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Yale senior Matt Knowling, from Ellington, Conn. recently announced his decision to continue his basketball career as a graduate transfer at USC. Knowling was a First Team All-Ivy selection is 2022-23.
Danny Wolf is bound for Michigan.
The 7-foot sophomore entered the transfer portal on March 30 with a do-not-contact notation, six days after his breakout campaign ended in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Wolf visited the University of Michigan last weekend and had a visit to the University of North Carolina scheduled for Thursday. It was unknown as of Saturday afternoon if he actually made that visit.
Wolf was at Yale’s end-of-season banquet at BAR New Haven on Wednesday night and won the team MVP award. At the time, Wolf said that he was conflicted and had not made up his mind on a destination. The unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection also indicated that staying at Yale was still a possibility.
Danny Wolf, a 2023-24 First-Team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore forward for Yale, has become the latest top-shelf Ivy talent to enter the transfer portal, extending a string of standouts leaving or poised to leave the Ivy League.
Ivy Hoops Online caught up with Yale coach James Jones Wednesday following his return from Spokane, Wash., where his team notched the second ever NCAA Tournament win in program history last week with a triumph over Auburn before falling to San Diego State in the Round of 32:
No. 13 Yale’s NCAA Tournament run ended with a second-round thud Sunday night local time in Spokane, Wash. in an 85-57 loss to No. 5 San Diego State.
YALE HAS DONE IT pic.twitter.com/ZXVxtygrAT
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2024
“I don’t know if that was the best win in Yale basketball history, but I will tell you that’s the best basketball team that we’ve beaten in Yale basketball history, as far as I’m concerned.”
So reflected Yale coach James Jones after his No. 13-seeded Bulldogs pulled off a 78-76 upset of No. 4 Auburn for the ages in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Friday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash.
Auburn was a 12.5-point favorite, KenPom’s No. 4 team in the country and the SEC Tournament champion.
Yale (23-9, 13-3 Ivy) controlled tempo for most of the game and was as cool as its coach in crunch time.
Auburn (27-8, 16-5 SEC) was up 12-5 and in control early when junior guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected at the 16:59 mark for a flagrant-two foul for an elbow to August Mahoney. Yale then went on an 8-2 run on treys from John Poulakidas and Mahoney to take an 18-16 lead.
Auburn took a 41-34 lead into halftime. Yale First Team All-Ivy selection Danny Wolf was held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting and the normally sure-handed Bulldogs had eight turnovers, five by Bez Mbeng, which led to 13 Tiger points.
.@YaleMBasketball showing some love to their head coach James Jones ♥️ pic.twitter.com/ffaaBl4rZ2
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 22, 2024
Yale went on a 10-0 run early in the second half to grab a 44-43 lead on a Mahoney free throw. Poulakidas, who had a game-high 28 points, drained two treys in that stretch.
Auburn then went on a 10-2 run.
With Auburn leading 70-64, Poulakidas made a short jumper, and Matt Knowling and Wolf each went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to knot the score at 70.
Wolf gave Yale a 75-72 lead on two free throws with 45 seconds remaining, and All-SEC first-team selection Johni Broome countered with two from the charity stripe to give Yale a 75-74 lead with :33 remaining as Wolf fouled out.
August Mahoney was then fouled and canned two more foul shots to put Yale up 77-74.
A subsequent 1-for-2 trip to the foul line by junior guard Yassine Gharram made it 78-74.
Auburn senior guard K.D. Johnson then drove to the basket, made a layup and was fouled by Yale first-year center Samson Aletan. He missed the free thrown and Auburn regained possession on a rebound tie-up.
Ivy Defensive Player of the Year Bez Mbeng fouled sophomore guard Tre Donaldson and he missed the free throw. Auburn missed a putback and Johnson missed a contested three as the buzzer went off and the euphoric Yale team ran onto the court to celebrate.
Mahoney called the win “a dream come true.”
A stifling Yale defense, keyed by Mbeng, forced nine Auburn turnovers in the second half.
Broome led Auburn with 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Poulakidas delivered a performance to remember, hitting shots in clutch moments for a stat line of 28 points on 10-for-15 field-goal shooting, including 6-for-9 from three-point range, in 35 minutes, and two rebounds, assists and steals each. None of Poulakidas’ shots were bigger than a contested stepback three with 2:10 to play that gave the Bulldogs a 73-72 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Mahoney rung up 14 points and Wolf 13, 11 of which in the second half.
Yale will face No. 5 San Diego State, a 69-65 winner over No. 12 UAB, Sunday for the right to go to the Sweet 16 in Boston.
Yale was making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and fourth under Jones in his 25th year helming the Bulldogs. The win is Yale’s second ever in the NCAA Tournament after it upset No. 5 Baylor as a No. 12 seed in 2016.
Vibes are HIGH in the Yale locker room #MarchMadness @YaleMBasketball pic.twitter.com/efcYBMpR17
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2024
Yale’s win delivered the Ivy League its eighth men’s NCAA Tournament win since 2010 and third in the past two tournaments.
The Ivy League’s NCAA Tournament representative has won at least one tournament game in six of the Ivies’ last 13 appearances.
Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones is preparing to coach his fifth NCAA Tournament game after his team won the Ivy League Tournament in dramatic fashion Monday.
Yale’s Big Dance foe this time around is Auburn, with Yale allotted a No. 13 seed in the East Region and playing in Spokane, Wash.
Jones sat down with Ivy Hoops Online Tuesday in advance of its last practice in New Haven before departing on an NCAA charter flight. The Bulldogs, like all NCAA Tournament teams, were allotted 350 tickets and expect to have many fans present from Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest Yale Club. Yale played in Spokane in November at Gonzaga, losing 86-71.
The Princeton and Cornell men had disappointing exits from the Ivy Madness semifinals, but their seasons aren’t over. The Tigers and the Big Red have both earned bids to the National Invitational Tournament.
Yale men’s basketball is headed west to play in the East.
The Bulldogs’ fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016 will begin in Spokane, Wash., where Yale will face No. 4 Auburn as a No. 13 seed in the East Region. Tip-off time has yet to be released.
THE WINNING BASKET#ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/o9eLNHo7qR
— Yale Men’s Basketball (@YaleMBasketball) March 17, 2024