One of Penn men’s basketball’s greatest rivals is headed to the league. And this time, it’s not the Ivy.
Earlier this week, former Princeton men’s basketball forward Tosan Evbuomwan signed a 10–day contract with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, making him the only Ivy League product currently on an NBA roster. The 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year was a perennial thorn in the side for Penn, averaging 15.4 points over the course of seven career matchups with the Quakers.
After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft, Evbuomwan played for the Detroit Pistons during the NBA Summer League, and later spent 19 days on their active roster before being waived on October 21. Since signing with Detroit’s G-League affiliate, the Moor City Cruise, Evbuomwan has shown why he deserves a shot at the highest level, averaging 15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Last season, many drew comparisons between Evbuomwan’s NBA draft potential and that of former Penn guard Jordan Dingle, who was named Ivy Player of the Year in 2023 and also declared for the draft. Neither garnered significant interest, and while Evbuomwan, who had no collegiate eligibility remaining, continued on to the pros, Dingle opted to withdraw from the draft and transfer to St. Johns, where he is currently averaging 10.7 points per game.
Several of Evbuomwan's most memorable performances against the Quakers came during both his and Dingle’s final seasons for their respective teams. In 2023, the Tigers defeated the Red and Blue on three separate occasions, with the second denying Penn a regular season conference title and the third eliminating them from Ivy Madness. Evbuomwan averaged 20.6 points over the three wins for the Tigers, including a 21-point, four-rebound, six-assists gem in the Ivy Madness semifinal.
After defeating the Quakers, Princeton and Evbuomwan knocked off Yale in the Ivy championship game and went on to a legendary run in NCAA Tournament, becoming just the fourth No. 15 seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Evbuomwan was active for his first ever NBA game during the Grizzlies' February 1 matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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