Ivy League Releases 2018-19 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

Photo by: Doug Austin

Ivy League Releases 2018-19 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

10/16/2018 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Dartmouth picked to finish eighth in the Anicent Eight standings

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League announced its preseason poll for the 2018-19 men's basketball season today with Dartmouth picked to finish in eighth place in the Ancient Eight.

Harvard garnered 12 of the 18 first-place votes to take the top spot in the poll with 137 points, with Penn listed second by totaling 122 points with five first-place votes. Those two teams tied atop the standings last year with 12-2 records, but the Quakers won the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating the Crimson in the Ivy League Tournament championship game.

The remaining first-place vote went to Yale, which was the only other Ancient Eight team to post a winning record in league play last year, as the Bulldogs claimed third in the poll with 115 points. Princeton completed the top half of the standings with 92 points, followed by Brown in fifth (64), Cornell sixth (54), Columbia seventh (43) and Dartmouth eighth (21).

"Preseason polls are always difficult to put into context," head coach David McLaughlin said. "At this point in the year, it's hard to truly know how teams have adapted and grown during the offseason. I love and believe in our team, our everyday growth, the strong habits we are forming and how hard everyone is working. With over 30 returning starters in the league, we have a big challenge ahead of us and we are embracing taking ownership of the process that comes with playing in such a competitive league."

The Big Green finished last year in eighth place with a 3-11 mark in conference play after losing their top two returning scorers for the season by the time the third game was complete. One of those players is back this year in guard Guilien Smith (6-2, 205), the lone senior on the squad. As a sophomore, the Boston native scored 12.0 ppg while shooting 37.0 percent from behind the arc and posting double figures in 17 of the 27 games, then started the first three games last year before being sidelined with an injury.

2018-19 Ivy League Men's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
First-place votes in parentheses
Rank	School	Points
1.	Harvard (12)	137
2.	Penn (5)	122
3.	Yale (1)	115
4.	Princeton	92
5.	Brown	64
6.	Cornell	54
7.	Columbia	43
8.	Dartmouth	21

Without two of his top offensive weapons, McLaughlin ended up getting his young squad valuable experience on the court as nearly two-thirds of the minutes were gobbled up by freshmen and sophomores. Joining Smith in the backcourt will be junior combo guard Brendan Barry (6-2, 180), a deadly marksman who led the team with 53 3-pointers and a 44.2 percent accuracy from long range. He is also a solid distributor as he demonstrated by tying for second in the Ivy League with nearly four assists per game.

Dartmouth will lean on sophomore forward Chris Knight (6-7, 225) in the post after his strong rookie campaign. At the offensive end, he provides a soft touch and accurate shot that led him to score 10.1 ppg. But he also is an effective rim protector, leading the Green with 27 blocks (fifth in the league) while hauling in 4.1 rebounds a night. Junior forward Will Emery (6-9, 220) will also be a key player in the frontcourt after contributing 7.6 ppg and a team-best 4.7 rpg.

With those four likely to be in the starting lineup, the fifth starter could depend on matchups. Sophomore power forward Adrease Jackson (6-8, 225) came on strong in conference play last year, putting up 8.2 ppg against Ivy teams while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor both inside and outside the arc for the season. Another option could be sophomore wing Aaryn Rai (6-6, 205), who played well early in the season and shot 43.8 percent on 3-pointers for the year, or junior guards Ian Sistare (6-3, 205) and James Foye (6-4, 195), who combined to play in all but two games a year ago. Sophomore point guard Isaac Letoa (6-1, 180) has shown growth in his game, and junior forward Ian Carter (6-7, 220) is back in the fold after missing last season.

McLaughlin also added a trio of freshmen to his charges — California natives Taurus Samuels (6-0, 175) and Wes Slajchert (6-5, 185), as well as forward Garrison Wade (6-6, 200) from Mississippi. Weber State transfer Trevon Ary-Turner will practice with the team this year but must sit out the season due to the NCAA transfer rules.

The season opens up at home against Newbury College on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Most of the games this year will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Eric Berry announcing the game. Big Green fans will also be able to listen to home games locally on KOOL FM and around the globe online on koolnh.com as Brett Franklin will describe the action.