Princeton didn’t play in 2020-21 because of COVID; now it’s
SACRAMENTO, Calif.– Beginning with the Ivy League males’s basketball tournament recently, Princeton senior citizens Tosan Evbuomwan, Ryan Langborg and Keeshawn Kellman knew that each time they took the court, it might be their last game for the Tigers.On its face
, there’s nothing special about that dynamic. That’s how college sports work. However for this trio of starters, their four-year college professions have actually been anything but normal.As freshmen in 2019-20, their season was interrupted because of COVID-19 right before the Ivy League tournament was set to begin, removing the chance to play their method to the NCAA tournament. In 2020-21, the Ivy League canceled the whole winter season sports season. Last season, they were disturbed as the front runner by Yale in the Ivy League championship game.Editor’s Picks
1 Related Completely, it put a lot on this season, because in spite of having NCAA eligibility remaining, the Ivy League hasn’t budged from its position to limit its professional athletes a four-year window to compete. It’s something that Princeton, as an organization, likewise thinks in, according to coach Mitch Henderson.
“We have [two] other seniors that have eligibility. Each one of these people has an extra year,” Henderson stated. “It doesn’t change anything for us. We’re quite about the four-year process.
“Princeton, we have to do with the growth of the student-athlete over the four-year process. I hope that’s not saying we’re a stick in the mud. It’s very much who we are. We anticipate them after senior year to be able to type of go out and make pretty major contributions in their communities.”
Nevertheless, it’s still tempting to think of what this team could look like with another year together– or what this group would have looked like had the players with NCAA eligibility remaining last season returned. 3 of its 5 leading scorers last season– Jaelin Llewellyn (Michigan), Ethan Wright (Colorado) and Drew Friberg (Belmont)– all moved, in addition to a fourth in Max Johns, who landed at Duke.
Princeton has already matched the best modern-era Ivy League run in tournament history? How far can the Tigers go? Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
It’s possible they all might have left on their own volition, but the choice wasn’t theirs to make. The truncated time at Princeton made in 2015’s championship game even more unpleasant.
“We might hardly view the [NCAA] competition,” Henderson said.Perhaps it makes this run much more unique. The Tigers are just the second Ivy League group to advance to the Sugary food 16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985(Cornell in 2012 was the other ), and they went through a No. 2 seed in Arizona full of future pros before Saturday’s dominant win against seventh-seeded Missouri, 78-63. Langborg, Evbuomwan and Kellman were at the heart of it.For Langborg, the only player in the game from California, it was a homecoming of sorts. He’s from the opposite end of state, in San Diego, but as a high school senior in 2019, Langborg led La Jolla Country Day to the Division III state title with a 25-point performance in a game that likewise happened at Golden 1 Center, the home of the Sacramento Kings.” THEY DON’T WAN NA SEE United States “@PrincetonMBB isn’t done yet.
#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fNWSYpraW7!.?.!— NCAA March Insanity(@MarchMadnessMBB)March 19, 2023 “When we had that game, I think we had actually like 3 integrated threes,”Langborg said.”I think it assisted to play
here in the past. I’m comfy in this environment, although there was a little less individuals [in high school]”On Saturday, Princeton didn’t have any problem shooting. Langborg drilled 4 3-pointers and teammate Blake Peters struck five. All of it came against a physical Missouri group that suffocated an excellent 3-point-shooting group, Utah State, just two days earlier.It would not have been possible without Evbuomwan’s and Kellman’s presence inside. They might be the only two players on the
Princeton roster with the size and strength to compare with Mizzou down low, yet Princeton still controlled the rebounding battle 44-30– with 16 coming from freshman Caden Pierce.