Trevor Mullin averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game in 2025-26. (Yale Athletics)
Trevor Mullin, a 6-foot-1 senior guard from Wellesley, Mass., is captain of the Yale men’s basketball team. Ivy Hoops Online sat down with him Friday for an interview:
Ivy Hoops Online: When you committed to Yale, did you ever think that you would be the basketball captain?
Trevor Mullin: It was always a goal in mind. My goal was to be the best player I could be.
IHO: How tough of an adjustment was it from high school [St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, Mass.] to college?
TM: Definitely tough. The physicality and then speed. And having to deal with Bez [Mbeng] at practice.
Isaac Celiscar averaged 13.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per outing in 2025-26 for Yale as a sophomore forward en route to being named Second-Team All-Ivy. The Wnter Haven, Fla. native transferred to Baylor in the offseason. Ivy Hoops Online recently caught up with the 6-foot-6 swingman.
Ivy Hoops Online: How difficult was it to leave Yale?
Isaac Celiscar: Leaving Yale was an incredibly difficult decision. I would probably rank it as the hardest decision I ever had to make in my life. I valued the people there and the connections I had made over the two years. My relationship with the coaching staff, coach [James] Jones especially, and my teammates meant a lot to me. Those are people I will share a lifetime with!
IHO: What are the differences you have noticed to date in practices at Yale and Baylor?
IC: I can make the slightest mistake [at Baylor] and get called out for it. There’s a lot of similarities.
IHO: Are there differences between coaches Jones and [Scott] Drew?
IC: Honestly, coach Jones and Drew have a lot of similarities. Coach Jones is a little more laid back in coaching style. Other than that, I see a lot of similarities.
IHO: Thoughts on playing Yale this season in Waco in November (Nov. 10)?
IC: I am excited. When I got the news that we were playing them, I immediately let my family know. When I transferred, I didn’t feel like there was bad blood between me and everyone on the team. It was more of a mutual respect between my teammates and coaches there. I’m happy I will get to see them and compete against them again. Of course, I’ll be in different colors, and of course I want to win. Those are my brothers and the love will be there for sure.
IHO: How do you think this Yale team will fare in the Ivy?
IC: I feel they are still in a good place to compete for first place.
IHO: Talk about the composition of this Yale team.
IC: I expect the core of Riley [Fox], Jordan [Brathwaite] and Trevor [Mullin] to have a big year. And the freshmen that were on the bench last year to prove themselves. meaning Courtney [Wallace], Jack [Sullivan], Alvin [Loving] and Daniel [Ogunyemi]. And guys that didn’t really get an opportunity but could play like Jeannot [Basima] when the opportunity presents itself to step up. I feel like they will be a very good team. Coach Jones will make sure they’re good. Coaches [Matt] Kingsley, [Tobe] Carberry and [Brandon] Sherrod all will follow that up. Wishing them nothing but the best!
Ivy Hoops Online recently caught up with fifth-year Yale women’s basketball coach Dalila Eshe on a wide range of topics:
Ivy Hoops Online: Can you give us a preview of your out-of-conference scheduling and some insight into your scheduling philosophy?
Dalila Eshe: My philosophy around nonconference scheduling has evolved over the last few years. We always want to challenge our team, but we also have to balance several important factors. We try to give our players an opportunity to play close to home at some point during their four years, and we’re mindful of the academic calendar – particularly when they have to manage midterms or other demanding course work. We always prioritize regional games during the week whenever possible to minimize missed class time and travel demands. Ultimately, the goal is to build a balanced schedule that challenges our players appropriately, prepares us for Ivy League play and supports their overall experience as student-athletes.
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Benchseriesthat takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
Radhika Garapaty ’29takes center court in our next installment in the series. After nearly a full year away from basketball due to injury, the rising Yale women’s basketball sophomore has found inspiring answers to the hardest question an athlete has to answer: Who am I without the game? And as she finds her way back into the lineup at Payne Whitney Gymnasium with her teammates, she is bringing strengths she may not have known she possessed before.
From left to right: Radhi; her mother Bindu; brother Kunaal; and father, Rahul Garapaty at a wedding reception in southern California in July 2025. (photo courtesy of Garapaty family)
Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones is pictured in this undated photo. (James Jones’ X page)
Ivy Hoops Online recently caught up with veteran Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones to discuss summer developments and the upcoming season.
Ivy Hoops Online: You obviously planned to have Isaac Celiscar and Samson Aletan on your team in ’26-27 when you recruited them a few years back. What is it like without them? (Editor’s note: Celiscar, a rising junior, signed with Baylor after a Second Team All-Ivy selection in 2025-26. Aletan signed with Providence after three years at Yale and leading the Bulldogs in blocks and field-goal percentage in 2025-26.)
James Jones: You can’t compensate for juniors and seniors. The transfer rules are different for us (Ivies). Hard to replace a junior and a senior.
IHO: Do you look at the [transfer] portal now more than previously?
JJ: Not really, because I never think that any of our guys will be leaving. It is also so hard to get a player into our school and to get one who is willing to pay to win a championship.
Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents a new series, Off the Bench,that takes fans inside their stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
We begin with Jeannot Basima ’27, a rising Yale men’s basketball senior from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, a political science major, and guard for the Bulldogs. As Basima completes his undergraduate studies and prepares for his final season taking the floor at John J. Lee Amphitheater, he is motivated by a personal passion — creating educational opportunities for the children of his home country.
Jeannot Basima is surrounded by the students of Promo Jeune Basket during his camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 24, 2023. (courtesy of Key Castofas)
Jeannot Basima began his basketball journey as a six-year-old at Promo Jeune Basket (PJB), a local academy near his home in Goma. Near his home country’s border with Rwanda, PJB isn’t just about basketball. It’s a pathway to education, emphasizing the values of discipline, team, hard work and respect. As Basima sees it, he has been the beneficiary of several brotherhoods — his six siblings, PJB, the high schools he attended and the Yale basketball program.
Through a random connection between PJB’s president, Dario Melo, and Daniel Arnaud, a Belgian basketball parent who had travelled through Goma, 13-year-old Basima and one of his teammates found themselves selected for a summer camp in the United States. The camp got them on to the Global Squad AAU team, which led to scholarships to New York Military Academy for eighth grade and the John Carroll School for high school.
Basima had no idea when he left home at age 13 that he would not see his family again for five years.
The agony of defeat was never more manifest than Tuesday night in the bowels of John J. Lee Amphitheater, where Yale men’s basketball was edged by UNC Wilmington in their NIT opener, 68-67.
Four hours after it secured its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018 on Sunday, Penn men’s basketball learned it’s a No. 14 seed in the Big Dance and will play No. 3 Illinois in Greenville, S.C. in the tournament’s South region.
Penn and Illinois will tip off at 9:25 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, S.C., with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call on TNT.
In that previous NCAA Tournament appearance, Penn controversially drew a No. 16 seed and a matchup in Wichita, Kan. with No. 1 Kansas, to whom it lost, 76-60.
TJ Power just put up the best individual performance in Quakers history. His 44 points just led Penn to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years. pic.twitter.com/QfnBWFsIlo
ITHACA, N.Y. – Penn men’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years after outlasting Yale in overtime, 88-84, in one of the greatest games in recent Ivy League history Sunday at Newman Arena.
The Quakers (18-11) needed a transcendent performance from forward TJ Power to pull off the Ivy League Tournament final upset with leading scorer Ethan Roberts back in Philadelphia, sidelined with a concussion.
Boy, did Power deliver. The junior had a 44-point detonation, which matched Hassan Duncombe for the program’s single-game scoring record since it joined the Ivy League in 1954. Power personally erased what was a four-point Penn deficit with 12 seconds to play by simply dribbling into three-pointers on consecutive possessions.
The last of those threes, a contested shot from the right wing, tied the game at 75 with a second to go in regulation. Yale guard Trevor Mullin (who had hit two clutch free throws to extend the lead to three before Power’s heroic shot) nearly sank a three-quarter-court heave as the buzzer sounded, but it clanged off the back iron.
In overtime, Power — whose free-throw shooting struggles this season have been well-documented — put the Quakers ahead for good with 3:02 left in the extra session following two makes from the charity stripe. He got a ton of help from senior guard Cam Thrower, who had a five-point scoring burst in a 40-second span to give the Red and Blue some critical breathing room.
In his first campaign running his alma mater, coach Fran McCaffery has pulled off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in recent college basketball memory.
What should Penn fans hold onto from an afternoon of unbridled joy?
ITHACA, N.Y. — Penn men’s basketball is 40 minutes away from its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight years after outlasting Harvard in a 62-60 overtime thriller to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final.
Sophomore point guard AJ Levine — more on him later — played the hero after he blew by Harvard sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath off the dribble for a scoop layup with 6.1 seconds to play in the extra session.
With the Crimson in scramble mode, Levine got a hand in Harvard guard Tey Barbour’s face as the sniper put up a three-point attempt to win the game.
Barbour’s shot was off line to the right and a wild celebration ensued.
AJ Levine just sent the Quakers to the Ivy Madness final with a driving layup. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/WNP8gxIR1z
The Quakers (17-11) are now in a position that few expected them to be in back in November. What did we learn about this team as it preps for an empty-the-tank game against Yale for a conference tournament championship?
