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Princeton University Athletics
Tiger Basketball 20 Questions
November 18, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Are all of those guys really gone?
It has been 19 months since Princeton went 27-2 and rose to seventh in the national polls. That dream season was fashioned on the strength of a starting five of center Steve Goodrich, forwards Gabe Lewullis and James Mastaglio and guards Brian Earl and Mitch Henderson. Those five, who combined for almost 5,000 career points, 13 All-Ivy League honors and two Ivy League Player of the Year awards, have all graduated.
How many returning starters are there this year?
Princeton definitely has three returning starters and two starters lost from last year, when Princeton went 22-8 and reached the NIT quarterfinals. It's not exactly clear, however, who the returning starters are. Chris Young, who started all 30 games last year, is defintely one. Chris Krug started 27 games at one forward spot before Mason Rocca started the last three, and both are back. C.J. Chapman started the first 22 games last year at one guard spot before Ahmed El-Nokali started the final eight, both are back.
Earl, Lewullis and the hyphen guy are all gone?
Princeton graduated Ivy League Player of the Year Brian Earl and first-team All-Ivy League selection Gabe Lewullis, both of whom were basically four-year starters. Earl scored 1,428 points in his career, Lewullis had 1,277. Every returning Tiger combined has 1,191. In addition to those two, Princeton also graduated Chris Kilburn-Peterson, who made a name for himself by missing the 1998 NCAA tournament to travel to Thailand to pursue his invention of a silent vacuum cleaner.
Is this schedule for real?
Princeton, which won the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii and had four wins over NCAA tournament teams last year, certainly has an ambitious schedule this time around. It begins with the NABC Classic, where the Tigers take on the host team Syracuse in the opening round. Following that is a game the next night against either Missouri or Wisconsin. Between that start and the beginning of the Ivy League season, Princeton will play home games against 1999 NCAA teams Lafayette and Alabama-Birmingham and fellow NIT quarterfinalist Texas Christian. There is also a tournament at Charlotte that opens with UNLV and includes North Carolina and the College of Charleston and a special road trip for a game with Ohio University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, not to mention a New Year's Eve game against Holy Cross. Princeton is also at Kansas and Rutgers.
Does size matter?
In basketball it does, and Princeton will field its biggest team maybe ever. The Tigers have a 6' 11” center in Chris Young, and he is joined up front by 6' 9” Mason Rocca, 6' 9” Chris Krug, 6' 8” Cameron Carr and 6' 7” Nate Walton. As recently as 1995 Princeton had only one player taller than 6' 5”, the 1999 Tigers will have only one player shorter than 6' 4”.
Where do you start on this year's team?
This year, you start in the middle with Chris Young. Perhaps no other athlete in Princeton history has had the impact his freshman year that Young did. Young was the Ivy League Rookie of the Week seven times in basketball, including each of the last six weeks. He followed that by being a unanimous choice as Ivy Rookie of the Year after averaging 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds while setting a school record with 55 blocked shots and shooting 54% from the field. Young was in double figures in each of the last 11 games of the season and 17 of the last 19. He finished his season by scoring 24 in the win over North Carolina State and 21 in the loss to Xavier. If that wasn't enough, Young moved immediately to the baseball field, where he became the first male athlete in Ivy League history to be Rookie of the Year in two sports. He was a second-team All-Ivy pick in basketball and a first-team All-Ivy pick in baseball.
Is Chris Young the typical Princeton center?
Young came to Princeton from a high school career in which he rarely shot from outside or was asked to pass. In his freshman year at Princeton, he made nearly 40% of his three-pointers (22 for 56), including 11 of his last 21. He also had 86 assists against 62 turnovers.
If Chris Young doesn't get any better, how good will he be?
If you take Chris Young's freshman numbers and multiply them by four, he would finish second in scoring, first in blocked shots, fourth in assists and sixth in rebounding at Princeton.
How many rebounds did Mason Rocca have against Georgetown?
Eighteen. It was the highest single-game total by a Princeton player since Bill Bradley in 1965. It was also indicative of what Rocca can do. Playing most of the season in a reserve role, Rocca averaged 7.7 points and 5.9 rebounds in 26 minutes per game last year. Add another, say, eight minutes per game to that total, and you're looking at 10.1 points and 7.7 rebounds and the perfect complement to Young. Rocca, who can play forward or center, had some huge nights last year, including a 13-point six-rebound game to spark the huge comeback from 27 points down against Penn and a 25-point, seven-rebound night against Dartmouth at Jadwin Gym.
What is the captain situation?
Chris Young and Mason Rocca are the co-captains. Young becomes the second sophomore in program history to be a captain, after Sydney Johnson.
What about the other big men?
Chris Krug started the first 27 games and had a freshman year not unlike the previous Tiger big man from Philadelphia, Steve Goodrich, who went from an up-and-down freshman year to be a three-time first-team All-Ivy pick. Krug is big, athletic and smart, and he had his strong moments from his freshman year (10 points, eight rebounds against UAB, a solid night at Penn). Krug spent last year learning to play forward, he should be greatly improved. In addition, Princeton also has the returning Nate Walton, who has healed after undergoing foot surgery that wiped out all but five games of last year. He is back as a junior. Carmeron Carr, a top recruit, is also a forward.
Did Ahmed really play 40 minutes and not shoot?
Not really, though Ahmed El-Nokali did go 37 minutes at one stretch last year between field goal attempts. Still, no current Tiger is as good at starting the offense as the sophomore from Pittsburgh. El-Nokali played 559 minutes last year and took 59 shots, roughly one every 9.5 minutes. But he also had 28 turnovers in that time, an average of one every 20 minutes. By contrast, Mitch Henderson averaged one turnover every 16 minutes in 1997-98, and Henderson is widely regarded as the top point guard in recent Princeton history. El-Nokali did not have a great year shooting the three-pointer and did not have a double-figure scoring game all season. Still, do not underestimate his importance to the team.
What is the biggest need of this team?
You don't graduate your No. 1 and No. 3 all-time leading three-point shooters (Brian Earl/Gabe Lewullis) and not feel it. Princeton clearly needs long range shooters, especially with the way the game is played in Jadwin Gym. Earl and Lewullis combined for 134 of Princeton's 229 three-pointers a year ago, so there is obviously a big hole to fill.
Are there any candidates to fill that hole?
C.J. Chapman had some sizzling nights last year—and some ice cold ones as well. Chapman made 5 of 11 three-pointers against UNC Charlotte in the championship game of the Rainbow Classic and then made two of his next 26 until the NIT. Then, in front of a hostile crowd at North Carolina State, he calmly went 3 for 3 from beyond the arc before hitting another big three against Xavier. Chapman has a way of making it look like every shot he takes is going to go in, Princeton would settle for something around 42%.
If not C.J., then who?
The Class of 2002 offers a host of candidates to step their game up. The top two are Eugene Baah and Ray Robins, both of whom have unlimited potential, if not experience. Baah was 5 for 11 from three-point range a year ago, and he had seven assists and no turnovers in 21 minutes against Union. Baah, the top one-on-one defender on the team, has benefitted from his play in the World University Games in the summer in Spain, where he played for his native England. Baah can shoot, defend, rebound and run the floor, if he can start the offense, he could find himself at a guard spot. Ray Robins is 6' 7”, but he too may end up as a guard, which would make the Tigers even bigger. Robins may well be the best dunker in Princeton history (although it may also be Baah), but Princeton basketball isn't exactly fashioned around the slam. Robins also is a top outside shooter and excellent finsher around the basket. His main need is for consistency. Princeton is looking for both of them to get some serious playing time.
What about the young guns?
Freshmen Spencer Gloger and Kyle Wente come to Princeton with reputations as excellent outside shooters. Gloger averaged 24 points per game and shot 46% from three-point range as a senior. Wente matched Gloger with 24 points per game, and he made 65 three-pointers as a senior. They enter the program at a time when outside shooting is needed, so either or both could make an immediate impact.
Is there a sleeper on the team?
Mike Bechtold was slowed his entire freshman year by leg injuries. Still, Bechtold could be a serious contributor this time around. Why? Because he is a tremendous three-point shooter on a team looking for outside threats.
Who else is in the mix?
Antony Taylor enters his third year with the Tigers in search of extended minutes. He has proven himself to be a valuable practice player who has shown himself to be a consistent scorer in jayvee games. Phil Jackman showed good potential a year ago, he too looks for a serious role. Of course, he comes off the serious role of Othello in a campus production of the play.
When are the Penn-Princeton games?
Feb. 15 at Princeton, March 7 at Penn.
How does the league look?
Penn, the defending champ, has gotten most of the preseason attention. Dartmouth, which returns all five starters from a team that went 10-0 against the rest of the league and 0-4 against Penn and Princeton, is an intriguing story. Harvard and Yale, the teams that knocked off Princeton last year after the amazing win over Penn, look ready to make some noise. Cornell is a talented team, while Brown and Columbia are building.