Hoopville Player of the Year: Ryan Wittman, Sr. (Cornell)
Hoopville First Team All-Ivy
Ryan Wittman, F, Sr. (Cornell)
Zack Rosen, G, So. (Penn)
Jeff Foote, C, Sr. (Cornell)
Jeremy Lin, G, Sr. (Harvard)
Matt Mullery, F, Sr. (Brown)
1. Cornell Big Red (21-10 Overall, 11-3 Ivy League – 1st)
On the agenda: RPI boosters – Alabama Nov. 14, Legends Classic Nov. 18-Dec. 6 against (notables) UMass, Seton Hall (at home), Syracuse, St. Joe’s, at Kansas Jan. 6; the defense of the Ivy League begins Jan. 16 against Columbia.
Will they run away with it? Can they continue to play with a target on their back? Are they looking too far ahead with their non-conference schedule? These are the types of questions asked when looking for a kink in the proverbial front-runner armor. On paper this team should end the season alone at the top of the Ivy League and in the NCAA tourney. This season belongs to Cornell and Cornell will have to beat themselves to give any other teams a chance.
This is not a reliable chance. Steven Donahue enters his 10th season with all five starters returning from last year’s second straight Ivy title, so they have been positioned to win in the past and did. Leading the way are two former Ivy League Player of the Year winners, Ryan Wittman and his 18.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .416 three-point field goal percentage and Louis Dale with his 13.0 ppg and 4.3 rpg. Defensive Player of the Year Jeff Foote not only controls the lane, he adds 11.8 ppg to the already potent offense. The Big Red also added 6’9 Kentucky transfer Mark Coury to help clog the lane.
Cornell is stacked, and should have no issue with their Ancient Eight counterparts, but depending on how they compete against perennial national powers like Kansas and Syracuse, will let the rest of the nation know if they can be taken seriously come March.
2. Princeton Tigers (13-14, 8-6 – 2nd)
Games to nod your head slowly about: at George Washington Nov. 24, at Saint Joseph’s Jan. 2; conference play begins Jan. 29 at Brown
Playing for second: Sydney Johnson returns all five of his starters from a season ago to defend its second place finish. Sophomore Doug Davis led the team in scoring as a freshman (12.3 ppg) and junior Dan Mavraides should be the team’s best and most consistent shooter.
Kareem Maddox and Pavel Buczak anchor the Tigers’ frontcourt, but 6’7 freshman Ian Hummer is creating a lot of buzz and could see some playing time right away.
The Tigers are a young, but solid team. If this were any other season the Tigers would be on their way to a three-year run of NCAA tournament bids. Former Ivy League Player of the Year turned coach Johnson knows what it takes to make the field of 65 (see UCLA ’96), but also knows there is a mountain to climb in Cornell. Last year the Tigers crushed Cornell in the teams’ first meeting, ending the Big Red’s 19-game winning streak, but couldn’t match the same effort in a late-season road game. This season it could be Cornell, Princeton and then everyone else, but the young Tigers will need to avoid the sophomore slump to be the best of the rest.
3. Penn Quakers (10-18, 6-8 – 7th)
Circled on the calendar: at Penn State Nov. 13, at Villanova Nov. 16, at Duke New Year’s Eve; Ivy league schedule begins Jan. 29 with Yale.
Jumping up the ranks? Any other season Glenn Miller would be touted as the coach who brought the once perennial Ivy League power back to the summit, but with Cornell standing in the way the Quakers are playing for second – this after posting their first Ivy League losing campaign since the 1990-91. If Penn is able to return to the top third of the Ivy League they will rely heavily on junior Tyler Bernardini and sophomore Zack Rosen. As a freshman, Bernardini was sixth in the conference in scoring (13.7 ppg) and won Freshman of the Year Honors. Rosen might be the best point guard in the conference. Last season Rosen started every game and led the conference in assists (5.0).
The duo will need help in the interior. Jack Eggleston (9.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg) should be the leader in the middle, but will need to build on his interior scoring. The 6’6 Rob Belcore must also become some kind of offensive threat to help Penn make a move forward.
Of all the teams expected to do well this season, Penn is relying most on potential rather than results. This team comes and goes with Rosen, who must establish himself in both running the offense and hitting his own shots to avoid a collapse.
4. Harvard Crimson (14-14, 6-8 – 6th)
Brutal December stretch: at UConn, at Boston College, at Georgetown December 6, 9, and 23 respectively; league play begins against Dartmouth Jan. 23.
The motion picture Tommy: Expectations are high for Tommy Amaker and the Crimson. Harvard returns three starters from a season ago, when they defeated Boston College (who had just beaten then No. 1 and eventual NCAA Champion North Carolina) and league champion Cornell and also was second in the Ivy League in team scoring. Jeremy Lin filled the stat sheet last season (17 ppg 5.5 rpg, 4.3 apg) and is an early-season candidate for Player of the Year honors.
While the Crimson will make another leap forward they are still relatively young. This season sophomores who made contributions in their first year are expected to carry a substantial load. If 6’8 Keith Wright has a breakout season, Harvard might be in the mix for second.
This isn’t The Season for the Crimson, but the pieces are in place for a run at the upper third of the conference.
5. Yale Bulldogs (13-15, 8-6 – 3rd)
Key Matches: NIT season tip-off, at Providence December 21; league play begins hosting Brown Jan. 15.
I love your band; you guys Yale: The Bulldogs’ run of consistent success has not led to the conference’s lone NCAA bid (last dance 1962). This season, with the loss of two of its three top scorers, will be no different and their string of seven league wins or more might be in jeopardy.
But while Yale will slip some from last season they will have enough weapons to make a push for the future and remain relevant. Alex Zampier (13.2 ppg) returns to lead James Jones’ offense. Junior Garrett Fiddler will be charged with patrolling the middle and providing inside scoring, but will need to improve upon his 5.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg to make a significant difference. Watch out for Michael Grace: the highly-touted freshman could move into the starting lineup before season’s end.
6. Columbia Lions (13-15, 7-7 – 4th)
Game on: season starts in the Big East against DePaul, at Syracuse Nov. 27; conference play begins Jan. 16 at defending champs Cornell.
116th and Broadway: Joe Jones’ will lean heavily on the return of two injured guards to inject life into an offense that ranked second-to-last in the Ivy League in scoring. Seniors Patrick Foley and Niko Scott missed a total of 13 games last season and must stay healthy if the offense has any chance to match the team’s defensive intensity (the Lions allowed the second fewest points per game in the Ivy League in 2008-09). Foley was the only Lion to average double digits last season, but has the ability to be turn the offense around if he plays every game.
In the middle, three players who were either injured or transferring should see meaningful minutes. Both Asenso Ampim and Brian Grimes missed significant time last year (Grimes the entire season), but are now expected to contribute, while seven-footer Max Craig might see time immediately after transferring from Loyola Marymount.
If the defense stays true and Foley is able to come into his own, Columbia may accelerate through the ranks. But without more made baskets the Lions will not be able to keep pace with its peers.
7. Brown Bears (9-19, 3-11 – 8th)
Bear of a non-conference sched: at Virginia Tech, Rhode Island, at St. John’s, at Minnesota, at Providence; league play begins at Yale Jan. 15.
How many games will Emma Watson attend: Second-year coach Jesse Agel’s squad isn’t messing around with the Bears’ nonconference schedule, which means Brown will find out early if they have help from their bench and a solution to their point guard quandary of a year ago. Where the Bears remain strong is their starting frontcourt. Ivy League POY candidate Matt Mullery and junior Peter Sullivan return to light up the box scores from the four and five.
The question marks are elsewhere, primarily in a backcourt that last season lacked a reliable point guard. Garrett Leffelman and Marques Coleman both return from injury to complete for the job. The bench is major question mark number two. Last season four of the team’s five starters averaged over 30 minutes per game and, with the Ivy League’s Friday-Saturday travel schedule, the inability to rest players may have cost Brown some W’s.
There is some inter-league parity from two through seven, so the Bears making a move isn’t just fantasy, but for this year’s campaign there might be too many “if’s” to see this move as a reality.
8. Dartmouth Big Green (9-19, 7-7 – 5th)
Games for Green: Begin the season at Boston College; league play starts at home with Harvard
Mouths of Dart: The loss of last season’s Ivy League Player of the Year Alex Barnett combined with a youth movement in Hanover means coach Terry Dunn (entering his sixth season) and his crew will most likely be stuck in the Ivy League cellar. The Big Green return second-year players Jabari Trotter and David Rufful to carry the scoring load, but neither averaged double digits last season.
Barnett is gone (along with his 19 ppg) but so are his shots, which could mean breakout years for someone on offense, but where the Big Green will find rebounding, presence in the middle or a team identity is a major concern. In the end this is a young rebuilding team and at least a year away from making an impact.
