Princeton Weekly Bulletin, March 2, 1998
A season like few others
By Mary Caffrey
When the Princeton men's basketball team faced its rival from the University of Pennsylvania at Jadwin Gymnasium on February 17, the student section hit capacity an hour before the game, and attendance topped 7,200. When Princeton played Harvard at Jadwin three days later, the decibel level rose so high that referees called a technical foul on the crowd, giving Harvard a free shot at the basket.
Such support is routine at perennial basketball powerhouses. But at Princeton a small student body and academic demands have often meant sparse home crowds, even in winning seasons.
The current basketball season, however, is like few others in Princeton history. With a 23-1 record going into the final week of the Ivy League schedule, the Tigers were ranked seventh in the nation in the coaches' poll, and they have become a staple on the ESPN highlight reel. The team is poised to break Princeton's record of 25 wins in a season -- a mark set 30 years ago by a team that included Director of Athletics Gary Walters.
Walters, Class of 1967, is thrilled that the team's success is uniting the campus. "Success in sports tends to galvanize all the constituencies in a positive way," he said. "The turnout from the student body has been simply spectacular."
For basketball fans -- and prospective students -- around the country, this year's season offers "a friendly window for people to look into and form a positive impression of Princeton," Walters said.
The Tigers have become media darlings: they're portrayed as a squad of smart, disciplined players who play a game that basketball purists adore. Much is made of the fact that the Ivy Leaguers play without athletic scholarships. In contrast with some stars who view their college years as a time to show off fancy moves for professional scouts, Princeton players win with fundamentals. Defense counts just as much as offense; lightning-quick passes are as important as baskets; and any one of four players may be the high scorer on a given night.
"It's a democracy out there," said second-year head coach Bill Carmody. "Whoever is open shoots the ball. It's a team game, and we try to play it that way."
Princeton's brand of play has enjoyed a cult following for years, as the Tigers became known for scaring highly ranked squads in the annual tournament that decides the champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Two years ago, a Princeton team that included all the current starters stunned the sports world by beating the defending national champion, the University of California at Los Angeles, in the first-round game.
This year is different, however. With early wins against the University of Texas and North Carolina State, as well as a strong showing in their only loss to third-ranked University of North Carolina, the Tigers seem certain to enter the tournament in an unfamiliar spot -- seeded higher than their first-round opponent. With the Tigers still facing a game on Penn's home court before tournament bids go out March 8, neither Walters nor Carmody will talk about anything but the next game. But Walters acknowledges that faculty members are already asking him for tournament tickets.
Spotlight on players
Unlike his predecessor, Pete Carril, Carmody gives more credit to his athletes than the Princeton style of play. The motion offense, characterized by backdoor cuts to the basket, demands the same fundamentals of good dribbling, passing and shooting that all coaches look for, Carmody said. Princeton's brand of basketball requires an awareness of where one's teammates are at all times, but executing it well still comes down to athleticism.
The pool of potential Tigers is limited by Princeton's academic standards and by a student's willingness to forego a full athletic scholarship for financial aid. But Carmody is quick to correct the perception that his players have little chance at professional careers. Two of the three members of the Class of '97, including Ivy League Player of the Year Sydney Johnson, are playing with pro teams overseas.
In interviews with the sports media, Carmody talks about the skills of "a special group of guys" who are making their way into the Princeton record books and gaining national attention in the process. Center Steve Goodrich '98 is expected to finish the season among Princeton's all-time Top 10 scorers, while guard Mitch Henderson '98 is among only six players in school history to gain more than 100 assists in a season. Guard Brian Earl '99 is one of 30 finalists for the Wooden Award for National Player of the Year. If sheer toughness can be measured, it might be in this statistic: in one game Henderson played 28 minutes after breaking his nose in the first 30 seconds.
Princeton returned four of five starters from last year, and James Mastaglio '98 has made the loss of Johnson in the lineup appear seamless. Although the starters -- Henderson, Goodrich, Earl, Mastaglio and Gabe Lewullis '99 -- accounted for most of the play in the early season, the Ivy League schedule has given up-and-coming players like Nate Walton '00, Mason Rocca '00 and C.J. Chapman '01 opportunities to shine.
Carmody, a finalist for Coach of the Year, refutes the notion that the Princeton players are somehow different from their non-Ivy opponents because of their academic gifts. Intellectual ability, he said, "doesn't always mean that much on the basketball court. Basketball smarts and classroom smarts can be mutually exclusive.
I happen to have a bunch of guys who have both."
The Princeton education, however, may give players a leg up on life after basketball. For example, Carmody said that when Johnson completes his professional career in Italy, a full fellowship for graduate study in history awaits him at the University of Michigan.
The court is your classroom
The opportunity to get a superior education and still play for a good basketball team led Goodrich to turn down athletic scholarships elsewhere in favor of Princeton. Once here, he said, basketball has been one of the most, "if not the most," important part of his Princeton experience. Even his senior thesis in history, which will discuss the emergence of the black athlete in American society, combines academics and athletics.
Goodrich speaks of the intensity and the dedication that basketball both demands and teaches. "You're pushing yourself to reach a goal," he said. "And you grow up here with other people who are doing the same thing, who are engaged in the same struggle."
Carmody sees similarities between his role and that of his players' professors. "You have students, and you're trying to show them a certain way to do something," he said. "The court is your classroom. Except it's not quiet."
Walters views the basketball team's current run as a great opportunity to show how Princeton educates the whole person. "The ancient Greeks felt that to experience the arts, to experience play, to have that balance, nourished the soul," he said. "That balance leads to a full life."
As when Princeton won national championships in lacrosse, Walters expects the basketball season will have spillover effects in the University's effort to attract students who can do many things well.
Basketball. The Tiger men beat the University of Pennsylvania 71-52 on February 17, Harvard 77-55 on February 20 and Dartmouth 74-53 on February 21. The women lost to Harvard 58-52 on February 20 but defeated Dartmouth 51-47 on February 21. (Men: 23-1 overall, 11-0 Ivy; women: 13-10 overall, 7-4 Ivy)
Fencing. The men defeated Harvard 16-11 and Yale 17-10 on February 21 and Vassar 22-5 and Yeshiva 24-3 on February 22. The women beat Harvard 19-13 and lost to Yale 19-13 on February 21, then defeated Vassar 24-8 and Fairleigh-Dickinson 25-7 on February 22.(Men: 9-2 overall, 3-1 Ivy; women: 12-4 overall, 3-2 Ivy)
Squash. The men's team defeated Trinity 5-4 on February 17 but finished fifth at the February 20-22 ISA Team Tournament, in which Harvard and Trinity took first and second place. (11-1 overall, 5-1 Ivy)