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Princeton University Athletics
Tuesday TigerBlog - Tigers To Texas
April 28, 2026 | Men's Tennis
Did TigerBlog hear that name correctly? Did one of the Princeton men's tennis players actually say "Junior Bridgeman" in the time before the NCAA Selection Show yesterday afternoon?
Yes. It was Top Nidunjianzan, the senior No. 2 singles player, who asked one of his teammates if he knew who Junior Bridgeman was.
Do you know the name? TigerBlog does. He just can't remember the last time he's heard it.
Junior Bridgeman was a very, very good but not great NBA player in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly for the Milwaukee Bucks, with some time with the Clippers when they were still in San Diego. He averaged more than 13 points per game in both the regular season and playoffs and finished with 12,129 points overall.
He was actually drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 1975 draft (No. 8 overall) but was traded to the Bucks in one of the most consequential trades in NBA history — it was that trade that brought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers.
So why in the world did his name come up?
According to Nidunjianzan, he had just seen something pop up on social media mentioning Bridgeman's ultra-successful post-basketball career, one that saw his amass a fortune of more than $1 billion before he passed away last year at the age of 71.
And that was the Junior Bridgeman mention.
The main event yesterday was the NCAA selections, something that Princeton seemed to be a lock for heading into the show, at least in the rankings that are used. This was mostly a question of where and who, rather than if.
Princeton went 16-10 overall but 2-5 in the Ivy League, ending a five-match losing streak with wins over Yale and Brown to end the regular season. The Tigers had high hopes after winning the ECAC tournament (a gathering of the eight Ivy schools) in February, but injuries derailed that.
Still, the team had really strong season prior to that, with wins over teams like North Carolina, Pepperdine and Buffalo, in addition to three NCAA-bound Ivy League schools. Of the 10 losses, eight came against NCAA teams. At one point, Princeton was ranked No. 19 by the ITA.
The team gathered in the Cordish Family Lounge, overlooking the outdoor courts at the Meadows complex, for the 4 pm show. TigerBlog was impressed by the lack of tension, as every player was confident in what was going to happen.
It just took a bit longer than anyone expected. For two reasons.
First, there was the matter of the way the selections played out. The 64-team draw was released in 16 groups of four — of which 15 passed without any mention of Princeton.
And still there was no panic. As each host site was revealed, there was a clamor about whether or not this would be a spot Princeton would want to go; there seemed to be some hope for San Diego.
In the end, it would be Texas, in the last group of four announced. Princeton will be taking on SMU Friday at 11 am Eastern time, while Texas will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the other opening round matchup. The winners will play Saturday at 4 to see who advances to the Round of 16.
SMU finished the regular season with a 19-10 overall record and an 8-5 record (tied for fifth) in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Mustangs are led by No. 1 singles player Trevor Svajda, the NCAA singles runner-up this past fall, when Princeton's No. 1 player Paul Inchauspe reached the semifinals. Princeton and SMU have played twice, most recently in 1995.
For Princeton, it's now three straight NCAA tournaments and four of the last five. TB has written all season about how tough the Ivy League is, and the selections reflected that, as five league teams saw their names come up.
If the players weren't worried about whether or not they were in, then TB definitely wasn't. Why is that? Well, it seems that the computer on which Princeton was watching the show was a bit behind. By the time the Tigers came up, TB had already gotten two text messages about the draw.
As with any other sport, the selections for a team that knows it's heading into the tournament has a party atmosphere. Yesterday in the Cordish Lounge was no different.
And just like every other time, the Tigers exploded out of their seats when they saw their name up there.
Now it's off to Texas. It's the reward for a season that will always be remembered for what have been had the team been healthy — and a season that will be remembered for the national impact Princeton men's tennis continues to have.
Players Mentioned
