PU basketball likes balance
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Seven months later, the lost weekend at Yale and Brown still stings for the Princeton University men’s basketball team.
With an Ivy League title there for the taking, the Tigers were swept on the road and right out of the championship race. Those losses will certainly serve as motivation as Princeton opens this season on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jadwin Gym against Florida A&M.
”This past summer, the way the season ended, it motivated me every single day,” senior forward Will Barrett said. “I thought about it before I went to bed at night and in the morning I still had that feeling in my stomach where it just didn’t feel right.
”The freshmen have come in and every single one of them is in the gym shooting every day and it just motivates me even more seeing younger guys like that who have the hunger and the passion. I am always in the gym with them and we are feeding off each other. That has been very helpful.”
Princeton went 10-4 in the Ivy League last year (17-11 overall) and finished one game behind Harvard for the league championship. A split of that weekend trip would have meant a share of the title and a playoff for the NCAA tournament berth.
”It is that extra motivation to do that last rep, do that last drill, and to push yourself even harder,” senior captain TJ Bray said. “(The end of last season) is not necessarily the legacy I want to leave here. So luckily I have one more year to change the way people think of me and that last weekend. I don’t want that to define my career.”
The Tigers lost leading scorer Ian Hummer as well as key performers Brendan Connelly and Mack Darrow to graduation. Hummer also led the team in rebounding, assists and blocks, so his departure leaves a big hole to fill. But this year Princeton has the look of a team that may be more balanced and with that could be more productive overall.
”Ian did so many things for us, so we’re different,” said Princeton coach Mitch Henderson, who begins his third season in charge of the program. “We have six new guys. Two guys who took a year off, Ben Hazel and Jimmy Sherbourne, factor in heavily in terms of minutes. I’ll play some freshmen. So it is a way different team.
”Ian demanded so much of our attention in practice. He was dominant in so many ways. But that being said he also had some limitations. I am not saying we won’t miss him, but I like what we have coming back a lot.”
That includes Bray, who has started 59 games over the past two seasons and will be the player the Tigers build around this year.
”TJ is important to everything,” Henderson said. “Where Ian would sort of fill up the stat sheet, TJ is the heart and soul of our program and he has been for three years. He can get steals for us. He is an excellent Ivy League guard. He has become a great shooter.”
Barrett and Denton Koon both started a majority of the games last year and are back. Hans Brase, Clay Wilson and Chris Clement also return, while Hazel and Sherbourne are back after not playing last season. There should also be solid contributors in a highly touted freshman class.
”I like the freshmen group a lot,” Henderson said. “They have all impressed me. They have embraced the culture, which is getting better and working hard. I think you’ll see Pete Miller quite a bit. Spencer Weisz, who had a really nice career at Seton Hall Prep, he sees things and has vision. He has a great feel of where people should be. And I think Khyan Rayner is a different kind of player for us. He is more of your traditional point guard.”
The loss of Hummer will certainly create a void. But Henderson feels like this group is deep enough to offset the loss and create a new look for the Tigers.
”Ian dominated our offensive possessions,” Henderson said. “When we needed a basket we went through Ian. When we needed something creative we went through Ian. We used Ian as a decoy. He was sort of involved in everything. We’re just a little more even this year. TJ Bray, I don’t think he’ll score 25 a night, but he is capable of filling up a stat sheet across the board. I think what you’ll see on any given night is whose turn is it.”
Added Bray: “I like what we have coming back. Obviously, Ian is a big loss. But we have four other starters back and a lot of guys who have played a lot of basketball for Princeton. I think we’re going to be very balanced this year and I think we can beat teams in a lot of different ways.”