Coaches Come and Go

There were some big moments on the fields and in the gyms this past year, but for many undergraduates the most unexpected and welcome development came from behind the scenes of 60 Boylston St. in February: basketball coach Floyd Wilson was reassigned to the full-time directorship of intramural athletics.

Wilson, the winningest and losingest coach in Harvard hoop history, had long been a target of student criticism for his teams' consistent failures. His removal intitiated an unusually large number of coaching changes.

First, in that same February announcement, came word that wrestling coach Bob Pickett had resigned to become executive director of the Varsity Club. Although Pickett's last season was disappointing, he had achieved an overall winning record in his 17-year career.

Two days later, Athletic Director Adolph Samborski announced that current assistant coach Loyal K. Park would succeed retiring baseball coach Norm Shepard next spring. Shepard, who has coached three Eastern championships, had reached the compulsory retirement age of 70.

Finally, a few weeks ago, after the Eastern Sprints, it was learned that lightweight crew coach Bo Anderson would quit after this summer's European adventure to devote more time to his graduate studies. Anderson went undefeated against collegiate competition in his two year stint on the Charles.

In the past month, Samborski announced replacements for Wilson and Pickett, but he said last week that he hadn't started to look for a new crew coach.

In basketball, Samborski named Bob Harrison, a former NBA All-Star who built a powerful program at Kenyon College after leaving the pros. Harrison, 40, has a reputation as a srapper; at his first squad conference, he impressed on the players his developed will to win.

The new wrestling coach was not a surprise. Freshman coach Johnny Lee, Harvard's last national champion, agreed to take a little more time from his Boston insurance company to lead the Varsity grapplers.

There were also several changes among the assistant coaches. Football coach John Yovicsin lost long-time aide Jim Lentz to the top job at Bowdoin. In addition Steve Novick is reportedly on his way out and Tom Stephenson had to quit because of his graduation from graduate school.

Bill McCurdy got a freshman coach for track, a Springfield alumnus named Jim Hunt.