• Oh, So Close . . . (Men's Basketball)
• Women's Basketball Finishes with a Flourish and a Fight
• Sydney Johnson Ends a Remarkable Career
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Oh, So Close . . .
Tigers end championship year with 55-52 loss to California in the NCAA tournament

It was wrong. It was all wrong. How could the men's basketball team (24-4, 14-0 Ivy), famous for its clinics in the NCAA tournament, get beaten by a player for whom basketball was only a hobby? Even the setting was wrong: instead of the usual prime-time game, Princeton was relegated to a noontime tip-off. It was a bit player in the "Dean Smith" NCAA first round in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on March 13. After last year's victory over UCLA, the Tigers won't sneak up on anyone anymore; but while Princeton was the 12th-seeded team in the East region, so many pundits had picked them to advance that the Tigers had become the favorite, rather than being America's favorite underdog. Finally, having been the first team to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, thanks to the early East Coast start, Princeton also became the first team to be bounced out of it.
But if anything, Princeton's 55-52 loss to fifth-seeded California (Berkeley)-and the Bears' part-time hoopster, guard Tony Gonzalez (who also plays football)-showed how magical the Tigers' NCAA victory over UCLA in 1996 really was.
Expectations for the Tigers began rising a year ago, in the aftermath of their tournament win. Although coach Pete Carril moved on to the Basketball Hall of Fame via the NBA's Sacramento Kings, the Tigers lost only Chris Doyal '96 to graduation. Even first-year coach Bill Carmody admitted, "I have always said that we should be the favorites in the Ivy League, because we had everybody back."
Expectations continued to rise through the pre-Ivy schedule, with the Tigers winning two holiday tournaments (beating the host teams in both), and losing only three times: to Indiana and North Carolina, both top-20 teams, and inexplicably to Bucknell, a top-200 team. At the midway point of the 1997 season, the Tigers moved into first place, but the league race remained in doubt until the weekend of February 21, when Princeton traveled to Harvard and Dartmouth.
On Friday night, Princeton built a comfortable 17-point lead against the Crimson, only to watch it erode under full-court pressure and a deluge of three-pointers. In the end the Tigers escaped, 66-61, when Mitch Henderson '98 drove to the basket with less than a minute left. In a microcosm of the difference between the Carril and Carmody eras, the new coach was not visibly upset about the almost-blown lead, explaining, "We got a little tired, and play got a little ratty out there. And that's good for a team that's behind."
While Princeton was holding serve with the win in Cambridge, Massachusetts, second-place Dartmouth was losing at home to a mediocre Penn team. So on Saturday night, when the Tigers arrived in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Ivy landscape had changed. Princeton, which might have faced the prospect of falling into second place, now had an opportunity to clinch the league title.
With Sydney Johnson '97 shadowing Dartmouth's Sea Lonergan for the eighth and final time, the Tigers rolled to a 60-53 win that earned them a place in the NCAA tourney. Johnson's defensive performance that night in Hanover was typical for the first Ivy League Player of the Year (voted after the season) who did not average at least 10 points per game. Lonergan, Dartmouth's second leading scorer of all time, was never a factor. After the game, Lonergan said, "For four years, Sydney and I have been guarding each other at both ends of the floor. I hate playing against him, but he's the best defensive player I have ever played against, either in the Ivy League or otherwise."
With the league title in hand, the only question remaining was whether Princeton could close out its schedule undefeated in the Ivies. Johnson again provided the answer, but this time at the offensive end. On the weekend of February 28, he shot both Columbia and Cornell into submission by hitting 11 three-pointers in a row, breaking the Princeton record of eight straight, which had been held by Matt Lapin '90. The streak was especially meaningful because his shooting has been spotty throughout his career, and he has changed his shooting form almost every year. In his typical fashion, Johnson would comment only briefly on the streak ("I was certainly feeling hot, but I wasn't counting," he said) before returning the conversation to his daily concern: whether the team was playing at a "top-notch level."
After the Columbia and Cornell victories, it all seemed to be coming together for the Tigers. They moved into the CNN-USA Today poll as the 25th-best team in the country. Only Penn stood between them and an undefeated season that would also tie a 72-year-old school record of 19 straight victories. With stories in Sports Illustrated and USA Today came whispers about a seed in the top half of the NCAA bracket.
But just as quickly, momentum shifted. A lackluster, 86-73 win over Penn dropped the Tigers out of the poll. The NCAA committee gave the Tigers a date with a Cal team that was little known, especially among the Eastern media. With impeccable logic, the media decided that because Cal was an enigma, it would be unable to solve Princeton's offense.
At the start of the Cal game, Princeton jumped to an early lead. Behind two hook shots and a three-pointer by center Steve Goodrich '98, the Tigers built a 29-23 halftime lead. At halftime, Cal's fans were so discontented with their team's play that they got on their cell phones trying to see if they'd be able to make the afternoon's connecting flights back to the West Coast.
But the warning signs should have been apparent: before the game, Carmody had described the Bears as "overpowering," and the Tigers were out-rebounded 17-9 in the first half. Inside the arena, there wasn't yet the buzz that defines an upset-in-the-making. (Indeed, most fans were looking past Princeton's game to a contest later that night, in which North Carolina coach Dean Smith would try to tie the NCAA record for career victories.)
The Tigers came out flat at the beginning of the second half. Later, Carmody said he was surprised: "We have had a history this year of going out at the start of the second half and going on a 12-2 run and sort of taking control of the game, but today [California] did that.'' In fact, it was a 13-2 run, and the Bears went up 36-31 before Mitch Henderson stopped the bleeding by hitting a three-pointer.
Cal's matchup zone caused problems for Princeton all afternoon. And just when the Tigers felt they had solved it, the Bears switched back to their man-to-man. As Cal's coach, Ben Braun, said later, "Down the stretch, we felt that we had to make adjustments and give them different looks coming out of timeouts." Of the Tigers' offensive difficulties, Carmody said they may have been trying too hard: "Each guy was trying to do something, or to say, 'I'll be the guy who will step up.' "
Statistically, Princeton was dominated in the second half as well, shooting just 43 percent and being outrebounded 21-9. But in the game's waning moments, despite the odds, Princeton clung to life.
The end wasn't sudden-it was a ball that slipped through a Tiger's hands; a couple of rebounds that Princeton let Cal tip back to its guards; a forced pass to a man who was double-teamed. And finally, it was first-team all-America tight end, future NFL draftee, and Cal "temp" guard Tony Gonzalez who made the difference. First, he hit a tough baseline jumper with 57 seconds left to break a 50-50 tie. Then, after a steal, Gonzalez was fouled and made one of two to put Cal up three points with 33 seconds left. Then Princeton fouled Gonzalez again, and the 62.1 percent foul shooter made both of his free throws to restore California's three-point lead with 14.7 seconds left.
The Johnson Era ended with Princeton down three and facing a situation for which its offense is not built. Like a year ago against UCLA, it was Gabe Lewullis '99 and Steve Goodrich '98 on the left side of the floor, trying to conjure up a last Princeton basket. But unlike the UCLA game, there would be no element of surprise, as 14,368 fans and every Cal player knew what to expect. Princeton needed a three-pointer to tie. Cal's Alfred Grigsby, who was guarding Lewullis, reacted once the handoff was made from Goodrich. He blocked Lewullis's attempt and time expired. "I just took a gamble and jumped . . . and it worked out," said Grigsby.
After the game, Johnson said, "the saddest thing is that we didn't get to show that we are a very good basketball team," but others did not agree. "We have to give them a lot of credit for the way that they played today," said Braun. Bears' hero Gonzalez added, "They get you in their game-we played right into their hands, just like they wanted [us] to."
But the end of the season didn't sit easy with the Tigers. "I just wasn't ready to lose today," said a quiet Carmody after the game. "Not with a game that we really should have won. All along I have been saying that I thought these guys had a lot of basketball in them, so I didn't really have anything to say to the guys after the game. And playing so early in the tournament, and losing-it's almost like you're not really part of it. I hadn't really prepared for this scenario. I just have a hollow feeling inside."
The Tigers have a strong chance to defend their Ivy title again, with four of their five starters back. Unfortunately, the player they're losing is Johnson. "We'll miss Syd a lot," said Goodrich after the game. "He's a winner." So was his team.
-Matthew T. Henshon '91
Since playing his last college game against Villanova in 1991, Matt Henshon has moved to Boston and now practices law.

Women's Basketball Finishes with a Flourish and a Fight
At season's end, the consistently upbeat attitude of the women's basketball team (6-19 overall, 6-8 Ivy) finally makes sense. Behind strong play from its departing captain, Kim Allen '97, and her freshmen pupils, Princeton won four of its last five games and came within a point of posting a .500 record in the Ivy League.
(If not for a 58-57 loss to Cornell on March 1, the team would have finished 7-7).
Princeton began its run by avenging an earlier loss to Dartmouth with a 70-63 victory on February 7. Then the Tigers completed a sweep of Columbia with a 67-41 win on February 28 and won both their games against Penn, scratching out a 48-45 victory at the Palestra on February 25 and trouncing the Quakers, 76-46, in the Tigers' season finale, at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Allen finished her career with 1,018 points (becoming only the 11th player in the program to score at least 1,000). She stepped up her output down the stretch, hitting for 14 points and adding five steals in the second victory over Penn.
Though it became a blowout, the game was hotly contested, and the second half saw a rare eruption of violence. Moments after Penn's Jen Houser took a swipe at the face of Tiger forward Tesa Ho '00, the two players had words and then came to blows briefly before being separated. "It was a physical game both ways," said coach Liz Feeley, "But I don't think something like this should ever happen." Both players were ejected from the game, as were three Quakers who left the bench during the fight.
But it was Allen and Princeton's offense that highlighted the evening, as the Tigers established and maintained a comfortable lead throughout. "We sent Kim Allen out in style," said Feeley. "It was a nice way to end the season-a nice ending for Kim and a nice beginning for everyone returning."
Leading returnees include veteran guard Zakiya Pressley '98; two emerging stars, forward Kate Thirolf '00 and guard Maggie Langlas '00, both named to the Ivy all-rookie team; and center Lea Ann Drohan '99, who got honorable-mention from the league. They will be joined by Emily Krone '01, a 6'1" post player, and classmate-to-be Jessica Munson, a 5'8" guard.

Sydney Johnson Ends a Remarkable Career
After the loss to California, a dejected Sydney Johnson '97 said he was "disappointed" that he didn't find a way to "pull the team together better." Never mind that he'd led the team to an undefeated league record. Never mind that he'd end his career as one of Princeton's best of all time. At that moment, Johnson (a relentless self-critic) cared only that his team had lost a game it could have won.
On the court, Johnson had struggled on offense, scoring just four points. But he had kept his team focused when the Bears of California threatened to take over the game, just like he did the year before against the Bruins of UCLA. And just as in 1996, he and his teammates had a chance to win a game they weren't supposed to in the final seconds. But they didn't, and the defeat was hard to swallow. Johnson knew it would make last year's win over UCLA look like a fluke.
He could imagine what the media and basketball fans who didn't know any better would think of the upset-that-wasn't: "Now people are going to say, 'Oh, that's just Princeton,' " he said with distaste. "But [this team] can really play."
This season, Johnson joined Kit Meuller '91 and Rick Hielscher '95 as the only Princeton players to amass at least 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 200 assists in their careers. He holds the Ivy League record for consecutive three-pointers. But odds are it won't be his offensive numbers that people will remember him for.
In recognition of Johnson's defensive skills (he's widely acknowledged to be the best defender in the league), Ivy coaches voted him Player of the Year after the 1997 season. He also holds the school record for steals. According to coach Bill Carmody, who spent 14 years as an assistant to Pete Carril before becoming the Tigers' head coach at the beginning of this season, Johnson is "the best defensive player I've ever coached." But it's probable that those who knew him won't remember him for that, either.
What they will remember is his character. Johnson held Princeton together when his teammates seemed ready to crack. Named team captain as a sophomore, he is the first three-time captain in school history. His considered, articulate demeanor makes him seem mature beyond his years. "He's a tremendous player and a great leader," says Carmody. "He's worked as hard every day as any player I've been around."
As Tiger basketball fans try to put this year's disappointing loss to California behind them, they have to wonder who'll fill the leadership gap. The Tigers have four of their five starters returning (center Steve Goodrich, guards Brian Earl and Mitch Henderson, and forward Gabe Lewullis), but they'll have a captain other than Johnson for the first time since any of them came to Princeton.
Probable successors? If the final game of this season was any indication, Johnson's replacement will be junior Mitch Henderson. The fiery guard scored some key baskets in the game against California and led the team in scoring with 15.
Henderson's most notable contribution came at the beginning of the second half, when the Bears stormed out of the halftime locker room to turn a six-point deficit into a five-point advantage. Only Henderson's driving layup at 18:53 and a three-pointer from the top of the key at 13:32 kept California from coasting home to an easy victory.
The guard's emotional style makes him a logical choice to run the team. He is a fantastic passer whose talent at penetrating defenses will draw plenty of attention from opponents. Count on Henderson to find a still-improving Goodrich more often than not, or to kick the ball back out to Earl, who was the team's leading three-point shooter this year.
Despite the loss of its captain, it's not impossible to think the Tigers could score another NCAA victory for Princeton's brand of basketball next year. And if they do, that's when Sydney Johnson, from his vantage point in the stands, will start to celebrate the victory of what will still be his team.
-Paul Hagar '91

Sports Shorts
O'Connell retires: Baseball coach Tom O'Connell announced on March 10 that he would retire at the end of the 1997 season. In 16 years at the helm, O'Connell compiled a 303-289-6 record; he ranks third all-time in wins. Under O'Connell, Princeton won three Ivy League championships, in 1985, 1991, and 1996.

Football: Since the old home of Princeton football, Palmer Stadium, is fast becoming a heap of rubble (see story, page 8), the gridders will keep their suitcases packed for all of the 1997 season, as will the track and field teams. The Tigers will host two games, however, playing Fordham at the College of New Jersey in nearby Ewing, New Jersey, on September 27 and facing off with Yale at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands on November 15. Cornerback Damani Leech '98 told The Daily Princetonian he would treat the situation as a challenge: "I want to be able to say [to opponents], 'We didn't have a stadium, home fans, a locker room, or anything else, and we still beat you.' "