Yale celebrates following NCAA Tournament upset of Auburn last March. Bulldogs lose three starters from last year’s team, but will still be among Ivy League favorites. (Photo by Yale Men’s Basketball)
As college basketball continues to shed its traditional archetype on and off the floor, one particular Ivy League program is going against the grain by remaining true to its identity.
Positionless basketball has become more common across the country, as has the desire to play at a faster pace and score more points, but for Yale, the focus remains trying to prevent the ball from going through the net. The Bulldogs rode a suffocating defense through yet another successful March, winning the Ivy League tournament for a third time since 2019, then neutralizing a potent Auburn attack to earn the program’s second NCAA Tournament victory.
Trailing Brown by six points in the final half-minute of regulation, Yale’s Cinderella slipper looked and felt shattered before a frantic comeback authored the latest mid-major fairytale in New Haven. And even though the story ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the adversity served as a stark reminder to control what the team could control, but also to appreciate the long-term growth that resulted.
“It just reminded us that we have to tighten up our ship every single day,” senior guard John Poulakidas reflected. “We were down by six points with 27 seconds left. Quite frankly, we should have lost that game, and to come out and win against Brown under those circumstances, it shows how much we had grown over the season as a team. We’re taking those lessons into this season as far as keeping our heads high, trying to be the best leaders that we can and not folding under such circumstances.”
But while Yale’s cosmetic look will be different this year with Danny Wolf and Ivy Madness hero Matt Knowling having transferred to Michigan and USC, respectively; and veteran guard August Mahoney graduating this past May, the philosophy will remain unchanged. If it isn’t broken, why bother fixing it?
“It all starts on the defensive end,” head coach James Jones, now in his 26th season at the helm of the Elis, recounted. “We were fortunate to be the best defensive team in the league by virtue of KenPom, and that’s where we like to hang our hat, on defending, rebounding and sharing the ball. If we can do those three things, the production will be what the production is by the guys that are going to be on the floor.”
While Yale did lose three-fifths of its starting lineup last season, the two returning starters were arguably the most integral pieces of the puzzle last season. Bez Mbeng, described by Jones as special following last March’s Ivy League championship win, sets the tone with his staunch defense and unparalleled passing ability, and Poulakidas’ knack for making clutch shots in big moments was an attribute the Bulldogs would not have advanced as far without. Jack Molloy, Yassine Gharram and Teo Rice join those two to form a five-tiered senior class that Jones will look to for guidance among his unit as the latest example of four-year veterans waiting patiently and learning from those in front of them to eventually put their own stamp on a storied program.
“That’s kind of how our program works,” said Jones. “When they were freshmen, they had Azar Swain, Jalen Gabbidon and Eze Dike as their leaders, guys that brought them along and tried to help them figure out what to do when they made mistakes. So now it’s their job. We got on the bus to go to Stonehill last week, and I went in the back of the bus and John said to me, ‘Coach, can you believe it’s been four years already?’ It’s been that quickly and that’s how time flies. We certainly want to take advantage of every moment we have going forward.”
For Poulakidas, the narrative of being a second-half shot maker, particularly against Brown in the Ivy League championship and later Auburn in the NCAA Tournament, did not come to him overnight. Although it seemed automatic almost every time the Illinois native touched the ball down the stretch, it was merely a combination of honing his craft and capitalizing on a collective of trust, he says.
John Poulakidas (4) became known for his clutch shots, and will be counted on to make more of them in his senior season. (Photo by CT Insider)
“I think that just goes back to the work I put in on my game every single day,” Poulakidas said. “I go into those games with a great deal of confidence because I know I put the work in to back it up, and on the other hand, it also goes to show how much my teammates trust me to be able to take and make those shots. It’s a full team effort, their trust in me combined with my hard work.”
“I think Coach Jones alluded to this point, but we play basketball. It’s not tennis where it’s a one-man sport, so I’ve got four guys next to me that I can trust and depend on every game. Even though we lost three great players, it’s not like we’re expecting people to fill those exact shoes, but we’re expecting those who were waiting for their opportunity to fully capitalize on it. There’s been a lot of great guys stepping up this year, and I’m excited for you guys to see who’s stepping it up.”
Among those primed for greater roles this year include Casey Simmons, the Northwestern transfer entering his junior season, a 6-foot-6 wing who will be counted on to stretch the floor and replace some of the production vacated by Knowling, who had a similar position on last year’s team. Nick Townsend will be a more important piece on what looks to be a more physical Yale front line this year, along with 6-foot-10 Samson Aletan.
“Casey has really changed his habits in terms of trying to be the best player he can possibly be,” Jones said of Simmons. “He didn’t spend a lot of time in the gym outside of practice last year, and now he’s in the gym all the time making sure he gets up shots and working on his game, just to give him confidence. Casey’s come along quite well here, and I’m expecting a great deal out of him. He’s long, he’s athletic and he’s tough, and he has a feeling that he has an opportunity to play. He’s somebody else I think is going to help us win a championship as well.”
In the case of Aletan, once the highest-ranked recruit to choose Yale, his defense defines him, something Jones and his staff are obviously enamored with. However, they have implored the Dallas product to be more of a finisher, something that becomes more of a priority without Wolf under the rim to clean up second chances.
“He’s played with a lot of talented guys and he’s been our defensive stopper in a lot of ways,” Jones said of Aletan. “He’s starting to really come into his own. This last week, I’ve seen Samson take a step in the right direction. He’s blocking more shots in practice, he’s a very unselfish player, he’ll look to get an offensive rebound and his first thought is to try to find a teammate. We’re trying to implore him to go up strong and finish one as opposed to always kicking it out. I’ve seen him change his attitude somewhat, block some shots, rebound the ball. He’s come along quite well, and we’ll have a host of guys step in and take some of those minutes. Hopefully they’ll be able to do the job and help us win another championship.”
Yale, much like fellow Ivy power Princeton, has been unafraid of scheduling high-major opponents in non-conference play, a tactic Jones says is by design so that the Bulldogs are unfazed and unintimidated by what they may see when league play starts in January. Included in this season’s slate are reigning NCAA Tournament runner-up Purdue, a second Big Ten opponent in Minnesota, and home games against mid-major favorites Quinnipiac and Vermont, each projected as the preseason choices to win their respective conferences.
“Our guys come to Yale for experiences such as that,” Jones said. “And for me last year, when we played at Gonzaga and at Kansas, it gave me the benefit of understanding who our team really was. The fact that we played both teams so well in my mind that I knew if we had an opportunity to win a championship and get to the NCAA Tournament, we’d have a great chance of at least winning a game. It turns out that I was right about that, and we were able to fortunately go out and beat a great Auburn team, probably one of the best No. 4 seeds in the history of the NCAA Tournament. But playing those games and being in this environments, once you play at Duke and once you play at Kansas, the atmosphere is such that anything in our league is going to dwindle in comparison. So when we go on the road and play in our league, we’ve already seen this. We already know what this is like, so our guys can just get ready and play basketball. Just like you want your practices to be harder than games, you want the environment in the non-conference to be better than what it is in our league.”
Speaking on the subject of challenges, Mbeng finds a different rush during the season, that of stopping the best player on the other side of the floor. Jones has remarked in the past that he would not want to be guarded by his senior guard, who is ready to do the same thing this year against the likes of Braden Smith, Savion Lewis and Shamir Bogues, among others.
Senior guard Bez Mbeng (2) embodies Yale’s defense-oriented approach, and looks forward to shutting down his opponents. (Photo by Yale Athletics)
“I thrive tremendously off of that,” Mbeng proclaimed. “That’s what sparks energy for me and my team, so my ability to defend helps our team. I don’t know how else to answer, but it’s what I do. Like John said, we’ve put so much work into our game where I feel like it’s that time for it to show. I can’t wait for this opportunity, and I’m excited for it. I just can’t wait, honestly.”
“Bez and John are both very special,” Jones echoed. “They have no idea how special they are to me and our basketball program in what they do. They’ve been soldiers here for four years. I remember telling John when he was a freshman, ‘hey John, you’re gonna lead us in scoring one day. That’s gonna happen. You’re that guy, you’re that good.’ Again, I’m fortunate to have them, I’m blessed to be part of this university and go to practice every day and coach guys like this. I’m looking forward to it, I know they’re chomping at the bit.”
Prognosticators note the challenge of replacing a player as unique to the Ivy game as Wolf was, and someone like Knowling who was in the right place at the right time on multiple occasions. But for the Bulldogs, the commitment to a time-tested system has brought with it a level of faith not usually seen at this level, and the man who created the tenets the program prides itself upon is confident in a similar revival that will keep Yale forwardly placed among the Ancient Eight.
“What we like to think is that there’s always somebody waiting in the wings,” Jones countered. “We feel like there are guys that didn’t play a lot last year that are waiting for their opportunity, and now it’s their opportunity. Bez was fortunate enough because of his play to start a great deal of his freshman year, and John came along, but both guys were ready to play as freshmen. It just so happened that we had some other guys that were a little bit more experienced. Last year, we had Matt and Danny and August playing, and we had some guys on the bench that are pretty good. Now they have their shot, and now I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with that shot.”
“A few years back, we won a championship and Azar Swain was our leading scorer and he averaged 20 a game. Jalen Gabbidon was our second-leading scorer and he averaged 11. Nobody else averaged in double figures. Last year, we had five guys average in double figures because that’s what we had. This year, we will be who we are, and we’ll find a way to win with what we have. That’s just all you can do. It’s not one guy for one guy, it’s our team trying to figure out a way to play its best. My team will dictate to me how we’re going to play. Cream always rises, and we’ll find out what we need to do to be successful.”
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