As I said previously, I went to an Ivy grad school (not H or Y). The difference between what you call a “significant unfair advantage” in financial aid is that it applies to every student, athlete or not, musician or not, scientist or not. Penn deciding to let basketball to skirt by via slowing Zanoni’s credits so as to not graduate on time to get another year (Philly inquirer, not speculation), taking kids from Junior colleges that no other Ivy would let sniff admissions, and paying TJ Power six figures is not the same as a broad-stroke financial aid policy that affects all undergrads.
Once again, you’re just making up bullshit. I read the Inquirer and often gift articles on Ivy basketball. This is the only description of Zanoni in an Inquirer article: “Zanoni, a senior, was left out of the senior night celebrations. McCaffery, when questioned post-game, confirmed that Zanoni is expected to return to Penn next year.” 2/28 article on Penn-Harvard senior night. So you simply deduce that he slowed down his credits, rather than believe that he had insufficient credits when he transferred to graduate in 2 years. He transferred in with 3 years of eligibility so there is nothing nefarious about this. And remember, Penn lost two top players (Perkins and Sam Brown) to the Portal in the same years that Zanoni and Roberts transferred in. So I don’t have any idea why you are wetting your shorts over this. Especially since you attended no Ivy undergraduate school in the first place.
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As ive posted before, transfers into Penn are not new and not just for sports. I was a transfer student from Umass as were my friends. We mostly excelled academically and post school, we werent trust fund kids which there were still many of in those days. I had essentially full academic and income aid. One of my top two students last year was a senior who transferred in from one of ca state schools. Dont be elitists on juco, one of our portfolio companies worked with smart kids who went to jucos to get them into Four year schools including Stanford, Duke, Penn etc. The Penn juco players ive known have been very smart, very driven and done quite well including several academic all ivy. Yes transfers are a big edge for Penn in the league but its always been that in sports and outside of sports.
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Yes, Penn’s proud tradition of transfers extends all the way to the Oval Office! Thanks a ton for that. Complaining about transfers seems bogus to me. I’ve got no idea if Penn is compromising its academic standards with basketball transfers but taking kids from junior colleges is no evidence of that.
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My brother went to a JUCO and then ended up with a Master’s from MIT and became a high level Silicon Valley executive. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak both went to a JUCO before starting Apple. Taking JUCO kids is not a big deal.
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Putting sports aside, taking kids from junior colleges and less stellar colleges academically is exactly what the Ivies and other top colleges should use for their limited transfer spots. There are plenty of bright kids from less traditional Ivy backgrounds who will enrich their new college and put the rich resources of a Penn or Yale to great use.
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Ivyhoops22 mentions Ivy AI (Academic Index) rules as if that’s some kind of standard that ensures the integrity of the league. The average Ivy school has a floor (minimum standard) of around 180 for AI and an average of 200. I think a perfect AI is 240 (perfect ACT/SAT and GPA). Harvard offers more varsity sports than any other Ivy school (42) and athletes represent 15% of their undergraduate population, which is 3x the acceptance rate. Every athletic team can get students accepted into the university who otherwise would not get in (subject to the AI floor). Take a look at every roster of an IL sport. They all have some 200+ AI athletes so the coaches can take a limited number of 180 AI kids to keep their average. So every Ivy league school is admitting athletes who are well below the standard of virtually every other admitted student. And IL transfers ALL have to be within the bounds of the academic index by rule.
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Columbia and Cornell have both taken multiple JUCO transfers in recent years. In addition, there have been a number of Ivy transfers who have stayed an extra year in order to use their eligibility at their new school. Those who elect not to do that tend to have made the very reasonable financial/basketball decision to use their last year as a grad student at a higher basketball level.
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Masters in statistics?
Columbia hasn’t had a JUCO in over 25 years. I wish we could get a few but haven’t.
Women’s. Women’s Basketball Welcomes Five Newcomers for 2025-26 - Columbia University Athletics Prior year too,Five Set to Join Columbia Women’s Basketball Roster - Columbia University Athletics
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Wait, who is the JUCO here? We’ve only had D1 transfers and high-school women commits for quite a few years
Oh, correct. I was just referencing transfers generally, which Columbia has taken over the last 2 years.
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I think Par Downing ‘93 was the last men’s JUCO.
Seeing the loser Princeton trolls THIS bitter might actually bring me back here more. Keep showing them who you are, guys! Get ready for a whole lot more of this. Fran is just getting started.
I notice that this IvyHoops loser had no response to the comment about the decade+ of HYP advantage. Funny how that goes. JUCO!!
If you people weren’t so shortsighted and jealous maybe you’d wake up and realize Fran is our only chance to save this league.
I don’t think he’s a Princeton guy…they have been pretty reasonable here.
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I specifically responded to top troll TigerFan. Knowing how much this is bothering him brings me joy. Ivyhoops and his grad school schtick is just funny.
And yes, some of them are good guys who make thoughtful additions.
I think all Ivy League basketball fans want uniform rules. I understand that Princeton, Harvard and Yale have the largest endowments and use that money to give aid to all student families who have income of less than $100,000. Don’t the other Ivies have the same financial aid policies? If not, what amounts do each Ivy school offer to student families that make less than $100,000? Are transfer students required to take the SAT or the ACT? I don’t think “saving Ivy League sports” should justify compromising academic standards. That’s what makes the Ivy League different from the other conferences.
If I’m not mistaken, that threshold is now even higher at H, Y and/or Pr, and in the form of grants. Other Ivies simply cannot match this given a combo of endowment size and, in some cases, appreciably larger student bodies.
Or the fact, as previously mentioned, that a school like Harvard has more sports than others which also entails easier admissions. When you consider that the bulk of these sports consist of golf, rowing, lacrosse and the like, that is a built-in bias towards primary white, well to do applicants who also have the resources to do the travel team shtick, all as a way of getting into their desired school more easily. And it’s a pretty awful way of continuing embedded structural inequities in education to the next generation.
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I don’t think this is exclusive from those colleges. Columbia has a $0 policy for families below $66k in income, and is tuition-free below $150k in income.