By Joe Budzelek
Before late summer practices kick off across the Ivy League, here is one player from each team that is projected to breakout in expanded roles this upcoming season.
Brown - Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson - 6-foot-4 junior guard
After all-time great Kino Lilly finished his career with the second most points in program history, expect Brown head coach Mike Martin to count on Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson to step up as the team’s breakout backcourt performer.
Even though MWJ has been a liability on the free-throw line (career 43.3 FT%) and a non-factor as a three-point shooter (career 17.6 3P%), his style of play is tailored made to be the team’s next point guard under Mike Martin’s brand of “Bully Ball” after MWJ finished last season with the fourth highest assist rate and the second best 2P% (61.3%) in conference play.
With his size, skillset and physicality inside the arc, MWJ is at his best when he is penetrating to the basket, hiding his intentions between the option of shooting and passing. MWJ’s length and physicality also fits well with Brown’s aggressive defensive style — the junior guard finished last season with the seventh highest steal rate, tenth highest defensive rebounding rate, and thirteenth highest block rate in conference play.
All-in-all, the table is set for MWJ to breakout as one of the most potent two-way guards in the Ivy League.
Columbia - Mason Ritter - 6-foot-9 sophomore center
Under the leadership of new head coach Kevin Hovde, the Lions are looking to sustain their analytically driven offensive style of recent years while injecting a new level of defensive grittiness that was lacking in recent years.
Enter sophomore Mason Ritter — while returning forwards Blair Thompson and Zine Eddine Bedri are efficient on the offensive end, both players lack the down-low strength and defensive upside of Ritter, who, according to EvanMiya.com, had the team’s best defensive efficiency rating last season amongst returning Lions. Finishing his freshman season with a nice 69 2P%, Ritter is also an intriguing offensive weapon, especially considering Florida’s ability to mold and develop their talented frontcourt while Hovde was an assistant coach last year.
There will be plenty of competition — I also love New Orleans transfer Leland Coleman’s defensive upside — but Ritter’s physical element down low was sorely missed on the Lions’ most recent pre-Hovde years.
Cornell - Jacob Beccles - 6-foot-3 junior guard
Whether it was Jake Fiegen last season, Cooper Noard the year before, or Nazir Williams prior to that, Cornell has consistently done an excellent job developing its guards and putting them in positions to break out when the opportunity arises. This is exactly the scenario for Jacob Beccles, who is poised to step into a vacant starting backcourt role following the graduation of Nazir Williams.
In fact, according to KenPom, Beccles finished last season with a higher offensive efficiency rating than Williams, shooting 57 percent from two and 35 percent from three. A strong positional rebounder and capable passer, Beccles’ breakout hinges on his ability to apply his blend of positional size, strength, and explosiveness to attack the rim—especially within Cornell’s system, which prioritizes perimeter play and opens up the floor for him to operate effectively in space. After averaging just 4.9 points-per-game last season, Beccles is poised to have one of the most extreme scoring upswings in the Ivy.
Dartmouth - Cameron McNamee - 6-foot-6 sophomore guard
Defense was the name of the game for the Big Green after Dartmouth finished the past season with their best record in twenty-five years and the two-way excellence of senior Ryan Cornish was a big reason for the team’s success. Cornish is on tap to spend his grad transfer year at USC, leaving sophomore Cameron McNamee projected to start in the backcourt alongside Connor Amundsen.
While Amundsen is expected to absorb an even greater offensive role next year, McNamee flashed defensive brilliance and versatility in his freshman season, finishing as the Big Green’s second most defensively efficient guard. Combining good positional length, strength and athleticism, McNamee has the makeup to become one of the most switchable defenders and valuable glue guys in the Ivy League, projected to guard the opponent’s best backcourt playmaker.
Harvard - Austin Hunt - 6-foot-4 sophomore guard
Even though Harvard did not earn a bid to last year’s Ivy Madness, there is plenty of upside with this team returning three starters—led by the dynamic sophomore duo of Robert Hinton and Thomas Batties II, along with rock-solid senior Chandler Pigge. With last year’s captain and starting point guard Evan Nelson finishing his collegiate career with his hometown Arizona Wildcats, sophomore Austin Hunt brings the size, ability, creativity, and efficiency to help elevate this offense to a new level.
Although Nelson shot the ball well, he finished last season with one of the highest turnover rates among guards in the Ivy League, averaging 2.5 turnovers to just 2.9 assists per game. Enter Hunt: while not a true point guard, Harvard's projected starting lineup is filled with facilitators and floor-spacers, creating an opportunity for Hunt to grow into one of the team's most complete offensive weapons. He can attack the rim and dish—ranking third on the team last season with 1.8 assists per game—and score with efficiency, as his 53.6 percent field goal percentage ranked fourth in the Ivy League.
Penn - TJ Power - 6-foot-9 - junior forward
This pick is all about upside.
Two weeks after Fran McCaffery’s formal introduction as Penn’s new head coach, the Quakers made their first big splash of the offseason, adding Virginia transfer TJ Power, a 6’9 215 incoming junior who started his career at Duke, where he was first recruited as a consensus five-star, top-twenty recruit in his 2023 graduation class.
While Power was unable to make a consistent impact in the ACC, his notoriety as a floor-stretching, tempo-pushing “modern day” power forward fits perfectly with McCaffery’s uptempo offense that needs strong shooters and passers to make the offense hum smoothly. A unique fun fact about Power – while Power is a right-handed shooter, he was a left-handed pitching prospect out of high school, so there is also potential that Power expands his game as an ambidextrous playmaker. Also, while defense was not his calling card at Duke, EvanMiya.com’s analytics calculated that Power finished as Virginia’s fourth best defensive metrics.
Thanks to his five-star pedigree, size and versatile skill-set, TJ Power has the potential to become arguably the most impactful breakout performer in the Ivy League.
Princeton - Jackson Hicke - 6-foot-5 - junior guard
Earlier in the offseason, it was not a major surprise when Princeton’s star guard Xaivian Lee transferred to the Florida Gators, the reigning champions. However, star senior forward Caden Pierce shocked the college basketball landscape earlier this month announcing his intentions to not only redshirt the upcoming season to finish his degree at Princeton, but also preserve his eligibility for the 2026-27 season, playing elsewhere.
Between Lee transferring, Pierce redshirting and Blake Peters graduating, this trio was responsible last season for more than half of the team’s assists, three-pointers made and points scored, making it essential for junior guard Jackson Hicke to take the lead in next year’s starting backcourt alongside the returning leading scorer Dalen Davis.
At first glance, Hicke’s per-game stats were modest, but his underlying analytics project a major breakout with more on-ball responsibility – Hicke finished last season as the sixteenth most efficient offensive player in the Ivy League, highlighted with the eighth lowest turnover rate and finishing within the top-25 in assist rate in the conference while also earning solid shooting marks by making 51% of his two-pointers, 36% of his three-pointers and 82% of his foul shots. Hicke is also an excellent offensive rebounder and also finished within the top-25 in both steal and block rates.
Overall, it is a good bet to expect Hicke to step up to become one of the most impressive all-around performers for the Tigers.
Yale - Trevor Mullin - 6-foot junior guard
After winning both the 2024-25 Ivy League Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards this past season, the graduation of Bez Mbeng leaves a gaping vacancy for junior guard Trevor Mullin to step into the starting lineup after playing most of his minutes last season as an off-the-bench, floor-spacing off-ball guard.
At St. Sebastian's [MA], Mullin finished his high school career as the program's all-time leading scorer, showcasing his incredible range and his ability to score at all three-levels. While undersized, Mullin possesses quick-twitch athleticism and a high-level motor that will impact his two-way ability to create off-the-dribble and aggressively guard opponents.
In terms of his fit on Yale’s rotations, forward Nick Townsend is an excellent frontcourt passer, but Yale’s backcourt is in dire need for a floor general. If Mullin can improve his facilitating and secure the starting point guard spot, he can become one of the more electrifying players in the Ivy League.
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