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.
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.”
The Ivy League announced its major men’s awards Wednesday. 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:
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:
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.:
Instead of dragging out the inevitable, Penn fired Steve Donahue on Monday after 10 years as head coach and two consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Ivy League. Donahue ends his time at Penn with a record of 131-130.
The Quakers have retained Georgia-based executive search firm Parker Executive Search to find Donahue’s replacement. It seems likely that the next Penn head coach will be one of the names below, conveniently grouped into a handful of tiers for debate and discussion:
Penn finished with a higher NCAA NET ranking (No. 162) than Brown (No. 184), the Ivy League confirmed Sunday morning, making the Quakers the fourth and final team to clinch an Ivy League Tournament berth with the Bears on the outside looking into the tourney to be held on their home floor at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The full women’s and men’s slate for the Ivy League Tournaments are below, with automatic bids going to the tourney winners:
The Princeton women’s basketball team closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a satisfying 67-53 win over Penn at the Palestra.
Here are three Tiger Takeaways from a triumph that gave Princeton 20 wins for a seventh consecutive season, tying a program record set during the Courtney Banghart era:
Fadima Tall knocked down a career-high 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting along with 10 rebounds and four steals Saturday as Princeton women’s basketball warmed up for the Ivy League Tournament with a 67-53 win at Penn.
Penn’s loss, combined with Brown’s win, means that we won’t know which team will be the fourth entrant for Ivy Madness at Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center till the NCAA releases its updated NET rankings to determine the tiebreaker. As the winner of the regular-season conference title, Columbia will play Penn or Brown in the tournament’s first round Friday, and Princeton will face Harvard; the championship game comes Saturday.Penn’s NET ranking was No. 162 as of Saturday night – 22 slots ahead of Brown at No. 184.
