Who Says Nothing Is Going On Before Christmas?

 Just when you thought there would be nothing to talk about this week ...

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The men's basketball team hosts Delaware Valley University tomorrow, with a matinee tip-off at 1. It's the lone Princeton athletic event between Dec. 17 and Dec. 29.

If you didn't watch the "Hard Cuts" episode that was part of TB's feature story on Ellie Mitchell and Caden Pierce, it's definitely worth your time. 

TB has made the point many times, but those two are exceptional rebounders, unprecedented at Princeton. They are both likely to finish as the career leaders for the women and men. 

You can see it and read the story HERE.

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Before the end of this season, who had been the longest tenured football coach in Division I? He retired this year after 32 years as the head man. 

The answer is Jim Parady, whose retirement left an opening at Marist for the first time since 1991. And who has now filled that spot? 

The answer is Mike Willis, who as you probably know has been Princeton's Offensive Coordinator for the last three seasons. He was also an offensive lineman for the Tigers on the 2013 Ivy League championship team and then an assistant coach for the titles in 2016, 2018 and 2021.

Having known Willis since his playing days, TigerBlog thinks it'll be difficult to see him in the Marist red. On the other hand, he's happy for him and wishes him all the best. He's a really good person, in addition to his football successes. He's the kind of person you want running your program.

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Remember when TigerBlog was surprised last week that Johnny Orr wasn't already in the EIWA Hall of Fame? 

He had the same feeling when he saw the news of Caroline Lind's selection to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Lind, a rower, is as accomplished an athlete as Princeton has ever produced. That's men and women, any era, any decade, any sport. TB just reread that statement and stands by it.

Lind was the top rower in Princeton's loaded 2006 NCAA championship first varsity 8, and she then went on to win Olympic gold in women's 8s in 2008 and 2012. That's greatness in a nutshell. 

And now she's in the North Carolina Hall of Fame. You mean she wasn't already? 

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Not to keep harping on the whole Ozzie Nicholas-not-a-Bushnell-finalist thing, but he was the only unanimous All-Ivy League selection on defense this past fall. 

Earlier this week, he was selected as a third-team FCS All-American. As TB has said before, Nicholas was the leading tackler in the Ivy League by a wide margin and, with 104 on the year, was the only player in the Ivy League to reach triple figures. 

He's a tackling machine. And an All-American.

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Quincy Monday is in his first year as an assistant coach with the Princeton wrestling program, but that hasn't meant that his career on the mat has ended. Far from it.

In fact, Monday won the 74 KG title at the U.S. Senior Nationals, earning himself a spot in the upcoming Olympic Trials. His father Kenny was himself an Olympic gold medalist.

This is what Quincy Monday said:

"It's so special to be able to continue to compete and train out of the Princeton room while also coaching the college team. The energy is very high and the team inspires me to keep competing with passion and intensity, representing the Princeton wrestling brand: TOUGH, AGGRESSIVE, and EXCITING." 

Yes, he is all-in on Tiger wrestling. 

Monday, as a Tiger, was a three-time All-American who was an NCAA runner-up once and a third-place finisher another time.  

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While the subject is wrestling, the Ivy League will hold its first conference tournament in the next athletic year. Instead of the traditional EIWA tournament to determine NCAA tournament berths, Ivy wrestlers will advance through the league event.

The first one will be held in Jadwin in March of 2025, which, by the way, sounds like it's far in the future but is really 15 months away.

The addition of the wrestling tournament means that the Ivy League will have grown to 19 championship events.