Yale's James Jones Looking Toward the NCAAs
Yale and Harvard are tied for the Ivy lead for the first time in history in February. No, not in football…in basketball. The two rivals in all areas, including academics, are both 7-1, after Yale beat Princeton in overtime and Harvard won over Cornell.
The biggest reason for the Yale resurgence is head coach James Jones, who just picked up his 200th win and will pass Joe Vancisin later in the season as the winningest Yale coach. Jones is a master recruiter nationally and is deemed by most as a players' coach. That makes sense, since pictures of all of his former players can be seen on the walls of his office. His teams are known for their offensive rebounding prowess and that reflects his tenacious personality. His brother Joe is the head coach at BU, after coaching at Columbia, where the two had many famous duels. Jones' 2002 team went 21-11 and won the first postseason game in Yale history, an NIT road win over Rutgers. The second postseason victory could come in the NCAAs this year.
