Ivy League Returning Possession Minutes

I spent last night calculating returning possession minutes in the Ivy League. I know that Michael James has been putting out some great stuff on Twitter @ivybball and with students returning to class and preliminary rosters being announced for 2013-14 this is the time to dig in. A list of the returning possession minutes for the league with a few other interesting roster notes I remembered/found while digging in.

First the returning possession minutes for each team:

1. Penn – 92.4%
2. Dartmouth – 87.7%
3. Harvard – 85.2% (doesn’t include Kyle Casey, Brandyn Curry)
4. Yale – 70.1%
5. Brown – 69.6%
6. Princeton – 60.7%
7. Columbia – 57.6%
8. Cornell – 41.7%

My first thought upon seeing these numbers – Penn and Dartmouth are going to benefit from being so young last season. The Quakers are a popular pick for No. 2 in the league because they have so much coming back. I personally think Yale is being a little underrated as well. On the other side are Cornell and Columbia. The Big Red appear to be in a slightly better place because Shonn Miller and Nolan Cressler are all-league talents, whereas I’m not sure anyone on Columbia is ready to take that leap (Grant Mullins maybe?). Anyways, that’s going to be super important if the Lions want to compete in league play.

Now, some roster notes that I noticed while putting together those numbers.

• Jvonte Brooks is the only player not returning for Dartmouth. He’s apparently playing football instead. He’s listed as a 6’6″ tight end on the Big Green’s football roster. (They were picked fourth in the Ivy League preseason poll.) It’s better than transferring I guess and he is able to continue his Ivy League education.
• Of course Brandyn Curry and Kyle Casey are rejoining the Harvard roster this season whether you like it or not. There’s been much consternation around this particular development. It’s going to be great for the Ivy League, as the Crimson have the chance to be a fringe Top 25 team all season. If you add the possession minutes from the last time Curry and Casey played then Harvard has 116.5 percent of its possession minutes returning, which is of course impossible. Tommy Amaker is going to need to be creative in his rotations.
• Ian Hummer is gone. Long live Ian Hummer. Princeton actually lost quite a bit off of last season’s team and it’ll be a challenge for Mitch Henderson to keep the Tigers near the top of the league. Not saying they can’t do it because Denton Koon is a lot better than most people realize, but it’s going to be interesting. Princeton might be the Ivy League’s most fascinating team.
• Meiko Lyles is back on the Columbia roster. He didn’t play last season. During the 2012 season Lyles shot 44 percent from three-point range and had an offensive rating of 107.9. He’s a huge addition if he’s actually able to play. Lyles also played 73.3 percent of the available minutes in 2012, but his return isn’t factored into Columbia’s stats. (If it was it would artificially bump the Lions past Princeton, Brown and Yale at 70.2 percent.)
• Galal Cancer isn’t on the Cornell roster. I can’t find anything on him. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
• Tucker Halpern is back for Brown because he had a medical redshirt one year. Don’t let that senior designation on his KenPom page fool you.

That’s it. Time to get excited about the return of Ivy League basketball!