Inside Yale basketball's historic start ahead of year-ending Alabama matchup

Yale is 11-1 in men’s basketball. The last time anyone could say that, there were only eight teams in the NCAA tournament and 48 states in the Union. We’re talking 1945, so that makes the first two months of this season special for the Bulldogs, and it’s time to meet the psychology major who’s in the middle of it.

Say hello to Nick Townsend, all-Ivy League forward and whizbang student. We could start with his 16.9 points and 7.6 rebounds, which are fourth and third in the league. Or we could go right to his grade point average. “It’s 3.9-something,” he was saying. When it’s that good maybe it doesn’t matter to be exact.

What matters is that Yale is on a roll with guys like Nick Townsend. Before 2016, the Bulldogs had not seen an NCAA tournament in 54 years. They’ve been in five of them since and not just as March cannon fodder. They beat Baylor in 2016 and Auburn in 2024, and pushed Texas A&M last March. Under James Jones — Yale’s only coach this century and the architect of this golden era — the Bulldogs have beaten California, Oregon State, Washington, Miami, Clemson, Rutgers and Penn State in the regular season. They stayed in the game until the end at Purdue and lost to Minnesota by three last year. They’re 108-32 against the Ivy League the past 10 seasons.

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The current Yale version is in the top 10 nationally in field goal, free throw and 3-point percentage. When the Bulldogs beat Akron 97-94 to win the Paradise Jam, they shot 64 percent and made all 21 free throws. They had 36 assists in another game.

So in a universe of fat NIL packages and a gushing transfer portal, Yale and Jones and the Townsends of the world carry on best they can. Come Monday, the Bulldogs will be at Alabama after a 19-day break — final exams, you know — and will be bringing along that shiny record nobody at Yale has seen since the months following World War II. A ranked SEC team averaging 94 points a game hosting an Ivy League school in their first meeting ever. Sounds like a possible mismatch to most people, a challenge to the Bulldogs.

To mark the occasion and opportunity, we can check in on what life is like for Yale’s team captain.

Townsend is a senior in his fourth season as a Bulldog. Some Ivy League stars recently have transferred out late in their careers to get some time in the brighter lights. Not him. Yalie to the end. “I think I always knew that I wanted to finish it out at Yale. I feel like it’s been basically the same coaches, it really is just a family feel,” he said.

The deep sense of connection is understandable, since Townsend comes from a family of Ivy Leaguers. Wait a second. From a family of... Harvard grads? His mother was on the track team at Harvard, his sister ran track and was a member of the crew team at Harvard, his grandfather played football and baseball at Harvard, one uncle played baseball at Harvard, another played football at Harvard.

What’s with the turncoat? Not just him but older brother Matt, who also played basketball at ancient rival Yale. “Everyone always asks if they give me and my brother a hard time but they really don’t,” Nick said. “Everyone’s very supportive. A few jokes here and there but pretty much everyone’s on Yale’s side.”

Even when it’s Harvard vs. Yale? “Maybe a little more (tension) for football, but definitely not basketball.”

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Townsend’s most important skill is probably the same as any Ivy League athlete — time management. While the Bulldogs were becoming the nation’s first team to 11 wins in December, he was finishing four papers and a thesis. Consider a normal Wednesday last term:

Up at 7 a.m., breakfast, weight lifting, shower, two-hour class on the modern and ancient Olympics, hour psychology lab, quick lunch, a two-hour class on the psychology of marketing media, treatment at the gym, drills and practice until after 7 p.m., dinner, in bed by 9:45.

Do it again the next day. Not much dead time in all that. “You come in and you’re pulled in a lot of different ways,” he said. But the player who was named MVP of the Paradise Jam is the same student carrying a GPA of 3.9-something.

“Hopefully I think it sets you for success wherever you end up,” Townsend said. “Obviously life is hectic and busy for pretty much everyone and I think having the ability to feel confident in handling whatever’s coming your way, whether that’s work or family or other aspects of your life, just being able to juggle everything and function well is a skill I’m hopefully taking away from my time here.”

Which begs the question of what means more, the basketball stats that earned him all-conference at Yale or the supersonic GPA.

“That’s a tough one,” Townsend said. “I think my mom would say my GPA. But I don’t know, I think it’s both. My favorite memories are with the team.”

And now there is one last stretch of memory-making for him, starting at Alabama Monday. Yale might lose but won’t blink at the chance. Yale never does.

“Obviously the bigger programs might have more resources and all the stuff that comes with that but I think from our standpoint we don’t really focus on that or concern ourselves with that too much,” Townsend said. “I think you just try to control what you can. We do our best to prepare and show up each day for all of our games, including those.”

The final semester means Ivy League play and four more classes for Townsend, including one at the law school on psychology. That ought to keep him busy, but he said he’s actually more worried about drawing class. He’s wary of his proficiency in that one, but it can’t be much harder than playing Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Anyway, it’s closing time for Townsend's career and his goal is “just soaking it all up knowing it’s my last semester. Taking it all in because it’s hard to find. I think our team has a special type of bond and a special type of camaraderie.”

Another NCAA tournament would be nice as part of the farewell. Right now, prospects are good. Yale is 11-1. There weren’t 20,000 television sets in all America the last time that happened.