Ivy League Basketball News

Matt Mullery’s team, Landstede Zwolle, played its first exhibition game on Saturday, but no box score can be found. Zwolle lost 80-93 to Dutch rivals ZZ Leiden. The Brown alum arrived in the Netherlands on August 15.

Princeton’s Marcus Schroeder attended D-League tryouts on Saturday in Oakland, one stop of many on his journey to land a pro contract. Princetonbasketball.com writes,

Yesterday he was in Oakland.

Tonight he’s in Seattle.

Tomorrow he’ll land in China.

Marcus Schroeder will go wherever he has the best chance to continue his basketball career.

“I’m trying to play next year. Overseas, anywhere – it doesn’t really matter,” Schroeder said from a hotel in the Emerald City. “I do not have an agent. I’ve been trying to represent myself, using different contacts that I’ve developed throughout my college career.”

Cornell alum Louis Dale played his second game with German team Gottingen, scoring 10 points in a win against UBC Tigers Hannover, a German Pro-A team.

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The Ithaca Journal spoke to former Cornell coach Steve Donahue about the pro placements of recent grads Wittman, Foote, Dale, and Jaques. Says Donahue,

“In a lot of ways, all four made really good decisions,” Donahue said by phone Thursday. “In terms of where they’re at, the type of coaches they’re playing for, the cities they’re living in, the style of play. It fits every one of them. The guys did the right thing, took their time, had good representation, and in the long run it helps — those three in particular: Louis and Jeff and Ryan — to keep improving.

“Eventually, their hope is they can compete and improve their game to get to their goal of playing in the NBA or at the highest of levels and make this a really successful career.”

Princetonbasketball.com reports that Tiger alum Marcus Schroeder will be attending open D-League tryouts in Oakland on Saturday.

Harvard released its 2010-2011 roster yesterday.  It includes five incoming freshmen.  Current  sophomore Spencer de Mars is no longer listed on the roster.

Harvard also officially released the schedule that was inadvertently released by the Ivy League office last week.

Brown has also released its 2010-2011 roster, which includes four new freshmen and a transfer.  Current junior Marques Coleman is no longer listed on the roster.

The University of Kentucky released an official schedule that includes a matchup with Penn on January 3.

The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Buzz blog comments on the UK match-up.

Last year Penn men’s basketball suffered one of its the program’s worst defeat ever at Duke.

This year, the Quakers are headed to perennial powerhouse Kentucky. But it’s okay, right? All their players left for the NBA draft…

Toledo transfer Stephen Albrecht, now playing at Brown, has been added to the Twitter directory.

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General
Ivy League Basketball News (this site’s twitter account)
Ivy League Athletics Office
Michael R James (Basketball-U)
Ivy.Basketball-U

Brown
Stephen Albrecht
Marques Coleman(former player; inactive)
Andrew McCarthy
Brown Athletics (inactive)

Columbia
Noruwa Agho (inactive)
Brian Barbour
Kevin Bulger (alum, inactive)
Chris Crockett
Steve Egee
Patrick Foley (alum)
Dean Kowalski
Columbia Athletics

Cornell
Louis Dale (alum)
Jeff Foote (alum)
Khaliq Gant (alum)
Max Groebe (inactive)
Jon Jaques (alum)
Jake Matthews
Peter McMillan
Conor Mullen (alum)
Andrew Naeve (alum)
Aaron Osgood
Errick Peck
Geoff Reeves (alum)
Manny Sahota
Dominick Scelfo
Dwight Tarwater
Alex Tyler (alum)
Andre Wilkins (alum)
Asst. coach Jay Larranaga
Asst. coach Marlon Sears
Asst. coach Ricky Yahn
Cornell Basketball Blog
Slope Media Sports
Brian Delaney (Ithaca Journal)
WVBR Sports (Radio; Voice of the Big Red)
Daily Sun Sports
Wittman Facts

Dartmouth
Mbiyimoh Ghogomu
The Young Cons (Josh Riddle & David Rufful)
Big Green Alert (Dartmouth football blog also covers bball)
The Dartmouth Sports

Harvard
Brandyn Curry
Evan Harris (alum)
Drew Housman (alum)
Jeremy Lin (alum)
Oliver McNally
Alex Okam
Laurent Rivard
Jonah Travis (HS, 2011)
Andrew van Nest
Christian Webster
Keith Wright
Asst. coach Yanni Hufnagel
Hoops at Harvard (official Harvard basketball twitter)
The Harvard Crimson Sports
WHRB Sports (Harvard radio)

Penn
Tommy Eggleston
Ibrahim Jaaber (alum)
Dau Jok
Justin Reilly (alum)
Andreas Schreiber
Darren Smith
Mark Zoller (alum)
Daily Pennsylvanian Sports
Penn Basketball
Soft Pretzel Logic (Philly sports)

Princeton
TJ Bray
Sean Gregory (alum)
Benjamin Hazel
Denton Koon (HS, 2011; inactive)
PrincetonBallsketball.com (Princeton Basketball blog twitter)

Yale
Greg Mangano (inactive)
Yale Daily News Sports
Yale Athletics

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Discusses legacy of Pete Carril at Princeton with ESPN’s Andy Katz, Georgetown coach John Thompson III, and Oregon coach Craig Robinson.

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Princeton has released its 2010-11 schedule.  Highlights include defending NCAA champs Duke on Nov 14.

CAPS = home games    * = conference games   ^^=Tentative

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Rush The Court reviews the Ivy League’s summer — including coaching changes, Lin’s pro signing, and Harvard’s recruiting violation — and presents its predicted ivy standings for next year, which are as follows:

1. Harvard (12-2): Yes, they lose Jeremy Lin, but they return three ultra-talented sophomores, including Freshman of the Year Kyle Casey. The 6’7 forward began last season as the 6th man but started the last ten games, averaging ten points and five rebounds per game. They also boast a sophomore backcourt that we see as a potential top-10 duo in the country in Brandyn Curry and Christian Webster. The latter scored 24 points in only 28 minutes in Harvard’s postseason loss to Appalachian St. Sprinkle in another prized recruiting class that includes a few players in the top 150 and you have all the ingredients for an Ivy Championship.
2. Princeton (11-3): They were six points away from hoisting the conference championship trophy last season, as two heartbreaking three-point losses to eventual champion Cornell did them in. Most publications project the Tigers as 2010-11 champs, as this is another team that returns a talented trio in top scorer Doug Davis, leading rebounder Dan Mavraides and late-blooming freshman Ian Hummer. We see a nip and tuck race with the depth of the Crimson being the deciding factor.
3. Penn (10-4): Don’t be surprised if Penn projects itself into the Ivy race this season. And if they do, it will be most assuredly on the back of last year’s RTC Ivy POY Zack Rosen. The 6’1 junior was at or near the top in five key stats, including leading the league in scoring. If he continues to mature as a player, he very well could receive a lot of national recognition, a la Jeremy Lin and Ryan Wittman last season. Now, if only the rest of the roster can remain healthy — a difficult task the past two years — the Quakers can take aim at what they consider their rightful place at the top of the league.
4. Cornell (9-5): How the mighty have fallen; Is the reign of the Big Red over? Maybe not, despite huge losses via graduation. They return four players who saw considerable action during last year’s championship run (Chris Wroblewski, Errick Peck, Adam Wire, and Mark Coury), and thus have enjoyed and expect success. While this year’s freshman class was recruited by Steve Donahue, who is no longer with the program, they come with promising credentials. Should our projections hold true, the future in Ithaca should be bright. Remember, it was new leader Bill Courtney who recruited most of the George Mason NCAA Final Four team in 2006.
5. Brown (5-9): The bad news: the graduation of All-Ivy Matt Mullery, who led the Bears last season in several offensive stats. The good news: the next six scorers all return, led by Peter Sullivan and All-Ivy freshman Tucker Halperin. Brown could improve by leaps and bounds; They went 4-4 over their final eight league games, which included an almost unheard of weekend road sweep of Penn and Princeton. We would not be surprised to see the Bears make a run.
6. Columbia (4-10): One would have to consider the now-concluded Joe Jones era a disappointment. At times showing promise during his seven-year tenure (one top four finish), the bottom line is that the Lions were 20 games below .500 in Ivy play during that period. Enter Kyle Smith, the former associate head coach at St. Mary’s of California. He was responsible for running the offense and coordinating all recruiting activities. And lest you forget, St. Mary’s reached the Sweet 16 in last year’s tournament. Admittedly, it is not easy to build a program and win at Columbia — one has to go back to the Jim Macmillan/Heyward Dotson days. Maybe Smith, a master recruiter, is exactly what the Lions need.
7. Yale (3-11): There is still one Jones left in the Ivy League: James at Yale. And to offset the loss of All-Ivy swingman Alex Zampier, Jones brought in a national recruiting class, with players from California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and New York, all of whom were 1000-point scorers in their high school careers. Additionally, the Elis return six players who averaged more than ten minutes of playing time per game, led by second-leading scorer Michael Sands. If the class of 2014 can contribute immediately, Yale could be one of the deepest teams in the league.
8. Dartmouth (2-12): Hope in Hanover? Paul Cormier, who returns for his second tour of duty at Dartmouth, must think there’s some. The basis for such optimism lies in the fact that the Big Green, who amazingly had no player average in double figures last year, returns five of their top six scorers and eight players who averaged double figures in minutes played. This group is led by 6’1 Ronnie Dixon, the best shooter on the team. If the rest of the returnees can show some improvement, perhaps Cormier can lead his team out of the cellar.

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• LEEInks list: Top NBA Ivy Leaguers http://ow.ly/2hG0f #
• Washington Post: Harvard graduate Jeremy Lin blazes unique trail to Golden State Warriors http://ow.ly/2hHC4 #
• Combining Love of Sports with NCAA Experience, Harris Enjoys First Year as Ivy League Commissioner| Town Topics http://ow.ly/2i0a9 #

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Rivals.com thinks Princeton coach Sydney Johnson is one low mid-major coach that could move up after the 2010-11 season:

PRINCETON’S SYDNEY JOHNSON
Age: 36
League: Ivy
Buzz: Johnson, a Princeton alum, has done yeoman work in his three seasons as coach of the Tigers. They were 6-23 in his first season after he was hired off the staff at Georgetown. The Tigers improved to 13-14 in his second season, then finished 22-9 — including a run to the CBI semifinals — last season. Johnson was the Ivy League player of the year in 1996-97 and understands the intricacies of the league, including its tough recruiting standards. He’s also a good Xs-and-Os guy, not surprising when you consider he was recruited to Princeton by Pete Carril. As for the idea that a “big” school wouldn’t take a chance on an Ivy coach, there are four former Ivy coaches now working in a Big Six conference — Donahue in the ACC, Northwestern’s Bill Carmody in the Big Ten, Oregon State’s Craig Robinson in the Pac-10 and Georgetown’s John Thompson III in the Big East. Johnson was on Georgetown’s staff when he was hired away by Princeton — and Thompson was Princeton’s coach when he was hired away by Georgetown.

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SBNation’s Bay Area blog has the following note on Jeremy Lin’s summer league performance:

Harvard standout Jeremy Lin worked off the ball tirelessly for Dallas, running the baseline and cutting through the half court to free himself up. When he got opportunities with the ball, Lin displayed composure. His athleticism isn’t freakish — most of his drives to the hole are straight-line routes — but his incursions into the paint were fearless. He finished with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting. He also racked up five turnovers when the speed of the game escalated. Lin acknowledged that there’s a chasm between Ivy League play and what transpires here in Las Vegas. “I think the style of the game, NBA rules, pick-and-rolls, the speed and athleticism are the biggest differences,” Lin said. “I’m just trying to figure out when to attack, when to shoot, reading defensive coverages. It’s a lot more complex than it was in college.”

SBNation’s Voodoo blog also notes on Jeremy Lin,

I saw that Harvard’s Jeremy Lin might be the best player to come out of the Ivy League since Bill Bradley, and he might become a decent role guy in the NBA.

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An ESPN Los Angeles blog thinks that Penn alum Ibrahim Jaaber has a good shot at making the Lakers roster.

Meet Ibrahim Jaaber, the latest player on the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer league roster who is starting to turn heads in the team’s front office as a potential player who can make the team next season.

Jaaber (pronounced Jab-burr), a 6-2, 170-pound guard from the University of Pennsylvania, is averaging a modest 6.5 points, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals through the Lakers’ 0-2 start in Las Vegas (they lost 92-74 to Denver on Saturday) but has made a good first impression.

“He’s had a really good 10-day period with us,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said.

Jaaber’s NBA dream has been a long time coming after he finished his senior season at Penn by being named the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2007 and heading overseas to play for Lottomatica Roma in the Euroleague.

With the Lakers’ guard situation still in flux next season — with Jordan Farmar expected to sign with a new team and Derek Fisher and Shannon Brown involved in ongoing negotiations with the team — Jaaber could end up trading his practice jersey for an authentic uniform with sewn purple and gold lettering come October.

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ESPN.com’s College Basketball Nation blog discusses the weird format of the CBE tourney that Princeton will be participating in come November.

But here’s why the setup is funky: If, Princteon beats Miami of Ohio in the first “round,” they’ll “advance” to take on Duke. And even if Princeton upsets the Dukies at their own party, it doesn’t matter: The Tigers go home, and the Dukies move on to play in the semifinals of the event Nov. 22-23 in Kansas City.

It’s a bummer for the little guys. If you’re Princeton, and you just beat Duke, don’t you want the thrill of taking your suddenly explosive upset potential to Kansas City, where you can test your mettle against other top teams? Of course you do. It’s just a preseason tournament competition, but still, the games count. That’s a great opportunity.

Still, the tournament competition is a business, and business dictates that Kansas State, Duke, Gonzaga and Marquette advance and play each other in Kansas City, regional results be damned.

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ESPN’s Land o’ Lakers blog Summer League preview includes the following notes on Penn’s Ibby Jaaber:

Finally, among the guards, Ibrahim Jaaber is easily the most interesting name, literally and figuratively. College hoops fans may remember Jaaber as the guard who led some pretty decent Penn teams into the NCAA’s a few years back. Undrafted after his collegiate career wrapped up, Jaaber went to play in Europe, most recently in Italy for Lottomatica Roma. He’s become a pretty productive player over there, from what I gather via the Internet (lest you think we’re spending the LoL budget sending me to scout players in Italy, though I’m ready to volunteer should such an assignment be available). Jaaber’s reputation as a defender is solid, and at 6′2″, 170, he seems to qualify as a good change-of-pace behind Kobe, Blake, Fisher, and Sasha Vujacic.

He’s not much of a shooter, though, particularly from downtown.

Though born in New Jersey, he carries a Bulgarian passport and has played for the Bulgarian national team as a naturalized citizen. American players with European passports are pretty valuable over there, because they allow teams to circumvent some of the restrictions on carrying US players.

Anyhoo, just as it is with Strawberry, a high-level performance in Vegas combined with a good camp could (again, theoretically) earn a spot on the roster. Asssuming the Lakers don’t sign someone in the interim, of course.

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Cornell’s Jon Jaques and Louis Dale spoke to Brian Delaney of the Ithaca Journal about their recently signed pro-contracts (both one-year deals) and about Cornell basketball’s chances for next year.

Similar information is repeated in an Ithaca Journal article.

They are excited about Germany and Europe, and they expect big things from Centenary transfer Anthony Gatlin.

Dale – “What’s fun about it is we’re all real excited to have this opportunity to travel and play the game we love, and just see a different part of the world.” Dale said BG Goettingen plays a pressing, up-tempo style similar to Missouri, which bounced Cornell from the 2009 NCAA tournament. The Club won the 2010 EuroChallenge title in May, led by former Bucknell standout Chris McNaughton. McNaughton, however, recently signed on with another team. Dale said coach John Patrick told him he wants a point guard that can score and set up his teammates – pretty much what the country saw Dale do in the 2010 tournament.

Jaques – “It’s wild. I think part of the reason I was so (initially) resistant to playing was that until two, three months ago, I never thought of myself as a pro basketball player. Now it’s kind of unbelievable. Being paid to play basketball, basically have a job playing basketball. So many people would kill for it; it’s pretty remarkable.” Jaques said Steve Donahue had told him that he’d have a good opportunity to sign with an Israeli team because of his Jewish heritage, and that’s exactly what’s transpired. Jaques said he’ll be about a 40-minute drive from Jeff Foote’s Maccabi Tel-Aviv team, if Foote makes that club’s roster right away. There have been reports that Tel-Aviv would loan Foote out for a year for developmental purposes.

As for Cornell in 2010-11, Jaques reiterated what several teammates and former coaches have already publicly stated – that the Big Red’s question mark next season will be experience, not talent, when it comes to potentially winning a fourth straight title.

“Definitely enough talent to win a league championship,” Jaques said.

He went on to say Anthony Gatlin, a 6-8 bouncy combo forward, can be a matchup problem for Ivy opponents. “He’s going to cause so many problems for opponents because of his length and athleticism,” Jaques said. “It’s something you don’t see a lot of in the Ivy League. Seeing him work out in the gym and the weight room, he’s gotten so much stronger in the last year, and he’s a pretty skilled player. When he adds that strength to his game, he’s going to be a hard matchup.”

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The Ithaca Journal article also summarizes Ryan Wittman’s performance with the  Celtics’  Summer League squad yesterday.

Wittman update

In the NBA’s Orlando Summer League on Thursday, Indiana rallied from a 27-point halftime deficit to beat Boston, 86-85.

Former Cornell standout Ryan Wittman, who is dressing for Boston’s team, played just over 16 minutes and scored three points. He had two rebounds, an assist, a steal and no turnovers.

Wittman and the Celtics wrap up play in Orlando at noon today against New Jersey. Wittman will also play on New York’s Las Vegas Summer League team. The Vegas schedule goes from July 9-18.

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Princeton is set to face national champions Duke on November 14, according to a release from PrincetonTigers.com:

The Tigers will travel to Duke, the defending national champions, to start a four-game participation in the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic tournament on Nov. 14.

Later in November, Princeton will play three games at either Miami University in Ohio or James Madison to complete the CBE event.

The rest of Princeton’s 2010-11 schedule is still being finalized and will be announced in the coming weeks.

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