Outside the Limelight
Basketball in the Ivy League
By Kathy Orton; Foreword by John Feinstein
Rutgers University Press
“Not many people are aware of the drama of Ivy League basketball. Outside the Limelight is a wonderful tribute to one of the most undervalued conferences in college basketball. I know. I've got the tuition bills.” —Tony Kornheiser, ESPN
“Growing up, I was very impressed with Bill Bradley, Jim McMillian, and Heyward Dotson. They fueled my interest in going to an Ivy League school. I hoped we as a team could duplicate the success they had at their schools. Kathy Orton introduces college basketball fans to the Ivy League beyond the well-known names and tells the story of the joys and sorrows of a season.” —James Brown, CBS Sports and Showtime studio host
“In my book, there is no such thing as an Ivy League player. There is such a thing as a basketball player who happens to play in the Ivy League. As Outside the Limelight reveals, when they come out of the locker room and step across the white line, they are basketball players, period.” —Pete Carril, former Princeton coach and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member
“Growing up, I was very impressed with Bill Bradley, Jim McMillian, and Heyward Dotson. They fueled my interest in going to an Ivy League school. I hoped we as a team could duplicate the success they had at their schools. Kathy Orton introduces college basketball fans to the Ivy League beyond the well-known names and tells the story of the joys and sorrows of a season.” —James Brown, CBS Sports and Showtime studio host
“In my book, there is no such thing as an Ivy League player. There is such a thing as a basketball player who happens to play in the Ivy League. As Outside the Limelight reveals, when they come out of the locker room and step across the white line, they are basketball players, period.” —Pete Carril, former Princeton coach and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member
Orton, a Washington Post sports writer, makes a game effort of illuminating the inside game of a sport that has been remarkably monotonous in its outcome.
Not many people are aware of the drama of Ivy League basketball. Outside the Limelight is a wonderful tribute to one of the most undervalued conferences in college basketball. I know. I've got the tuition bills.
Growing up, I was very impressed with Bill Bradley, Jim McMillian and Heyward Dotson. They fueled my interest in going to an Ivy League school. I hoped we as a team could duplicate the success they had at their schools. Kathy Orton introduces college basketball fans to the Ivy League beyond the well-known names and tells the story of the joys and sorrows of a season.
In my book, there's no such thing as an Ivy League player. There is such a thing as a basketball player who happens to play in the Ivy League. As Outside the Limelight reveals, when they come out of the locker room and step across the white line, they are basketball players. Period.'
As someone who played in the Ivy League, and always wanted to write about it, Kathy Orton has beaten me to it. And good for her, for she's written a wonderful book that captures both the league's idiosyncrasies and its uniqueness. It's all here, the coaches trying to win in a league without athletic scholarships, the players grappling with their own basketball dreams, and the bus rides, too. In many ways the Ivy League is the last real amateur league in college basketball, a page out of a simpler basketball time, and Orton captures it all. I wish I had written it.
Journalist Orton followed Ivy League men's basketball during the 2005-06 season, as Penn and Princeton battled for the top spot and Harvard, Cornell, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, and Columbia struggled to achieve winning records. This charming book recalls a time when colleges played basketball solely for the love of the sport. Highly recommended.
Orton has honored [these players] with her thoughtful account.
Orton provide[s] a fresh look at the non-scholarship, true student athletes in the game.
KATHY ORTON covered college basketball for the Washington Post for more than a decade. She was also the newspaper's beat writer on the NFL's Baltimore Ravens for two seasons, including their Super Bowl season in 2000.
Foreword
Preface
1 Origins of a League
Part I Great Expectations
2 A Mom-and-Pop Store
3 Great Scott
4 Multicultural Quakers
5 Getting Under Way
6 Roll Crimson Pride
7 Backdoor Cuts
8 A Tradition Tarnished
9 Bright Lights, Big Stages
Part II The Heart of the Season
10 Harvardization
11 Conference Calls
12 We Interrupt This Season . . .
13 The Road Is the Thing
14 Everyone Onto the Court
15 Brothers in Arms
16 A Rivalry Like No Other
17 Topsy-Turvy Weekend
18 Dreams Deferred
19 And the Winner Is . . .
Part III Tournament Hoopiness
20 The Wait of Expectations
Epilogue
Preface
1 Origins of a League
Part I Great Expectations
2 A Mom-and-Pop Store
3 Great Scott
4 Multicultural Quakers
5 Getting Under Way
6 Roll Crimson Pride
7 Backdoor Cuts
8 A Tradition Tarnished
9 Bright Lights, Big Stages
Part II The Heart of the Season
10 Harvardization
11 Conference Calls
12 We Interrupt This Season . . .
13 The Road Is the Thing
14 Everyone Onto the Court
15 Brothers in Arms
16 A Rivalry Like No Other
17 Topsy-Turvy Weekend
18 Dreams Deferred
19 And the Winner Is . . .
Part III Tournament Hoopiness
20 The Wait of Expectations
Epilogue