Men Picked to Finish Sixth in Preseason Media Poll

10/19/2016 12:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League conducted its men's basketball teleconference call with the media today and released its preseason poll in conjunction with the event. For the fourth straight year, Dartmouth was picked to finish the season in sixth place, while Princeton edged out Harvard for the top spot in the poll.

The Tigers (22-7, 12-2 Ivy), who return their top seven players after finishing second last year, garnered 130 points and 12 of the 17 first-place votes. Right on their heels was Harvard (14-16, 6-8) by claiming the other five first-place votes as it racked up 123 points on the strength of the return of point guard Siyani Chambers and one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.

Last year's conference champion, Yale (23-7, 13-1), was pegged for third with 101 points, comfortably ahead of Penn (11-17, 5-9) with 72. Columbia (25-10, 10-4), which won the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, was relegated to fifth with 61 points, 13 ahead of the Big Green (10-18, 4-10) in sixth. Rounding out the poll were Cornell (10-18, 3-11) and Brown (8-20, 3-11) in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Dartmouth matched its expectations last year by placing sixth in the final standings. But after six seasons in his second stint in Hanover, head coach Paul Cormier departed and was replaced by David McLaughlin, who had been the associate head coach at Northeastern the previous three years and the head coach at Division II Stonehill College for nine before that.

“I am very excited to be a part of this league and the tradition and history that comes with it,” said McLaughlin during the teleconference call. “I”ve always prided myself as a head coach on being an expert on my team coming into the season, and that's a work in progress. While it's exciting at times, it can also be frustrating. In practice, we are talking about how we want to be defined who see us play on a regular basis. We have to embrace fatigue right now, meaning we have to know how we are going to execute on back-to-back days and on the road early in the year.”

Dartmouth features the last two Ivy League Rookies of the Year in junior wing Miles Wright (11.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and sophomore forward Evan Boudreaux (17.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg), the latter of which was second in the league in scoring and third in rebounding to earn USBWA All-District I honors as well. The Big Green's third leading scorer, forward Connor Boehm (11.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg) finished up his career last year, which could provide more scoring opportunities for junior sharpshooter Taylor Johnson (7.0 ppg, 46.7 three-point field goal percentage).

One thing Dartmouth will be looking for in 2016-17 is more consistent play from the point guard position. Leading assist man Malik Gill (2.7 helpers per game) has graduated, but junior Cameron Smith (3.6 ppg, 0.9 apg) and senior Mike Fleming (1.9 ppg, 0.6 apg) both averaged between 12 and 14 minutes a game. Sophomore combo guard Guilien Smith (5.0 ppg, 0.5 apg) could also see more time at the point as his offensive game continues to develop.

Other players vying for more playing time this year are senior forward Wesley Dickinson, who hit 17-of-21 (.810) of his shots in limited action last year, senior 6-11 center Cole Harrison and senior wings Ike Ngwudo and Quinten Payne. And with six freshmen joining the mix this season, McLaughlin will stay busy evaluating the talent at his disposal to lift the Big Green higher in the standings.

The season opens up at Rhode Island on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m., and the home opener will take place four days later in Leede Arena on Nov. 15 against Fairfield at 7 p.m.

2016-17 Preseason Media Poll
Rank	School (1st-place votes)	Points
1.	Princeton (12)	130
2.	Harvard (5)	123
3.	Yale	101
4,	Penn	72
5.	Columbia	61
6.	*Dartmouth*	48
7.	Cornell	42
8.	Brown	35