Freshmen are in and last year's seniors are out, but possibly the most interesting changes for the men's basketball team this season are the transfers.
Sophomore Dominick Martin — a regular player on the Tiger squad a year ago — and reserve guard Tom McLaughlin have left Princeton for Yale and William and Mary, respectively, this year. Junior Spencer Gloger, who transferred from Princeton to UCLA in 2000, returns to the Orange and Black.
Martin, a 6 foot, 10 inch center, started 21 of 26 games and averaged 14.7 minutes per game for the Tigers as the team tied for the Ivy League regular season championship. His .519 field goal percentage was the best on the team among players who appeared in more than 20 games. The North Carolina native also averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and led the team with 19 blocked shots.
McLaughlin, a 6'4" guard/forward, played in six games for Princeton and hit six of nine shots from the field, including two of four from three-point range.
Neither Martin nor McLaughlin returned e-mails this week.
Gloger, a 6'6" guard-forward, returns to the team after a two-year hiatus. The Californian returned home for his sophomore season to play for Steve Lavin's Bruins, but had to sit out the year under NCAA regulations.
Last year, Gloger was not a part of that UCLA team which finished 21-12 and made a run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament in March.
Gloger, returning to campus now as a junior, had originally signed a grant-in-aid to play at UCLA in 1999 before deciding to matriculate at Princeton.
In Martin, the Tigers lose a valuable young talent who is quickly making a name for himself as a formidable big man in the Ivy League. In Gloger, Princeton hopes to get the talent he displayed during his freshman campaign in 1999-2000, a season in which the true freshman started 28 games, averaged 13 points per game, set a Princeton freshman record with 34 points in a game, and tied a conference record with ten three-pointers in the same game.
Since returning to Princeton, Gloger has shined on the court overseas.
During the Tigers' trip to compete in Spain in August, Gloger averaged 14.3 points per game and led his squad to an impressive 6-1 mark.
Despite the juggling roster, the team remains confident that they are still on track to compete for the Ivy League title.
"The team remains upbeat and strong," senior guard Pete Hegseth said.
"We've got enough talented players that no one loss is going to sink the ship."
A year ago, the Tigers finished 16-12 overall and 11-4 in conference play, good enough for a three-way tie for first in the Ivy League with Penn and Yale.
Penn emerged as the champion in an unprecedented three-team playoff and advanced with the Ivy League's bid to the NCAA tournament while Princeton fell to the National Invitational Tournament and suffered a nailbiting 66-65 loss to Louisville in the first round.
But with Gloger returning and junior Andre Logan back from a leg injury last year, the Tigers look to be at the top of the standings again in 2002-2003.
"We can't afford to dwell on who's not here," Hegseth said. "While the composition often changes, the team remains resolute and focused on an Ivy League championship."
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