In recent years, we’ve seen players from the Ivy League opt to sit out a season to preserve their eligibility before transferring. However, with the COVID-19 era years behind us, that figure was not expected to be a big issue. Instead, another star from the Ivy League is choosing to do the same thing.
NEWS: Princeton star Caden Pierce, the 2023-24 Ivy League Player of the Year, plans to redshirt next season in order to finish his degree before entering the transfer portal and playing his final season elsewhere in 2026-27, he told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/300Rd1fGf5
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 8, 2025
Caden Pierce is a 6’6 guard/forward who started 89 games in three years at Princeton. He was the Rookie of the Year before breaking out to become the Conference Player of the Year in 2023-24, averaging 16.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg, and 3.2 apg on 55% shooting from the field.
This past season, Pierce’s numbers dipped, but he was still solid overall, producing 11.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg on 47% shooting. With this decision, Pierce instantly becomes the No. 1 player in the 2026 transfer portal for next offseason and has plenty of time before deciding on which team he’ll pick for his final year.
The big news is how this impacts the Ivy League next year. For Princeton, specifically, Pierce was set to be the team’s best player. With him and Xaivian Lee gone, the pressure is now on guard Dalen Davis, forwards CJ Happy and Malik Abdullahi to take big steps in their now bigger roles to keep Princeton as a top-half team.
The Tigers taking a step back is good for the rest of the conference. Defending champs Yale is without 20 ppg scorer John Poulakidas but does bring back Nick Townsend (15.4 ppg and 7.1 rpg) and starting center, Samson Aletan. Cornell brings back two double-digit scoring starters (Cooper Noard and Jake Fiegen).
Thank you, Princeton Men’s Basketball 🧡 pic.twitter.com/ijNY3tCLhF
— Caden Pierce (@CadenPierce_3) July 8, 2025
But the biggest winner may be Penn, which won just eight games last year but brings back leading scorer, Ethan Roberts (16.8 ppg and 5.6 rpg). New coach and former Iowa lead Fran McCaffery is around and besides a quality incoming recruiting class, has also landed Virginia transfer and former 5-star prospect forward, TJ Power.
We’ll see if Princeton can be a top-half team in the Ivy League next year, but right now, this makes the conference as wide open as ever without one of the conference’s best players available. As for Pierce, time will tell where his next landing spot will be.