Bill Cleary, Salesman

Nobody had to take Bill Cleary by the hand and point him to this guy.

In fact, quite a few top college hockey coaches and at least one pro team's scouts watched Allen Bourbeau with great interest in the last couple of years.

In eastern Massachusetts, a hotbed of high school hockey--where more than 13,000 fans watched the Division I tournament last winter in the Boston Garden--people tend to notice players like Bourbeau.

Last season, in his senior year at Acton-Boxboro, the 5-ft., 10-in, forward scored 62 goals, a new state record. He won the John Carlton Memorial Trophy, given annually by the Boston Bruins to the state's best high school hockey player, and was The Boston Globe's Division I Player of the Year. He finished his four years with 289 points, surpassing the old Massachusetts record held by Robbie Ftorek (now in the NHL).

Harvard's coach of the last 12 years took his first look at Bourbeau last year in a summer tournament, the Europa Cup. "It's kind of handy to go watch in a relaxed atmosphere," Cleary says, noting he sees few high school games during the college season. By the start of last season, Bourbeau's suitors were already making their sales pitch.

How did Cleary eventually convince the high scoring skater to play college hockey in Bright Center? One of the keys of his recruiting success is his distinctive soft-sell approach. "We go to some of his games when we can; we keep in contact when we can," the Crimson mentor explains. "It's not in my nature to keep in contact with a guy every day, to pressure too much. Oftentimes when we go to a game we don't even tell them we're in the stands."

Bourbeau noted it helped Cleary's cause that "he wasn't bothersome. He called now and then... He came to the house once."

But Cleary's recruiting style isn't so low key that he won't introduce himself to an interesting prospect who hasn't yet written to Harvard. "There's no doubt we'll talk to him to see if he's interested in Harvard. If he shows interest, then you check out his academics. It's bad to get a boy interested in Harvard if he doesn't have much of a chance. You talk with admissions to see if it's a reasonable case," Cleary says.

Many turn out not to be "reasonable", few of the players Cleary hears of or meets actually get in. Two years ago, he recalled, he sent out a form asking for information on academic and athletic records to 600 high school players, most of the correspondence was initiated by previous letters from players, not by Cleary. He received 550 responses. Eight of those players were accepted.

From time to time, Byerly Hall vetoes a would-be star, but Cleary has few complaints: "They've been fair with us over the years."

He's obviously not complaining at the moment, having followed an ECAC title with a strong recruiting year. He saw first-hand just how much his prized recruit could do for a team last spring when an all star team of Massachusetts skaters took on the best schoolboys from Minnesota, long regarded as the one region that bred better players. The Bay Staters pummelled their visitors by scores of 14-3, 6-2 and 8-0. Bourbeau led all scorers with 10 points.

Two other schools were especially interested in him. It didn't hurt for Cleary that Harvard beat both of them in post-season play--Michigan St. ("that was a little too far," Bourbeau says) and Providence (which was "really after him," Cleary says).

Cleary had several advantages over his recruiting rivals. Both the education and the team he was pushing were more highly-rated than the others. Also, with so many seniors on last year's team. Bourbeau could expect lots of playing time as a freshman.

But Cleary pulled out his ace in the hole when he gave Bourbeau tickets to the playoff games against RPI and Michigan St. Harvard fans have a history of lackluster interest in the early going, but come playoff time they turn maniacal.

"You know, you go to some other schools, the fans give 'em a hard time," says the Crimson coach. "The kids come in there [Bright], they see the fan support, and they're impressed."

That's something for the assistant recruiters in Sections 12 and 13 to keep in mind this winter.