Princeton Tigers

THE LOWDOWN

Head Coach: Joe Scott
2003-04 Record: 20-8 (13-1 Ivy League)
Ivy League Finish: 1st
Key Losses: G Ed Persia (8.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.1 apg), F Konrad Wysocki (6.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg)
Postseason: NCAA: Lost to Texas 66-49 in the first round

RETURNEES (returning starters in bold)
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	Pts.
15	Edwin Buffmire	G	6'4"	So.	1.3
23	Patrick Ekeruo	F	6'8"	So.	0.5
3	Scott Greenman	G	5'9"	Jr.	8.0
25	Andre Logan	F	6'6"	Sr.	8.2
20	Luke Owings	F	6'6"	So.	3.4
43	John Reynolds	C	6'10"	So.	0.0
44	Michael Rudoy	G/F	6'7"	So.	0.5
54	Harrison Schaen	F/C	6'8"	So.	2.6
12	Max Schafer	G	6'1"	Fr.	2.5
33	Mike Stephens	C	6'10"	Sr.	3.8
22	Will Venable	G/F	6'3"	Sr.	10.3
30	Judson Wallace	F/C	6'10"	Sr.	15.3
Complete 2003-04 Team Stats

FRESH FACES
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.
	Kyle Koncz	F	6'6"
	Matt Sargeant	G	6'4"
	Noah Savage	F	6'7"
	Zach Woolridge	G	6'5"

Top scorers Judson Wallace and Will Venable are coming off All-Ivy League seasons. Forward Andre Logan might be the league's best player if not for a knee injury two years ago. The Tigers graduated only one senior. The bench is strong and guard Matt Sargeant is one of the league's top freshmen.

Talk about picking your poison when it comes to defending Princeton. That must mean the defending Ivy League champions will feature many great individual plays this season, right? Sorry.

Said head coach Joe Scott: "My philosophy is, if there is good individual talent on this team, good individual talent always comes out more and always shows itself more, when what you're doing collectively is so good and so precise and so exact."

The 39-year-old Scott, who returns to his alma mater after a successful four-year stint at Air Force, knows that well. He was a point guard in the mid-1980s under legendary Tigers coach Pete Carril, then was an assistant coach for eight seasons under Carril and Bill Carmody.

Last season's 20-8 team was allowed to free-lance often and play at a faster pace under coach John Thompson III, but Scott brings more of an old-school approach back to Princeton. He expects the sub-par 3-point shooting to improve and for the league's most suffocating defense to tighten even more. And he expects the Tigers to repeat as league champions.

The senior triumvirate of Wallace, Venable and Logan is outstanding. The 6-foot-10 Wallace challenged for Ivy League Player of the Year honors last season, while averaging 16.0 points and 6.6 rebounds in league games. Venable, a swingman, scored in double figures in 12 of 14 league games and is the Ivy's best shutdown defender. Logan is coming off his first full season following two left knee surgeries and will be even stronger.

If opponents try to shut the backdoor on the Tigers, it will solve the perimeter shooting woes. Venable, Scott Greenman and point guard Max Schafer, who started last season's final six games, including an NCAA tournament loss to Texas, will benefit greatly. Sargeant, a combo guard, will try to force himself into a bench mix that already includes 6-10 Mike Stephens and sophomore forwards Harrison Schaen, a shot-blocking defensive intimidator, and Luke Owings.

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