Cornell 2008-2009 Ivy League Men's Basketball Champions

ansky629 · March 06, 2009, 08:52:07 PM

With Cornell's win over Penn 83-59 and Columbia's upset of Princeton 58-44, Cornell has won the Ivy League title for the second consecutive year.

They will find out their NCAA first round matchup on March 15.

Let's Go Red!!!!!

ugarte · March 06, 2009, 10:47:01 PM

Honestly, Columbia beating Princeton in NYC isn't much of an upset. Princeton played over their heads this year, no more so than when they beat us in NJ.

Cherry on the sundae is a revenge win tomorrow night.

jtwcornell91 · March 09, 2009, 11:16:37 AM

t-shirt available

ansky629 · March 09, 2009, 06:49:25 PM

Or this one.

Germ · March 09, 2009, 11:17:33 PM

Don't know if it's been said or not but we're the first Ivy League school other than Penn or Princeton to repeat as champs since Dartmouth in '58-'59. And assuming nobody goes pro::nut:: we'll have the nucleus of our team back next year.

BCrespi · March 10, 2009, 12:30:44 AM

[quote Germ]Don't know if it's been said or not but we're the first Ivy League school other than Penn or Princeton to repeat as champs since Dartmouth in '58-'59. And assuming nobody goes pro::nut:: we'll have the nucleus of our team back next year.[/quote]

Yes, this ran on "The Bottom Line" for some of the Ivy League champ's annual 24-hour news cycle relevance.

I'll be very interested to see what the team is like next year, especially without Foote in the middle. I understand he's not the focus of our offense, but he certainly affects the way we operate.

Germ · March 10, 2009, 01:05:33 AM

True. I'm also curious to see how the transfer (forgot name) from Kentucky will do. He's not as tall as Foote but I'm hoping (praying actually) that he's got talent and will be a huge addition to our squad.

CornellFan · March 10, 2009, 10:55:59 AM

[quote BCrespi][quote Germ]Don't know if it's been said or not but we're the first Ivy League school other than Penn or Princeton to repeat as champs since Dartmouth in '58-'59. And assuming nobody goes pro::nut:: we'll have the nucleus of our team back next year.[/quote]

Yes, this ran on "The Bottom Line" for some of the Ivy League champ's annual 24-hour news cycle relevance.

I'll be very interested to see what the team is like next year, especially without Foote in the middle. I understand he's not the focus of our offense, but he certainly affects the way we operate.[/quote]

First off, Jeff Foote is DEFINITELY coming back next year. So you will see all five starters back (Tyler, Foote, Wittman, Dale and Reeves). We also return 2 of our top 3 reserves in Wire and Wroblewski. The only player from the 8 man rotation gone next year is Kreefer (and Battle as a 9th man).

NEWCOMERS-

Max Groebe, the UMass transfer is a stud. He'll start from day 1 and could be a bigger scoring threat than Wittman. He had scholarships to Miami FL, Georgetown and other biggies before going to UMass.

Mark Coury, is 6'9" and 240 pounds. He started 31 games at Kentucky and could've returned. He was a scholarship player under BOTH Tubby Smith and BillY Gillespie.

What to expect? He's not your typical Kentucky player. So--- if you are expecting to see Jamal Mashburn, Antoine Walker, or Patrick Patterson--- leave those expectations at the door.

But what you will see is a relentless worker, a guy who is bigger and stronger than most Ivy Leauge players, who hustles on every play, who can scrap for boards and play tough defense. He might even be an upgrade over Alex Tyler. I like to compare him to a Mark Madsen or Tyler Hansbrough type of guy. A floor burner.

Here is some footage to give you a bit of an idea...

http://cornellbasketball.blogspot.com/2009/01/video-clips-of-mark-coury.html

BCrespi · March 10, 2009, 11:41:46 AM

Well, good to hear he's coming back. I guess I was confused by all of the eligibility implications of his transfers. Looks like we should have a very deep team next year.

ugarte · March 10, 2009, 11:46:29 AM

Even if Foote were to get injured, we'd have a 7 footer in reserve in Van Burck, right? Did he get any run at all this year?

I like what Coury brings to the team a lot. I think Gillespie had soured on him, though. When I mentioned his transfer to a Kentucky alum he went to law school with, his response was "Coury was so important to us that I didn't realize he wasn't on the team any more."

CornellFan · March 10, 2009, 02:49:19 PM

[quote ugarte]Even if Foote were to get injured, we'd have a 7 footer in reserve in Van Burck, right? Did he get any run at all this year?

I like what Coury brings to the team a lot. I think Gillespie had soured on him, though. When I mentioned his transfer to a Kentucky alum he went to law school with, his response was "Coury was so important to us that I didn't realize he wasn't on the team any more."[/quote]

Van Burck is a transfer from Colorado and does come back with his 6'11" 225 lb. frame. But he needs to keep working hard to earn minutes. He didn't play much this season.

Frankly, neither you nor I should care what some law buddy says. Gillespie wanted him back and I place a whole hell of a lot more value in that face. Further, our staff is excited about him. That gives plenty of reason to be optimistic.

Finally, Brown and Penn are not Florida and vanderbilt. This kid can be a player at our level.

Coury

Jordan 04 · March 10, 2009, 02:53:14 PM

[quote CornellFan][quote BCrespi][quote Germ]Don't know if it's been said or not but we're the first Ivy League school other than Penn or Princeton to repeat as champs since Dartmouth in '58-'59. And assuming nobody goes pro::nut:: we'll have the nucleus of our team back next year.[/quote]

Yes, this ran on "The Bottom Line" for some of the Ivy League champ's annual 24-hour news cycle relevance.

I'll be very interested to see what the team is like next year, especially without Foote in the middle. I understand he's not the focus of our offense, but he certainly affects the way we operate.[/quote]

First off, Jeff Foote is DEFINITELY coming back next year. So you will see all five starters back (Tyler, Foote, Wittman, Dale and Reeves). We also return 2 of our top 3 reserves in Wire and Wroblewski. The only player from the 8 man rotation gone next year is Kreefer (and Battle as a 9th man).

NEWCOMERS-

Max Groebe, the UMass transfer is a stud. He'll start from day 1 and could be a bigger scoring threat than Wittman. He had scholarships to Miami FL, Georgetown and other biggies before going to UMass.

Mark Coury, is 6'9" and 240 pounds. He started 31 games at Kentucky and could've returned. He was a scholarship player under BOTH Tubby Smith and BillY Gillespie.

What to expect? He's not your typical Kentucky player. So--- if you are expecting to see Jamal Mashburn, Antoine Walker, or Patrick Patterson--- leave those expectations at the door.

But what you will see is a relentless worker, a guy who is bigger and stronger than most Ivy Leauge players, who hustles on every play, who can scrap for boards and play tough defense. He might even be an upgrade over Alex Tyler. I like to compare him to a Mark Madsen or Tyler Hansbrough type of guy. A floor burner.

Here is some footage to give you a bit of an idea...

http://cornellbasketball.blogspot.com/2009/01/video-clips-of-mark-coury.html[/quote]

Thanks for the preview on what to look for going into next year!

Josh '99 · March 10, 2009, 03:03:04 PM

[quote CornellFan]First off, Jeff Foote is DEFINITELY coming back next year. So you will see all five starters back (Tyler, Foote, Wittman, Dale and Reeves). We also return 2 of our top 3 reserves in Wire and Wroblewski. The only player from the 8 man rotation gone next year is Kreefer (and Battle as a 9th man).

NEWCOMERS-

Max Groebe, the UMass transfer is a stud. He'll start from day 1 and could be a bigger scoring threat than Wittman. He had scholarships to Miami FL, Georgetown and other biggies before going to UMass. [/quote]If all five starters are returning from the team that won back-to-back conference championships, and Groebe will start from day 1, who sits?

ugarte · March 10, 2009, 07:58:26 PM

[quote CornellFan]Frankly, neither you nor I should care what some law buddy says. Gillespie wanted him back and I place a whole hell of a lot more value in that fact. Further, our staff is excited about him. That gives plenty of reason to be optimistic.

Finally, Brown and Penn are not Florida and vanderbilt. This kid can be a player at our level.[/quote]
I assume that Gillespie wanted him back. That doesn't mean he was going to play as much as he had in the past. The consensus among Wildcat fans seemed to be that he worked his ass off, was a very smart player and ... was not going to get much more playing time.

But I don't want to give the impression that I don't think he'll work out for Cornell! I am very optimistic about him - players who can't quite cut it in the SEC are All-Ivy. Which makes me angry all over again that VBK took Pax Whitehead with him to Vandy...

Germ · March 10, 2009, 10:47:11 PM

What we need now is a solid OOC schedule like this year. I think we get St Joe's at home next year as part 2 of a the home n home. I would assume we'll get Cuse (on the road) and probably play in a pre-season tournament of some kind. One or two big names on top of that and we'd be set.

But I'm still hoping for a miracle that we can steal one in the NC$$ tourney this year. ::rock::We'd probably need a 14 seed and draw a team along the lines of Butler, Gonzaga, Xavier, etc. The good news is that there's no way we can shoot as poorly as we did against Stanford last year. I think we were close to setting a record for the lowest field goal pct.