City of Basketball Love

Zach Drapkin (@ZachDrapkin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2016-17 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 11. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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Moving onward with our 2016-17 conference previews, we now take a look at the Ivy League, the prestigious NCAA Division-I conference which features one of CoBL’s City 6 teams, the University of Pennsylvania Quakers.

The Ivy League, also known as the Ancient Eight, was officially established in 1954, and has been a platform for quality athletic competition since even before the said date. Consisting of eight academically-elite institutions, it has produced 44 NBA players, from Geoff Petrie to Jeremy Lin.

This season, the conference has experienced something rare – change. In 2017, the Ivy League’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament will be determined not by the usual 14-team round-robin, but the champions will be crowned rather by way of the first-ever Ivy League Tournament, a four-team bracket to be hosted at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia’s University City. The Ancient Eight’s top four teams in conference play will be seeded first to fourth as they contend for a place in the Big Dance.

Without further ado, here’s a look at each of the Ancient Eight teams heading into the 2016-17 men’s basketball season (all records/stats from 2015-16 unless otherwise noted):

All-League Team
Evan Boudreaux (Soph./Dartmouth)
*Henry Caruso (Sr./Princeton)
Siyani Chambers (Sr./Harvard)
Matt Howard (Sr./Pennsylvania)
Spencer Weisz (Sr./Princeton)

* = League MVP

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1. Princeton Tigers (22-7, 12-2 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Mitch Henderson, 6th season (96-53, .644)
Key Losses: None
Key Returners: Henry Caruso (Sr./F), Hans Brase (Sr./F), Steven Cook (Sr./F), Spencer Weisz (Sr./F), Devin Cannady (Soph./G)

Outlook: Princeton was neck-and-neck with Yale last season for the conference title, and although the Tigers missed out, they’re in prime position to rectify their shortcomings this year, with 99 percent of the team’s points and minutes set to return. A stacked six-man senior class is led by 6-4 All-Ivy first-teamer Henry Caruso, 6-4 All-Ivy second-teamer Spencer Weisz, and 6-5 All-Ivy honorable mention Steven Cook, not to mention 6-9 Hans Brase, who sat out ‘15-16 due to injury and was a double-digit scorer in ‘14-15. 6-4 Amir Bell also headlines a fairly strong junior class and the 6-1 Cannady is a dependable play at guard. Five returning 10-plus ppg scorers plus an extra year of experience and depth for a team with just two in-conference losses last season should seemingly spell a ‘16-17 Ivy League title. The quest for Henderson’s squad to come through and deliver the program its first conference crown since 2010-11 will be worth a follow.

2. Harvard Crimson (14-16, 6-8 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Tommy Amaker, 10th season (175-95, .648)
Key Losses: Agunwa Okolie (10.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Patrick Steeves (9.1 ppg)
Key Returners: Siyani Chambers (Sr./G), Zena Edosomwan (Sr./F-C), Corey Johnson (Soph./G)

Outlook: Amaker will be delighted to have the 6-0 Chambers back it his disposal after the star guard missed all of the ‘15-16 season with a torn ACL. Chambers’s absence was definitely felt, as the Crimson finished below .500 overall and in Ivy League play for the first time since Amaker’s debut season as the team’s coach in ‘07-08. Okolie was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and will be missed, but Harvard has plenty of weapons in line to replace his production, starting with a 6-9 All-Ivy second-teamer in Edosomwan, who was a tenth of a rebound off averaging a double-double last season with 13.1 ppg and 9.9 rpg. The freshman class of seven comes in with big expectations, featuring four of ESPN’s top-100 recruits, and will be contributing immediately for a basketball program that captured five-straight Ivy League titles before Yale intervened last season.

3. Penn Quakers (11-17, 5-9 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Steve Donahue, 2nd season (11-17, .393)
Key Losses: Darien Nelson-Henry (12.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg), Antonio Woods (10.7 ppg, 3.3 apg)
Key Returners: Matt Howard (Sr./G), Jackson Donahue (Soph./G), Sam Jones (Jr./F)

Outlook: Penn made considerable progress in the transition period that was last season, but even so, the team managed to garner more wins than it had in any of the prior three years. Aside from the loss of Nelson-Henry, who made the All-Ivy second team, this Quakers roster maintains four of its five starters from the ‘15-16 campaign, including the 6-0 Donahue, who averaged 13.2 ppg over the last 17 games of the season. The team is captained by the 6-4 Howard, the team’s second-leading scorer last season, and 6-5 Matt MacDonald, a transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson who sat out in ‘15-16. Also added to the mix is 6-4 Caleb Wood, a JUCO standout who began receiving D-I offers after exploding onto the scene at Lassen CC (Cali.), where he averaged 23.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 4.7 apg. On the recruiting trail, Donahue picked up major talent in building his first freshman recruiting class, namely 6-8 forward A.J. Brodeur, a product of the same high school that produced Donahue (the guard) and sophomore center Collin McManus. With home-court advantage at the Palestra should they make it to the first-ever conference tournament, the pressure is on for the young Quakers to take the next step in regaining standing in Ancient Eight basketball.

4. Yale Bulldogs (23-7, 13-1 Ivy League)
Head Coach: James Jones, 18th season (254-239, .515)
Key Losses: Justin Sears (15.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg), Brandon Sherrod (12.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg), Jack Montague (9.7 ppg, 3.0 apg)
Key Returners: Sam Downey (Sr./F), Anthony Dallier (Sr./G)

Outlook: The Bulldogs made it to the big dance last season for the first time in 54 years–and upset fifth-seeded Baylor once they got there–but their work is cut out for them this year to repeat as Ancient Eight champions. After being named Ivy League Coach of the Year, Jones lost the star frontcourt pairing of 6-8 defending Ivy League Player of the Year Sears and 6-6 All-Ivy first-teamer Sherrod to graduation, shifting the spotlight onto Makai Mason (16.0 ppg, 3.8 apg), who shined during postseason play and made the All-Ivy first team alongside Sears and Sherrod. But the team suffered a huge setback this week, when it was announced that Mason will miss his the upcoming season with a broken foot suffered in a scrimmage; whether or not he’ll return next year is up in the air. So it’ll have to be the 6-9 Downey, the 6-6 Dallier, and a promising pack of underclassmen who will have to step up for Yale to have another positive season.

5. Columbia Lions (25-10, 10-4 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Jim Engles, 1st season (0-0, .---)
Key Losses: Maodo Lo (17.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Alex Rosenberg (13.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Grant Mullins (13.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
Key Returners: Luke Petrasek (Sr./F), Jeff Coby (Sr./F), Kyle Castlin (Jr./G), Lukas Meisner (Soph./F)

Outlook: The ‘15-16 season ended with a CIT championship for the Lions, but it wasn’t enough to convince Kyle Smith to stay, as the coach resigned to take a job with the University of San Francisco. Engles, who was an assistant at Columbia from 2003-2008, was scooped up from NJIT to replace Smith. The roster has experienced quite a bit of turnover as well, with the loss of Lo, a first-team All-Ivy selection, Rosenberg, and Mullins, who transferred to Cal, the team’s three leading scorers from last season. Engles has a very tall team this season, and a very strong senior class, which features the 6-10 Petrasek, a double-digit scorer last year, the 6-8 Coby, 7-1 center Conor Voss, 6-8 forward Chris McComber, and 5-8 guard Kendall Jackson. 6-4 juniors Castlin and Nate Hickman, along with the 6-8 Meisner, round out the top returning players. Contending for an Ivy League Tournament berth will be a tall order for this new-look Lions squad, but it’s a very attainable goal for Engles and a Columbia team that finished third-best of ‘15-16’s Ancient Eight teams.

6. Dartmouth Big Green (10-18, 4-10 Ivy League)
Head Coach: David McLaughlin, 1st season (0-0, .---)
Key Losses: Connor Boehm (11.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
Key Returners: Evan Boudreaux (Soph./F), Miles Wright (Jr./G), Taylor Johnson (Jr./G)

Outlook: Led by the last two Ivy League Rookies of the Year, the 6-5 Wright and the 6-8 Boudreaux, the Big Green will try to take a step up in the Ivy League ranks. McLaughlin enters his first season at Dartmouth after Paul Cormier’s second stint in Hanover resulted in six straight seasons under .500. Boudreaux led the team with 17.7 ppg and 9.4 rpg last year, followed by Wright’s 11.2 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Third leading scorer Boehm’s college career wrapped up in ‘15-16, opening up more minutes and offensive touches to players like the 6-4 Johnson or any of the five seniors on the roster. Point guard stability will be an area of concern heading into the season, with the graduation of Malik Gill (2.7 apg) leaving the starting spot up for grabs. A position battle between 6-1 junior Cameron Smith, 6-0 senior Mike Fleming, and 6-2 sophomore Guilien Smith is likely to ensue.

7. Cornell Big Red (10-18, 3-11 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Brian Earl, 1st season (0-0, .---)
Key Losses: None
Key Returners: Matt Morgan (Soph./G), Robert Hatter (Sr./G), Darryl Smith (Sr./G), David Onuorah (Sr./F)

Outlook: The full starting five and 11-letterman arsenal returns from last season’s 10-18 campaign, and with a new coach in Earl at the helm, all Cornell should see in ‘16-17 is improvement. The 6-2 Morgan, who led the conference in scoring as a freshman with 18.9 ppg, returns to lead the team with an extra year of experience under his belt, along with his 6-1 backcourt counterpart Hatter, who was last year’s third-ranked Ancient Eight scorer. Going 3-0 on a 10-day venture through Spain, this year’s Big Red squad looks ready to return to Ivy League basketball as a polished model of a ‘15-16 crew that went a woeful 3-11 in conference games. Perhaps this will be the season Cornell gets back into the top half of the Ivy League for the first time since the program’s miraculous Sweet 16 run of 2010.

8. Brown Bears (8-20, 3-11 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Mike Martin, 5th season (49-67, .422)
Key Losses: Cedric Kuakumensah (14.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.7 bpg), Justin Massey (9.2 ppg)
Key Returners: Tavon Blackman (Sr./G), Steven Spieth (Sr./F), J.R. Hobbie (Sr./G), Obi Okolie (Soph./G)

Outlook: Losing All-Ivy second-teamer Kuakumensah to graduation dealt a big blow, leaving Brown without its leader in points, boards, and blocks, but the Bears’ tough senior trio of the 6-0 Blackman, 6-6 Spieth, and 6-4 Hobbie will more than balance out his departure. Blackman led the team last season with 13.3 ppg and 5.5 apg, while Spieth contributed 10.9 ppg and 7.2 rpg and Hobbie added 9.0 ppg. The 6-5 Okolie blossomed in his freshman season, averaging 10.0 ppg and 4.3 rpg, and will take on an expanded role heading into his second year in Providence. Twins Justin and Jason Massey transferred back to Florida Atlantic, opening up playing time for 6-1 sophomore guard Corey Daugherty, 6-9 sophomore forward Travis Fuller, and 6-6 junior forward Kyle Haber, all of whom racked up at least 10 mpg during ‘15-16.