The Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are all but decided, but there are a couple of spots on the All-Ivy First Team still up for grabs. With two weekends left in the regular season, here’s a rundown of the guys who should be on the First Team already and the candidates for the remaining spots.
The locks
Ibby Jaaber, Penn: Hands down the Player of the Year. No one has put up numbers like Jaaber with the same brutal efficiency in the last two-plus decades of Ivy League hoops. He may get screwed repeatedly on Player of the Week honors, but there’s no way he’s not making the First Team.
Matt Stehle, Harvard: If Jaaber weren’t around, Stehle would be the Player of the Year favorite. He’s been doing it all, ranking third in the league in scoring (15.3 points per game), first in rebounding (9.3 per game), ninth in assists (2.8 per game), second in steals (2.0 per game), and third in blocks (1.5 per game).
Scott Greenman, Princeton: The Tiger point guard has emerged as a scoring threat, averaging 15.0 points in league games. Greenman has been making big plays consistently over the last few weeks and is almost singlehandedly responsible for Princeton being 6-3 instead of 1-8 in the league.
The contenders
John Baumann, Columbia
Pros: Fourth in scoring (13.6 points per game); eighth in rebounding (5.6 per game); consistent scorer with 15 games with 14 or more points
Cons: Plays for last-place team; questionable defense; turnover problems (70 on the year)
Keenan Jeppesen, Brown
Pros: Fourth in scoring (15.8 points per game), seventh in rebounding (6.3 per game), and fourth in steals (2.2 per game) in league play; carrying his team’s offense second half of season
Cons: Plays for second-division team; poor shooting numbers; didn’t do much outside the league
Dominick Martin, Yale
Pros: Senior, fifth in scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (7.6 per game) and second in field goal percentage (.630) in Ivy League play; coming on strong late
Cons: Didn’t play first seven games; passing and defense are questionable
Mark Zoller, Penn
Pros: Second-best player on league’s top team; seventh in scoring (12.3 points per game), third in rebounding (6.6 per game), fifth in field goal percentage (.502)
Cons: Inconsistent scoring; slumping of late with just two double-digit scoring efforts in last seven games
The longshots
Lenny Collins, Cornell
Pros: Senior; First Team All-Ivy last season; sixth in scoring (12.5 points per game); third in assists (3.0 per game); excellent defender
Cons: Shooting way down this year (.354 overall, .362 from three); leads league in turnovers (3.2 per game)
Brian Cusworth, Harvard
Pros: Seventh in scoring (14.1 per game), second in rebounding (8.0 per game) and blocks (1.7 per game) in Ivy play
Cons: Missed seven games with injury; low shooting percentage for a center (.457), turnover problems (3.3 per game); team sinking in the standings
Jim Goffredo, Harvard
Pros: Second in scoring (15.4 per game); had two 30-plus scoring games early in Ivy play
Cons: Volume scorer shoots just 40.0 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three; doesn’t do much else besides score; has been shooting poorly last three weeks; team sinking in the standings
Adam Gore, Cornell
Pros: First on team and fifth in league in scoring (13.1 points per game); leads league in three-point shooting at 43.9 percent.
Cons: Freshman; doesn’t do much other than shoot the three;
Mike Lang, Dartmouth
Pros: Senior; team’s leading scorer; third in three-point shooting (42.3 percent); second in assists (3.6 per game) in league play
Cons: Plays for last-place team; questionable defense