Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
OUTLOOK: With three-time defending champion Cornell suffering significant
losses, the Ivy League is now wide open for the taking.
Princeton is one of the frontrunners for the title with several talented
returnees, while Penn could make the biggest jump following an injury riddled
campaign.
Harvard, surprisingly, is in the mix fresh off a record campaign and Brown
could be considering the dark horse with a young but talented roster.
Columbia, Yale and Dartmouth aren't expected to be contenders in 2010-11, with
several holes to fill.
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Cornell
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Princeton, 2. Penn, 3. Harvard, 4. Brown, 5.
Cornell, 6. Columbia, 7. Yale, 8. Dartmouth.
TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:
PRINCETON - Sydney Johnson has the Princeton program on the rise and that was
evident in last season's success when the Tigers went 22-9 overall and 11-3
within the Ivy League. The Tigers even reached the semifinals of the CBI and
with three starters back in the fold, Princeton is now a favorite to win its
first Ivy League title since 2004. The Tigers boast one of the top backcourt
tandems in the conference with the return of Doug Davis (12.7 ppg) and Dan
Mavraides (11.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg), while Patrick Saunders (5.1 ppg), Kareem Maddox
(6.2 ppg) and Ian Hummer (6.9 ppg) give Princeton some options in the
frontcourt.
PENN - The Quakers are ready to return to their glory days under head coach
Jerome Allen, who took over after Glen Miller was let go in December. Allen
went just 6-15 as an interim following Miller's release, but the poor record
was mostly due to a depleted roster. Penn lost a few players to injury, but
now fully healthy, the Quakers should be ready to compete for an Ivy League
championship. Leading the charge is scoring champ Zack Rosen, who tallied 17.7
ppg and 4.4 apg last season. If Tyler Bernardini can stay healthy, he will
join Rosen to help form one of the elite backcourt tandems in the league. Jack
Eggleston is another important player for the Quakers and he produced 13.0
ppg, 6.4 rpg a year ago.
HARVARD - The Crimson is coming off a historic campaign, winning a school-
record 21 games and making a postseason appearance (CollegeInsider.Com
Tournament) for the first time since 1946. Head coach Tommy Amaker has
obviously done wonders for this program and he should have Harvard competing
for its first-ever Ivy League title this season. The biggest issue for Amaker
is replacing Jeremy Lin, who did it all with averages of 16.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg and
4.5 apg last season. Fortunately, the Crimson has options to pick up the slack
and that includes Kyle Casey, who turned in 10.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg on his way to
Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. Keith Wright (8.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and
Christian Webster (8.8 ppg) are two other player expected to make an even
bigger impact this year.
BROWN - The Bears could be ready to take the next step under head coach Jesse
Agel, as they return four starters and welcome in a strong recruiting class.
Peter Sullivan leads the returnees after averaging 12.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg and he
should be in line for an even bigger campaign. Tucker Halpern (8.1 ppg) and
Andrew McCarthy (6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg) are expected to build off solid freshman
campaigns, while Garrett Leffelman (7.5 ppg) and Adrian Williams (5.7 ppg)
should improve with a little more consistency.
CORNELL - Bill Courtney takes over the head coaching duties at Cornell and he
has a tall task ahead of him considering the Big Red have won the last three
Ivy League titles. Four starters are also gone from last year's Sweet 16 club,
so Courtney will have an even more difficult time keeping Cornell atop the Ivy
League in 2010-11. Chris Wroblewski (8.9 ppg, 3.1 apg) is the most well known
of the returnees and he will now be asked to take on a bigger role. No other
player welcomed back even averaged 5.0 ppg, so the rest of the roster will be
made up of new faces.
COLUMBIA - Kyle Smith steps in as head coach of Columbia this year and he is
hoping to end the Lions' current streak of 17 straight seasons with a losing
Ivy League record. Noruwa Agho (16.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) is Smith's top returning
option, while Brian Grimes (7.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Asenso Ampim (7.0 ppg, 5.0
rpg) are two other weapons at his disposal. Plenty of experience exists for
the Lions to improve on their five league wins from a season ago.
YALE - James Jones has consistently turned out competitive teams, but the
Bulldogs could struggle this season without a big time scorer on the roster.
Michael Sands (10.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is the team's best hope to become a premier
player, while Greg Mangano (7.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Porter Braswell (6.0 ppg)
should be steady contributors.
DARTMOUTH - The Big Green faced all sorts of adversity last season and
crumbled with a dismal 1-13 finish in the Ivy League. Helping to rebuild the
program now falls on the shoulders of Paul Cormier, who coached the Big Green
from 1984-91. Cormier welcomes back four starters, but none of which even
averaged double figures. Ronnie Dixon (9.3 ppg) and Clive Weeden (5.2 ppg, 4.8
rpg) are two of the returnees hoping to turn this team around, and they will
receive help from David Rufful (7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Jabari Trotter (6.5
ppg).
The Sports Network