Read the full team reports at the USA Today site. Sections of the reports are included below.
Brown
After a miserable first season at the helm of the Brown program, Jesse Agel was looking for progress in year two.
For most of the season, it looked as if he wouldn’t get it. After a 3-11 last-place finish in 2008-09, the Bears were flirting with woeful Dartmouth to see who would wind up in the cellar in 2009-10 through the first half of the league slate.
But with three wins in its last four games—all of which were on the road—the Bears enters the final week of the season tied for fourth with a 5-7 record. Though it would need to beat first-place Cornell to finish at .500 in the league, it would double last season’s conference win total if it can split the pair of games against Cornell and Columbia at home.
That strong of a finish is important, because it brings badly needed optimism back to the program. With Matt Mullery playing his final two games this weekend, the Bears would be in trouble if this were truly a one-man wrecking crew.
However, Mullery’s supporting cast has been strong, and most will be back next season. Juniors Peter Sullivan, Garret Leffelman and Adrian Williams have all played well and should be poised to improve more as seniors next year, and the freshman class has been outstanding. If Tucker Halpern, Andrew McCarthy and Matt Sullivan can improve their consistency, Brown will be a team poised to make another big jump in the standings in 2010-11.
NOTES, QUOTES
—There’s one thing the Bears did better than every other Ivy League team this season: defend Harvard’s Jeremy Lin. Lin, a top candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year honors, was held under 10 points just twice in conference play heading into the final week of the season—in both games against Brown
Roster Report
Peter Sullivan joined teammate Matt Mullery in the 1,000-point club when he reached the milestone against Harvard. The junior will likely pass his current teammate next year, as he entered March with 1,008 career points, 97 behind the graduating big man.
Columbia
The shame of the end of Patrick Foley’s college career is that it will leave Lions fans wondering what would have happened if the guard had ever been able to stay healthy.
Foley, who along with fellow seniors Niko Scott and Kevin Bulger will dress for his final two collegiate games in the first weekend in March, has been a key part of the squad seemingly for as long as he’s been in school. But both his junior and senior seasons, when much was expected of him and when the team was counting on his production, were marred by injuries that cost him significant playing time.
The guard was emotional on his Senior Day, in which he played three token minutes in a loss to Princeton. Instead of taking the team to new heights, he’ll finish the season with the first losing Ivy League record of his career following three consecutive 7-7 seasons.
Columbia brings back a lot of talent next year, led by guard Noruwa Agho and forward Brian Grimes. The underclassmen have potential, and they could surprise if they develop in the offseason.
But for Foley, time runs out this weekend, and his injured shoulder might keep him from seeing the floor. If that happens, it would be a sad but someone fitting end to the co-captain’s college career, as his body would have let him down one final time.
Quote To Note: “It was unfortunate that we lost their last home game this way. I really wanted them to go out winners. I’ve got a great deal of respect for all three of them, they’ve meant a great deal to this program, and they’ve done a lot for us.”—Columbia coach Joe Jones, to the Columbia Spectator, following the Lions’ loss to Princeton in the home finale.
Cornell
Cornell ended most of the suspense in the Ivy League race by sweeping Princeton and Penn during the last weekend of February. That gave the Big Red a two-game edge with two games to play, and all it would take is one more win on the upcoming road trip to Brown and Yale in order to earn its third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
That doesn’t lessen the pressure on the Big Red, however, since the team’s goals go beyond simply being a participant in the Big Dance.
Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote want their final collegiate season to extend beyond the first two days of the tournament, which means getting a seed high enough to avoid a first-round matchup against one of the tournament favorites. The Big Red put itself into a position to do that with a strong nonconference schedule that had it spending much of its time on the road against big-name teams and holding its own.
One complicating factor in the plan, however, has been the lack of performance of the Cornell victims. Opening the season with a win at Alabama seemed huge, but the Crimson Tide began March near the bottom of the SEC. UMass was struggling in the Atlantic 10. St. John’s started the year off well but slumped Cornell beat the Red Storm and was in the bottom quadrant of the Big East.
That explains why the Big Red’s RPI, currently hovering around 50, isn’t higher. Another explanation: The Big Red’s lone Ivy loss of the season, at woeful Pennsylvania, was an RPI killer.
In most mock brackets, the Big Red entered the week seeded between No. 11 and No. 13. To get the best draw possible, it can’t afford any slip-ups this week, as losses to Brown or Yale would drag down the Cornell profile considerably and ensure a more unfavorable matchup in the opening round.
Dartmouth
With one week left in the regular season, there’s not much to play for at Dartmouth. The Big Green will finish in last place regardless of how it fares against Princeton and Penn, and won’t be playing in the postseason.
All that’s left is to finish the season as well as possible, and send the seniors off with a flourish.
Or, rather, “senior.”
One positive from this season to forget for the Big Green is that it’s been a transition year. With the loss of Alex Barnett, most expected Dartmouth to struggle, and indeed the team missed his offensive production all year. That partially explains the team’s last-place ranking in scoring offense among all Division I teams.
But the only player departing is Robby Pride. Everyone else is back, including improving freshmen Matt LaBove, R.J. Griffin, and Mbiyimoh Ghogomu.
Of course, there may be other changes to come. Mark Graupe hasn’t had the “interim” taken off his coaching title, and the school still plans a national search to fill the position during the offseason. But at least whoever winds up getting the job will have a more experienced nucleus of players than the crew ex-coach Terry Dunn and Graupe had to work with in 2009-10.
Harvard
The Harvard seniors took the court at Lavietes Pavilion for the final time on Feb. 27. Fittingly enough, the Crimson won.
Harvard’s 78-58 victory over the Bulldogs gave the 2009-10 Crimson squad the most wins in school history. The team was 20-6 entering the season’s final weekend. The previous record was 19 wins, held by the Harvard squad that made the NCAA Tournament in 1946.
That marks the Crimson’s last trip to the Big Dance, and try though they did, the class of Jeremy Lin, Doug Miller, Pat Magnarelli and Dan McGeary failed to change that. Even if it sweeps its final two games, Harvard would be knocked out of the title race by a Cornell win this weekend, and the Crimson isn’t going to make it as an at-large team.
It could still play somewhere in the postseason, however. The Crimson did well in nonconference play, and wins in its final two regular-season games would leave the team with a 22-6 record, 11-3 in the Ivy League. That’s impressive even to those outside the traditional Ancient Eight fan base, and the fact that the team has the potential Ivy League Player of the Year in Lin and a high-profile coach in Tommy Amaker doesn’t hurt.
If the Crimson could keep playing, that would be a huge step forward for the program. With Lin the only senior who could be considered irreplaceable, Harvard should be poised to challenge Cornell for the conference title next season. Though these seniors won’t be around to help on the court, they did their part in getting the Crimson to a point where that scenario could be considered possible.
In Focus: Harvard-Princeton is a big game to end the Ivy League season. The winner will likely finish in second place in the conference and have the upper hand in securing a postseason invitation to tournaments like the NIT or CBI.
Penn
Penn coach Jerome Allen is very familiar with the celebrations that come with winning an Ivy League title. When he played for the Quakers, that end-of-the-year festival seemed like his team’s birthright, as long as it took care of business against traditional rival Princeton.
Those days are gone. Allen is now on the Penn bench after the end of his professional playing career, and the celebration he witnessed came at the end of a two-game road trip, when Cornell locked up at least a share of the Ivy League crown by avenging its only conference loss of the season and beating the Quakers by 20.
The Quakers, meanwhile, enter the final week of the season with a 4-7 record. Expected to contend for the title before injuries and a poor start caused a coaching change and torpedoed those hopes, Penn needs to sweep its last three opponents to finish the season at .500.
For a fan base as rabid as the one in Philly, that’s not good enough, which explains why Allen is there in the first place. Forget about competing within the Ivy League—that’s expected as a matter of course. There’s also the other local Division I schools to compete with, programs such as Villanova and Temple.
After the Cornell game, players talked about using the experience as a motivator. The Big Red players put on their championship hats and T-shirts after the victory, and tossed shirts into the crowd. The Penn players had to stand and watch.
Everyone with the program is hoping that next year, the scene is reversed and Penn is the team getting to celebrate. There’s a long way to go to make that happen, but with the influx of players either returning from injuries or joining the team next year, the Quakers will at least have reinforcements as they look to catch Cornell, Harvard and Princeton atop the Ivy League standings.
Roster Report
• Zack Rosen is making a strong case for Ivy League Player of the Year honors despite Penn’s 4-7 conference record. He had been in double figures in every conference game through Feb. 28, and he had scored 20 or more points four times.
Princeton
Though not mathematically eliminated, the Tigers effectively saw their chance at the Ivy League title and corresponding berth in the NCAA Tournament end with a 50-47 loss to Cornell on Feb. 26.
But unlike a year ago, when Princeton struggled in nonconference play and couldn’t parlay its conference success into a postseason trip, the 2009-10 edition has a chance to earn a bid.
It won’t get an at-large berth in the NCAAs—the bubble isn’t quite that bad, and despite what the league’s coaches and players argue, the Ivy’s chances at multiple bids are always slim to none. But at 17-8 with three games left to play, the Tigers could be a candidate for the NIT or the College Basketball Invitational.
There’s no word on how aggressively the school is seeking placement in the postseason, and the talk is a bit premature at any rate. The regular season itself won’t end until March 9, three days later than most of the conference, when the Tigers take on Penn in the traditional finale.
However, if the Tigers finish strong, and particularly if the team can beat Harvard and claim second place in the conference, this could be an appealing postseason team. It has name recognition, and a tradition of basketball success that makes it attractive. And the team is always entertaining to watch for basketball aficionados given its trademark style of play.
Even if Cornell wraps up first place in the conference and eliminates Princeton, as most expect, there’s still plenty for Sydney Johnson’s club to play for.
Yale
The 2009-10 season hasn’t gone as well as the Bulldogs fans had hoped, but there’s one more thing for the team to accomplish this season.
Saying goodbye.
Yale seniors Alex Zampier, Paul Nelson, Jordan Gibson and Josh Davis will all play their final collegiate game March 6 against Cornell. Davis is hurt and may not be available to play even token minutes. Gibson and Nelson are key members of the rotation, but they won’t go down in history like the fourth member of the class.
hat would be Zampier. The senior guard graduates as the school’s all-time assists leader, both career and single-season. He finishes with more than 1,000 career points, and he is one of the best players in recent years to hit New Haven.
The team hasn’t had a good enough year to give him a trip to the postseason. However, it’s fitting that his final game will be against the best the Ivy has to offer—first-place Cornell. The Yale seniors will get to measure themselves against top competition for the final time as college basketball players.
In Focus: Yale isn’t going to win the Ivy League title or play in a postseason tournament. But what better way for Alex Zampier to go out than with a victory over Cornell on his Senior Day? Particularly if the Big Red clinches the crown on March 5, it may not come out with its usual focus against the Bulldogs
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Intro by Bill Bradley.