A Pair Of Threes

TigerBlog starts to today by thanking everyone who donated during another wildly successful TAGD yesterday.

When he wrote yesterday about what the investment for TAGD really is about, he saved for today a few thoughts on the people who do the donating. It's a sign of something that Princetonians perhaps take for granted — a loyalty that exists at this institution that is anything but common.

As you probably know, TigerBlog went to Penn. It's a school that has produces proud alums who become lifelong Quaker fans (there are exceptions of course), but TB can tell you first hand that there it is nothing like what he has seen at Princeton.

In fact, when he thinks about any of his friends or family who attended other schools, almost all of whom had excellent experiences, he realizes that they think of those schools mostly in the past tense, as opposed to something of which they are still actually a part. 

That's the difference with Princeton. It never goes away. You always feel like you're a part of it, and that's why things like Reunions, Alumni Day and, yes, TAGD are such successful enterprises.

It starts from Day 1. When TigerBlog went to college, he felt like he was an individual who was surrounded by other individuals. That's not a bad thing. He's still friends with some of those individuals to this day. 

What he never felt like was that he was part of something bigger than his own experience there. At Princeton, you immediately identify with your class year, and that never goes away. In fact, it just builds and builds as the years go on.

So again, thank you to everyone who showed their support again yesterday. And once again, TB isn't surprised. He hope you don't think this happens everywhere though.

With TAGD once again complete, you have a chance tonight to once again see one of the most exciting plays in sports — a missed shot in a Princeton's basketball game. The women's team hosts Seton Hall tonight, while the men are at Bucknell. Tip for both is at 7.

First, TigerBlog should say that's "the 25th-ranked Princeton women." The Tigers moved into the Top 25, again, with a resume that includes a win over Oklahoma, a three-point loss at No. 2 UCLA and a nine-point loss to Indiana.

If you asked TigerBlog 20 years ago to name the basketball statistic in which Princeton would have the third-ranked player in Division I for both men and women, he would have guessed something like free throw percentage or three-pointers per game. It wouldn't have been rebounding.

And yet, that's the case heading into tonight's games. Ellie Mitchell is third in Division I for women at 12.7. Caden Pierce is third in Division I for the men at 11.7.

When TB walked into Jadwin Gym for Saturday's game against Northeastern, he heard one person say "I'm here to see Caden Pierce rebound."

Mitchell leads the Ivy League by 2.2 per game, while only third-best is five behind her. Pierce is also the Ivy League leader, at 11.7 per game. That's 2.6 more than any other player and nearly four better than the third best total.

Mitchell has at least 13 rebounds in four of Princeton's six games. She has 34 — thirty-four — in the last two games, with 18 against Oklahoma and 16 more against Indiana. 

Her 18 rebounds against the Sooners were good for the second-best total in program history, after Margaret Meier had 30 against Villanova in the 1974-75 season. 

Mitchell enters tonight's game with 895 career rebounds. Only five Princeton basketball players (three women, two men) have ever reached 900 rebounds:

Meier 1,099
Bill Bradley 1008
Whitey Fulcomer 995
Bella Alarie 964
Ellen DeVoe 942

If Mitchell maintains her current 12.7 per game average, that would give her 266 more rebounds for this regular season. It would also make her the all-time leader in rebounds at Princeton. To match Meier's record, she would need 204 more rebounds, or 9.7 per game for the regular season. That doesn't count any Ivy League tournament or postseason tournament games.

Pierce stands at 6-6. The two players ahead of him in rebounding are 7-2 (Hunter Dickinson of Kansas) and 6-9 (Sam Alexis of Chattanooga). Pierce is outrebounding Purdue's 7-4 Zach Edey, who is at 11.5.

At his current pace, he'd get to around 1,200 rebounds for his career. Only eight men's players have ever reached even 600 for their careers, and Pierce is more than halfway to that in only 38 games. 

So that's the women at home against Seton Hall tonight at 7, and the men at Bucknell at the same time. Both are on ESPN+.

Let the rebounding begin.