Quintet Plays All Home Games in IAB in '50-'51

The varsity basketball team will play all its home games in the Indoor Athletic Building next season, Director of Athletics William J. Bingham '16 told the CRIMSON yesterday.

Chief reason behind the decision is an effort to improve College basketball teams. The home team is generally considered to held an eight-point advantage and, Bingham pointed out, there is no reason why Harvard should not capitalize on this.

All the Crimson's Ivy League opponents, whom Harvard meets on a home-and-home arrangement, have home courts. Of the Crimson's 12 home games this season, four were played in the Blockhouse, four in the Garden, and four in the Arena.

The varsity won three games in the Blockhouse this season (Tufts, BU, Brown) and lost one (Cornell); it split in the Garden, losing to Navy and Princeton, beating Dartmouth and BC; in the Arena, Harvard lost to Holy Cross, Penn, and Columbia while defeating only Yale.

IAB Limit is 1600

At the Blockhouse, where athletic coupons are directly redeemable for admission tickets, the seating capacity is 1600. It was 2200 before the Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942 and the University may apply for a concession. The figure is based on fire prevention regulations that there be six square feet per person on the floor and a two-foot width of egress for every 100 persons.

Coach Norman Shepard has been requesting this move for some time. He commented last night that: "It will help immeasurably toward building up a basketball morale in both the team and the student body."

Captain William A. Prior '50 said: "It's a very good idea. Neither the Garden nor the Arena is really a home court. We might as well take the eight points. This was Mr. Shepard's idea and it's a fine thing."