Cornell Tops Preseason Media Poll for Third Consecutive Year

Cornell Unanimously Picked by Media to Three-peat

IvyLeagueSports.com

2009-10 Ivy League Men's Basketball Preseason Media Poll

1. Cornell — 128 points (16 first-place votes)

2. Princeton — 96

3. Penn — 92

4. Harvard — 86

5. Yale — 59

6. Columbia — 55

7. Brown — 41

8. Dartmouth — 19

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PRINCETON, N.J. — It's been all about the accolades for the Cornell Class of 2010. As sophomores, they carried the Big Red to its second-ever Ivy title -- first in 20 years -- en route to a perfect 14-0 League campaign, program-best 22 wins and a myriad of other school records. A year ago, as juniors, they did not disappoint, helping Cornell become the first non-Penn or Princeton team in Ivy history to repeat as outright champions. Today, before even stepping onto the court as seniors, they are back at it, as the Big Red have been unanimously chosen first in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll for the second consecutive season. Princeton, Penn and Harvard were picked to finish second, third and fourth, respectively.

Cornell (21-10, 11-3 Ivy) was the overwhelming favorite among 16 Ivy media members after returning all five starters, three All-Ivy selections, and the Ivy Rookie and Defensive Players of the Year from a team that repeated as League champs a season ago. The Big Red lose emotional leader Adam Gore to graduation but tenth-year head coach Steve Donahue will rely on a veteran senior class that is led by the All-Ivy duo of Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale. Wittman, already a two-time unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, has led Cornell in scoring each of his three seasons in Ithaca, and enters his final year just 231 points shy of the school's all-time scoring mark. He will be the League's leading returning scorer at 18.5 points per game.

Dale, the 2007-08 Ivy Player of the Year, picked up his second first team All-Ivy nod last season after becoming just the second player in Big Red history to record 1,000 points, 300 rebounds and 300 assists. He and Wittman will be joined by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jeff Foote and Rookie of the Year Chris Wroblewski. Foote, a seven-footer and second team All-Ivy selection, returns as the Ivy leader in blocks, while Wroblewski connected on a League-high 44 percent of his three-point attempts in his rookie campaign.

Just two seasons after back-to-back last-place finishes, third-year Princeton head man and former Ivy League Player of the Year Sydney Johnson has his alma mater back in the thick of things. The Tigers (13-14, 8-6), picked to finish second after a runner-up finish last year, return their top two leading scorers in sophomore Douglas Davis (12.3 ppg) and junior Dan Mavraides (10.3 ppg). All-Ivy honorable mention center Pawel Buczak is also back, while Coach Johnson welcomes highly-touted freshman Ian Hummer.

Penn (10-18, 6-8) and Harvard (14-14, 6-8), who tied for sixth-place last year, were picked third and fourth, respectively. The Quakers have struggled the past two seasons after winning three straight championships (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07), but look to turn things around as they return a talented core. All-Ivy guard and leading scorer Tyler Bernardini (13.7 ppg) is back, along with classmate Jack Eggleston (9.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and sophomore floor leader Zack Rosen, the reigning Ivy assist leader (5.0 apg).

The Crimson lost All-Ivy point guard Drew Housman and classmate Evan Harris to graduation but return standout guard Jeremy Lin, who just about did it all for Harvard in his breakout junior campaign. Lin, who finished third in overall scoring (17.5) and second in Ivy scoring (17.1), led the Crimson in points, rebounds (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4) and minutes played (975). Big man Keith Wright is back for his sophomore year, while Coach Tommy Amaker adds another seven-player recruiting class to his already young core.

Rounding out the bottom half of the poll was 2008-09 runner-up Yale (13-15, 8-6), followed by Columbia (13-15, 7-7), Brown (9-19, 3-11) and Dartmouth (9-19, 7-7), respectively.

The Bulldogs, who finished in a tie for second-place with Princeton last year, lost four starters including two All-Ivy performers in Ross Morin and Travis Pinick, but return one in guard Alex Zampier, a top-five League scorer a year ago. Columbia was plagued by injuries last year but return a talented backcourt in senior point guard Patrick Foley and sophomore Noruwa Agho, who should pair nicely with junior big man Asenso Ampim. Brown second-year head coach Jesse Agel is happy to return the only other first team All-Ivy member in senior forward Matt Mullery, who finished fourth in the Ivies in both overall scoring (16.1) and rebounding (6.5), while shooting a League-best 60.6 percent from the field. Dartmouth lost more than 30 percent of their scoring with the graduation of Ivy League Player of the Year Alex Barnett, but return the talented sophomore backcourt of Jabari Trotter and two-time Ivy Rookie of the Week David Rufful.