Men’s Basketball Welcomes Six to 2026-27 Roster - Yale University
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Waiting for james’ evaluation 
Me too! Yale lost a huge amount of minutes among Townsend, Simmons, Celiscar and Aletan. It has Mullin, Fox and Brathwaite returning from the regular rotation but will be relying on sophomores and the newcomers in a way not seen at Yale for many years.
I will not miss Townsend!
We will! Btw, I love your new photo - one of my favorite albums and a great group.
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I like this class. As others have noted it fits positional needs well for one. 2) I think they have to be less reactive to attrition by increasing numbers
we get younger. The competition gets older but we already knew that
Celiscar was a rare talent as I consistently wrote bf he broke out into another realm
Louridas and 2 of the bigs likely have transfer up ability
I use 2 because there are 3. I like all of them. The kid from mn has gotten a little stronger but he has Swiss army knife potential
These bigs can all stretch the floor. Different than aletan
I think our recruiting is improving as I have said for a while which is great because our attrition is worse
I have seen all these kids over a couple years so have to take into account their games change as their bodies mature. Exhibit a: Jack Sullivan who really matured in his pg year (I wasn’t a big fan of his in hs)
Lastly the kid from wash u is interesting
I told jj they have to do this. I didn’t think he listened:)
May can shoot it and has a d1 body
He did exploit d3 matchups well and I don’t know how that translates
When I watched vs emory in jan he posted up 6’2 guy who is a freak athlete but he won’t be guarded like that at yale
More of a high floor kid but helps w depth
His coach was furious he left fwiw
I don’t always get the evals right bc they evolve and I don’t always see multiple games per guy live
But I got celiscar right and Brathwaite and fox etc
That was the shift. Our classes began improving at the margin and I called myself out bc I was wrong in forecasting something different (on the old board)
Anyway losing celiscar and getting young will hurt but the staff is trying to adapt if on the fly
I likely won’t post as much due to life but I am v interested in how this team can mature if they can
Underdogs, now
(to clarify I didn’t tell jj to recruit may. I did tell him to look at high academic d3 to get some help:)
And I forgot bolte. Kid can play. Question is where. Kind of a log jam on young 3/4s
I expect Daniel to step up at the 4. We’ll see
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Really the most question marks I can remember going into a season for Yale. Thinking Mullin/Braithwaite/Fox/Daniel O/Sullivan is the most likely starting group but hopefully the WashU kid or a freshman can stand out immediately. First glance at the roster is a high power offensive group with a lot of question marks on defense with a young frontcourt.
I was with Jack and his dad in Philly this weekend as he won the AHEPA scholar-athlete award. He isn’t going anywhere during his Yale tenure. Bolte played on m Capital Classic team and was outstanding in the “scrimmage” after the last Jones Elite Camp. Wooley should be a 3 year starter. The 2 bigs are talented, but Sullivan had the track at 5 at this pont in time and will probably be the most improved Eli from last season. May can certainly score. Have no clue about his defense. This is a team which will be far better in January.
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I like sullivans potential at the 5. He has always had the size since I saw him play against my sons as a sophomore. He has good hands and feet (big improvement from his junior summer) as evidenced by his bpm
He must post better tho, and
if he also stretches the floor it is bonus
I also am harder on the 5 bc I played it and I coach it:)
winkler is a kid guys I trust in fl were high on.
he has good size and skill. I saw him more than once dating back to his ima days. I tht he wld go nil then.
Oware is explosive athletically and can shoot a little
Cool on cap classic. I played in that game in the 90s as did my uncle cousin and nephew.we were on the capital all star team tho. Harder to make the usa team:)
Glad they still do it
I use “transfer up” mostly as an expression for…ceiling. Of course 5 to do 5 means hopefully any graduates are good enuf
in celiscars case I was too familiar with his brothers paths and the offers
Complete side note but Nick Townsend’s injuction to have another year of eligibility seems to have been granted. Nice ruling for him to make probably 7 figures.
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not a huge leap but i think yale goes
mullen
brathwaite
fox
ogunyemi
sullivan
too bad bc if you kept celiscar this lineup would be fire for the IL
without him it is dicier. i expect great bumps in production with more minutes for brathwaite and fox
they both have star potential obv
mullen shld be steady.
sullivan has shown me he can defend the rim. can he provide a post presence? i am ok with his 3 ball but with more pm discretion.
i am high on daniel. just saw his dad last weekend at a hoops event in atl. he tells me he is locked in
yes i cld be biased as have watchdd him for yrs
but he isnt celiscar or townsend yet
there is enough offense here. if daniel isnt ready you go smaller and play may or a freshman 3/4.
the real question is how you defend in those two scenarios. brathwaite is a dog defensively. wallace and basima can be too (if they play)
sullivan can defend the rim
but i worry abt defense from the rest of them relative to priors
otb:
wallace is intriguing. like a colt
may. v good pickup for some stability and depth. he can get his outside shot off but can he be effective in posting?
the basima guy can contribute. he played in the catholic league in dmv
i like how he defends in lim minutes so far
then you get into all the freshman and soph depth
there is real potential in this group
but who is ready to break out?
it kind of depends if we go small or not. does he press offense or defense. what are his options?
james likely has to tweak a lot to figure this out
will be intriguing but i expect them to take some lumps and we’ll see by jan what he figures out
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from the guys at emory (played wash u 2x per yr) and were natl runner up last yr
i happen to have 1 as my intern. his saturday scout on a lazy office day
"may is solid. yea he made some money in the post against us exploiting matchups. he shoots well and has a quick release. not sure how well he scores inside or defends at yale.
we went at him w jairam but had trouble defending him inside. i dont consider him a plus athlete which is why he was in our league.
his coach was furious. tweeted out the grass isnt always greener and some other stuff. then deleted it"
“yea we all were talking about it. havent seen the transfer up out of UAA yet. have seen guys from ivy come down for grad or whatever. hut hey it is yale. what is his downside? the kid that beat us in natl champ guy went to portal.
then decided to stay. i dont think he got an offer”
my personal editorial- i watch a ton of emory games live. it is fun ball. but hard to tell what translates
i watched luke kolaja formerly of yale put up 30 on emory and he barely sniffed the court
i told james there two kids on emory that could help him-the pg and center
we will see if i was correct in that call as may is on their level
I believe he wanted to go to graduate school in clinical psychology, which might affect where he lands, if indeed he takes the additional year.
I won’t pretend to understand all the legal back and forth that keeps happening
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Photo’s not new, but thanks. My all time favorite album.
A potential fifth-year player who actually wants to go to grad school (not just for the $)? The legal back and forth is dizzying, but it seems the judge in the federal case (Colorado) clarified yesterday that her injunction would not impact the other transfer portal or roster rules (i.e., players who did not enter the transfer portal during the spring window would not be able to enter now). Neither Nick Townsend nor Cooper Noard entered the transfer portal then.