playing at a higher level and more cohesively than a year ago, despite the losses of Danny Wolf (Michigan), Matt Knowling (USC) and August Mahoney (graduation).

Yale has won 13 out of the last 16 meetings against Princeton. The 27-point margin is the largest in Yale history over the Tigers.

Yale hosts Cornell while Princeton hosts Harvard at 7 p.m. Friday.

Yale men’s basketball throttles Cornell at Newman Arena

February 8, 2025 by Richard Kent

Total domination. There’s no other way to describe Yale’s 103-88 win over Cornell at Newman Arena, in a battle between two of the top three teams in the Ivy League standings.

Cornell (13-7, 5-2 Ivy) led 44-40 in a nip-and-tuck battle in which neither team held more than a five-point lead.