Dear Ivy League presidents:
I have tried to warn you for almost three years.
The warning signs were there. The arrogance was pervasive. The lack of understanding of the current landscape of college athletics on your part was mind-boggling.
Xaivian Lee
Xaivian Lee’s portaling leaves Princeton men’s basketball at a crossroads
The Xaivian Lee era at Princeton appears to be over.
According to a report posted today by ESPN, the First-Team All-Ivy junior guard has entered the transfer portal. The report states that Lee will also enter the NBA Draft while simultaneously keeping his options open to transfer to another program for his final year of collegiate eligibility.
A year ago, Lee similarly tested the NBA Draft waters before returning to Princeton for his junior year.
Lee’s likely departure from Princeton, while not entirely unexpected, is the latest development in what already is shaping up to be a tumultuous offseason for the Princeton men’s basketball program.
Ivy men’s semifinal: No. 1 Yale gets big plays late to take down No. 4 Princeton, 59-57
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – They say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season, but it’s more likely when you have as talented and poised a team as Yale.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (21-7) relied on clutch plays from their three First-Team All-Ivy stars, senior guard Bez Mbeng, senior guard John Poulakidas and junior forward Nick Townsend to overcome a furious second-half Princeton rally to take Saturday’s opening Ivy League Tournament semifinal at the Pizzitola Sports Center, 59-57.
“I thought our kids were gutty and played hard, and we had controlled the game for 30-some-odd minutes until the end, when Princeton took over,” coach James Jones said after the hard-fought contest. “What was great about my guys, there was no hesitation, there was no nervousness. They stayed with the game plan and were able to make some great pays and pull it out.”
The Tigers (19-11), blown out in both regular-season losses to the Bulldogs, battled back from a sluggish start to have a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but a right-elbow three from the Orange and Black’s First-Team All-Ivy guard, junior Xaivian Lee, clanked off the back of the net and fell to the court.
Jones’ squad, which looks to be the first No. 1 seed to win Ivy Madness since Princeton in 2017, lives another day to take on No. 2 Cornell, which defeated No. 3 Dartmouth, 87-71, in the day’s second game.
Power ranking candidates for Penn men’s basketball to succeed Steve Donahue
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:
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball clinches Ivy League Tournament berth with 13th straight win over Penn
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 95-71 victory for Princeton (19-10, 8-6 Ivy) over Penn (8-19, 4-10) at Jadwin Gym Saturday that clinched an Ivy League Tournament berth for the Tigers:
Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 95-71 loss at Princeton
For the second straight year, one of the worst seasons in Penn basketball history came to an end with a humiliation at the hands of Princeton.
The Quakers came out sluggish and were never seriously competitive with the Tigers in a 95-71 drubbing at Jadwin Gymnasium. Penn (8-19, 4-10 Ivy) has now finished seventh in the Ivy League for a second straight season, while Princeton (19-10, 8-6) clinched a trip to the Ivy League Tournament with the easy win.
Penn has now lost 13 consecutive games to Princeton. The all-time series is tied at 126-126, the first time the all-time ledger has been even since the Roosevelt administration … the Theodore Roosevelt administration, that is.
For one last kick in the behind, the Tigers’ Xaivian Lee racked up a 23-point triple-double.
If you’re a masochist, read on.
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball’s presser after 95-71 win over Penn
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the postgame press conference for Princeton after a 95-71 win for the Tigers (19-10, 8-6 Ivy) over Penn (8-19, 4-10) that claimed them an Ivy League Tournament berth:
LISTEN – Cornell men’s basketball pummels Princeton, 102-70
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Sunday afternoon’s 102-70 blowout win for Cornell (16-10, 8-5 Ivy) over Princeton (18-10, 7-6) at Newman Arena:
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball claws past Columbia, 73-68
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 73-68 win for Princeton (18-9, 7-5 Ivy) at Columbia (12-13, 1-11) Friday: