Megan Griffith

Columbia men’s basketball hires Kevin Hovde to be its next coach

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Former University of Florida assistant coach Kevin Hovde was named the new head coach of Columbia men’s basketball Monday. (Maddie Washburn | Florida Athletics)

Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling announced that Kevin Hovde, an assistant coach at Florida, has been named the Columbia men’s basketball program’s next coach Monday.

“I am honored to be named head coach of Columbia men’s basketball,” Hovde said in a statement. “Columbia is truly a special place for my family and me, and we are thrilled to be back. It’s humbling to have the opportunity to develop young men into leaders on and off the court at one of the top universities in the world. I am eager to get to work and build a program our alumni and community can be proud of. Our team will focus on having a consistent approach and an unrelenting competitive spirit as we strive for success in the Ivy League and beyond.”

This will be Hovde’s second stint in Morningside Heights, where he was an assistant to then-head coach Kyle Smith from 2011 to 2016.

Hovde will remain with the 2025 SEC Tournament champion Gators, which is in the Sweet 16 of this year’s NCAA Tournament, for the duration of the team’s run.

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No. 11 Columbia women’s basketball falls to No. 6 West Virginia, 78-59, in NCAA Tournament

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In a historic season of firsts, the Columbia women’s basketball team couldn’t get a NCAA Tournament Round of 64 win, falling on Saturday afternoon to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 78-59, in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Mountaineers, who used a furious rally in the third quarter to defeat Princeton in last year’s NCAA Tournament Round of 64, ousted another Ivy foe on Saturday, dominating Columbia wire-to-wire.

Columbia is used to turning over its opponents with relentless full court pressure, but there’s an old saying in basketball that team’s that press don’t like to be pressed themselves, and that adage proved correct on Saturday as West Virginia’s signature zone press wreaked havoc on the Lions, forcing 25 turnovers, including 11 in the first quarter.

“West Virginia is a great team and a super-unique team in the women’s game,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said postgame.  “I think what they do not a lot of teams do, right, and especially defensively. March Madness is who can make the other team the most uncomfortable, and I thought they did that successfully to start the game. You know, forcing 11 turnovers.”

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Columbia women’s basketball takes down Washington in NCAA Tournament First Four victory

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The Columbia women’s basketball team took on Washington in a First Four game won by the Lions, 63-60, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Thursday night. (Columbia Athletics)

Twenty minutes from a second straight defeat in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four, the Columbia women’s basketball team “heard what they needed to hear” from coach Megan Griffith and overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat Washington 63-60 at Carmichael Arena on the campus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Thursday night.

Thursday night’s NCAA victory, the first ever for the Lions’ program, propelled Columbia (24-6) into a first-round matchup against No. 6 West Virginia on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPNEWS. The Huskies (19-14), making their first appearance in the Big Dance since 2017, look to use this experience as motivation for next season.

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Handicapping the Columbia and Penn men’s basketball coaching changes

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The Penn and Columbia men’s basketball coaching jobs are both open. There has been much speculation and more rumors.

What we know is neither team is in the postseason, but some of the candidates are. Penn has hired Georgia-based Parker Executive Search, an executive search firm.

Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling is handling the Columbia search. Pilling made a great hire on the women’s side in Megan Griffith in 2016 and should know talent when he sees it. He was at Ivy Madness on Friday and Saturday and played all conversations close to the vest. Every candidate will want to know definitively if there will be some form of NIL available.

The candidates and the odds:

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Ivy women’s final: No. 3 Harvard outlasts No. 1 Columbia, 74-71, to win Ivy League Tournament

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The Harvard women’s basketball team celebrates after winning the women’s Ivy League Tournament championship game over top seed Columbia at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I. Saturday. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

The question entering Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament championship game between No. 3 Harvard and No. 1 Columbia was, “What can Harmoni Turner do for an encore?”

The answer: Win a championship.

The senior guard who exploded for a record-setting 44 points against Princeton in Friday night’s semifinal delivered a game-high 24 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead Harvard past Columbia, 74-71, for the Crimson’s first Ivy League Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It’s Harvard’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007.

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Ivy women’s semifinal: No. 1 Columbia gets by No. 4 Penn, 60-54

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Columbia junior forward Susie Rafiu paced the victorious Lions with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance on Friday evening. (Rob Browne | Ivy Hoops Online)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Despite having multiple double-digit leads, the No. 1-seeded Columbia women couldn’t find a way to dominate No. 4 Penn and had to fight for a full 40 minutes to secure a 60-54 victory in Friday’s opening semifinal of the 2025 Ivy Tournament.

“Credit to them (Penn) for getting to this point and giving us their best,” coach Megan Griffith told the media in the postgame press conference. “Conversely, in our locker room, I don’t think we played our best, but that’s honestly what you’re going to get again in these games.”

With the win, the Lions (23-6) head to the program’s third-ever conference final. A victory in Saturday night’s contest against No. 3 Harvard. which won an instant classic against No. 2 Princeton in the nightcap, would give Columbia its first-ever Ivy Madness title, as well as the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid.

For Penn (15-13), the season is over and the drought for an Ivy League Tournament title now extends to eight years.

“I thought we really played well enough to put them (Columbia) in jeopardy,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I’m just so proud that they hung in there … and gave ourselves an opportunity to beat a really good team tonight.”

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Ivy Madness: Women’s Basketball Media Day

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The Madness on display at "The Pizz" (Photo: Rob Browne for Ivy Hoops Online)
The Madness on display at “The Pizz” (Photo: Rob Browne | Ivy Hoops Online)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Welcome to Ivy Madness VII (and Chag Sameach to those celebrating Purim)

This year, Ivy Hoops Online is coming to you from the heights of the Pizzitola Sports Center on the campus of Brown University.

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2024-25 IHO Women’s All-Ivy Awards

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The Ivy League announced its major women’s awards Tuesday, but we know this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Ivy Hoops Online’s 2024-25 All-Ivy Awards, as determined by IHO’s contributors prior to the release of the Ivy League’s awards:

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Thoughts on the Ivy League’s All-Ivy awards for women’s basketball

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Editor’s note: Here are Steve Silverman’s reactions to Ivy League All-Ivy awards for players and coaches for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season announced Tuesday. Ivy Hoops Online’s 2024-25 Men’s and Women’s All-Ivy Awards are soon to come.:

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Jim Engles out as head coach of Columbia men’s basketball

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Jim Engles is out at Columbia after the Lions went 71-150 overall and 24-88 in Ivy play in nine years with him in charge. (Columbia Athletics)

Hours after Steve Donahue was released from his role as the head coach of the Penn men’s basketball program, Columbia capped a busy Monday by announcing that Jim Engles has decided to step down from the head coaching role of the men’s program.

“Columbia has meant so much to me, and I’ve given everything I have to make this program the best it can be,” Engles said in a Columbia Athletics news release. “We may not have accomplished our ultimate goals, but I’m proud of the culture we built and the student-athletes we developed on and off the court. I also want to thank Peter Pilling for his support throughout the years and know the future of this program is bright.”

In his nine years in charge at Morningside Heights and eight years of competition, Engles finished with overall and Ivy records of 71-150 and 24-88, respectively.

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