News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Wednesday...

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) scored 2 points and grabbed 3 rebounds on April 1 as his Zalgiris (Lithuania) team fell 78-77 to Neptunas (Lithuania) in the Lithuanian League (LKL).  It was Zalgiris' (8-1) first league defeat.

• Siena has hired as its new head coach, Jimmy Patsos.  Cornell is scheduled to face Patsos' former team, Loyola (MD) next season.  On the hire, The Albany Times Union writes, "Patsos is known for a confrontational, sometimes unpredictable coaching style that has produced controversy. In a game against Cornell in 2008, Patsos went into the stands in the middle of a game, upset after receiving a technical, and sat next to then-Loyola athletic director Joe Boylan before eventually returning to the bench."

• Big Apple Buckets writes:

The Ivy League is different. At least it used to be. Two schools – Princeton and Penn – dominated the league for a long time. Times are changing though. The P’s have relinquished their control and schools like Harvard and Cornell have recently had extremely successful seasons.

What is the best job in the Ivy League? That’s tough to say. The schools have different advantages and one big disadvantage compared to the rest of the NCAA. The Ivy League’s Academic Index means that getting students into school – despite what reports tell you about Harvard – is still awfully difficult.

None of these jobs are easy, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t go from the Ivy League to bigger things. The question might be if you want to.

The most desirable Ivy League jobs:

1. Harvard – Before Tommy Amaker showed up in Cambridge, MA this certainly wouldn’t have been the case, but since then the Crimson have made important commitments to being the best basketball team in the Ivy League. Most recently Harvard has either won or tied for the Ivy League title in each of the past three seasons. While judging financial commitment to the program is difficult from publicly available sources, Harvard did spend more than any Ivy League program on basketball in 2012 according to the Office of Postsecondary Education. The schools large endowment and commitment to financial aid also allows Harvard to go after elite athletes. Combined with the school’s rich academic tradition a sleeping giant has awakened.

2. Princeton – The Tigers have more tradition and a rich line of coaches. They also have Jadwin Gymnasium – which gives Princeton a unique home court advantage and is the second largest home arena in the Ivy League. Filling a venue that large is a challenge. The Tigers have a strong commitment to financial aid and also recruit at a high level. The expectations are probably higher at Princeton than at Harvard, but the gap is thinning. One of the reasons PU might be a better job? Coaches have moved on to Northwestern, Georgetown and Fairfield in the past. Even Joe Scott, who failed at Princeton, has found his niche at Denver.

3. Penn – The Ps used to dominate the Ivy League, but it has been awhile since Penn claimed an Ivy League title (2007). From 1999 to 2007 the Quakers won seven league titles. Penn also plays in one of the most storied gyms in all of college basketball, The Palestra, and has the advantage of playing in tradition rich Philadelphia with the Big 5. (Don’t underestimate how big of a scheduling advantage those games are either.) Former Penn coaches have also been able to move up the coaching ranks. Fran Dunphy is now doing a great job at Temple. Also, according to the Office of Postsecondary Education Penn spent the second most in the Ivy League on basketball in 2012. This is a very good job.

4. Cornell – Another newcomer to the Ivy League’s party at the top of the standings is Cornell. Under Steve Donahue the Big Red went to three consecutive NCAA tournaments between 2008-2010, reaching the Sweet 16 in the final season. Donahue then left for Boston College. The Big Red’s Newman Arena is one of the bigger gyms in the Ivy League, but Ithica, NY isn’t the easiest place to convince recruits to live.

Interlude: There’s a pretty big gap between the first four jobs and this next four. No other Ivy League school has made the NCAA tournament since 1986, so the tradition isn’t there and the gyms and finances are all about the same size. It then comes down to other more intrinsic advantages to separate these four schools.

5. Yale – Even though the Bulldogs haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 1962, they have been a consistent Ivy League contender. If a player comes to Yale they can plan on competing with the top half of the league. On a percentage basis, Yale had the best attendance in the non-Harvard, smaller gym division of the Ivies (Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Yale all are in that category). So the fan support is there. Combine a rich academic tradition and leading the Elis is a relatively solid job.

6. Columbia – The Lions’ big advantage over the other three in this tier? New York City. Located in Morningside Heights in Manhattan the Lions can offer not only a great academic experience, but a chance to live in (according to my biased opinion) the greatest city in the world. It hasn’t translated too much success on the court, but recently Kyle Smith has been able to bring in good talent. We’ll see if he can change the culture of the program and bring winning ways the NYC.

7. Brown – The Bears spent the fewest dollars by far ($0.66 million) on basketball in 2012. Providence, RI is a nice city to recruit to and includes a local rivalry with the Big East’s Providence, which made to the mistake of coming to Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center this season. Brown is the last team to make the NCAA tournament that’s not on the top four jobs on this list. This could be a sleeper to move up in the future.

8. Dartmouth – The school is underrated. It’s located in Hanover, NH and has a recent tradition of losing. (No NCAA’s since 1959 either.) Still, the Big Green showed some signs of life last season. It’ll be tough for this job to ever be a great one.