How are the Ivy non-grad transfers doing?

With the season two weeks old, here’s a first check on the 2023-24 Ivy stars who transferred prior to their graduation. This year, the student-athletes are all from the men’s side, but growing amounts of NIL money, more relaxed transfer rules and the lack of scholarships in the Ancient Eight should eventually (sadly) expand this list to the women’s division in the near future.

Over the opening few weeks, Kalu Anya, Malik Mack and Danny Wolf have continued their strong play from last year, while Chisom Okpara and Tyler Perkins are seeing reduced roles with their new teams.

We’ll take another look in a few weeks to see how everyone’s doing:

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Ivy men’s basketball Media Day highlights

With the non-conference schedule set to begin in less than three weeks, the Ivy League held its annual Media Day on Tuesday afternoon. The three-hour event, hosted by Lance Medow, featured coaches and players from each of the eight programs.

Fans can check out the recording on the conference’s YouTube channel.

Below are some highlights:

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Princeton men picked as preseason Ivy favorites in media poll

Princeton, last year’s undisputed regular season champions, were picked to take home the 2025 Ivy title in the preseason media poll released on Tuesday.

Led by junior forward Caden Pierce, the 2024 Player of the Year, and first team All-Ivy junior guard Xaivian Lee, Mitch Henderson’s Tigers picked up 15 of 16 first place votes and 127 of a maximum 128 points.

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Brown’s Nana Owusu-Anane at risk to miss 2024-25 season

Brown’s Nana Owusu-Anane underwent left shoulder surgery this week and the recovery timeline is expected to keep the senior forward out of action through March, according to Bill Koch of the Providence Journal,

“We obviously feel so badly for Nana, and our main focus is getting him the support and treatment that he needs,” Brown head coach Mike Martin said in a statement to the Journal published Friday. “He’s in great hands with the medical team that is in place, and I know that he’ll attack his recovery like he always does and will come back from this better than he was before.”

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Reporter’s Notebook: Ivy Madness day four

The final remnants of the 2024 Ivy Tournament being packed away for another year (Photo: Rob Browne)

The final day of the 2024 Ivy League Tournament was an incredibly chaotic one, which started hours before the noon tipoff of the thrilling men’s championship and ended with a near-midnight zoom celebratory conference call with Columbia women’s basketball coach Megan Griffith.

For the second day in a row, the tournament provided its fair share of emotional highs and lows. There may still be people who haven’t taken to the thought of Ivy Madness, after eight years and six events, but it is an amazing weekend to celebrate the talented players and coaches and showcase this shouldn’t-be-under-the-radar conference to the nation.

I’m still in a bit of a stupor from the last few days, but I’ll try my best to recount scenes from a lengthy final day:

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No. 4 Brown men’s basketball loses glass slipper in last-second Ivy League Tournament final loss to No. 2 Yale

Kino Lilly Jr. and the rest of the Brown starters get ready to take on No. 1 Yale in Sunday’s Ivy League Tournament final. (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – With 27 seconds to go and a 60-54 lead, Brown appeared destined to punch its first NCAA Tournament ticket since 1986.

But Yale finished the game on an 8-1 run, punctuated by a short jumper by senior forward Matt Knowling at the buzzer, to end Brown’s season and claim the Bulldogs’ third Ivy League Tournament championship since the tourney was installed for the 2016-17 season.

While the future is bright for a team that returns its entire starting lineup in 2024-25, it doesn’t remove the  pain felt by the coaches, players and fans.

“Obviously, there is a lot in front of our people, but not this team, so that’s really hard,” the Brown alum and 12th-year head coach told the media immediately following the hard-fought battle “I felt like I let them down in the last minute of the game.”

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No. 2 Yale men’s basketball nips No. 4 Brown, 62-61, in instant classic to win Ivy Leagye

NEW YORK –  By the slimmest of margins, Yale eked past Brown to win the Ivy League Tournament in an instant classic at Levien Gym Sunday afternoon.

Reporter’s Notebook: Ivy Madness day three

The Madness lived up to its name on Saturday, with No. 4 Brown pulling off the biggest upset in Ivy League Tournament history. (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, “That escalated quickly.”

Two-plus hours into Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament tripleheader, the No. 4 Brown Bears shocked No. 1 Princeton, sending the regular-season champions on their way back to Old Nassau and a probable date with the NIT.  The Tigers’ faithful, which certainly left the afternoon’s game with great disappointment, could take comfort in the fifth straight Ivy tournament championship for the women’s team.

Some thoughts from a long and exciting day at Levien Gymnasium.

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How No. 4 Brown toppled No. 1 Princeton to head to Ivy League Tournament final

Brown head coach Mike Martin and junior forward Nana Owusu-Anane talk to the media after the Bears 90-81 upset of Princeton in the first Ivy semifinal. (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – A jubilant and relieved Brown coach Mike Martin said time went backward over the last eight minutes as his team’s 18-point lead evaporated to three with under a minute left in regulation in Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal,

But the No. 4 Bears held on to defeat No. 1 Princeton, 90-81, in front of a packed house at Levien Gymnasium and a national ESPNU audience.

The team’s semifinal victory, the first-ever for a No. 4 seed in either the men’s or women’s division through the six-year history of the Ivy League Tournament, sends the Bears to Sunday afternoon’s finale and a chance for the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986.

Despite a regular season championship, Saturday’s furious comeback and the national memory of last year’s Sweet 16 run, the Tigers’ chances at an at-large bid to the Big Dance appear to be slim.

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LISTEN: No. 1 Princeton men’s basketball falls in 90-81 upset to No. 4 Brown in Ivy League Tournament semifinal

 

Ivy Hoops Online contributor George Clark recaps a 90-81 upset win for No. 4 Brown (13-17, 9-6 Ivy) over No 1 Princeton (24-4, 12-3) in their Ivy League Tournament semifinal matchup that puts the Bears a win away from their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986.