PRINCETON, N.J. - Yale basketball alums Chris Dudley '87 and Karen Yarasavage '87 have been selected as part of the 16 member class of Legends of Ivy League Basketball, announced by the Ivy League on Thursday. These Legends embody the unrivaled experience afforded Ivy League student-athletes and have left a lasting impact on their respective basketball programs, universities and chosen professions.

This year's class includes the winningest head coach in Ivy League women's basketball history, eight Ivy League Players of Defensive Players of the Year, two Ivy League Rookies of the Year, and 11 1,000-point scorers. The class combined for 37 All-Ivy (28 First Team, 9 Second Team) selections as eight class members went on to play professional basketball.
 
Each Ivy League institution is represented by one male and one female honoree, as selected by their university athletic department.
 
Each legend will be formally honored at the 2023 Ivy League Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments March 10-12 at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J. A variety of ticket offerings are on sale now via IvyMadness.com.

Biographical information on Yale's honorees is below. The complete list of 2023 honorees is at ivyleague.com.

Chris Dudley '87

Chris Dudley '87 not only found success on the court at Yale but also in a long career in the NBA. He was a three-time first team All-Ivy selection for the Bulldogs and is second in school history with 974 career rebounds and third with 172 career blocks.
 
In his junior season he earned first team All-Ivy honors after averaging 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds and as a senior, he again led the team in scoring (17.6 ppg.) and rebounding (13.3 rpg.) while being named first team All-Ivy for the third straight year.
 
Dudley is one of only three Bulldogs to earn first team All-Ivy honors three times. He finished his career with 1,290 points, which remains 12th in school history.
 
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Dudley with the 75th selection (4th round) of the 1987 NBA Draft, and in his 16-year NBA career with the Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Portland TrailBlazers he scored 3,473 points and collected 5,457 rebounds. His teams reached the NBA playoffs in 12 of his 16 seasons.
 
Dudley also thrived and made an impact off the court. In 1994, he and his wife started the Chris Dudley Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering youth with type 1 diabetes. Dudley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 16 years old and was the first in the NBA to play with the disease.
 
The results have been remarkable. The Foundation's camp, which began in 1995, celebrated its 25^th anniversary in 2020, albeit virtually because of the pandemic. Over the years, the camp, which is for boys and girls ages 10 to 17, has attracted children from 45 states and throughout the world, including Croatia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
 
Dudley's exceptional work has not gone unnoticed. He was the 1996 recipient of the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, presented to a player, coach, or staff member who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.
 
In addition to the work with his foundation, Dudley is a Senior Vice President for Congress Wealth Management in Southern California.
 
 


Karen Yarasavage '87
 
Karen Yarasavage '87, the former Yale women's basketball team MVP and captain, was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.
 
As a senior in 1986-87, Yarasavage captained the Bulldogs to a 9-5 record in Ivy League play. She was a first team All-Ivy selection and was chosen as the team's Most Valuable Player. A forward, she led the Bulldogs in rebounding (7.2 per game) and was second in scoring (13.0 points per game). 
 
Yarasavage was second on the team in field goal percentage (.517) and third on the team in rebounding (5.7 per game) as a junior in 1985-86.
 
In addition to excelling for the basketball team Yarasavage was a four-time All-Ivy League honoree for the Yale softball team, earning first-team honors three times. She graduated with a degree in psychology. 
 
Prior to her career at Yale Yarasavage was a three-time all-state selection at nearby Milford High School, where she played in two consecutive Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class M championship games.
 
Yarasavage's legacy with the Yale women's basketball program was recognized in 2006 with the institution of the Karen Yarasavage Award at the annual year-end team banquet. The award is presented to the player who most displays the attributes of grit and determination, her trademarks.
 
The generosity of Yarasavage and her husband, Yale men's soccer alum Kevin Genda '87, is reflected in multiple Yale facilities. The press box at Reese Stadium (home of the Yale soccer and lacrosse teams) and the softball field at DeWitt Family Stadium are both named after the "5K Corral" – Yarasavage, her husband and their three children all have first names that start with the letter K. Yale's men's soccer head coach position is also named after the 5K Corral.