A paean to Princeton’s triumphant Ivy League Tournament and season

Pictured here during the Ivy League Tournament Saturday, the Princeton women have made a habit of lining up single file behind each other with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders during the national anthem. (Steve Silverman)

The Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams did more than punch tickets for the NCAA Tournament by winning championships at the Ivy League Tournament over the weekend.  They also made history for the university and the Ivy League.  

By winning both the men’s and women’s regular season and tournament titles, Princeton became the first school in Ivy League history to win four conference basketball championships in the same season. It’s a record that may be tied someday, but it can never be broken. 

As the Princeton basketball community basks in the glory of this unparalleled success, here are three reflections from the perspective of a long-time follower and admirer of Princeton basketball:

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Princeton men’s second-half shooting propels Tigers past Cornell

Reigning Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan led Princeton to a comeback win over Cornell Friday at Jadwin Gym. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Editor’s note: IHO reporter George “Toothless Tiger” Clark delivers an in-depth audio dispatch on the Princeton men’s and women’s clashes with Cornell while IHO reporter Nathan Solomon gives us the written rundown of the pivotal men’s game in the Ivy title race: 

In the second consecutive game without sophomore guard Nazir Williams, the Cornell men capitalized on a hot start to lead by 10 at the half.

But Princeton flipped the switch in the second half, scoring 54 points and connecting on 66% of its shots to fend off the Big Red, 89-82, Friday at Jadwin Gymnasium.

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Ivy hoops roundup – On the move

Our latest Ivy hoops roundup features the 2019-20 Academic All-Ivies and a whole lot of Ivy graduate transfers on the move:

Academic All-Ivies announced 

The Ivy League released its winter edition of the 2019-20 Academic All-Ivy list Thursday. The basketball honorees were:

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Ivy hoops roundup – July 25, 2019

  • The Dartmouth men have completed its staff for the 2019-2020 season with the hiring of Steve Ongley as an assistant coach.  Ongley spent last year on Jim Engles’ staff at Columbia, where he worked with the front court players.  Prior to that, he was an assistant for four years at Colby College, the alma mater of Big Green head coach Dave McLaughlin.
    Ongley replaces John Andrzejek, a Columbia graduate and one-time Lions student manager who joined former boss Kyle Smith’s staff at Washington State.  There has been no announcement from Columbia for its replacement of Ongley.
  • Princeton women’s coach Carla Berube finished the hiring of her new staff, with the announcement of Helen Tau as director of basketball operations.  Tau, a 2014 graduate of the University of Texas who was a walk-on in her senior year, spent 2014-2016 as a graduate assistant for the Longhorns and then worked for Georgetown as director of video operations the last two seasons.
    Tau replaces Jessica Imhof, who went to the University of North Carolina to join former Tigers coach Courtney Banghart.

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Former Princeton coach Bill Carmody announces his retirement

Then-Princeton coach Bill Carmody directs future Princeton coach Mitch Henderson during the Tigers’ battle with Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1998. Henderson later was an assistant on Carmody’s coaching staff at Northwestern. “He always does the right thing,” Henderson said of Carmody to IHO following Carmody’s retirement announced Tuesday. (Getty Images)

Former Princeton men’s basketball coach Bill Carmody announced his retirement from coaching late Tuesday afternoon, stepping down as coach at Holy Cross.  In a career that spanned over 40 years, Carmody spent 18 of them with the Tigers as an assistant and head coach.  He finishes with a record of 342-308 as a Division I head coach at Princeton, Northwestern and Holy Cross, including a 92-25 (.786) mark with the Orange & Black.  Between 1996-2000, he led the Tigers to a 50-6 (.893) Ivy record, two first-place finishes, and a first round victory over UNLV in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

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Ivy hoops roundup – May 4, 2019

Another week full of Ivy news, with none bigger than Courtney Banghart’s move from Princeton to North Carolina.  The former Big Green All-Ivy guard and Tigers head coach signed a five-year contract to take over a Tar Heels program that needs a new start.  Per Jeff Gravely of WRAL in Raleigh, Banghart’s contract starts at $650,000 in 2019-2020 and increases to $730,000 in 2024-2025.  Athletic and academic bonuses are included that can increase the yearly salary by $10,000 to $470,000.

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2017-18 Ivy League team-by-team season preview, part 1

This is part 1 of IHO’s 2017-18 Ivy League team-by-team season preview. Read part 2 here

The rise of the Ivy League is projected to continue.

The Ancient Eight is slated by KenPom as the 13th-best conference in Division I this season, just seven years after it placed 26th. That’s a quantum leap, a product of the league’s bolstered recruiting in that time frame. The Ivy hoops status quo now consists of top-25 recruiting classes, Nike Skills Academy members and expectations of NCAA Tournament success.

There’s a three-way cluster between Harvard, Princeton and Yale projected to top the league. In the Ivy Preseason Media Poll, Yale received the most first-place votes (eight) but Harvard garnered the most points overall. Without a clear conference favorite, it’s quite likely that the regular season champion will not also be the conference tournament winner, with Bart Torvik’s Ivy Tourney Simulator tabbing Penn as the favorite in an Ivy tourney as a No. 4 seed.

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O Tannenwald

Jonathan Tannenwald’s been an insightful reporter on Ivy League and Big 5 basketball for Philly.com, and before that, The Daily Pennsylvanian, for 15 years. He’s been a guest multiple times on our On the Vine podcast and he’s been a generous resource, mentor and friend to many at The DP, Penn’s student newspaper, over the years.

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Ivy news roundup – March 24, 2017

Brase’s next move

Former Princeton forward Hans Brase will be a graduate transfer, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and FanRag Sports.  Brase was a first-team All-Ivy selection in 2014-15 before missing the following season with a torn right ACL.  He came back this year and played five games before another season-ending injury to his right knee on November 29.

Daugherty walks away

Bill Koch of the Providence Journal confirmed that sophomore Corey Daugherty has decided to leave the Brown basketball program but stay enrolled at the university.  Daugherty, who played in 16 games last year and 29 games this season, was one of the first players off the bench for Mike Martin the last two years.  The Barrington, R.I. native averaged 19.6 minutes and 4.2 points a game, while posting a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.

A new Big Red commit

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Princeton all-time moment No. 9 – A most unlikely title

We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. We’re starting with Princeton because that’s where Superfudge is set.

As the new century dawned, cataclysmic changes were occurring in Jadwin Gymnasium. In the spring of 2000,Tiger center Chris Young signed a contract to play professional baseball, thus ending his eligibility for Ivy athletics. (In 2015, he signed on with the Kansas City Royals, continuing an impressive career as a big league starter.)

In June, first assistant coach Joe Scott took the head job at the Air Force Academy. Later in the summer, Bill Carmody departed for the top spot at Northwestern. Almost by default, John Thompson lll emerged from the Carril Cradle to assume the role of head coach.

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