All-Ivy Men's Basketball -- 2009-10

Friday, March 12, 2010


PRINCETON, N.J. -- It's only fitting that the most decorated class in Cornell basketball history -- and one of the best ever to play in the Ivy League -- cap off its third consecutive championship season with a barrage of All-Ivy accolades. For only the seventh time in Ivy basketball history, three teammates have earned All-Ivy first team status -- Cornell's senior trio of Louis Dale, Jeff Foote and Ryan Wittman.

Leading the way for the Big Red is WIttman, the unanimous 2009-10 Ivy League Player of the Year. Also a unanimous first-team selection, Wittman led Cornell in scoring for the fourth straight year, posting 17.5 points per game on the way to becoming the school's all-time leading scorer midway through the season while climbing up the all-time Ivy charts, where he currently sits at fifth with 1,974 career points. He reached double-figure scoring in 108 of his program-high 118 career appearances. This season also saw the sharpshooter shatter the Ivy career three-point record and move into the top-20 on the all-time NCAA charts, his 368 long balls sitting just three away from the top-15. Wittman ends his Ivy League career after being named the Rookie of the Year and second-team All-Ivy as a freshman, followed by three consecutive unanimous first-team nods and this year's Player of the Year award.

Partner in crime Louis Dale has been there with Wittman every step of the way, as the pair become just the third in Ivy history to earn three straight first-team nods together, joining Penn's NBA backcourt of current Quaker interim head coach Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney (1992-1995) and Jeff Neuman and Stan Pawlak (1963-66), also of Penn. Dale, who adds his third first-team honor to the Player of the Year award he won as a sophomore, averaged just under 12 points per game while leading the BIg Red in assists this season for the third straight year with 4.8 per game, a mark good enough for tops in the Ivies. Dale, Cornell's career assists leader and sixth all-time leading scorer, is the only Big Red player ever with 1,300 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 100 steals in a career.

Rounding out Cornell's first-team contingent is first-time honoree Jeff Foote, who also picks up his second Defensive Player of the Year award in as many years. A second-team All-Ivy performer a year ago, the seven-foot center put together a career season, leading the Ivies in rebounding (8.2), field goal percentage (.623) and blocks in Ivy games (2.4). The unanimous first-teamer also scored 11.4 points per game while serving as the key piece to the Big Red's potent inside-outside attack.

After leading Harvard to the best season in its 100-plus year basketball history, Crimson guard Jeremy Lin was voted a first team member for the second consecutive year. Last season, Lin was the only player in Division I to rank among his league's top 10 in every statistical category. This year, he become the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record 1,450 points (1,471), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (401) and 200 steals (224). Lin put together a senior season that saw him average 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the floor overall, 35 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free throw line. He is a finalist for two of the most prestigious awards in all of college basketball -- the Bob Cousy Award, which goes to the nation's top point guard as well as the John R. Wooden Award for the national player of the year.

Also a unanimous first team member was Penn's Zack Rosen. The sophomore point guard virtually carried the Quakers, who struggled mightily during the non-conference slate, to a solid 5-9 League record which tied for fifth in the final standings. Rosen, who was one of only three players in the Ivies to log 1000-plus minutes this season, averaged a League-best 17.7 points per game to go along with 4.4 assists. He closed out the year with 14 consecutive double-figure outings, including 25 of the last 26, and finished in the League's top-10 in eight statistical categories.

Harvard freshman forward Kyle Casey was voted the League's Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Crimson player to win the award since Dan Clemente in 1997-98. He led all Ivy freshman in scoring with 10.3 points per game, while averaging a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game. The four-time Ivy Rookie of the Week and one-time Player of the Week notched two 27-point performances on the year, including a 27-point, nine-rebound outing in a big League win at Brown.

2009-10 Ivy League runner-ups Princeton led the way on the second team with a pair of honorees -- Douglas Davis and Dan Mavraides -- while Brown, Columbia and Yale each rang in with one each.


All-Ivy Men's Basketball 2009-10

First Team
Louis Dale, Cornell (Sr., G, Birmingham, Ala.)
*Jeff Foote, Cornell (Sr., C, Lockwood, N.Y.)
*Ryan Wittman, Cornell (Sr., G/F, Eden Prairie, Minn.)
*Jeremy Lin, Harvard (Sr., G, Palo Alto, Calif.)
*Zack Rosen, Penn (So., G, Colonia, N.J.)

Second Team
Matt Mullery, Brown (Sr., F, Millstone, N.J.)
Noruwa Agho, Columbia (So., G, New City, N.Y.)
Jack Eggleston, Penn (Jr., F, Noblesville, Ind.)
Douglas Davis, Princeton (So., G, Philadelphia, Pa.)
Dan Mavraides, Princeton (Jr., G, San Mateo, Calif.)
Alex Zampier, Yale (Sr., G, East Greenbush, N.Y.)

Honorable Mention
Chris Wroblewski, Cornell (So., G, Highland Park, Ill.)
Kyle Casey, Harvard (Fr., F, Medway, Mass.)
Michael Sands, Yale (Jr., F, Franklin Square, N.Y.)

Player of the Year
*Ryan Wittman, Cornell

Rookie of the Year
Kyle Casey, Harvard

Defensive Player of the Year
Jeff Foote, Cornell

* unanimous selection