*** College Basketball Preview - Ivy League ***
The My Sportsbook
OUTLOOK: By no stretch of the imagination can the Ivy League be considered one of the elite conferences in the country. However, with the likes of Princeton and Pennsylvania, the league continues to contribute steady competition. Expectations will be high for first-year coach Joe Scott as he grabs command of the Princeton Tigers. Scott takes over a team that returns four starters from last season and has a strong core of bench players. With the majority of the players returning for the Tigers, a repeat as league champions is more than likely. The only team that has a chance of competing with the Tigers in the Ivy League are the Penn Quakers. Led by head coach Fran Dunphy, the Quakers have been one of the superior teams in the Ivy League and despite losing three starters from a year ago, Dunphy's club comes into the season with a strong backcourt to go along with solid play underneath, giving them an above-average chance at dethroning the Tigers. Yale has the potential to make some noise this season, considering it has depth in the backcourt along with an experienced returning core of players. If Yale can be more consistent, coach James Jones' Bulldogs might be the surprise team in the Ivy. As for Columbia, its possesses a strong frontcourt and despite having a lack of depth it brought in a solid recruiting class, thus giving the Lions a bright future, but for the 2004-05 season they are a mediocre team at best. Brown comes into the season with a young squad and despite returning last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, Jason Forte, the Bears should be no better than a middle- of-the-pack team by season's end. As for Cornell, Harvard and Dartmouth, those schools might be able to exchange victories between themselves, but little more is expected from them. Overall, Princeton is obviously the team to beat, while Penn looks to be the only other school in the league that can challenge the Tigers.
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Princeton
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Princeton; 2. Pennsylvania; 3. Yale; 4. Columbia; 5. Brown; 6. Cornell; 7. Harvard; 8. Dartmouth
TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:
PRINCETON: Although the Tigers dropped a 17-point decision to Texas in the opening round of last year's NCAA Tournament, they had a tremendous season, and no doubt will enter the 2004-05 campaign looking to repeat as Ivy League champs. The return of Will Venable and Judson Wallace, both All-Ivy players last season, give coach Joe Scott a tremendous advantage against the rest of the conference. Wallace led the Tigers with 15.3 ppg and 6.4 rpg, while Venable contributed 10.3 ppg. Although the Tigers are in great position to take the Ivy League once again, not everything has gone smoothly for Scott, as the Tigers will be without 6-8 senior forward Andre Logan for an unspecified period of time due to knee surgery. Logan, who was lost for the 2002-03 season thanks to an ACL injury, was a huge contributor to the team's run last season, averaging 8.2 ppg and 4.8 rpg. With a strong recruiting class and depth at each position, the Tigers look to be the best team in the Ivy. But the health of Logan should cause some concern, at least at the outset.
PENNSYLVANIA: After turning down the head coaching position at La Salle University during the off-season, Fran Dunphy is back for yet another season of Penn basketball. With the Quakers graduating three starters from last season, the team will look to All-Ivy senior guard Tim Begley to lead the way. Last season, Begley averaged 13.1 ppg, along with 4.3 rpg and a team-best 4.2 apg. Sophomore Ibrahim Jaaber will be the floor captain for the Quakers this season, as he takes the point guard position and will team up with Begley, giving Penn one of the best backcourts in the Ivy. The departure of Adam Chubb, leaves the Quakers without a pure center, but hopefully forward Jan Fikiel can produce at the same level that Chubb did last season. Fikiel averaged 6.5 ppg and recorded nine blocks in his limited time on the court. After seeing significant time in the starting lineup as a freshman, Mark Zoller should improve on his numbers from a year ago. Although the Quakers have a young squad, they do possess a leader in Begley and probably the best coach in the conference, giving them the ability to make a run at the title.
YALE: The Bulldogs finished the 2003-04 season with an even mark in conference play, but they finished the year three games below .500 overall. Yale should improve on those figures considering its three big-time players, Alex Gamboa, Edwin Draughan and Dominick Martin are returning for the 2004-05 campaign. Gamboa (9.0 ppg and 3.8 apg) and Draughan (11.6 ppg and 3.2 apg) have the talent and the leadership to be one of the best backcourts in the Ivy League. Martin gives the Bulldogs a solid player underneath both on offense and defense. Last season, Martin averaged 11.4 ppg along with 5.1 rpg and collected 20 blocked shots on the season and those numbers should improve this year. The departure of Paul Vitelli and Matt Minoff leaves the Bulldogs weak at the forward position entering the year, but hopefully sophomore Sam Kaplan can contribute more after showing promise last season off the bench. If all else fails, Yale has two promising recruits at the forward position in twin brothers Caleb and Nick Holmes. Both players could see significant time in their rookie year, depending on how the other forwards perform.
COLUMBIA: Last season the Lions finished just 6-8 in conference play and because of their subpar play they are determined to produce a winning season in 2004-05. The return of All-Ivy forward Matt Preston, along with forward Dragutin Kravic and new center Ben Nwachukwum, give the Lions potential to make a ton of noise in the conference. Nwachukwum, a 6-8, 235-pound freshman from Enugu, Nigeria, will be a great complement to Preston, who led the Lions last season with 15.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg. Although Preston seems to be the team- leader, Kravic is the player to watch on this Columbia team. In a game against Yale last season, Kravic dropped 35 points and pulled down 12 boards in a strong performance and finished the year averaging 12.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg. Preston and Kravic could be the best one-two tandem in the conference, but a lack of size along the front line could cause the Lions to struggle on the boards this year.
BROWN: Last season the Brown Bears posted a 14-13 overall record, making it four straight season above .500, which is a school-record. But if the Bears want to extend that streak to five seasons, they must help star player Jason Forte as he simply can't do it all. Forte is considered the best player in the Ivy League and his numbers last season vouch for that, as the senior guard averaged 16.8 ppg while leading his team with 129 assists and 48 steals. Despite Forte's fine play, the Bears will need forwards Luke Ruscoe and Sam Manhanga to elevate their play. Last year, Ruscoe averaged just 8.1 ppg, while Manhanga posted a mere 4.1 ppg. The departure of Patrick Powers (5.6 rpg) and Jaime Kilburn (6.6 rpg), will no doubt hurt the Bears on the glass this season. With Forte on the floor, coach Glen Miller should feel confident that his team will be in just about every game, but if he wants to win, other players must step up.
CORNELL: The Big Red continue to improve under coach Steve Donahue, but this season should be tougher without star player Ka'Ron Barnes, who averaged 20.1 ppg and led the team with 125 assists last year. Luckily for Cornell it still has a majority of its starting lineup intact. Center Eric Taylor gives the Big Red a strong presence in the paint and he should improve on his numbers from a year ago. Shooting guard Cody Toppert, who was second on the Big Red last season with 14.6 ppg, and forward Lenny Collins, who averaged 10.3 ppg and 5.2 rpg, both must elevate their game for Cornell to post a record of .500 or better. Freshman recruit Khaliq Gant should see a lot of time at the point this season and should complement the rest of the lineup nicely. Although the Big Red have a promising starting five, they lack experience on the bench.
HARVARD: If Harvard has one thing in its favor it is the height advantage it possess with 7-0 center Brian Cusworth and 6-8 forward Matt Stehle. Last season, Stehle led the Crimson with 7.0 rpg and 43 blocks and was second on the team with 13.6 ppg. Cusworth looks to be a valuable addition underneath the net for Harvard and should match up well with the other big men in the conference. Senior guard Kevin Rogus should once again lead the team in scoring, but he must be a more consistent shooter, as the senior guard knocked down just 32 percent of his shots a year ago. Harvard's promising recruit, guard Tyler Klunick will add depth to a strong back court and could pressure last season's starting point guard Michael Beal for playing time. The addition of Cusworth to the frontcourt and Klunick to the backcourt make this Crimson team stronger than the '03-'04 squad, but despite the added talent Harvard should still end up near the bottom of the standings come March.
DARTMOUTH: With a new head coach in Terry Dunn and all five starters from last season back in the fold, the Big Green are obviously better than last season. The main reason for the high hopes of an improved season is sophomore sensation Leon Pattman, who averaged a team-high 13.2 ppg to go along with 4.4 rpg. His tremendous play as a freshman won him Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the Ivy League. One objective that coach Dunn would like to achieve this season is making David Gardner more of a threat on offense, considering the 6-10 center averaged just 8.9 ppg last year. Steve Callahan, who was named co- captain along with Gardner for this season, must be more consistent on offense as the guard posted just 7.9 ppg while shooting only 39 percent from the field. Forward Calvin Arnold was not much help on offense last season, averaging only 5.2 ppg, and although Dunn would like to see improvement there, he should be happy with the defensive play of the 6-9 junior, especially if he duplicates last season's 40 blocked shots.
