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DAVID STERN, FORMER NBA COMMISSIONER NBA GOES TO COLLEGE Economics Professor Barry Nalebuff, who helped the NBA during its 2011 lockout, invited Stern to discuss negotiation Wednesday in his class, Game Theory. The highlight was a negotiation exercise between Stern and men’s basketball head coach James Jones.
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“I wanted to be selfish for one of the first times in my life. I wanted to make sure we did not share the championship.” JAMES JONES HEAD COACH, M. BASKETBALL
YALE TRACK AND FIELD 12 EARN ALL-EAST HONORS Men’s: James Randon ’17, Andre Ivankovic ’17, Austin Laut ’19, Alexander McDonald ’16, Chandler Crusan ’17, Thomas Gmür ’18, Trevor Reinhart ’19 Women’s: Grace Brittan ’16, Meredith Rizzo ’17, Emma Lower ’19, Shannon McDonnell ’16, Elizabeth McDonald ’16
YALE DAILY NEWS · THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016 · yaledailynews.com
Elis look for better results in 2016 BY FLORA LIPSKY CONTRIBUTING REPORTER In recent history, the Yale softball team has been consistent in its Ivy League performance, winning either just four or five conference games for the past four seasons. Heading into the 2016 season, the Elis have a blank slate in front of them in their quest to grow as a program. With a 5–14 Ivy League record last year, the Bulldogs actually improved in conference play from the previous season, in which they went 4–16 Ivy, despite slipping from third place in their division to last behind Brown. Though Yale (1–4, 0–0 Ivy) is now without star catcher and former Ivy League Player of the Year Sarah Onorato ’15, who graduated last year, the team holds hope for an upward trend this season. Talent spanning all class years, including former first-team All-Ivy infielder Lauren Delgadillo ’16, who is returning to the team after she was injured for much of last season, looks to bolster the team’s performance in 2016. “We had some huge wins for our program last year, so I want to build off those wins and tack on a bunch more,” head coach Jen Goodwin said. “We have gotten better every year, so the sky is the limit this year.” The potential of the team emanates from all of its parts. At the plate, Delgadillo will attempt to match her sophomore year performance, in which she batted 0.412 in Ivy play and tallied 19 RBI and three home runs on the season as a whole. Camille Weisen-
SOFTBALL
KRISTINA KIM/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The Bulldogs secured their first victory of the season on Sunday with a 5–0 shutout of Morgan State. bach ’17, who led the team in batting average (0.315), hits (29) and RBI (18) as an outfielder last season, will transition to catcher for 2016 in the place of Onorato. Weisenbach is one part of an Eli battery that shows strong promise early on in the season. Pitcher Francesca Casalino ’18 returns
after tossing a team-high 101.1 innings last year and finishing with an earned run average of just 3.18 and striking out 6.4 batters per game. Goodwin also noted that all players had an unprecedented chance to improve this preseason, as new batting cages in Payne
Whitney Gymnasium allowed batters to take more swings in workouts. She said that the team has already shown improvement in its first five games of the season. “Our ‘quality at-bats,’ a statistic we track so we stay focused on the process rather than the outcome, increased dramatically
compared to our first weekend out last year, and we really battled at the plate,” Goodwin said. A freshmen class that includes both notable pitchers and position players will also help boost the team’s talent stock. Terra Jerpbak ’19 will add depth to the pitching staff as the only left-handed
Bulldogs rack up Ivy awards BY JACOB MITCHELL STAFF REPORTER While the list of accomplishments for the Yale men’s basketball team will not be finalized until the Bulldogs finish their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1962, the team has already received five individual postseason honors.
MEN’S BASKETBALL On Wednesday, forward Justin Sears ’16 was named Ivy League Player of the Year for the second consecutive season while head coach James Jones also repeated,
earning Coach of the Year honors. In addition to Sears, forward Brandon Sherrod ’16 and point guard Makai Mason ’18 were also named All-Ivy First Team members, while guard Nick Victor ’16 earned honorable mention recognition. “I think [this is the best team I’ve ever coached],” Jones said on Tuesday. “We have more better players than I have ever had before and I consider this team second to none.” Sears, Sherrod, Mason and Victor are all starters on a Bulldog squad that nearly completed a perfect Ivy League season. The Elis finished 13–1 in the 14-game
ROBBIE SHORT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Forward Justin Sears ’16 became the first player in Yale history to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors twice.
tournament and secured Yale’s first outright league championship since 1962. Furthermore, the team went a perfect 13–0 at home, a feat never before accomplished at Payne Whitney Gymnasium, which opened in 1932. After being named Player of the Year last season, Sears entered 2015–16 with grand expectations, which the senior met and surpassed. After averaging 14.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game last year, he upped those numbers to 15.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this season. Sears, who was the first Bulldog to win Player of the Year since 1988, is now the only player in Yale history to win the award twice. In addition, Sears was one of only two players, joining Columbia’s Maodo Lo, to be unanimously named to the First Team. Sears has now earned First Team honors for the third consecutive season, and is the first Eli since longtime NBA player Chris Dudley ’87 to earn the distinction three times. “[Sears has] just been awesome, obviously on the court, but his presence off the court has been just as important,” forward Sam Downey ’17 said. “He’s been a great leader keeping us focused and determined. He’s one of, if not the best players to come through [Yale] and his legacy will be felt for years to come.” Sears’ season was highlighted by a 31-point performance against Penn on Feb. 20, and the Plainfield, New Jersey native scored in double figures in 21 of 26 games while registering five double-
STAT OF THE DAY 3
doubles. He finished the season as the fifth-leading rebounder and tied with Mason as the fifth-leading scorer in the conference. Sears and Sherrod have controlled the paint throughout the season, especially during Ancient Eight play. Sherrod was tied with Mason as the team’s leading scorer during the conference schedule with 15.8 points per game, while Sears averaged 15.3 points on 51.7 percent shooting. “Brandon was unbelievable. He made my life so much easier this year,” Sears said. “He had so many rebounds that I didn’t have to work as hard. I’m a finesse player, he’s a power player, so we compliment each other very well. He also lives above me in the same apartment [building]. He’s a joy to be around.” After taking a year off to travel with the world-renowned Whiffenpoofs, Sherrod returned better than ever in his senior campaign. After averaging 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a junior, he started all 28 games this year for the Bulldogs and posted 12.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. In the process, Sherrod set an NCAA record by making 30 consecutive field goals. The 6-foot-6 forward wound up finishing second in the league in conference play with a 64.4 percent shooting clip from the floor. Just as expectations for Sherrod were tempered after his year away from the team, questions surrounded Mason as he assumed the starting point guard role left open by the graduation of threeSEE M. BASKETBALL PAGE 10
hurler on the team after leading California’s Ponderosa High School in a playoff run during both her junior and senior years. The class of 2019 also happens to be disproportionately lefthanded at the plate. Of the four SEE SOFTBALL PAGE 10
Last Yale coach to Dance reflects BY JACOB MITCHELL STAFF REPORTER Until the Yale men’s basketball team takes the floor next week for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the days since Yale’s last March Madness appearance will continue to rack up. That team, the 1962 Elis, was led by head coach Joe Vancisin, who guided the program to two of its three trips to the tournament. When Vancisin left New Haven after 19 seasons at the helm, no other coach in school history had more wins. That record stood until March of 2014, when current head coach James Jones surpassed Vancisin’s 206 victories at Yale with a victory over Holy Cross. The News spoke with the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer about his historic Bulldog teams and the significance of this year’s Yale squad. you been keepQHave ing up with this year’s basketball team?
A
As much as I can. We are in Florida, and the Florida people are partial towards the University of Florida and Florida State. The Ivy League is way down the list on report-
ing things, but I do talk to people up north and they fill me in. you had any conQHave versations with Coach Jones about what it means to go to the NCAA Tournament?
A
No. I congratulated him after he won the championship this weekend. I managed to get ahold of him. He was a difficult person to get ahold of, but I did congratulate him. He is pretty excited and pretty busy now getting ready for his first tournament game. I went to a couple of those, you know.
special a memQHow ory is your trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1962?
A
I’m still in touch with most of those guys — Rick Kaminsky ’64, Dave Schumaker ’64, Denny Lynch ’64, Hank Bryant ’64, Billy Polinski ’62. I have been in touch with most of those kids.
special QHow Kaminsky for team?
was your
SEE COACH PAGE 10
THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TEAM ALL-IVY SPOTS, OUT OF FIVE ALLOTTED FOR THE LEAGUE, THAT MEMBERS OF THE YALE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM EARNED IN THE 2015–16 SEASON. Forward Justin Sears ’16, forward Brandon Sherrod ’16 and point guard Makai Mason ’18 were all given the recognition.