Last season: 16-10, 11-3 Ivy, 1st

Key additions: Dominick Martin, C, 6-10, 235; Will Venable, G, 6-2, 185

Key losses: Walton, C/F, 6-7, 215 (10.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg); C. J. Chapman

Probable starting five: Ahmed El-Nokali, G, 6-4, 180, Sr. (8.3 ppg); Kyle Wente, G, Jr.; Mike Bechtold, F, 6-6, 210, Sr. (8.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg); Andre Logan, F, 6-7, 235, So. (6.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg); Konrad Wysocki, C, So. (5.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

At a glance: Normally, one might expect a team graduating a unanimous First-team All Ivy selection who just happened to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, to be in trouble. However, it’s also not normal to return six players with significant starting experience and still have two reserves earn starting positions. That, though, is exactly what has happened for Thompson, the son of the former Georgetown coach.

El-Nokali, Bechtold, Logan and Ed Persia are all back. In addition, key reserves Wente, a sometime starter last year, and Wysocki, the Ivy Rookie of the Year, return. Finally, Ray Robins, a sophomore starter two years ago before taking last season off, and Chris Krug, who started in the 1998-99 season as a freshman before taking two years off, have rejoined the team. Ultimately, Thompson seems to have settled on El-Nokali, the oft-injured Bechtold, Logan, Wente and Wysocki as his starting five, but Persia and Robins have both seen significant minutes off the bench.

While the Tigers are a tall team, with an average height of 6’7, leading them in the quest for their seventh straight postseason appearance will be co-captain El-Nokali, Princeton’s iron man. A three-year starter, the Second-Team All-Ivy point guard spent 92 percent of Princeton’s Ivy League minutes on the floor, playing all forty minutes nine times during the season.

Among the returners, El-Nokali was joined in being honored by the league by Wente, his backcourt mate and an Honorable Mention All-Ivy Choice, and Wysocki. Wente’s name is familiar to Crimson fans because of his miraculous, buzzer-beating three-pointer that beat Harvard at Lavietes last winter. Wysocki, too, has a lot to live up to. The center for Princeton has been named First-Team All-Ivy ten times in the last twelve years.

Columbia

Coach: Armond Hill, 7th year (59-99) Last season: 12-15, 7-7 Ivy, t-4th

Key additions: Jeff Kirkeby, G, 6-5, 185; Jeremia Boswell, G, 6-4, 180; Allan MacQuarrie, G, 6-0, 160

Key losses: None

Probable starting five: Derrick Mayo, G, 6-1, 195, Sr. (3.7 ppg, 2.9 apg); Treg Duerksen, G, 6-3, 200, Sr.; Craig Austin, F, 6-6, 210, Sr. (18.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg); Joe Case, F, 6-8, 220, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 5 rpg); Chris Wiedemann, C, 6-9, 240, Jr. (8 ppg, 6.3 rpg)

At a glance: Like Brown, Columbia returns all five of its starters from last year. Like the Tigers, it runs the “Princeton system” emphasizing disciplined play. Also like Princeton, the Lions have a former starter returning to the team after sitting out a year in Duerksen, who missed last season with a torn ACL and a stress fracture in his foot. His return will allow Hill to use 6’0 guard Victor Munoz, a starter last year, off the bench.

Unlike either Brown or Princeton, however, the Lions have the returning Ivy Player of the Year. Craig Austin, who was also an Honorable Mention All-American, was the league’s leading scorer in Ivy games last year.