Ivy League Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 1, 2020

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 11: Darnell Foreman #4 of the Pennsylvania Quakers sits atop the rim after the win at The Palestra on March 11, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn defeated Harvard 68-65 for the Men's Ivy League Tournament Championship title. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Head coach Mike Martin of the Brown Bears (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

9. Mike Martin – Brown (2012-2020)

While I promise you that this isn’t a slow progression through Brown’s head coaches, we turn our attention to the effect Martin has had in the Ivy League. Martin came a few years after Robinson and has had significantly more time to try to turn the tides for the Bears. A former assistant with Penn, he was already pretty familiar with the Ivy League. With eight seasons already under his belt, he’s doing a solid job, but is it solid enough?

Martin’s 2019 team was the highlight, one-upping Robinson by winning a program-record 20 games during the season. That season also culminated in a CBI appearance, Brown’s only postseason run under Martin. Unfortunately, his Bears have finished over .500 in conference play only once, this past season. There was a lot of struggle leading up to that 20 win season, but perhaps there’s more good to come.

There seems to be very limited success, but the Ivy League is a hard conference. Not only are there difficult academic entry standards to weigh, but a program like Brown isn’t exactly going to attract solid basketball players, even those in the area or after an Ivy League school. Martin has done good work putting together the teams he can, and this past season was another step forward.