Yale, Princeton look to challenge Quakers

Last season, the annual two-horse race between Penn and Princeton was joined by Yale, who played its way to a three-way championship tie.

This season Penn and Yale are the favorites to win the division, with Princeton and Brown close behind. The other four teams figure to suffer again from the league's imbalance of talent, -- in allowing for a four-way dogfight for the top spot.

BROWN:

Coach: Glen Miller

2001-2002 record: 17-10 overall, 8-6 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Earl Hunt (Sr., G), Alaivaa Nuualiitia (Sr., F), Jason Forte (So., G) Mike Martin (Jr., G)

Key Losses: Shaun Ethridge (C), Omari Ware

Outlook: Brown finished a few steps behind the Ivy League championship trio, but the team's maturing core could take it to the next level this season. This season the Bears have their top five scorers back from the Ivy League's No. 1 offense.

Hunt, a two-time All-Ivy guard, has been the top scorer in the league the past two seasons and is Brown's clear-cut star. He scored 19.7 points per game and topped 30 five times. Brown's second all-time leading scorer was sent to the foul line more than anyone else in the Ivies last season.

Second-year point guard Jason Forte will feed Hunt the ball. The younger brother of former North Carolina star Joseph Forte came off the bench more than he started, but he was second to Hunt with 11.3 points per game and he was second in the Ivies with 121 assists.

Nuualiitia is the top low post force on the squad. The 6-foot-7 forward has led the team in rebounding for three years, and pulled down six boards a game despite suffering through a knee injury most of the season.

Six-foot-five junior Jamie Kilburn will man the other forward spot after averaging 7.2 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game, good for second on the team. 6-foot-7 swingman Patrick Powers chipped in four points per game as a sophomore and will share minutes in the frontcourt this season.

COLUMBIA:

Coach: Armond Hill

2001-2002 record: 11-17 overall, 4-10 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Chris Wiedemann (Sr., C), Marco McCottry (Sr., F), Grant Clemons (Jr., F),

Key Losses: Craig Austin (F), Joe Case (F), Mike McBrien (F), Treg Duerksen (G)

Outlook: Columbia looked like a team on the rise entering last season after two consecutive .500 Ivy League efforts. The Lions went 7-7 in the preseason, but took a step backwards and sputtered through their tough Ivy League schedule.

The foundation of the team is Wiedemann, who has consistently been one of the top centers in the Ivy League. The 6-foot-10 center is the two-time defending Ivy shot blocking leader. Behind him David Bizgia will be the first seven-footer to take the court for the Lions in 34 years.

Inexperience marks the forward position. McCottry and Clemons were little-used backups to McBrien and Case last season, but enter this year as the starters. McCottry contributed 3.7 points per game off the bench last year and will man the small forward position. Clemons has the size for power forward at 6-foot-7 but averaged fewer than six minutes per game last year.

The graduation of three senior guards has thrown the competition for playing time wide open. Six-foot junior Maurice Murphy inherits the point guard position. He saw little court time in the crowded backcourt last season, averaging 8.4 minutes per game. Sophomores Tito Hill, Jeremiah Boswell and Allan MacQuarrie bided most of their time on the bench as freshmen, but will be counted on this year to fill the minutes at guard.

CORNELL:

Coach: Steve Donahue

2001-2002 record: 5-22 overall, 2-12 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Ka'Ron Barnes (Jr., G), Jacques Vigneault (Sr., G), Cody Toppert (So., G)

Key Losses: Wallace Prather (G)

Outlook: Cornell has been stuck in the Ivy League basement for three straight seasons. With only two players above the sophomore level this season could go just as poorly for the beleaguered Big Red.

Prather's presence at the point will be missed, but one asset that Cornell is not short on is capable guards. Toppert scored 10.3 ppg as a freshman and is the team's only returning double digit scorer. Barnes scored 8.6 ppg as a shooting guard last year and will be counted upon to pick up the defensive slack created by Prather's departure.

Sophomores Steve Cobb and A.J. Castro will be joined by three freshmen in the competition for playing time at guard.

Sophomore Eric Taylor is the top performer returning from last season's frontcourt. The 6-foot-8 forward led the team with 5.1 rebounds per game and should see an increase in minutes this season. Sophomores Gabe Stephenson and Grant Harrell are part of a wide-open competition for playing time at the forward spot.

Second-year center Chris Vandenberg played only three games before sustaining a season-ending kneecap injury, but his performance was enough to earn him the initial starting nod. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 6.3 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game.

DARTMOUTH:

Coach: Dave Faucher

2001-2002 record: 9-18 overall, 2-12 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Charles Harris (Sr., F), Mike McLaren (So., G),

Key Losses: Flinder Boyd (G), Vedad Osmanovic (G)

Outlook: The Big Green have been consistently outgunned in Ivy competition since a 10-4 finish in the 1998-1999 season. They were brought crashing down again by the Ancient Eight, mustering only two victories and suffering a crushing 100-62 defeat at the hands of Penn.

As if last year's disappointment weren't sufficient cause for angst in Hanover, N.H., four-year starting point guard Boyd graduated.

McLaren is poised to provide offensive firepower from the shooting guard position. He contributed 9.1 points per game. 6-foot-3 sophomore Steve Callahan will be counted on to fill Boyd's shoes at the point this year. He will need to significantly improve his 1.3 assists per game average in order to become an offensive catalyst.

Team captain Harris emerged as an offensive leader at forward last season, averaging 10.8 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game. Competition for the forward spot opposite Harris includes fellow team captain Greg Friel, junior Tyler Davis and 6-foot-8 sophomore Brandon Smith are the frontrunners.

The Big Green have two potential impact players at center. 6-foot-11 junior Scott Klingbeil led the team with 31 blocked shots and shot .492 from the field. 6-foot-10 sophomore David Gardner shared the starting job in his first year.

HARVARD:

Coach: Frank Sullivan

2001-2002 record: 14-12 overall, 7-7 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Patrick Harvey (Sr., G), Sam Winter (Sr., F)

Key Losses: Andrew Gellert (G), Tim Coleman (C)

Outlook: Harvard, more than any other Ancient Eight squad, appears to be stuck in neutral. The team has finished 7-7 in the Ivies the last four seasons, leaving fans in Cambridge, Mass. to ponder how the Crimson will ever break back into the league's upper echelon.

Harvey has emerged as the unquestioned go-to player for the Crimson. The first team All-Ivy guard was the only Harvard player to average double figures in scoring, finishing second in scoring to Brown's Earl Hunt with 18.1 points per game.

Senior guard Elliot Prasse-Freeman returns at point guard with the main assignment of getting the ball to Harvey. The 6-foot-3 floor general has topped 100 assists and 100 rebounds in each of his three seasons for the Crimson, and his 498 career assists put him within striking distance of the all-time Ivy League assists record of 611.

Foot problems robbed seven-foot center Brian Sigafoos of his effectiveness last season and forced him to bench duty. He returns this year as the starter.

Winter emerged as the starting power forward last season and finished third on the team with 8.9 points per game. Sophomore Graham Beatty could step into the other forward position after appearing in every game as a freshman. He used his 6-foot-8 frame to grab two rebounds a game and is a solid defensive contributor.

PRINCETON:

Coach: John Thompson

2001-2002 record: 16-12 overall, 11-3 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Kyle Wente (Sr., G), Ray Robins (Sr., F), Andre Logan (Jr., F), Ed Persia (Jr., G)

Key Losses: Ahmed El-Nokali (G), Mike Bechtold (F)

Outlook: This preseason the Tigers find themselves in an unfamiliar position -- ranked third behind Penn and Yale -- and have Brown close behind. They lost four-year starting point guard El-Nokali and leading scorer Bechtold.

At forward, Robins returns for his senior season after emerging as a starter at forward. He contributed 6.7 points per game to the balanced Tigers attack, and sunk 47.5 percent of his shots from the field.

The return of two junior 6-foot-7 forwards should give Princeton's offense a boost. Andre Logan was leading the team in scoring and rebounding in the preseason, but he tore his ACL in Princeton's first Ivy League match. Spencer Gloger has been absent from the team for two seasons -- after transferring to UCLA and back to Princeton -- but as a freshman he averaged 13 points a game and set a Princeton record with 65 three-pointers.

At center, 6-foot-8 junior Konrad Wysoki is the returning starter. He replaces Dominick Martin, who started 21 games last season but left the program. Wysoki averaged seven points a game between his starting and backup duties, but only managed to block six shots.

Wente has the size (6-foot-4) to play both guard and forward, but is slotted as a guard. Wente is a minutes eater that contributed 6.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. The top candidate to join Wente in the backcourt is junior Ed Persia. Persia played significant minutes off the bench last year, contributing 5.5 points a game and 1.3 assists per game.

YALE:

Coach: James Jones

2001-2002 record: 21-11 overall, 11-3 Ivy League

Key Returning Players: Paul Vitelli (Jr., F), T.J. McHugh (Sr., F), Edwin Draughan (So., G), Alex Gamboa (So., G), Ime Archibong (Sr., G)

Key Losses: None

Outlook: Last season, Yale leaped from Ivy League also-ran to a three-way tie with Penn and Princeton for the league title. They even brought a first round victory in the NIT tournament back to New Haven, Conn.

The surprising Elis return their entire squad from last season. Leading the way will be Yale's strong backcourt trio of Archibong, Draughan, and Gamboa. Draughan and Gamboa claimed starting jobs as true freshman and ended the season as the team's No. 1 and No.2 scorers.

Draughan was a highly touted recruit and finished eighth in the Ivies in scoring (11.5 ppg). Ivy League Rookie of the Year Gamboa was Yale's most dangerous outside shooter, ranking second in the league with a .448 shooting percentage behind the arc. Archibong was again a dependable scorer and a standout defensive performer for Yale.

Team captain Chris Leanza, who led the team in scoring two years ago, missed the preseason with a shoulder injury but returned for the Ivy games.

Yale entered last season with a frontcourt vacuum, but Vitelli and McHugh ably filled it. Vitelli led the league in rebounds (7.2 rpg) and was fourth on the team in scoring. McHugh emerged as a defensive force and was second on the team in scoring.

The relative lack of big men was addressed with the arrival of 6-foot-8 Dextor Upshaw and 6-foot-7 Juan Wheat. The freshmen will compete for work as backups in the low post.

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