The future of Bulldog basketball after Onaje

Based on last season's performance, Yale basketball fans had good reason to expect that the dynamic backcourt duo of Onaje Woodbine, BK '02, and Chris Leanza, SY '03, would be together for two more years to lead the team into contention for the Ivy League title. The young guards had already ranked among the best tandem in the league and showed marked improvement over the course of the season.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Neil Yanke, MC '01, will assume more of a leadership role this year.

But Yale will have to continue their quest for the title with only one half of that pair, as Woodbine, citing personal reasons, recently revealed to his teammates and head coach James Jones that he has decided to turn in his uniform and leave the team.

Woodbine's departure leaves a gaping hole in the backcourt, the area that was perceived to be the team's strength. After a promising freshman campaign, during which he posted 9.5 points per game, the 6'2" shooting guard exploded last year, quickly becoming a team leader and fan favorite. He led the team with 14.7 points per game and ranked second with 35 three-pointers, 53 assists, and 34 steals.

He also turned in thrilling performances in several key Ivy League contests. Woodbine led the team to a 69-61 victory over Harvard by scoring a career-high 28 points. In a 71-69 double-overtime win over Dartmouth, Woodbine tied the game in the last second of the first overtime and finished with 26 points.

In recognition of his breakthrough season, Woodbine was named second-team All-Ivy. But all indications are that Woodbine's college basketball career will advance no further.

Even though Woodbine had the potential to become one of the top players in Yale basketball history, Jones did not try to convince Woodbine to alter his decision. "I just wanted him to think about exactly what he was doing," Jones said. "You can't encourage someone to do something he doesn't want to do. His heart wasn't in it, and if you don't have your heart in it, you might as well not play."

Jones will have to improve upon the team's fifth-place Ivy League finish in 2000 without his star, but his outlook for the upcoming season remains optimistic."I look at [Woodbine's departure] as an opportunity for other guys to step up and do some things," Jones said. "We have a number of guys who can step up and take over." Woodbine, too, believes that the team will be strong even without him. "I feel, especially under Coach Jones, that they have a great chance to be successful," he said.

Jones will look to his experienced returning players to provide a solid nucleus for the squad. 6'11" Team Captain Neil Yanke, MC '01, the team's leading rebounder and shot-blocker a year ago, will return at center, alongside 6'10" Tom Kritzer, PC '01. Leanza will look to build upon last year's performance, as will 6'7" forward Bill Parkhurst, CC '03. 5'10" guard Isaiah Cavaco, JE '01, who missed most of last season due to injury, will be in the mix once again.

However, the team has been hit with an assortment of nagging injuries, both major and minor, that it will have to overcome. Both Leanza and Cavaco underwent surgery over the summer; Yanke has a calcium deposit in his calf and 6'8" forward T.J. McHugh, MC '03, is recovering from a knee injury.

With so many of his stalwart performers ailing, Jones may have to look to his younger players to pick up the slack. 6'3" Ime Archibong, TD '03, a high-flying swingman who showed flashes of brilliance in limited playing time last season, will try to fill the void created by Woodbine's departure. "[Archibong] really worked hard over the summer," Woodbine said. "He's gotten stronger, and his jump shot has improved a lot...He's going to really help out Yale basketball."

Although Jones's potential star recruit, the 6'0" Californian Russell Lakey, enrolled at Vanderbilt instead of Yale, this year's crop of freshmen should still make an immediate impact on the team. "I think this freshman class is very good," Jones said. "Everybody in the class has the ability to be in our top eight or nine."

In an attempt to upgrade the forward position, which last season was the team's weakest, Jones signed five players: 6'6" Scott Gaffield, JE '04, of Ottawa, Ontario; 6'6" Josh Hill, TC '04, last year's runner-up for Delaware's Mr. Basketball; Justin Simon, CC '04, a 6'9" New Yorker; 6'5" Mike Smith, BK '04, from Stamford, Conn.; and 6'7" Paul Vitelli, MC '04, from Morristown, New Jersey.

Yale is not the only team in the Ivy League that will have to face a heavy rebuilding year, as traditional Ivy League powerhouses Princeton and Penn are in similarly unstable positions. Princeton's head coach Bill Carmody recently left the Tigers to take over the coaching duties at Northwestern, and junior center Chris Young '02, who was a first-team All-Ivy and honorable mention All-America player last season, recently forfeited his final two years of college eligibility by signing a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Penn lost Michael Jordan and Matt Langel, who last year combined for 28 points per game, to graduation, although it retains Ivy League Rookie of the Year Ugonna Onyekwe '03 and center Geoff Owens '01.

With the two teams that have combined to win 39 of the past 42 Ivy League titles seemingly on the downswing, the league title is up for grabs for the first time in years. But the team that seems to have the most questions surrounding it is Yale.

Will the team win without Woodbine? Will the locker room ever stop resembling an emergency room? Which of Jones's prized recruits will make an impact?

While the beginning of the season is still two months away, it is clear that the team still has many issues to resolve before it is ready to begin its pursuit of an Ivy League title in earnest.

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