... and from Tigers past

Over spring break, news of Joe Scott '87's exodus to the University of Denver spread through the Princeton athletic community like a shot heard 'round the world. From Princeton to Germany to Israel, former members of the men's basketball team responded to the news of Scott's departure with reactions that were similarly all over the map.

Whether they thrived or suffered during the Scott regime, the former Tigers made one thing clear: With Scott gone, there are new possibilities for Princeton basketball.

One former player who isn't afraid to express negativity about Scott's tenure at Princeton is Judson Wallace '05.

The former Tiger center, who currently plays professional basketball in Germany, never warmed up to Scott while fighting a back injury during his senior season, Scott's first with the program.

"For the last three years, I've tried to maintain a degree of class when referring to Joe Scott despite everything inside me telling me to expose the type of person he was toward me," Wallace said, adding that the news of Scott's hasty departure did not strike him as being out of character for the coach.

"Knowing the type of person he is," Wallace added, "I can easily see how Joe Scott could talk and talk about having guts and character and always be talking down to people, then run like a scared child from the pressure of a tough situation."

Mike Rudoy '07 is another former Tiger whose negative feelings toward Scott were rekindled by his departure. Before the start of the 2006 season, the six-foot, seven-inch forward was cut from the Tiger squad.

Rudoy noted that Scott's "my way or the highway" coaching style was a poor fit for Princeton's program.

"He was not the right person to be coaching college athletes," Rudoy said. "I think Princeton basketball was affected by the way in which he treated people. He treated people extremely poorly, and I think it definitely showed up on the basketball court."

While the blame can't be placed wholly on Scott's shoulders — poor execution, especially from the foul line, plagued Princeton throughout this season — Rudoy feels that the head coach could have done more to right the ship.

"I think the way in which he treated [junior forward] Noah Savage this year was completely surprising to me," Rudoy said of the limited playing time Savage had this season after leading the team in scoring last year. "Noah, in my opinion, is one of the best players on the team. What the players could have brought to the team did not come to fruition because of Joe Scott's poor decision making."

Wallace recognizes that his struggles during senior year were partially due to his own poor execution from the field, but he believes that Scott also exacerbated the problem.

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Wallace pointed to Scott's failure to take advantage of the individual talents he and teammate Will Venable '05 possessed on both sides of the court. The duo was widely recognized as two of the Ivy League's best players, but Wallace felt Scott's matchup-zone defense and rigid Princeton offense failed to take advantage of their one-on-one strengths.

"Joe Scott refused to make adaptations, which in my opinion is really what coaching is all about," Wallace added.

Though there are many who questioned Scott's coaching methods, others supported him throughout his three-year stint. One player who has fond memories of his time in a Tiger uniform is Scott Greenman '06. Greenman capped off a successful career at Princeton with a stellar senior season, in which he earned first-team All-Ivy honors and ranked near the top of several Ivy League categories. Greenman now plays basketball professionally in Israel.

"I had a very good relationship with Coach Scott," Greenman said. "I really enjoyed playing for him. The second half of my senior year was one of the best times of my life. I thought what he was doing was eventually really going to help the program and put us in the right direction."

Another person who adamantly supports Scott is Bob Scrabis '89, a backcourt teammate of Scott during his days as a player. During his senior season, Scrabis helped lead Princeton to the NCAA tournament — the Tigers fell to Georgetown, 50-49, in an opening-round classic — earning Ivy League Player of the Year recognition in the process.

Scrabis said that Scott — a four-year starting point guard for the Tigers — helped him improve as a player, showing the teaching instincts Scrabis thinks led Scott to blossom into a good coach.

"The best player I ever played with was Joe Scott," Scrabis said. "He taught me more about basketball and myself than anybody I'd ever played with [or] played against. And if I was in a war, I'd want him right next to me in my foxhole because that's the type of guy he is."

Scott may have been a positive force on the court for the Tigers, but his die-hard mentality did not translate into overwhelming successes once he became coach.

"To come in and talk down to everyone on the team and around him like he was the savior and we needed saving, it really perturbs me to see what has been carried out," Wallace said. "It's extremely disappointing for any person who gave four years of 'blood, sweat and tears' for Princeton basketball, to use one of his lines."

Regardless of how he will be remembered, Scott's departure opens up a variety of possibilities for the Tigers' 2007-08 season. One prospect is that players who left the team during Scott's tenure may come back to the squad next year.

Forward Noah Levine '09, who quit the team during his freshman season, is now contemplating a return.

"I will definitely consider asking for a tryout, but I left the team for many reasons, and those reasons still hold true, regardless of the coach," Levine said. "However, with such a significant change in the program, I would consider asking for a tryout."

With Scott's departure, all eyes will now be focused on whether the Tigers will improve under a new coach. Wallace, for one, feels that this changing of the guard should be a step in the right direction for Princeton basketball.

"I would assume that, for the most part, many of [the returning players] may be pleased with the change," Wallace said. "The only thing they can do is dedicate themselves to becoming as ready and as good as they can possibly be for the new coach. The idea of having a fresh start should energize them."