Zach Woolridge waited nearly four full seasons on the bench for his name to be called.
His freshman year, he did not make it into a single game. He could have walked away, but he didn't.
His sophomore year, he played one single minute. He could have walked away, but he didn't.
His junior year, he again played only one single minute. He could have walked away, but he didn't.
Woolridge waited for most of his senior year as well, playing eight minutes spread over eight games this season, scoring the only five points of his career in the second half of a long-decided game at Dartmouth two weeks ago.
But earlier this week, Woolridge began to practice with the first team. Woolridge's coach told him that he would be in the starting lineup on Friday against Columbia.
"I think I would be a bad coach if I didn't acknowledge the effort that he's given," confessed Princeton head man Sydney Johnson. "I said I have to find a way to get him out there."
Woolridge caught Columbia off-guard with 15 first half points, playing all 20 minutes before intermission in what would become a 75-64 Princeton victory.
Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon met at Jadwin Gym on Thursday evening to review Princeton's winless weekend at Brown and Yale and to discuss the Tigers' final three games of the season. This interview is 15:00+ in length.
Amazon.com has released four Princeton NCAA basketball games on DVD.
Click above to order the 1989 classic matchup with Georgetown, the Tigers' 1996 backdoor victory over defending national champion UCLA, Princeton's win over UNLV from 1998 and Coach Carril's final game from 1996 against Mississippi State. These are complete broadcasts, available for the first time as official releases.
The article everyone will be discussing this week is the New York Times report about Harvard's questionable recruiting tactics. Add your thoughts in the comments.
Congratulations to former Princeton assistant Mike Brennan! In his first year at American University, the Eagles won the regular season Patriot League title and will have home court advantage in their conference tournament.
Will Venable scored the game-winning run in San Diego's 11-10 victory over Seattle.
Princeton recruit John Comfort hit four three point shots, but Fenwick fell 51-38 to OPRF in the Oak Park Boys Basketball Regional Championship.
Georgetown (24-4) stayed on top of the Big East, defeating Marquette in overtime, 70-68. The Hoyas are 8-0 in games decided by three points or less over the last two seasons.
Umass made 10 three point shots and Richmond (15-12) lost to the Minutemen, 78-74.
Denver (11-18) dropped its final game of the regular season, 58-51 at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Northwestern (8-19) was no match for Purdue, 68-43
Around the Ivy League: Congratulations to Cornell (20-5 / 12-0), who clinched the league title with an easy 86-53 win over Harvard (8-20 / 3-9). The Big Red ended 20 years of Penn / Princeton dominance and are the first team to advance to the NCAA tournament. Brown (17-9 / 9-3) matched a school record for victories and handed Penn (11-17 / 6-5) its worst-ever loss in Ivy play, 75-43. Dartmouth (10-16 / 3-9) surprised Columbia (14-13 / 7-5) on Senior Night, 63-48.
A second half rally by Princeton came up short against Yale, as the Bulldogs held off the visiting Tigers 67-59.
Princeton had sawed a 14 point Yale advantage down to three in the game's final minute on a steal and three point shot by Jason Briggs, but freshman Porter Braswell used a crossover dribble to get in the lane and score with 20 seconds remaining, giving the Bulldogs a 64-59 lead. The basket was Braswell's only field goal of the game.
Two free throws by Eric Flato sealed the Senior Night win.
Travis Pinick battled his way to 15 points and 10 rebounds for Yale. He was one of four Bulldogs in double figures.
Noah Savage tallied 15 on 4-8 shooting from behind the arc and Nick Lake came off the bench to contribute 14 points and grab four offensive rebounds in defeat.
Today's Game:Princeton (5-20 / 2-8) vs. Yale (10-15 / 4-7) Location: Payne Whitney Gymnasium - New Haven, CT Time: 8:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: wprb.com, goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 137-79. Last meeting:Yale 67 Princeton 56 - 2/16/08.
Yale
Princeton
7-5
Home Record
5-5
3-10
Away Record
0-12
179
RPI
330
238
Sagarin
206
245
Pomeroy
303
68.8
Points / Game
57.1
70.7
Points Allowed / Game
64.0
.452
FG%
.425
.684
FT%
.699
.348
3PT FG%
.330
31.5
Rebounds / Game
28.0
9.7
Off. Rebounds / Game
8.5
14.1
Assists / Game
12.2
14.4
Turnovers / Game
14.4
3.6
Blocks / Game
2.0
Flato: 12.2
Points
Finley: 10.3
Morin: 5.6
Rebounds
Koncz: 4.7
Flato: 2.8
Assists
Gunn: 3.1
Zampier: 1.8
Steals
Schroeder: 1.5
Kyle: 1.0
Blocks
Finley: 1.0
Kyle: .629
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Briggs: .625
C. Holmes: .842
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Koncz: .868
C. Holmes: .396
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3PTM)
Savage: .375
Georgetown vs. Marquette - 2:00 pm ET - CBS
Northwestern vs. Purdue - 2:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
UMass vs. Richmond - 7:00 pm ET
Denver vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - 8:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Brown - 6:00 pm ET
Dartmouth vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. Cornell - 7:00 pm ET
Denver finishes their regular season slate at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Will Venable hit his second spring training home run. Venable is tentatively scheduled to travel with the Padres to Beijing for two exhibition games.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (19-5 / 11-0) clinched a tie for the conference title, defeating Dartmouth (9-16 / 2-9), 75-59. Columbia (14-12 / 7-4) rebounded from an early 17-4 deficit, besting Harvard (8-19 / 3-8) by a 61-54 count. Penn (11-16 / 6-4) swept the season series with Yale (10-15 / 4-7), holding off the Bulldogs 70-63.
Damon Huffman's three point shot began a 14-0 Brown run that decided the Bears' 64-57 victory over Princeton on Friday night. Trailing 43-38 with 11:57 to play in regulation, Brown scored on four straight possessions to pull away from the Tigers.
Huffman finished with a game-high 18 points, one of four Brown players in double figures.
Senior Noah Savage and sophomore Nick Lake each recorded 16 for Princeton, who lost for the 20th consecutive time away from home.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
