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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Hoops Picked Second in Ivy Preseason Poll
October 26, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Coming off its league-record 26th Ivy League title and 24th NCAA Tournament berth, the Princeton men's basketball team was predicted second in the Ivy League media poll Wednesday.
The Tigers return four starters from last year including juniors Brendan Connolly and Ian Hummer and seniors Douglas Davis and Patrick Saunders. The only Tiger who started at least 29 games last season and does not return is Dan Mavraides, who has embarked on a professional basketball career in Greece. Princeton also loses Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Kareem Maddox, who led the Tigers in scoring at 13.8 points per game and rebounding at 7.0 boards per game while coming off the bench in 28 of 32 contests. Maddox is playing professionally in the Netherlands.
Despite the losses of Maddox and Mavraides to graduation, Princeton returns plenty to the 2011-12 team. Hummer was two points behind team-leader Maddox in scoring last season, also averaging 13.8 points per game, and was also second in rebounding at 6.8 per game. Davis returns as the first Tiger since Kit Mueller '91 to reach 1,000 career points as a junior and averaged 11.9 points per game a year ago.
Connolly, a center, and Saunders, a forward, represent two of the nine players on the roster of 17 who are 6-foot-8 or taller. Mack Darrow, a 6-9 junior forward who played in 31 games a year ago, is one of eight players to have competed in at least 31 games last season, and T.J. Bray, a 6-6 sophomore guard, was the only freshman to do so last season.
The Tigers will open the season Nov. 12 at Jadwin Gymnasium against Wagner.
The Ivy League's preseason media teleconference for men's basketball was held today, and audio and quotes from Mitch Henderson, the first-year Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, are available on this page.
Ivy League Men's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
1. Harvard (16 first-place votes), 135 poll points
2. Yale (one first-place vote), 103 points
2. Princeton, 103 points
4. Penn, 90 points
5. Brown, 62 points
6. Cornell, 52 points
7. Columbia, 50 points
8. Dartmouth, 17 points
Mitch Henderson quotes from the Ivy League preseason media teleconference:
We're 10 days into practice and being a new coach, you wait for this moment all year. I really didn't get an opportunity to work with these guys too much in the spring. What we're doing right now is, day by day we're watching, we're seeing the things that these guys can do well and we're trying to figure out what is going to make us win games. I think this team has - and I've said this many times - we have a defensive DNA and we want to keep that going. We also want to highlight some of the things that we do well. We have some good inside scoring. Doug Davis returns for us as a senior. He's a thousand-point scorer here as a junior. He's going to be a very good player here overall. I'm excited about where we are right now. We're right around the corner here from what is, we hope to be, a very good season. We want to be playing our best basketball in January, but I think this the type of team that can go on the road and be successful pretty early because there's a lot of experience here.
On breakout players for the coming season:
When you look at our junior class, it's a good group. You've got to look at Jimmy Sherburne. He hasn't had a whole lot of time on the floor for us. He came in in defensive situations. There's an opening at the guard spot with (Dan) Mavraides graduating. Jimmy worked hard in the summer to improve things, but really with Jimmy, with all of the guards, it's going to be decision-making. I see Will Barrett, although he did get some time at the end of the year, as being a pivotal guy for us. There's nothing that Will doesn't do well, but now it's a matter of putting it all together and making sure that everything that Will does is contributing to us winning games. I think some of the freshmen, although those guys are unproven in just about every way, there are some bright spots there and we're not exactly sure yet what group of five to 10 guys are going to make us win games.
On his biggest challenge as a first-year coach:
It's how heavy of a footprint do you want to have. That's what we talk about, what we do as a staff. I want to contribute to the success of these guys. When you talk to our seniors, they sound a little bit like the way I did when I was a player here, which is, we want to continue winning. What do you add to this current team, and what are you doing to make sure you don't take away from the things that they did very well? I know I'm mentioning this many times, but defending, rebounding, those things are hugely important for us. We played mostly matchup zone and some 1-3-1 at Northwestern, so that's really been something that as a staff, we've worked very hard on this summer. It's a big component as to why I'm enjoying having Brian on the staff so much. He has been very influential on all of us in making sure those things stay the same.
On designing the schedule:
We had a slew of games that were scheduled to be played but were not set on the date. We had to pick up some games. When you're in a position like ours, you like being in a situation like this, where teams don't want to play you, especially this year with the group coming back. It's a little more difficult to get your phone calls returned. A large part of the schedule was still to be set. We wanted to play in a tournament. We jumped out at the N.C. State thing, that was our decision, and then we're off to Bucknell. That's one tournament called the Legends Classic. The trip down to Florida State, we wanted that. That was a game we were looking at and I think the previous staff had their eye on. The Wagner thing was something we wanted to continue. We picked up Rider. That's a relationship that we have with those coaches there. The Lafayette thing is a home-and-home. That was in place. The scheduling part of things, when you're winning games, which is a good problem to have, is a little tougher.
On the loss of Dan Mavraides and his perimeter play:
On the perimeter, we'll be by committee. We've got Will Barrett, who is a guy that can come out and face the basket. I mentioned Mack Darrow earlier. He's a guy that made some big huge shots for us. What we're losing with Dan, we plan to make up with Jimmy Sherburne, Ben Hazel, Denton Koon, Clay Wilson, Will Barrett and Mack Darrow. Dan shouldered a lot of that last year, and that was Dan's personality as I got to know him this spring. I think this will be a little bit more by committee.
On replacing Mavraides as a leader:
What we talk about here is, you have to forget about the seniors, but one of the things we also talk about here is, who's the next guy up? Dan, I pointed out, scored 11 points his freshman year total. So I think we're losing a guy that's fiery, but there's a mindset on this team that we do things together. Dan wore his heart out there publicly. There are other guys that do the same things, they just don't do it as public on this team. Patrick Saunders, Ian Hummer, Brendan Connolly, Mack Darrow, those are guys that have played a lot of minutes for us. They have a lot of experience. The junior class here has won 22 and 25 games respectively. They have only known one way here, and that's going about their business the right way and winning, so I feel pretty good about the group.
On the competitiveness of the league:
I love what's happening in the league. As a player, you have one perception of a league. Coming from the Big Ten where it was so hard to win on the road, for me this is normal. You come back to a league and it's tougher to win on the road. You're seeing the recruits coming into the league. There are not only good players and talent in the league, there's good coaching. Across the board, you've got teams that maximize what they do well and you have to be very smart about the way you go about preparing for each game. We've spent a significant amount of time studying the league and I think this is a group that understands that those Ivy weekends, that's when we want to be playing our best basketball.
Comparing the Ivy League in his time as a player to today:
I would say (it's) significantly different. Some schools are getting more attention. When I was in school, it was Penn and us. Other schools are certainly getting more attention for what they're doing. What's the same for us is we tend to just focus on what we're doing. It might be a different way of talking. It's a new time, there's more (good) teams in the league, we just need to focus on what we do well.
On the advantages of being a youthful coach:
Right away, you've got youthful energy as a coach, so that helps any team because especially in recruiting, it is a young man's game, you've got to get out there and do things. It's a good point. One of the things that really stood out to me was how close the group was and it's the way I always like to do things too. It's the way our team was when I was here and Sydney was on that team as well, which is when we're on the court, we work hard, and when we're off the court, we spend a lot of time together. Those things, I hope will stay the same. We've put a lot of effort into being close off the court. I just think you've got to be yourself as well and you've got to make sure that you're always paying attention to the details, but they've got to see who you are a little bit and that won't happen overnight.
On the first day of practice:
It was great. I heard Coach Carril and Coach Carmody say forever, "Yo, let's go fellas." Now you're saying those words. Once you get started, again, it's what do you see, what are the things that need correction, what do you think are the teaching points. I have a great staff and these guys are defending champs. It's fun to be here on the first day, but we're trying to operate business as usual as much as possible.