NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team gathered to celebrate another championship season, hand out its team awards and honor its four seniors one final time on Monday night at the annual post season banquet. The 2022-23 Bulldogs won 21 games, captured the Ivy League regular season title for the third time in the last four seasons and earned a bid to the postseason National Invitation Tournament where they nearly knocked off Vanderbilt.
 
Senior EJ Jarvis and junior Matt Knowling shared the Dutch Arnold Award as the team's most valuable player. Both were All-Ivy selections and major contributors to the team's success. Jarvis was second in the Ivy League with 46 blocked shots, fifth in field goal percentage and 10th in rebounding. Against Cornell, in his final game at the John J. Lee Amphitheater, he scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Two days later, he was selected as the Ivy Player of the Week.
 
Knowling, a two-time player of the week selection, led the league and was 10th in the nation in field goal percentage (.625). In addition, he led the team in scoring at 13.6 ppg., which was ninth in the league. Knowling was named the most valuable player at the Rainbow Classic after averaging 21.3 points in three games and leading the Bulldogs to the tournament title.
 
August Mahoney was the recipient of the Eggie Miles Award as the team's top free throw shooter and the Bill Madden Toughness Award. Mahoney battled through a shoulder injury for much of the season and still led the league in free throw percentage (.931, 67-of-72) and three-point field goal percentage (.467, 57-of-122).
 
The Josh Hill Dedication Award was presented to sophomore Yassine Gharram, who appeared in all 30 games and was second on the team with 63 assists.
 
Isaiah Kelly was the recipient of the Stan Smith Senior Award. Kelly appeared in 90 games in his career. This season he finished seventh in the league in blocked shots, appeared in all 30 games and grabbed 11 rebounds in Yale's thrilling, come-from-behind overtime win at Princeton in the regular season.
 
Not surprisingly Bez Mbeng, the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, received the George McReynolds Award as the team's top defender for the second straight season. Mbeng started all 30 games and in virtually every game guarded the opponent's top scorer.
 
The Most Improved Player Award was presented to sophomore John Poulakidas, who started all 30 games and averaged 12.0 points. As a first year, Poulakidas appeared in 20 games off the bench and averaged 1.9 points. The highlight of his 2022-23 season came when he scored 30 points in the regular season win at Princeton.
 
Danny Wolf was the recipient of the John C. Cobb Award as the rookie of the year. Wolf appeared in 21 games off the bench. In the victory at Brown that earned the Bulldogs a share of the Ivy regular season title, Wolf scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in 10 minutes.
 
The Dick Derby Scholarship Award was presented to senior Michael Feinberg. Feinberg, the team captain, was named to the 2022-23 Academic All-District® Men's Basketball Team, selected by College Sports Communicators. He appeared in 25 games and provided outstanding leadership.
 
Following the awards ceremony, Yale's four seniors – Matthue Cotton, Jarvis, Kelly and Feinberg – addressed the large gathering. Each spoke eloquently about their experiences with the program.