Myles Stephens

Former Princeton associate head coach Brett MacConnell hired as Dartmouth men’s basketball new head coach

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Dartmouth men’s basketball looks to new head coach Brett MacConnell to get the Big Green back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1959. (Dartmouth Athletics)

The Big Green made a big splash on Monday afternoon, hiring former Princeton men’s basketball associate head coach Brett MacConnell as Dartmouth’s new head coach.

“Brett’s deep knowledge of the Ivy League and his ability to identify and develop student-athletes set him apart during our national search,” Dartmouth Athletic Director Mike Harrity said in the school’s press release.  “The way he connects with people, from the recruits to the team and beyond, is exceptional, and his drive, vision, and plan for our program is exactly what Dartmouth Men’s Basketball needs.

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Can the Princeton men contend for an Ivy League title?

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It feels like déjà vu all over again.

For the second year in a row, the Princeton men’s basketball team is emerging from its exam break at the top of the Ivy League standings and looking primed to make a run for an Ivy League title after sweeping arch rival Penn in back-to-back games to open the conference season.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.  Exactly one year ago, the 2018-19 Tigers stood in exactly the same position.  That Princeton squad of a year ago started conference play by sweeping Penn in back-to-back games and then beating the New York schools on the road to start the Ivy campaign at 4-0.  Hopes of an Ivy League title began to rise until calamity struck and Princeton lost the services of one of its transcendent stars, Devin Cannady.  Without their senior co-captain, the Tigers slumped through the rest of the Ivy season, losing six of their final 10 regular season games and finishing a disappointing third in the conference standings.

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Princeton men’s basketball searching for consistency, identity and leadership

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One month into the 2019-20 season, the Princeton men’s basketball team is off to its worst seven-game start against Division I competition since the 1984-85 season, in which it started 0-6 and then 1-6 against Division I teams. The Tigers opened their 2019-20 campaign with five straight losses before finally shooting their way to a win at Bucknell last Saturday. Princeton fell flat in the second half against the Drexel Dragons Wednesday night and lost again on the road.  The Tigers’ 1-6 start echoes the frustrations of the 1979-80 team, which also struggled out of the gate at 0-5 and finished the nonconference schedule with a 4-11 record.

However, that Tigers squad of 40 years ago scratched its way to a tie for the Ivy League title before falling in a playoff game by a single point to Penn.  Can this year’s team come together in similar fashion once Ivy League play begins?  Here is my assessment of what ails the Tigers at the halfway mark of the nonconference season.

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Myles Stephens, Kyle Castlin and Trey Phills picked in NBA G League Draft

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Add three more Ivy grads to the NBA G League.

Princeton’s Myles Stephens was the first to go off the board with the number 10 pick in the 2nd round of Saturday’s G League Draft by the Long Island Nets.  Columbia’s Kyle Castlin, who completed a graduate transfer year at Xavier, was chosen with the 17th pick of the 2nd round by the Salt Lake City Stars.  Yale’s Trey Phills went to the Windy City Bulls with 18th pick in the fourth and final round.

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Q&A with Princeton coach Mitch Henderson

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Mitch Henderson enters his ninth season as Princeton coach. (Ivy League Digital Network)

Our George Clark (Toothless Tiger) caught up recently with Princeton coach Mitch Henderson, who is entering his ninth season at the Tigers’ helm. 

In Part 1, Henderson reflects on last season, what Myles Stephens said to the team after their Ivy League Tournament appearance at Yale, Jaelin Llewellyn pushing through injury and fatigue to have a “great year” as a first-year last season, Richmond Aririguzoh’s work ethic and much more:

In Part 2, Henderson talks about Ryan Schwieger being able to do a little bit of everything, discusses the incoming class of first-years, previews the team’s 2019-20 schedule, looks ahead to including an upcoming change to Princeton’s academic calendar that will impact future Ivy League scheduling and much more:

Ivy League player carousel

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The biggest story of the off-season was Miye Oni being selected in June’s NBA Draft.  The Yale junior and reigning Ivy Player of the Year decided to leave school early and leave his name in the draft.  Despite falling to the late second round, a perilous spot to making an NBA roster, Oni impressed in the Summer League and earned a guaranteed contract with the Utah Jazz.  He is playing just as well in the pre-season and looks to be a real steal for the Jazz.

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Ivy League men’s basketball preseason power rankings

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Ivy Hoops Online’s writing staff voted on where all eight Ivy men’s and women’s basketball teams would end up for the 2019-20 season. Our projected order of finish for the men (and the women’s rankings here):

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Ivy hoops roundup – June 6, 2019

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  • Following a 11-plus week paid suspension, Auburn University reinstated former Penn assistant coach Ira Bowman to his similar position on Saturday afternoon.  The 1996 Ivy League Player of the Year was suspended by Auburn just before the SEC Tournament, after former Penn coach Jerome Allen testified that Bowman was involved in a scheme resulting in bribes by Florida businessman Philip Esformes to get his son, Morris Esformes, on the basketball roster for the fall of 2015.
    Sam Blum of AL.com wrote that an Auburn athletics spokesman confirmed the news but did not have the results of the school’s investigation or information regarding the reasoning for Bowman’s reinstatement.  AL.com has filed an open records request to obtain this information.  Bowman returned to his reported $250,000 a year job, just in time to help with one of the biggest recruiting weekends in program history.
    Kevin Bonner, Penn’s senior associate athletic director, governance and administration, did not respond to an email from IHO regarding the reinstatement, the Auburn investigation or any Penn investigation of Bowman.

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Ivy hoops roundup – May 29, 2019

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  • Cornell’s Matt Morgan was the male recipient of the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award at the school’s annual senior athletics banquet.  The two-time first team All-Ivy guard ended his career with 2,333 points, the most in program history and second best in Ivy League history, trailing only Hall of Famer Bill Bradley of Princeton (2,503).

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Princeton men’s basketball 2018-19 season recap

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I attended the University of Virginia during the Barry Parkhill era, earning a law degree in 1972. Needless to say I was elated when my “borrowed heroes” captured the Cavaliers’ first national championship. Their “worst to first” turnaround brought to mind the Miracle Mets’ run to the World Series in 1969 while I was in Charlottesville.

It is time, however, to return my attention to my real heroes, the Princeton Tigers, the season just concluded and the prospects for the future.

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