Three Quit Basketball Team, Crush Harvard's Title Hopes

Junior Walter 'Doc' Hines and sophomores Roosevelt Cox and Roland Smart quit the varsity basketball team yesterday, shattering Crimson hopes to capture the Ivy League hoop crown this year.

Hines refused to comment yesterday on his decision and said he was unaware of Cox and Smart's departure from the team. Cox said yesterday he left the cagers for personal reasons independent of the other two players.

Smart could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A Deep Bench

"It hurts us as far as our running game is concerned," varsity coach Tom 'Satch' Sanders said yesterday. "You need that depth on the bench to run a fast break."

Asked to comment on the reasons the trio gave for leaving, Sanders said, "We're talking about three or four things. Injuries. One of the players is trying to get a grant, and some financial considerations."

"I think it was a combination of these reasons," he said. The Crimson mentor added that he has no reason to believe that the decision of all three to quit was anything but coincidental.

The loss of Hines is a devastating setback for the varsity squad. After missing the first few games last year with a broken hand, Hines worked into a starting role and became an integral part of the cagers' running attack.

Hines displayed flashes of brilliance in several late-season games, exploding in the second half of the Penn contest for 22 points. Sanders expected Hines to carry a lion's share of the offensive burden this winter.

"There's no doubt in anyone's mind that he [Hines] has potential to be an outstanding ballplayer," Sanders said. "But there are a lot of things to do in the Harvard community besides playing basketball," he continued, "and Doc had conflicts in the demand for his time."

Both Smart and Cox started in last year's freshman squad and were expected to bolster the guard and forward positions, respectively.

"I've found all through my experiences in basketball that when you lose some people, you find something you didn't know about in the others," Sanders said.

"You find that in the Celtic era," he said. "When the Joneses and the Cousys left, they still came back to win. Most players rise to the occasion," Sanders said.