Weisz, Stephens, Henderson Earn Major Awards as Four Tigers Earn All-Ivy Honors

The first 14-0 Ivy League season for the Princeton men's basketball program since 1998 has brought with it the team's largest All-Ivy League haul in decades.

Senior Spencer Weisz was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, sophomore Myles Stephens was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, sixth-year coach Mitch Henderson was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year, Weisz, Stephens and senior Steven Cook were named first-team All-Ivy League and sophomore Devin Cannady was named honorable mention All-Ivy League when the Ivy office announced the voting results from the league's coaches Wednesday.

It is the first time since 1968 that Princeton has had three players named first-team all-league and only the third time in program history, along with 1967. It is only the ninth time in Ivy League history, and second year in a row, that one school has had three players on the first-team All-Ivy.

"Congratulations to Spencer, Steve, Myles and Devin for their Ivy League recognitions," Henderson said. "I'm pleased that Spencer and Steve are getting recognition from the league for their play. They are part of a very special senior class that, with great leadership, has carried us on and off the court throughout the year.

"I'm proud that Myles' commitment on both ends of the floor has been recognized by the rest of the coaches in our league. And that a great player like Devin earned honorable mention shows what depth this league has, and is a testament to his contributions to our team this season. We have more guys who would have fit right in on this year's All-Ivy League teams, and while we know how they have helped us this year, they'll get another chance to show it at the Ivy League Tournament this weekend and in the postseason.

"We would not be where we are without all the guys on our team and our coaching staff putting in the work all year. Thank you and congrats to all."

Weisz's Player of the Year honor follows up his 2014 Ivy League Rookie of the Year honor, making him the eighth player in Ivy League history to win both awards during his career. Cornell's Ryan Wittman, the 2007 Ivy Rookie of the Year and 2010 Ivy Player of the Year, was the last. The Ivy Rookie honor, first known as Sophomore of the Year in the era before freshman eligibility, was first awarded in 1971, and the Ivy Player of the Year was first awarded in 1975. Weisz is the first Princeton player to win both, and the Player of the Year honor is Princeton's 13th and first since Ian Hummer '13 in 2013.

Weisz is a two-time second-team All-Ivy League honoree. The only player in program history with 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 3-pointers, and just the third player to hit the first three of those milestones, Weisz is averaging 10.6 points per game this season while leading the team in rebounding at 5.5 per game. His 112 assists are double any other Tiger this season, and his 4.1 assists per game rank third in the league on the season overall. Weisz is second in the Ivy in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5 per game, and he's also second in steals at 1.6 per game, just behind Cook. In conference play, Weisz led the league in minutes played at 35.4 per game and in steals at 2.0 per game.

The Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award was first given in 2009, and Stephens joins Kareem Maddox '11 in 2011 as the second Princeton player to win the honor. Princeton led the Ivy in scoring defense in conference games at 56.4 points allowed per game, 10 points per game fewer than Harvard, which allowed the second fewest. Princeton also led the league with a .417 field goal percentage against in Ivy games. But Stephens contributed plenty on the other end as well, leading the team in scoring in Ivy games at 15.4 points per game, up from his season-long average of 11.9. Stephens is shooting .521 from the field and .400 from 3-point range on the season overall and shot .564 and .417 in Ivy games. The honor is Stephens' first All-Ivy League recognition.

Cook is now a three-time All-Ivy honoree after earning second-team honors two years ago and honorable mention last season. Princeton's scoring leader on the season overall, Cook is averaging 13.8 points per game while shooting .504 from the field and .434 from 3-point range. The Ivy League leader in steals on the season overall at 1.6 per game, Cook is also Princeton's second-leading rebounder on the season at 5.2 per game and led the team in that stat in Ivy games at 5.5.

Cannady, who earned his first All-Ivy honor, stands second on the team in scoring both in Ivy play (14.4 ppg) and on the season overall (13.7 ppg). His 76 3-pointers on the season are the fifth-most in a single season in program history, and he needs just nine more to have the second-most behind the program-record 95 Sean Jackson '92 hit in 1990-91. While his 2.8 3s per game are second in the Ivy on the season overall, he led the league by a wide margin in free throw percentage, going 61 of 66 from the stripe for a 92.4 percent clip. In Ivy play, Cannady made all but two of the 34 free throws he took, good for a .941 clip, and his 3.1 3s per game led the league.

The Ivy League Coach of the Year honor was first awarded in 2015, and the award is Henderson's first. It comes in a season that saw Henderson jump to third on Princeton's all-time wins list, now with 117. Henderson has been a part of Princeton's last three 14-0 Ivy seasons, with the Tigers going unbeaten in the Ivy in his junior and senior campaigns. He has also been a part of three of the team's four longest winning streaks, with the Tigers' current 17-game run the fourth longest in program history. Princeton's 21 wins this season give the program its first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Henderson and the Tigers dealt with losing two senior starters to injury before December was half over, and Stephens and Cannady stepped into those roles. Aside from senior night, Princeton has used the same starting lineup of the four All-Ivy honorees plus senior Pete Miller, and after two losses when that lineup first began, Princeton is unbeaten since. The Tigers will head into the inaugural Ivy League Tournament as the top seed in the four-team event at The Palestra, facing fourth-seeded Penn at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU. With the program's 27th Ivy League title already won, two wins this weekend will get Princeton to the NCAA Tournament for an Ivy League-record 25th time.

2017 All-Ivy League
Player of the Year
Spencer Weisz, Princeton (Sr., F – Florham Park, N.J.)

Rookie of the Year
Bryce Aiken, Harvard (Fr., G – Randolph, N.J.)

Defensive Player of the Year
*Myles Stephens, Princeton (So., G – Lawrenceville, N.J.)

Coach of the Year
*Mitch Henderson, Princeton

First Team All-Ivy
*Spencer Weisz, Princeton (Sr., F – Florham Park, N.J.)
*Steven Cook, Princeton (Sr., F – Winnetka, Ill.)
Bryce Aiken, Harvard (Fr., G – Randolph, N.J.)
Siyani Chambers, Harvard (Sr., G – Golden Valley, Minn.)
Myles Stephens, Princeton (So., G – Lawrenceville, N.J.)
Steven Spieth, Brown (Sr., F – Dallas, Texas)

Second Team All-Ivy
Evan Boudreaux, Dartmouth (So., F – Lake Forest, Ill.)
Luke Petrasek, Columbia (Sr., F – East Northport, N.Y.)
Miye Oni, Yale (Fr., G – Porter Ranch, Calif.)
Matt Morgan, Cornell (Sr., G – Concord, N.C.)
AJ Brodeur, Penn (Fr., F – Northborough, Mass.)

Honorable Mention
Devin Cannady, Princeton (So., G – Mishawaka, Ind.)
Matt Howard, Penn (Sr., G - Columbia, S.C.)
Sam Downey, Yale (Sr., F – Lake Forest, Ill.)

* Unanimous Selection
^first team expanded to six due to ties in the voting.

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Devin Cannady

Steven Cook

Pete Miller

Myles Stephens

Spencer Weisz