Second Place: is it the best we can do?

By Robert Huelin

Two generations of Elis have come and gone since 1962, and Yale's return to post-season play still remains a dream. Yalies watch in dismay as Princeton is ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press poll. After his team handed the Tigers their only defeat of the season earlier this year, North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge said that Princeton is capable of winning the national championship.

Since 1962, Princeton has won 16 Ivy titles. Impressive, but only enough to tie Pennsylvania during that same span. The Tigers and the Quakers own 32 titles in the 35 seasons since 1962. The domination is undeniable.

This year, Yale upset Pennsylvania in the first weekend of league play, giving fans hope for a change. Alas, the normal order returned, and as Yale travels to Penn and Princeton this weekend, the Quakers are 5-1 in Ivy play, one full game ahead of the Elis, who are 5-3. Princeton sports a 6-0 record and might as well be on another planet as far as the Blue is concerned.

Faced with this disparity, the Herald set out to answer the question: is second place the best we can hope for? The answer is no, but the road to the top is, and will continue to be, very difficult. But not impossible. Here, then, are six of the keys to Princeton's and Pennsylvania's domination and some thoughts on how Yale, and the other Ivy schools, can close the gap.

1. Get Bill Bradley to play for you. Former New Jersey Senator Bradley is easily the best basketball player ever to come through the Ivy League. A Princeton man, Bradley led the Tigers to a No. 3 national ranking and a Final Four berth in1965. An All-American, Bradley went on to play for the New York Knicks, helping them win NBA championships in 1970 and 1973 en route to a spot in the NBA Hall of Fame. "Bradley going to Princeton and getting all that recognition really put Princeton in the forefront," Dennis Lynch, MC '64, the point guard on the '62 Eli squad, said.

"[Pennsylvania and Princeton] have always been able to recruit players that get scholarship offers from bigger schools," Southern Methodist University head coach (and former Cornell head coach) Mike Dement said. "One example is [Princeton center Steve] Goodrich. He could be playing for many major programs."

"I don't think there is any question--one key player can make a strong program," Dement added.

2. Find an NBA-quality coach for your team. "The quality of coaching in the Ivy League is as good as any league in the country," Indiana Pacers assistant coach and former Pennsylvania head coach Dick Harter said. The rigors of coaching without scholarships and playing on back-to-back nights requires--breeds--quality coaches.

"Athletic Directors across the country recognize what success in the Ivy League means," Dement said. "The back-to-back nature really creates a need to prepare in advance. It was a tremendous experience."

Among the many coaching alumni of the Ivy League are former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps, current Fairfield Univeristy coach Paul Cormier, and Orlando Magic head coach and NBA Hall-of-Famer Chuck Daly. But the dean of them all is Pete Carril, who had a brilliant career in Old Nassau, winning the NIT in 1975 and earning Princeton a reputation as a tough draw in the NCAA Tournament--something that defending champion UCLA discovered in the first round of the 1996 tourney, as the Tigers pulled a 43-41 upset.

Carril, known for eschewing the spotlight, gives credit for his success to his predecessors. "Cappy Capon, he started the tradition of winning," Carril said. "Capon coached a guy named Willem van Breda Kolff. Van Breda Kolff played for the Knicks and coached in the NBA and then he came back to college basketball. He coached me at La Salle before he took over at Princeton."

"He really put Princeton on the map. For the 29 years that I was there we just tried to carry on the same thing," Carril said. Carril's tenure is the longest in league history, which leads to...

3. Continuity. Capon begat van Breda Kolff who begat Carril who, well, he can explain. "[Current Princeton coach] Bill [Carmody] played for a guy at Union College, Gary Walters, who had played for me at Princeton, and then Bill was an assistant coach with me for 14 years," Carril related. "It's a big web."

That web has supported Princeton, providing a coaching philosophy and basketball system that is half a century old.

"It is a very similar way of thinking about how you play. It involves a lot of individual coaching attention and lots of passing," Carril said.

More important than similar strategy, however, is the recruiting boost gained by having a well-known coach associated with a school. The stability that a long-term coach provides gives a program a distinct character, something that helps build the traditions that lead to success.

4. Play a tough schedule. "I grew up in Philadelphia, and the Big Five was a contributing factor in Pennsylvania's success," current Quaker coach Fran Dunphy said.

The Big Five, which includes Philadelphia's five major colleges (Pennsylvania, La Salle, St. Joseph's, Temple, and Villanova), has always provided a guarantee of major-conference opponents for the Quakers, something that was even more important in the '60s and '70s when the lack of ESPN made recruiting and exposure a largely local affair.

"We had a real advantage in the Big Five," Harter recalled. "When I took over there we had a losing record in the Big Five, but when I left we were going undefeated. That was important for our recruiting."

Bill Madden, SM '62, the captain of the 1962 champions, said that Yale's ability to compete nationally was what attracted him to Yale. "I had a scholarship offer from Duke. Then I went to Madison Square Garden and saw Yale play North Carolina. I thought, `If you can play with guys this good, why go somewhere else?'"

As times have changed and the ability of Ivy League teams to compete on a national level has declined, getting the exposure that comes from playing Indiana on ESPN cannot be overemphasized. "Young men that love basketball watch TV, and they are aware of who has success," Cornell coach Scott Thompson said.

Of course, there is more to be gained in front of 18,000 screaming fans in Bloomington, Ind., than a nice RPI rating. There is also the potential for some impressionable corn-fed jump shooter to decide that the bustle of East Coast life is exactly what he needs. Which brings us to the need for...

5. National Recruiting. "We did a great recruiting job," Harter said of his years in Philadelphia. "We were the first ones to reach beyond our northeast environment, and I really credit [then assistant coach] Digger Phelps with that. I really think our talent level went beyond the other teams," he said.

National recruiting gave Pennsylvania the depth to win 8 of 11 Ivy titles in the '70s, including six straight from 1970-75 under Harter and then Daly. Those winning ways culminated in a trip to the Final Four in 1979, something that cemented the Quakers as a legitimate national contender.

"I think the tradition at Pennsylvania and Princeton is comparable to Duke, UNC, or Kentucky," Thompson said. "It is a tradition that includes Final Four appearances and that is appealing to high school seniors."

Kuchen thinks that there are enough players to go around, but stressed the need for an aggressive search to find them. "You've got to be digging, and then the key thing is that they really develop when you get them," he said.

6. Play in the Palestra. Penn-sylvania's vaunted arena, described by Harter as "a mecca of basketball in the East," has been both a recruiting tool and a weapon of intimidation for visiting teams over the years.

"The Palestra is a tough place to play," Lynch said. The Yale teams of the early '60s were talented, sporting future NBA draft picks in Lynch and forward Rick Kaminsky, MC '64, but they never won a game on Pennsylvania's home court. In a larger sense, the Palestra represents something that can be invaluable in the competition for recruits--a top-notch facility.

"Tradition is an important thing, and it is important to understand where that tradition comes from. The Palestra is kind of a Mecca of basketball." Kuchen said.

The Present. Kuchen admits that both schools have been "tough to catch," but he isn't ready to concede anything. "You just have to do the things you do well, very well, to win," he said.

Yale has done that once already this year, beating the Quakers 71-70 and giving Princeton a "good game," according to Carmody. However, Yale will be an underdog this weeked, and rightly so given the prestige and talent it faces. Victories are possible, but coach Carrill said it best.

"It is possible to win [at Penn and Princeton], but very difficult. You have to get lucky," he said.

Wise words from someone who ought to know.

Graphic by Melanie Schoenberg.

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