PRINCETON, N.J. -- Yale’s Miye Oni, Harvard’s Noah Kirkwood and Brown’s Obi Okolie received the Ivy League’s postseason award, the league announced Tuesday in advance of the 2019 Ivy League Men’s Basketball Tournament, which begins Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater. Limited ticket options remain.
Brown’s Mike Martin was voted Ivy League Coach of the Year. Yale’s Miye Oni was named Ivy League Player of the Year and a unanimous selection to the All-Ivy first team. Harvard’s Noah Kirkwood was voted Rookie of the Year and Brown’s Obi Okolie earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Mike Martin, in his seventh season at the helm, led Brown to one of its most successful season in recent history as the Bears matched its program record, set in 2008, for wins in a season with an overall record of 19-11. Brown, which finished the season tied for fourth place in the standings, fell to Penn in the season finale giving the tiebreaker advance for a berth in this weekend's tournament. The Bears paced the League in scoring defense, holding opponents to 68.2 points per game, as well as three-point field goal percentage (.297). This marks the first honor for Martin.
Oni is the fourth Yale student-athlete to earn Ivy League Player of the Year and the first to do since Justin Sears earned the League’s top honor in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016. Oni has been a consistent threat for Yale, which claimed its third Ivy League title in the previous five seasons after going 20-7 overall and 10-4 in League play. The Porter Ranch, Calif., native ranks third in the League with 17.4 points per game, shooting 39.3 percent from beyond the arc, which is good for third among league leaders. The junior has reached double figures in 25 games throughout the season, including three 30-plus performances.
Kirkwood is the ninth player in Harvard history to earn the honor, and the first since current teammate Bryce Aiken in 2016-17. Kirkwood paced all first-year players in the League, averaging 10.4 points per game on the season. The Ottawa, Ontario native was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week seven times throughout the season, helping the Crimson to its seventh Ivy League title in the past nine seasons.
Okolie established himself as one of the top defensive presences in the Ivy League, averaging 11.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He scored his 1,000th career point against Cornell. Okolie held Harvard’s Aiken and Dartmouth’s Barry to a combined 2-of-13 in three-point shooting and 9-of-26 shooting from the field as the Bears earned its first weekend sweep of 2014. Oni earned second team All-Ivy honors. Okolie and his brother Agunwa Okolie, who played at Harvard from 2012-2015, become the first set of brothers to win Ivy League Defensive Players of the Year as Agunwa Okolie claimed the award in his senior year. Okolie is the second Brown student-athlete to earn Defensive Player of the Year joining Cedric Kuakumensah in 2013 and 2014.
Harvard’s Aiken, Penn’s AJ Brodeur and Cornell’s Matt Morgan joined Oni as unanimous first-team All-Ivy selections, while Princeton's Myles Stephens and Yale's Alex Copeland rounded out the first team.
Aiken, who missed a significant portion of non-conference play due to injury, established himself as a top scoring threat in League play averaging 22.2 points per game. The Randolph, New Jersey helped the Crimson to its seventh Ivy League title in the past nine seasons and tallied three games of at least 30 points, including the second-highest output in program history (44) earlier this season in a triple overtime thriller against Columbia. This marks the second All-Ivy honor for the junior who was named first team All-Ivy as a freshman in 2016-17.
A unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection for the second straight year, Brodeur leads Penn this season in scoring (17.4 ppg), rebounding (8.2 rpg), field-goal percentage (53.0), assists (111) and blocked shots (41). Brodeur had 28 double-figure scoring games this season—including nine 20-point games and one 30-point game—and enters the Ivy League Tournament on a 24-game streak of such games. Brodeur also has a team-high nine double-doubles this season. Currently, Brodeur is 16th on Penn's all-time scoring list with 1,340 points and he is second all-time with 148 blocked shots.
Morgan concluded his career as the second leading scorer in Ivy League history with 2,309 points and is on pace to become the first player to pace the League in scoring all four years of his career after finishing the season with 22.1, which currently ranks 18th in the nation. His 80-game double-figure scoring streak is a program and League record, while ranking 12th in NCAA history. Morgan is a unanimous first-team all-conference selection for the second straight season, becoming just the sixth player in Cornell history to earn multiple first-team All-Ivy mentions.
Stephens, the 2018 Defensive Player of the Year, guided Princeton a third seed at this year’s Ivy League tournaments. The Lawrenceville, N.J., native is averaging 15.3 points per game and ranks fourth in the League in rebounds, pulling down 6.3. Stephens stands 10th in scoring on the program's all-time list at 1,332 points and has achieved a career-high five double-doubles this season. It is Stephens' third All-Ivy recognition overall, including the 2017 first-team honor and second-team recognition last year.
Copeland is a key piece to the Bulldogs' success this season. He is second in the league in free throw percentage (.838), fourth in assists (3.3 per game), eighth in steals (1.3 per game) and 10th in scoring (13.3 ppg.). Copeland established a new school record by making 40 consecutive free throws, a streak that began late season and carried over to this year. In addition, he became the 29th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, a milestone he reached in the home win over Dartmouth.
Brown, Columbia and Dartmouth were represented on the second team. Brown's Okolie and Tamenang Choh earned recognition, along with Gabe Stefanini and Chris Knight.
Player of the Year
Miye Oni, Yale (Jr., G – Porter Ranch, Calif.)
Rookie of the Year
Noah Kirkwood, Harvard (Fr., G – Ottawa, Ontario)
Defensive Player of the Year
Obi Okolie, Brown (Sr., G – Ajax, Ontario)
Coach of the Year
Mike Martin, Brown
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY^
*Miye Oni, Yale (Jr., G – Porter Ranch, Calif.)
*AJ Brodeur, Penn (Jr., G – Northborough, Mass.)
*Bryce Aiken, Harvard (Jr., G – Randolph, N.J.)
*Matt Morgan, Cornell (Sr., G – Concord, N.C.)
Myles Stephens, Princeton (Sr., F – Lawrenceville, N.J.)
Alex Copeland, Yale (Sr., G – Los Angeles, Calif.)
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY^
Tamenang Choh, Brown (So., F – Lowell, Mass.)
Obi Okolie, Brown (Sr., G – Ajax, Ontario)
Gabe Stefanini, Columbia (So., G – Bologna, Italy)
Chris Knight, Dartmouth (So., F – Madison, Wis.)
Devon Goodman, Penn (Jr., G Laverock, Pa.)
Richmond Aririguzoh, Princeton (Jr., C – Ewing, N.J.)
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Patrick Tape, Columbia (Jr., F – Charlotte, N.C.)
^team expanded due to tie in voting