Crimson Basketball Scouting Report

Harvard head coach Frank McLaughlin and his quintet of cagers may receive a baptism by fire tomorrow night when they tip off the season against UMass in the IAB at 7:30. Coach Jack Leaman's squad went 20-11 last season and in two of those victories the Minutemen anointed the hardwood with Crimson jerseys.

But McLaughlin can still count his blessings, as last year the hoopsters opened against Syracuse, as the Orangemen went through the season with a 26-4 slate. With 6-ft. 11-in., 235-lb. sophomore Roosevelt Bouie manning the pivot post accompanied by frontliners Louis Orr and pencil-thin Dale Shackleford, Jim Boheim's charges look to be the best in the East and are ranked seventh in the nation in "Sports Illustrated's" pre-season poll.

The Orangemen may be off the schedule but the Crimson can still look forward to tangling with ninth-ranked Holy Cross, spearheaded by soph Ronnie Perry. Perry was the most heavily recruited schoolboy from the Boston area three years ago along with Harvard transfer Joe Beaulieu. Coach George Blaney's Crusaders will face their first real test when they latch up with Iona College in their fourth game of the season.

Iona is one of the smallest schools in Division One but also one of the best in the Northeast. Richie Guerin was the last nationally acclaimed player at the New Rochelle school but this year coach Jimmy Valvano landed 6-ft., 9-in. Jeff Ruland, who was perhaps the most sought after high school big man in the nation.

In the Ivy League, the scenario could best be characterized as deja vu. With the return of Brian Banks and Glenn Fine, the Crimson should be in the thick of the race. With the nucleus of last year's Big Three of Princeton, Penn, and Columbia returning, don't be too surprised if the other five teams in the League only win 33 of 127 games as they did last year.

Arizona

On Saturday, December 17, the cagers take a sojurn in cactus country where they will play coach Fred Snowden's Arizona five in Tuscon. The Wildcats went 21-5 last year finishing as runner-up to Utah for the Western Athletic Conference title. Both Arizona and Arizona State University are forsaking the WAC in favor of the Pacific-8, which next year will be the Pac-10.

Boston College

Chestnut Hill has been a vale of tears the last few years as BC has had talent-laden squads that consistently managed to lose. Coach Bob Zuffelato bowed out last year and Tom Davis will lead the Eagles against the Crimson next Saturday at 1:30 in the IAB.

Brown

Brown mentor Gerry Alaimo has a starting lineup without a single senior. The Bruins played an exhibition against the defending Canadian collegiate champs, the Axemen of Acadia College in Nova Scotia.

CCNY

Harvard plays City College of New York in the Big Town of Friday, December 9. The Beavers won the City University Championship last year paced by a backcourt of Rich Silvera and Ken "Pogo" Collins. Silvera averaged 16.6 points per game last year and is CCNY's all-time leading scorer with over 1300 career points.

Columbia

Columbia should threaten for the Ivy title once again as Tom Penders has Ricky Free, Juan "the Enforcer" Mitchell, and 5-ft., 8-in. assist kingpin Alton Byrd back in uniform. Center Elmer Love decided to take the year off and will be replaced by Ed Shockley, who spent last season recovering from leg surgery for varicose veins.

Cornell

It looks like another long winter in Ithaca as Cornell lost to Syracuse by 27 points on Saturday. The Big Red are bolstered by Mike Schaeffer and Steve Decker, who formerly were respectively enrolled at Mercer Junior College and Joliet Junior College.

Dartmouth

The linchpin of Gary Walters' Dartmouth squad is senior center Sterling Edmonds. Edmonds relied on his silken shot to average 17.4 points last season and was named to the All-Ivy second team.

Detroit

The hoopsters play Detroit, coached by Dick Vitale, in the first round of the Motor City Classic over Christmas vacation. Led by bluechipper Kevin Long, the Titans are ranked 18th in the nation by SI. Detroit posted a 25-4 mark last season, the best in the school's history and defeated NCAA champ Marquette and NIT titlist St. Bonaventure en route to winning 21 consecutive games. The streak was snapped by Michigan in the NCAA tourney before the largest television audience ever to watch a sports event in the state.

Fordham

Fordham basketball is surviving on the zeitgeist of the glory day of "the Digger" when Frank McLaughlin was assistant coach. Frentic head coach Dick Stewart writhed through the Rams' 17 losses in their last 18 games last season. The Crimson make it a New York twinbill when they play the Rams the night after the CCNY game.

Holy Cross

Harvard plays Holy Cross away on Tuesday, December 17. The Crusaders went 33-6 last year led by 6-ft., 2-in. Ronnie Perry, the leading scoring freshman in the country with a 23 point average 6-ft., 5-in. Mike Vicens held Phil Hubbard to one field goal when HC played Michigan last year while senior Chris Potter led the team in assists and rebounds last campaign.

Penn

Chuck Daly vacated the coaching helm of Penn to join Billy Cunningham and the Philadelphia 76ers and has been succeeded by Bob Weihauer, who will be assisted by former Quaker standout Ron Haigler. Penn was second in the Ivies last year going 18-8 overall. The greatest boon Weihauer will receive is 6-ft., 6-in. senior Kevin McDonald, the premiere player of the Ivies who averaged 21.2 a game last year.

Princeton

Pete Carril's Princeton quintet is the odds-on favorite to defend their Ivy League crown. The Tigers were the stingiest team on defense in the nation last year giving up an average of only 51.7 points a game. Carril has four starters back including deadly peripheral shooters Bill Sowinski, guard Bill Omeltchenko, and 6-ft., 8-in. junior center Bob Roma.

UConn

The Crimson tussles with the Huskies on January 14. UConn's new coach is Dom Perno and Joey Whelton looks to be a new scoring sensation in the mold of the graduated Tony Hanson.

UMass

UMass is led by a triad of New York City players. Alex Eldridge was the most heavily recruited player from the city in 1972 and he is joined by fellow seniors Mike Pyatt and Derrick Claiborne.

Yale

Yale has five lettermen returning but sophomores Frank Maturo and Amhony Curry are expected to fill two of the starting positions.