After years of the same eight coaches, there have been five coaching changes in the last three seasons of Ivy League basketball. Fran McCaffery made waves by winning Ivy Madness in year one at Penn last season. Can the Quakers go back-to-back? Harvard and Yale have vengeance on their minds after overtime losses to the Quakers in Ithaca. Princeton returns its entire team. Cornell looks to get over the hump, while Columbia, Dartmouth and Brown look for breakthroughs under their second- and first-year coaches.
WHAT I LIKE:The Quakers return most of their rotation pieces from the squad that shocked the world and won Ivy Madness last year. That all starts with TJ Power, whose 44-point miracle performance against Yale stands as one of the league's greatest ever. He's a legit three-level scoring superstar in the Ivy League, and at 6-foot-8, he's a mismatch nightmare for opponents. One of the league's deadliest shooters, Mike Zanoni, returns alongside him. Notre Dame transfer Sir Mohammed adds a little bit of physicality on the wing, something that Penn desperately needs. There's depth in the frontcourt with the returning Dalton Scantlebury/Augie Gerhart duo. Both are skilled post scorers, and I think Scantlebury could eventually leapfrog Gerhart in the rotation. Lucas Lueth also gives the Quakers some rim protection and athleticism up front, although he's more a four than five.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:Penn's analytical profile relies a ton on mid-range jump shots. The Quakers didn't get to the rim at a high enough rate last year and are one of the few teams that still consistently runs actions for long twos. Penn will have the same strengths and weaknesses as last season. That might be a good thing, because they won the Ivy League, but by virtue of winning the league through miraculous measures, it may have raised the expectations higher than they should be. Penn will be out to prove that it didn't merely catch lightning in a bottle in Ithaca.
X-FACTOR:AJ Levine. What is the ceiling for AJ Levine? He's already one of the best guards in the Ivy League on the defensive end, but without Ethan Roberts, he'll have to shoulder a bigger role on offense. Can he step up as a scorer to give another element to this group?
WHAT I LIKE:James Jones has never really needed to rebuild since COVID. He's always found his next star waiting in the wings. Trevor Mullin and Riley Fox are the obvious candidates this season. Mullin started at the point for the Bulldogs last year and is an efficient outside shooter who doesn't turn the ball over much. He'll need to take a big step forward though. Fox is arguably the Ivy League's best shooter. The 6-foot-6 sniper shot 37% on four attempts per game last year and will probably take way more than that this season. Jordan Brathwaite also is back, another stellar shooter who will make this one of the most dynamic shooting teams in the league.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:Despite those two players, this is probably the weakest Yale returning crop in some time. After losing Samson Aletan a year early and Isaac Celiscar two years early, the Buldogs are relying on a lot of players who haven't proven anything at all. Courtney Wallace and Daniel Ogunyemi have potential but haven't shown much. Wallace's athleticism could be a major piece for a backcourt that lacks the level of athleticism that it has had over the past few years. Division-III transfer Connor May will also play a role with his shooting.
X-FACTOR:Jack Sullivan. Yale has not finished outside the top 2 in defense in the Ivy League since before COVID. If the Bulldogs do it again, Sullivan must be an excellent rim protector. The 6-foot-11 sophomore didn't play much last year, but the keys to the season are in his hands.
WHAT I LIKE:The returning trio of Rob Hinton, Tey Barbour and Thomas Batties II is the best in the Ivy League. Hinton is arguably the most talented player in the conference as a 6-foot-5 jumbo creator that gets to his spots and scores at a high level. He must take a step forward as a playmaker and shooter this year, but the talent is there. Barbour and Batties were knockdown shooters last season, while Batties provided interior rim protection. Ben Eisendrath was a pesky player off the ball, and a healthy Austin Hunt could make a big difference as well.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:I don't think people talked enough about how much Chandler Piggé did for the Crimson last year. He was the glue guy on both ends who made that team work. Perhaps Hunt can bring some of that back without Piggé this year. Additionally, it's harder to trust Tommy Amaker than it was 10 years ago. A coaching gap might be the difference between the Crimson and the two teams above them. With the same strengths and weaknesses as last year, unless Harvard finds more production outside of its stars, it could limit the ceiling.
X-FACTOR:Freshman class. The Crimson once again have a loaded freshman group. Jason Singleton and Preston Merrick are athletic players who can impact the game by pushing the pace for Harvard, an element that the team didn't have last year. Singleton seems like the most important piece, as a highly-touted combo guard with scoring chops. Merrick is more of an off-ball runner type.
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WHAT I LIKE:Princeton returns the entire rotation from last season. When you run a Princeton-style offense, continuity and familiarity is extremely important. It's not just the starting group. It's everybody. Jack Stanton, Malik Abdullahi and CJ Happy are now upperclassmen. Dalen Davis, Jackson Hicke and Jacob Huggins are seniors. They've all been through the battles in this system. They've all had their bouts with inconsistency but have shown the ability to be the guy on a given night. Stanton returning from injury after missing the final stretch of the season will be a huge boon to the offense as he's an elite shooter. Hicke took a huge step last year as well. I really liked what Landon Clark gave the Tigers last season, and as a sophomore, he could be a key glue guy.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:Last year was the worst Princeton team that Mitch Henderson fielded as Tiger head coach. They finished with a losing Ivy record for the second time in his tenure and failed to crack double-digit wins for the first time since 2007-08. As I've said with Penn and Harvard, when you retain as much, you don't just retain the strengths, but also the weaknesses. There aren't a lot of great individual defenders on this roster, and Princeton was the worst defensive rebounding team in the Ivy League last year, which is a far cry from a program strength.
X-FACTOR:Dalen Davis is Princeton's most talented offensive player. He needs to be consistent on that end this year. The Tigers will not be able to afford sinking 30% usage rates into him if he's putting up a 99.2 offensive rating again this year. He doesn't have to be the best player on the floor every night, but he has to be able to pick and choose his spots.
WHAT I LIKE:The backcourt has a lot of fun pieces. Jacob Beccles is in line to be Cornell's next All-Ivy guard as a senior. Each year, he's gotten more decisive and aggressive and provides positional size and physicality to score inside and out. Anthony Nimani is also poised for a big season with a bigger role, while Mateen Rafiq might be the biggest upside piece for the Big Red as he sees more playing time. Transfers JJ Sanchez and Luke Kennevan can add serious shooting potential as well. Mikehi Williams, 6-foot-6 freshman wing, can be an impact player in year one.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:Cornell was abysmal on the defensive end last season, and it's a long climb to get back to respectable. While Jon Jaques has put together competitive teams, he's also never had to replace quite this much production. The overall team might be bigger positionally, but will Jaques have to sacrifice offense for defense? Does he have the athletes on both ends? Does he have the frontcourt pieces?
X-FACTOR:Kaspar Sepp. When Cornell has been at its best, the big man has been a Swiss-army knife offensive player. Think Sean Hansen, Guy Ragland Jr. and AK Okereke. In his first season with the Big Red, the 6-foot-7 Sepp showed some playmaking flashes, but needs to offer more consistency on both sides of the ball. He needs to take a huge step forward.
WHAT I LIKE:Kevin Hovde came in with a plan, and turned Columbia into a force to be reckoned with on the glass. The Lions were the best offensive rebounding team in the Ivy League last season, and return Connor Igoe and Mason Ritter in the frontcourt to continue that trend. Igoe in particular feels like an easy candidate to take an All-Ivy jump with more responsibility. He's a skilled passer at the five spot too. Miles Franklin had a solid freshman season but struggled toward the end of the year. He's talented enough to be a smart and efficient combo wing for Hovde in year two.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:Last year, the Lions were forced to play Kenny Noland as point guard. While Noland was excellent, he's more of an off-ball guard at heart. I'm still not sold on Columbia's point guard room. Hampton Sanders was fine last season coming over from NYU, but the Lions need more from that spot, and they don't exactly have a Noland able to slide over if it all goes bust. Gerard O'Keefe, a terrific shooter, probably doesn't have the level of on-ball juice to make that work.
X-FACTOR:Josh Pratt and Nino Žarković. The ceiling for Columbia comes in if one of the freshman point guards, Pratt or Zarkovic, is able to step in and have a big year on the ball. Pratt was a stud scorer in Western Penn., and Zarkovic played pro ball in Croatia last season.
WHAT I LIKE:With new coach Eric Reveno, the Bears have a lot of options in the backcourt. Jeremiah Jenkins took a huge step forward as a sophomore and can take another big one as a junior point guard with elite passing skills. Adrian Uchidiuno gives them elite athleticism and defense, while having a healthy Luke Paragon makes a big difference as well. Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson has been around for a bit, and Isaiah Langham got plenty of run as a freshman. There may even be a role for Rykan Woo, a freshman from one of Illinois' best high school programs. Big man N'famara Dabo is a strong rim protector, anchoring a solid Brown defensive unit last year.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:While all of the guards that I mentioned are interesting, only really Paragon and Loughlin provided any level of efficiency last year. Brown had an abysmal offense. Perhaps getting them into a new system will unlock them, but if it doesn't, then Brown will have all of those bodies for little gain. Perhaps Bowdoin (DIII) transfer Ray Cuevas can come in and make a big impact scoring the ball. Who can replace Landon Lewis' steady production on the interior? Can David Rochester or Charlie O'Sullivan take steps forward?
X-FACTOR:Brady Loughlin. Brown was the worst 3-point shooting team in the Ivy League last season, and Loughlin being injured played a part in that. He was a sniper at Don Bosco who shot 39% on over four attempts per contest in just 18.2 minutes per game last season before going down. At 6-foot-5, he's an extremely important piece of the mix for Brown as a sophomore.
WHAT I LIKE:I wasn't sure who would have interest in the Dartmouth head coaching job, but Brett MacConnell feels like as good of a hire as you could ask for. He has experience coaching in the Ivy League for over a decade as an assistant for Princeton, where he was Mitch Henderson's right-hand-man. He doesn't really have a ton to work with roster-wise, but landing Colby (DIII) transfer big man Dan Civello is a potentially huge addition to the roster as a 6-foot-10 sharpshooter with passing chops. He can be an offensive hub for the Big Green, but it's still a huge jump coming up from Division III.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:Well, most of the roster just isn't that talented. It's clearly the worst in the conference. All of last season's best players are gone, and you can't blame them for not doing nearly enough to replace them. Niko Abusara, Cam McNamee, Anton Strelnikov, Patrick Tivnan Jr., Ben Brown and Cam Hiatt are all low-usage guys who need to take a step forward. Abusara is a strong defender, but what role does he play on offense? Even Niagara transfer Landon Williams is a low-usage guy. Who is handling the ball for this team? I have no idea.
X-FACTOR:Whoever ends up playing point guard for this team. Idk.
