Princeton Preps for NCAA Debut

Niveen Rasheed's friends didn't entirely get it. They didn't understand why she would pass up a scholarship to play basketball in the Pac-10 or the West Coast Conference to go across the country to play basketball in the Ivy League.

They might get it now.

Rasheed's outstanding freshman season has led Princeton to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

The Tigers -- their 11th-seed the highest-ever for an Ivy League team -- will debut Saturday in Tallahassee against No. 6 seed St. John's.

Princeton went 26-2 overall and made a 14-0 run through the Ivy League.

Uncharted territory was the destination coach Courtney Banghart was hoping to discover when she took the job three years ago.

Banghart is Ivy League-basketball bred. She played and coached at Dartmouth. She was a two-time All-Ivy League selection as a player and coached in the NCAA tournament in 2004 and 2006 as an assistant coach at her alma mater.

Banghart has been working hard to sell Princeton as a viable basketball option to the top student-athletes from around the country. Her sales pitch opens with "It worked for me."

"We recruit nationally and the fact that we don't offer scholarships is a little bit of a challenge, but are looking for players who care a lot about athleticism and have that competitive fire," Banghart said. "I believe so strongly in this model. Hey, I made the choice to turn down scholarships to come to this environment. That's how much I believe in it."

She sold Rasheed. The freshman from Danville, Calif., was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, averaging a team-high 15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds a game, while also leading the Tigers in assists and steals. She was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week nine times during the season and was selected to the all-conference first team.

"We are not only long and athletic, but we play together on both ends. I am proud of the team I'm taking to Florida and I'm anxious how to see how we match up nationally."
- Courtney Banghart,
Princeton Coach Rasheed said she had been "stressing out" about the process of selecting a college. She had offers from Oregon, Washington, San Diego and Santa Clara. She visited Princeton and it felt right.

"It was hard to give up the chance at a Princeton education," Rasheed said. "I took my official visit in October of my senior year and I absolutely fell in love with the campus and team. It fit so well with what I wanted."

Friends from school and from her AAU basketball team questioned her choice.

"I wanted to try something new," Rasheed said. "One of my sisters lives in New York, so I know she would be close by. It was something I really wanted to do."

Banghart was thrilled to have her. The coach thinks her young forward is already the best player in the Ivy League.

"I think she leads us in scrapes and cuts and bruises," Banghart said. "She just plays so hard."

Princeton's roster includes eight players six-foot or taller and the Tigers are averaging 71.6 points a game with four players, led by Rasheed, scoring in double figures.

"This is the cherry on top of a sundae that took four years to make," said senior captain Tani Brown from Los Angeles. "This is the result of a lot of blood, sweat and tears."

Banghart said she knew this would be a special team from the start of fall conditioning when saw players who returned in great condition, cohesive and prepared to work hard.

"I love the fight of our kids," Banghart said. "We are not only long and athletic, but we play together on both ends. I am proud of the team I'm taking to Florida and I'm anxious how to see how we match up nationally."
The Ivy League has had its moment in the sun in the NCAA tournament. It was 1998 when an Allison Feaster-led Harvard team came into the tournament as the No. 16 seed and pulled off the unprecedented upset, defeating No. 1 Stanford.

In fact, Stanford is a No. 1 seed in the tournament again -- for the first time since that loss.

"We already know that people have respect for the name across your chest in the workplace. But people who have played against the Ivy, they have a lot of respect for us," Banghart said. "Very few schools recruit nationally like we do. Hopefully we are changing people's minds."

Banghart said this first NCAA berth is only the beginning for her program.

"We are not going to be a one-hit wonder," she said.