Yale men’s basketball captain Jack Montague ’16, who did not attend games at Dartmouth and Harvard last weekend, “is not with the team at this time,” Director of Athletics Tom Beckett said in an email to the News on Wednesday night.

“I’m taking a personal leave and I’m trying to get back as soon as possible,” Montague said in a statement to the News. He declined to comment further.

Prior to last weekend, Montague had started all of the team’s first 20 games at shooting guard. Head coach James Jones said he was “not at liberty” to comment on Montague’s status. Five teammates, multiple Yale athletic administrators and the Yale Office of Public Affairs and Communication also declined to comment.

Montague has led a Yale team that, due to an 8–0 conference start, is in first place in the Ivy League with an opportunity to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1962.

Jasmina Besirevic-Regan, dean of Montague’s residential college, Trumbull, would not confirm whether Montague is still enrolled in Yale College. Yale Director of Sports Publicity Steve Conn said Montague is taking care of “personal issues,” but would not provide further comment.

Montague’s election as captain came after a 2014–15 season in which the team earned its first share of the Ivy title since the 2001–02 season. In his junior season, he started all 32 games and led the Ivy League with a 43.5 three-point shooting percentage. His 67 made three-pointers led all Yale players, and he was awarded the inaugural Bill Madden Toughness Award.

This season, Montague has averaged 28.4 minutes per game and has contributed 9.7 points per game as well as 2.5 rebounds per game. In his 20 games, he also led all starters with an 83.9 percent free-throw success rate.

In Montague’s absence last weekend, guard Anthony Dallier ’17 started in Yale’s victories against Dartmouth and Harvard. Dallier scored 20 points on 7–12 shooting from the field and 2–4 shooting from the three-point line in his second and third career starts.

While he filled in nicely for Montague, Dallier’s starting role removes a player from Yale’s already thin bench. Besides Dallier, the only other guard who has played over six minutes per game has been Khaliq Ghani ’16, who is dealing with a broken nose that has limited his time on the court.

The team travels to New Jersey on Friday to take on second-place Princeton. The two teams are separated by one loss in the conference standings, with Yale at 8–0 Ivy and Princeton at 6–1 in the conference.

Clarification, Feb. 19: This article has been updated to clarify the Ivy League records of Yale and Princeton. Because the two teams have not played the same number of games in conference play, they are separated by one loss in the standings, not one game.

DANIELA BRIGHENTI
MAYA SWEEDLER