Historic. Magical. And now… vintage. Men’s basketball has been described in several special and unexpected ways over the past three years following a Cinderella run in March Madness 2023 and an outright Ivy Title in 2024. Now, the team is confidently redefining themselves yet again with a retro-style uniform. Team stars Dalen Davis ’27, Caden Pierce ’26, and Xaivian Lee ’26 were featured in a promotion displaying the vintage-style uniforms on the team’s Instagram on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Missing an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA tournament after losing to Brown in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals, this style statement comes as the team aims to vy for an Ivy League tournament championship and clinch a spot in March Madness 2025.
The retro-style uniforms follow a trend in professional and collegiate sports featuring early versions of jerseys or vintage elements. Columbia, Brown, and Yale have all featured throwback jerseys for various sports to honor school or championship anniversaries. Princeton appears to be the first in the Ivy League to introduce a jersey with vintage-inspired elements instead of an exact replica of a previous uniform.
The white jersey features “Princeton” in an orange script outlined in black meant to combine tradition and innovative style. The shorts feature arch-shaped piping in orange, black, and white, modeled after Princeton’s iconic campus architecture.
The “Sailor Tiger” logo is stitched under the arch is a long time in the making: Among the many American sports teams that call the tiger their mascot, Princeton is the first and oldest. Football players wore orange and black stripes on their jerseys in the 1880s, prompting sportswriters to dub them “tigers.” In 1896, the trustees adopted orange and black as Princeton’s official school colors, and the tiger became a symbol of campus athletics and culture as a result. Nationwide, mascots featuring a hat and scowling expression are a popular version of college football logos. Princeton uniforms have featured the “Sailor Tiger” since the 1990s.
Reviving the old-school Princeton logo also connects the men’s basketball team with the program’s revered history — headlined by the 1964–65 squad, who, led by Bill Bradley ’65, reached the school’s only Final Four. Bradley later achieved professional and senatorial fame. Pete Carril brought the Tigers back to national prominence during his 30-year tenure as head coach, popularizing the “Princeton offense” and terrorizing opposing offenses with a vaunted Tiger defense, which is frequently ranked the best in the country.
Although the current team possesses neither the stifling defense nor the steady tempo of the Tigers of yore, the Princeton faithful can still be delighted by the backdoor cuts to the rim synonymous with Princeton basketball. And, Tiger fans will watch as Lee and Pierce aspire to add to their team’s legacy of NCAA tournament upsets.
The now dynamic duo, then freshmen, were critical in the Cinderella run of the 2023 team in the NCAA Tournament, in which Princeton defeated second-seeded Arizona and routed seventh-seed Missouri. That team drew comparisons to the almost mythical first-round NCAA Tournament victory by the 1996 team over the defending national champions UCLA.
The Tigers opened Ivy play with three straight wins, and the vintage uniforms paired old memories of Princeton basketball excellence with present-day success — a match that aims to propel the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament. After recent back to back losses to Cornell and Yale, the Tigers will need to channel that magical past.
The team sported the new uniforms at their Ivy League home opener 71–67 victory over Columbia on Monday, Jan, 20.
Helîn Taskesen ’28, an attendee at the Columbia game, told The Daily Princetonian: “I mainly liked the fact that it was more minimalistic, and you could see the numbers, but it wasn’t bright orange.”
Wendy Wang ’28, wrote to the ‘Prince’ that the uniforms were a “classy throwback.”
After tip-off, the team faced trouble as Columbia broke away on a 14–2 run in the first four minutes. “[The atmosphere] honestly started out a bit rough,” Taskesen told the ‘Prince.’ The Tigers were trailing 18 points at halftime and continued to trail by double digits halfway through the second half, but a comeback was imminent.
“As Princeton started scoring, it was sort of like an underdog moment, like people started getting really excited and sort of started cheering on more,” Taskesen said to the ‘Prince.’ Xaivian Lee hit a three-pointer outside the arc with 10 seconds on the clock. Senior guard Blake Peters also hit two free throws in the final second to secure the win.
Following the uniforms’ debut, the Tigers dropped one against Cornell in an 85–76 loss on Saturday, Jan. 25.
Looking to come back in their next game against Yale on Friday, Jan. 31, the Tigers wore their retro-style uniforms for the third time. “The script is nice,” Elisa Gonzalez ’27 told the ‘Prince.’
The team had a difficult start as the Tigers trailed by 20 points, but they were eventually able to recover to a five-point deficit. Ian Mann ’28 told the ‘Prince’ the game “definitely got better at the end.” Ultimately however, the team’s efforts were not enough to best the Bulldogs this time.
In a postgame interview with the ‘Prince,’ Larkin Macosko ’28 said, “I think they should have matching shoes because they’re coordinating with their outfits, but then the shoes are different. I mean it’s kind of cute, but I think it would be better if it was more consistent.”
The team did not wear their new jerseys in their 69–49 win against Brown on Saturday, Feb. 1.
The vintage-elements of these new uniforms tell a story of tradition and excellence, boldly defining Princeton’s legacy in Ivy basketball. After a somewhat rocky past couple of games in Ivy play, men’s basketball will be looking to personify their rich history and polish their play ahead of the Ivy Championship tournament. Men’s basketball is now 1–2 when wearing the retro-style uniforms. Their next game will be on the road versus Penn this coming Friday.
Ysabella Olsen is a member of the Class of 2028. She is an assistant editor for The Prospect and copy editor at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at yo7647[at]princeton.edu.
Harrison Blank is a head Sports editor at the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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