Princeton University Athletics
Brian Earl, Matt Evans, Jeff Halpern: Roper Trophy
March 31, 2000 | General
WILLIAM W. ROPER TROPHY
Awarded annually to a Princeton senior man of high scholastic rank and outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics. Presented by Mrs. William W. Roper and the Class of 1902.
Brian Earl weighed 145 pounds when he first arrived at Princeton. Who knew then that almost all of that was his heart?
Four years later Earl has put together one of the greatest basketball careers in Ivy League history. Despite being a marked man by opponents and opposing fans, Earl leaves Princeton as the Ivy League's all-time leader in three-pointers with 281 and having played in more winning game than any player in league history (95).
He graduates fifth all-time in scoring at Princeton with 1,428 points, and he is also sixth in assists and seventh in steals. He was the MVP of four in-season tournaments and on the all-tournament team nine times in 10 career events.
Earl was the Ivy League Player of the Year and an honorable mention All-America as a senior and a finalist for the Wooden Award as a junior. He also had a knack for playing at his best at the biggest moments, including his 36 points in two NCAA tournament games his junior year and a dramatic game-clinching driving layup in the 1999 NIT win over North Carolina State. Perhaps his finest moment came in Princeton's epic win over Penn on Feb. 9 of his senior year, when Earl rallied the Tigers from 27 points down in the final 15 minutes for a 50-49 win. Earl led Princeton to three Ivy League championships and four postseason appearances.
by Jerry Price
Achievements & Honors 1999 Ivy League Player of the Year ... 1999 USBWAA honorable mention All-America ... Ivy League career leader in three-pointers made ... played in more winning basketball games than any other player in Ivy League history (95) ... 1998-99 captain ... 1999 B. Franklin Bunn Trophy ... 1999 first-team All-Ivy League ... NABC first-team All-Region III ... USBWAA first-team All-District II ... a finalist for the Wooden Award ... 1998 Rainbow Classic and ISU Cyclone Challenge all-tournament team ... 1998 second-team All-Ivy League ... 1997 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and Holiday Festival MVP ... 1996 First Bank Classic and Sun Classic Basketball Tournament MVP ... 1995 Coors Light Classic and Pepsi Oneida Nation Tournament all-tournament team.
Matt Evans
Bats right. Punts left. Interesting combination.
Maybe Matt Evans is unique in that respect. There certainly can't be too many power-hitting punters out there.
Evans has rewritten two record books during his four years at Princeton. He left Princeton with school baseball records for career home runs, doubles and extra-base hits while leading the Tigers to four Gehrig Division championships. He was twice All-Ivy League and all-state in baseball.
In football he spent four years as the No. 1 punter for the Tigers and graduates with every punting record except number of punts in a game. Evans set the school single-season punting average record as a sophomore and then broke it as a junior and again as a senior. He has nine of the top 10 single-game punting averages, including the top six. His longest career punt was 70 yards, he had six career punts of at least 65 yards.
He was a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection in football, making him one of three players--along with Derek Graham '85 and Damani Leech '98--in program history to be so honored.
An economics major from Bellaire, Texas, Evans will be pursuing professional opportunities in both of his sports after graduation.
by Jerry Price
Achievements & Honors - Baseball holds Princeton career records for home runs (26), doubles (49) and extra-base hits (76) ... 1999 second-team All-Ivy League ... 1998, 1999 captain ... 1999 first-team all-state by the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association ... 1997, 1998 honorable mention All-Ivy League ... 1999 William J. Clarke Trophy ... 1997 Coach's Baseball Trophy.
Achievements & Honors - Football 1996, 1997, 1998 first-team All-Ivy League ... school record holder for punting average in a game (41.7), a season (44.1) and a career (41.7) ... has nine of the top 10 single-game punting averages in school history, including top six ... 1997, 1998 honorable mention All-America ... 1997 All-ECAC ... 1998 Class of 1952 Award.
Jeff Halpern
Nobody doubts the truth in the clich?: There is no `I' in team. The playbill of Broadway's finest musicals list the entire cast, even for those with the most insignificant parts. An Academy Award winner thanks everybody from the director to former teachers to a well-trained golden retriever who stayed on the set night after night.
The same holds true with a team that achieves unprecedented success. Without the contributions of numerous players during the past two years, the Princeton men's hockey team likely would not have stamped its first ever ticket to the NCAA tournament, won its first conference championship and taken the Ivy League crown for the first time since 1953.
Make no mistake, though. The Broadway musical has a star. The Academy Award winner made the movie memorable. Likewise, the Tigers had a central figure that either made the play or made the play possible.
Jeff Halpern won't be found on the ice at Baker Rink any longer, but his name will be a fixture in the record book for quite some time. Not as physically dominant as some of his teammates, Halpern became the team's top threat with a combination of intelligence, skill and tenacity.
During the 1997-98 season he scored 28 goals, the greatest single-season mark in school history. He also led the Tigers to their first ECAC tournament championship and trip to the NCAA tournament.
Halpern followed that season up with a phenomenal senior campaign. His numbers didn't mirror those of the previous year, but his play kept the Tigers fighting for a tournament berth until the final day. When they needed a big goal or a player to find an open man on a late scoring opportunity, Jeff Halpern was the man. He made himself better, but more importantly he made everybody around him better.
After all, there is no `I' in Halpern.
Achievements & Honors 1998, 1999 first-team All-Ivy League ... 1998, 1999 second-team All-ECAC ... 1999 ECAC all-tournament team ... 1998-99 captain ... 1999 Blackwell Trophy ... holds school records for games played in a career (132) and goals in a season (28 in 1997-98) ... 1998 ECAC tournament MVP ... 1998 Mariucci Classic all-tournament team.