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. 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.

Tosan Evbuomwan declares for NBA Draft: The way forward for the point forward

Tosan Evbuomwan was named to the NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team and was the Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player. (Erica Denhoff)

Newcastle, United Kingdom / D.O.B: 02.16.2001 / 6-foot-8, 219 pounds

2022-23 stat line: 15.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg / 51.5% FG, 32.4% 3P, 65.5% FT,  1.68 A-TO ratio / 31.4 min in 32 GP

Bankable skills: versatile tweener, playmaking

Defensive matchup versatility: 2 to 4 spots

Swing factor: 3pt-ball + jump shot

They say March is Madness, and we couldn’t agree more watching Princeton going to the Sweet 16 in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. Great news for the Ivy League champions and for Tosan Evbuomwan, the senior from Newcastle, England, who just declared for the NBA Draft after powering the Tigers’ Sweet 16 and Ivy Madness runs.

Evbuomwan has deservedly gained the national attention amid that run, but his performances in the spotlight shouldn’t have been a surprise given that the wing/forward has been a genuine offensive motor for the last couple of seasons and earned almost every award available in the Ivy League in the process.

What’s to like about Evbuomwan? Everything, starting with his physical profile.

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Utah Jazz move on from Miye Oni

Miye Oni’s time with the Utah Jazz is over.

In 2019, the Jazz became the first team to secure an Ivy League player through the NBA Draft since the Minnesota Timberwolves took Penn’s Jerome Allen 24 years earlier by getting Oni in a trade with the Golden State Warriors, who had taken the Yale standout with the No. 58 pick.

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Ivy hoops roundup – Olympic exploits, incoming classes and coaching moves

Former Ivy standouts’ Olympic exploits

Olympic action in Tokyo featured an Ivy-on-Ivy matchup Wednesday when Maodo Lo helped lead Germany to a 99-92 victory over Miye Oni’s Nigerian squad in Group B play at Saitama Super Arena. The 2016 Columbia graduate and the Lions men’s third-all-time leading scorer led the Germans with nine assists and added 13 points in 28 minutes.

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Ivy hoops roundup – NIL gains and Olympic games

The NCAA’s new, long awaited policy of allowing players to use their name, image and likeness for commercial profit extends to the Ivy League, which says it has adjusted rules to allow players to take part in NIL activity.

Former Columbia Lions Tai Bibbs and Randy Brumant quickly signed a deal to advertise for GCDC, a Washington, D.C. grilled cheese bar, per Dafter having transferred from Morningside Heights to Howard to join former Columbia assistant coach Kenny Blakeney.

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Ivy hoops roundup – Feb. 13, 2021

Bruno says hello

Brown men’s basketball last week announced the program’s five early decision admits that are part of the Class of 2025 and will join the Bears for the 2021-22 season:

  • Aaron Cooley, 6-5 G/F from Roxbury, Mass., All-NEPSAC Class A in 2019 and All-NEPSAC Class B in 2020
  • Lyndel Erold, 6-3 G from Boston, ISL Honorable Mention
  • Sam Klores, 6-1 G from New York,  New York State Class B Player of the Year in 2020-21
  • Kino Lilly, Jr., 6-0 G from Glenn Dale, Md., Dematha Summer League MVP in 2018
  • Nana Owusu-Anane, 6-8 F from Burlington, Ont., won a gold medal with Team Ontario

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Miye Oni making waves in the bubble as Jazz prepare for playoffs

Miye Oni is making the most of the bubble.

The former Yale standout has made an impact that’s been impossible to ignore for the Utah Jazz in the NBA’s Orlando bubble. Oni seized the day in his first NBA start Friday, notching 14 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes of play in a 119-111 Jazz loss to the San Antonio Spurs before logging another 10 minutes in a 134-132 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets Saturday, a game in which Oni contributed three points and two rebounds, and more impressively, the Jazz were +15 with him on the floor.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1292205183792041984

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Ivy hoops roundup – Aug. 1, 2020

Back on the Jazz 

Miye Oni returned to the Utah Jazz official 17-man roster for the Jazz’s NBA season reopening win over the New Orleans Pelicans in Orlando on TNT Thursday evening, the NBA’s first action since March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oni did not play but did join the other players in kneeling for the national anthem. Oni wore Power to the People on the back of his jersey, as all of his teammates opted to replace their last names on their jerseys with a message of social justice.

Oni briefly got playing time toward the end of the Jazz’s second game Saturday, a 110-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Orlando. In his sixth NBA game, Oni pitched in three points, two rebounds, a steal and a block in just under six minutes of action.

Dartmouth men announce Class of 2024

Dartmouth men’s basketball recently announced its Class of 2024 on Twitter:

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Ivy League’s lead followed as NBA suspends season due to coronavirus outbreak

A little more than 24 hours after their controversial decision to cancel the league’s postseason tournament was chastised by players, media, Ancient Eight enthusiasts and general sports fans, the Ivy League appears to have been ahead of the curve, as the NBA abruptly canceled the remainder of the season on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Ivy League canceled the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments three days before they were to begin.

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