Ivy League tourney canceled, Yale men receive NCAA bid

The Ivy League announced Tuesday that it has canceled the league’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments set to be played at Harvard this weekend.

The Yale men’s and Princeton women’s teams won the regular-season titles and will earn the automatic bids into the NCAA tournament.

“We understand and share the disappointment with student-athletes, coaches and fans who will not be able to participate in these tournaments,” Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris said in a release. “Regrettably, the information and recommendations presented to us from public health authorities and medical professionals have convinced us that this is the most prudent decision.”

All tickets for the Ivy League basketball tournaments will be refunded in full. Ticket holders with any questions should contact the Harvard ticket office.

Postseason competition may continue for winter teams in accordance with institutional policies.

Effective immediately, the Ivy League is also implementing highly-restrictive, in-venue spectator limitations for all other upcoming campus athletics events. The Ivy League is also canceling all out-of-season practices and competitions. This could impact the start of the Yale football team’s spring practice. The plan was to open spring drills on March 24, but unless there are changes to the Ivy League declaration, that would need to be delayed until early April. Team-wide conditioning drills can’t continue until the Ivy League lifts the suspension of out-of-season practices.

The move came the same day Harvard president Lawrence Bacow asked students to move off of campus when classes resume on March 23, to take part in those classes remotely, and to not return to campus after spring break is over.

Yale officials could not be reached for comment, directing Hearst Connecticut Media Group to reach out to the Ivy League office for further reaction. But Harvard coach Tommy Amaker issued a statement Tuesday afternoon: This is an unprecedented situation and I fully support the University and the College’s actions to protect the health and “well-being of our students — including all of our student-athletes. I trust and admire President Bacow’s leadership and vision for Harvard. He has always done what is in the best interest of our students and the Harvard community.”

Tuesday’s announcement means that Yale will be appearing in the NCAA tournament in back-to-back years for the first time.

The Bulldogs lost four starters off last season’s team that threw a scare into LSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Alex Copeland, Trey Phills and team captain Blake Reynolds graduated, while Miye Oni opted not to return for his final season to enter the NBA Draft. Oni was selected with the 58th overall pick by Golden State, with his rights being traded to Utah. Oni has played in five games with the Jazz this season.

Yale was picked to finish third in the Ivy League preseason poll after having to replace 60 percent of its scoring, 41 percent of its rebounds and 61 percent of its assists from a team that shared the Ivy League regular-season title and won the league tournament. Returning starter Jordan Bruner was joined in the starting lineup by Paul Atkinson, Azar Swain and Eric Monroe, the top three reserves a season ago as well Jalen Gabbidon.

Atkinson and Swain went from combining for 17 points per game to putting up 17.6 and 16 points per contest respectively. Monroe and Gabbidon are the only players to start at 30 games. Monroe’s 129 assists is one of the top marks in program history while Gabbidon, Matthue Cotton, Wyatt Yess and freshman August Mahoney provide secondary scoring.

“I just play the way I knew I can play,” Monroe said after a loss at Harvard in the final game of the regular season. “Nothing really changed other than opportunity and I stepped in. I worked hard and it is rewarding but overall I just stepped in and played my game and thankful for that opportunity.

“It is never exclusively told to us when our time is going to come but it when we play, we play whether that is when you are a freshman or a senior, it just depends on who is on the team, who you are playing behind and that kind of thing. We are definitely competitive every single day in practice, we have guys behind the guys that play who are really talented. We stay hungry and we compete every single practice. The same think will happen next year, there will be guys who step into a role and they came out of nowhere but they didn’t really come out of nowhere.”

Yale (23-7 overall, 11-3 in the league) clinched the regular season title when Harvard (21-8, 10-4) lost to Brown on Friday night. The Crimson beat the Bulldogs 83-69 in the season finale Saturday, their second win of the season over their rival.

An online petition started by members of the Ivy League men’s and women’s basketball teams called for the league to reinstate the tournament. As of late Tuesday afternoon, 5,280 had signed.

For the Yale women’s basketball, the decision ended the team’s hopes of playing their way into the NCAA Tournament and it will mean that first-year Princeton coach Carla Berube, a member of UConn’s first national championship team, will join a select group who both played and coached in the Division I women’s basketball tournament.

The MAAC tournament got underway as scheduled Tuesday morning with Niagara defeating Saint Peter’s in the first game in the women’s tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. A total of three women’s games and three on the men’s side are scheduled for Tuesday. The Hartford men’s basketball team’s America East semifinal game at Stony Brook is on as scheduled on Tuesday night. Sacred Heart’s game at Robert Morris on Thursday in the Northeast Conference women’s basketball tournament and home Atlantic Hockey Association playoff series also slated to start on Thursday are still proceeding as scheduled.

The restrictions will not prevent the Yale swimming and diving and fencing teams from competing in upcoming NCAA championships.