How Princeton Basketball Became an Ivy League Powerhouse and Championship Contender
I still remember the first time I walked into Jadwin Gymnasium back in 2015. The place had this quiet intensity that you don't typically associate with Ivy League basketball. Most people think of the Ancient Eight as purely academic institutions where basketball serves as little more than an extracurricular activity, but Princeton's transformation into a legitimate championship contender has been one of the most fascinating stories in college basketball. When coach Mitch Henderson took over in 2011, the Tigers were coming off a respectable but unremarkable 17-11 season. Fast forward to today, and we're looking at a program that has fundamentally changed how we perceive Ivy League basketball power dynamics.
What struck me during last season's remarkable run was how the team developed this incredible momentum. I was at that crucial non-conference game against Monmouth where they pulled off an overtime victory that seemed to change everything about their season trajectory. The post-game press conference had this electric energy, and one player's comment particularly stood out to me: "Winning this game the way we did tonight has supplied us with some momentum. Hopefully we could carry that against Australia." While the Australia reference was clearly about their upcoming international tournament, the sentiment captured Princeton's new mindset perfectly. They weren't just happy to compete anymore - they expected to win, regardless of the opponent.
The statistical transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. Under Henderson's leadership, Princeton has increased its scoring average from 68.3 points per game in 2015 to nearly 79.2 points last season. Their three-point shooting percentage jumped from 34% to an impressive 41.5% over the same period. But numbers only tell part of the story. What's more impressive is how they've built this sustainable model for success without compromising academic standards. While other programs chase one-and-done prospects, Princeton has focused on developing four-year players who grow within their system. I've watched recruits arrive as somewhat raw talents and leave as complete basketball players who understand spacing, movement, and team defense at an elite level.
Their offensive system is a thing of beauty - this intricate blend of motion principles and modern spacing that creates open looks from beyond the arc. I've spent hours breaking down their game film, and what stands out is how every player understands their role within the larger system. The ball movement is crisp, the cuts are precise, and they rarely force bad shots. Defensively, they've adopted this aggressive switching scheme that disrupts opponents' rhythm without exposing them to easy baskets. It's basketball intelligence at its finest, and honestly, it's more enjoyable to watch than many high-major programs that rely purely on athleticism.
What truly makes Princeton basketball an Ivy League powerhouse isn't just their on-court success but how they've managed to maintain it while navigating the conference's unique challenges. The Ivy League doesn't offer athletic scholarships in the traditional sense, and the academic requirements are significantly higher than most Division I programs. Yet Princeton has managed to recruit players who not only excel in the classroom but buy completely into their basketball philosophy. I've spoken with several recruits who chose Princeton over offers from Power Five conferences, and they consistently mention the program's culture and development track record as deciding factors.
The championship contender status didn't happen overnight. It's been a gradual build, marked by strategic scheduling and player development. Henderson made a conscious decision to challenge his team with tough non-conference opponents early in the season, understanding that those experiences would prepare them for Ivy League play. I remember thinking they were crazy for scheduling games against teams like Arizona State and Indiana, but those battles, even in losses, forged the mental toughness needed for their conference run. Last season's 25-7 record wasn't a fluke - it was the culmination of years of deliberate program building.
Watching Princeton basketball evolve has been particularly rewarding for someone who's followed Ivy League hoops for decades. The conference has always had its moments - Harvard's recent success, Yale's tournament upsets - but Princeton has established something different. They've created a sustainable model that doesn't rely on a single recruiting class or a temporary talent advantage. Their system produces consistent results year after year, and frankly, I think they're just getting started. With their current trajectory and the way they've built their program, I wouldn't be surprised to see them make some serious noise in the NCAA tournament sooner rather than later. The days of viewing Princeton as just another Ivy League team are over - they've firmly established themselves as a legitimate basketball powerhouse with championship aspirations that extend far beyond their conference.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
