PRINCETON, N.J. — After another exciting season of Ivy League men's basketball, the Ivy League has announced the major award winners and All-Ivy teams for the 2025-26 season.
Yale senior
Nick Townsend was named the Player of the Year, the second-straight Bulldog to win the award. He led Yale to a successful defense of their Ivy League championship, setting career highs across the board with averages of 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game, while shooting 51% from the field and a league-best 48% from three-point range. The Chappaqua, N.Y. native reached double-figures in 25-of-27 games and 20-plus in six games. Routinely filling up the stat sheet, Townsend had five double-doubles, and had more than a handful of near triple-doubles as well, the closest game of the year being a 21-point, 10-assist, six-rebound effort in a win over Akron.
Picking up the torch from three-time winner Bez Mbeng,
Casey Simmons became the catalyst of the Yale defense and made it four-straight for the Bulldogs as he came away as this year’s winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award. Often lining up against the opposition’s top offensive player, Simmons’ versatility and on-ball prowess helped Yale finish with a defensive scoring average of 66.4 points per game in Ivy League play and the top scoring margin in the league at 10.0 points per game.
Connor Igoe was named the Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Columbia player to win the award since 1987. Igoe grew into his role throughout the season, going from averaging less than 15 minutes per game off the bench to starting the final six games of the season. A versatile forward, Igoe averaged 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game on the year overall. Igoe’s run as a starter to close the season saw his numbers improve to 9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, with the first-year posting three double-doubles in the closing stretch of the season.
Both the coaching staffs from
Yale and
Harvard were awarded Coaching Staff of the Year honors. The Bulldogs, led by head coach James Jones, posted their fourth-straight 20-win season and second-straight Ivy League regular season title, finishing with an 11-3 record in conference play, one game ahead of Harvard. The Crimson, who are led by long-time head coach Tommy Amaker, had a resurgent year. They finished the regular season with a 17-11 record and a 10-4 mark in Ivy League play, the first time Harvard finished over 0.500 in conference since the 2019-20 season, which was also the last time Harvard qualified for Ivy Madness prior to this year.
The All-Ivy First Team was made up of representatives from five different schools. Townsend was one of three players to be unanimously selected to the All-Ivy First Team, the others being last year’s Rookie of the Year, Harvard’s
Robert Hinton, and Penn’s
TJ Power.
Jake Fiegen of Cornell and Brown’s
Landon Lewis completed the five members of the Ivy League First-Team recipients.
The expanded All-Ivy Second Team featured a pair of Harvard players in
Thomas Batties II and
Chandler Piggé, giving Harvard the most All-Ivy honorees of any member school. The All-Ivy Second Team was rounded out by Yale’s
Isaac Celiscar, Penn’s
Ethan Roberts, Cornell’s
Cooper Noard, and Columbia’s
Kenny Noland, who became Columbia’s first All-Ivy member since the 2019-20 season.
Additionally, one student-athlete from each institution was recognized for their commitment in the classroom and on the court as members of the 2025-26 Ivy League Men's Basketball Academic All-Ivy team. Brown’s
Landon Lewis, Columbia's
Blair Thompson, Cornell’s
Corbin Zentner, Dartmouth's
Jackson Munro, Harvard’s
Chandler Piggé, Penn's
Ethan Roberts, Princeton’s
Jackson Hicke and Yale's
Nick Townsend were each named to the team.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Nick Townsend, Yale
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Connor Igoe, Columbia
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Casey Simmons, Yale
CO-COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Harvard
CO-COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Yale
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY
*Robert Hinton, Harvard
*TJ Power, Penn
*Nick Townsend, Yale
Jake Fiegen, Cornell
Landon Lewis, Brown
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY^
Kenny Noland, Columbia
Cooper Noard, Cornell
Thomas Batties II, Harvard
Chandler Piggé, Harvard
Ethan Roberts, Penn
Isaac Celiscar, Yale
HONORABLE MENTION
Brandon Mitchell-Day, Dartmouth
Dalen Davis, Princeton
Casey Simmons, Yale
* Unanimous selection
^ Team expanded due to ties in voting