Outside the Limelight

Price: $24.95  

Subtitle: Basketball in the Ivy League
Author: Kathy Orton
Foreword by John Feinstein
Subject: Sports
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8135-4616-2
Pages: 240 pages
Publication Date: November 2009

Praise for Outside the Limelight

"Not many people are aware of the drama of Ivy League basketball. Outside the Limelight is a wonderful tribute to one of the most undervalued conferences in college basketball. I know. I've got the tuition bills."—Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post and ESPN

The Ivy League is a place where basketball is neither a pastime nor a profession. Instead, it is a true passion among players, coaches, and committed sports enthusiasts who share in its every success and setback. Outside the Limelight is the first book to look inside Ivy League basketball and at the boundless enthusiasm that defines it.

With painstaking reportage, Kathy Orton vividly captures the internal fervor of the
personalities who champion their game—all the triumphs and disappointments of an Ivy hoop season. Scholarships for student athletes? None, and this is the only Division I conference that does not offer them. The TV spotlight? It barely shines, despite the passion, talent, and commitment of the players. Megadollar contracts from the NBA? Rarely does a player receive an offer. These age-old institutions are better known for turning out presidents, not point guards, and CEOs and captains of industry, not centers on the court.

Orton weaves together the stories of coaches and players as they move from fall practice through an entire season and ahead to the NCAA tournament. From Harvard to Penn, Princeton to Cornell and beyond, players—perhaps more accustomed to pomp and circumstance—face leaky gyms, endure long bus rides, rigorous courseloads, and unbearable exam schedules. Why? Just to prove they can hang with the big boys despite juggling multiple non-athletic responsibilities? Maybe. But more importantly, for the sincere love of the game.

Outside the Limelight provides frontcourt vision for college basketball fans everywhere to achieve an appreciation of this captivating conference and for diehard enthusiasts to gain greater insight into what brings Ivy League basketball to center circle.

KATHY ORTON,  has covered college basketball for the Washington Post for more than a decade. She was also the newspaper’s beat writer on the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens for two seasons, including their Super Bowl season in 2000.