Yale Legends Will Be Honored

Former Larchmont resident and YWAA contributor John Lee '58 '59 Eng. and Armonk native Barbara Lebowitz Bettigole '78 will be honored at the Ivy League Basketball Tournament in New Haven, Mar., 2019 (Yale Athletics photo)

John Lee '58 '59 Eng., one of the most celebrated basketball players in Yale history and a former long-time resident of Larchmont, will be honored during the Ivy League Basketball Tournament, to be hosted by Yale Mar. 16-17. Barbara Lebowitz Bettigole '78, a celebrated standout for Yale basketball and at Byram Hills High School in Armonk, was one of the first stars in a growing women's program in the 1970's, and will also be honored at the tournament.

Scarsdale native Earl "Butch" Graves '84, who went on to eclipse many of Lee's scoring records at Yale, was honored at last year's tournament in Philadelphia.

In its third year, the Ivy League Tournament features the top four teams in the men and women's leagues. The teams face off in a semi-final round on Saturday. The winners play for the Ivy championship on Sunday, capping a festive weekend of basketball to determine the Ivy League's representatives in the NCAA tournament. Penn hosted the tournament in the first two years.  League officials decided Payne Whitney Gym at Yale will host the 2019 tournament in New Haven.

The tournament also pays homage to history and highlights outstanding players (men and women) in the past. During intermissions the past two years, league officials highlight legends since the League's 1956 formation and celebrate teams that went on to have successful runs in the NCAA tournament.  In 2019, Penn commemorates the 40th anniversary of its appearance in the NCAA Final Four.

At Yale, Lee was known as "Johnny Lee" and led the Bulldogs to a rare tournament appearance in 1957 after the team won the Ivy League title (before there was a four-team tournament).  Lee was a deadly jump-shooter, averaging 20.3 ppg over three varsity seasons.  Twice he scored over 40 points in games against Harvard and once went 21-for-21 at the free-throw line against Oregon State. His scoring records stood for decades until Graves left Scarsdale High School to attend Yale.

Graves, a talented, high-jumping forward, broke Lee's scoring records, although he benefitted from four years of eligibility. (Graves scored 2,050 total points at Yale, still the best in New Haven.) Lee's performance put Yale on the national map and even spurred Sports Illustrated to put him on its cover in Jan., 1957.

After Yale, Lee, a successful corporate leader, remained committed to Yale in various ways, including leading a $1.75 billion fundraising campaign for Yale and serving on the Yale Corporation.  Lee died in May, 2001. Yale honored him by naming the basketball arena in Payne Whitney the John L. Lee, Jr. Amphitheater. For many years, Graves has led the alumni organization for men's basketball and has been a significant program sponsor.

During a time when women's basketball was pushing hard for attention and equal resources, Leibowitz, too, proved her talents on the court, setting records and gaining well-deserved attention for the women's squads of the time. She was on the first women's All-Ivy team after her senior season. She set a Yale career total of 928 rebounds. She scored 1,046 career points, leading the team in scoring in three seasons.  After Yale, she received a Masters of Arts in teaching from Sarah Lawrence in Bronxville.

At Yale and at Byram Hills, Liebowitz Bettigole was popularly known as "Leibo."  In her senior year at Byram Hills, she helped her squad to an undefeated season and led the school's field hockey and track teams, as well. By choosing Yale, she followed her father Sydney Leibowitz, who was a Yale graduate. "I was always in the right place in the right time when sports came around," she said in 2015 when she was selected to the Byram Hills sports hall of fame. "I rode this wave of women feeling empowered by sports."

After her senior season at Yale, she received the Nellie Pratt Elliot Award for outstanding performance in Yale athletics.