Cleaning House: Seven Fresh Faces Grace M. Hoops Roster

The freshmen on this year's Harvard men's basketball team have the biggest shoes to fill of any recruiting class in recent memory.

Last year's seniors were the first since 1928 to post four consecutive .500-or-better seasons, and established a new benchmark against which future teams will be judged, with program-high 58 wins in their careers. The class of 1999 brought talent and respectability to a Harvard basketball program that was a perennial non-contender in the Ivy League.

When the class of 1999 joined the team as rookies, however, there were lower expectations.

Coming on to a squad that posted just a 6-20 record in the 1994-95 campaign, the class of 1999 exceeded everybody's wildest expectations by posting a 15-11 record in their first campaign and a record of 43-35 over the next four years.

With the graduation of four of the team's top five scorers from last season, however, the Crimson will need strong rookie performances from several members of the class of 2003 to continue the success of the last four years.

Although the freshman class has the potential to fill the holes left by last year's graduates, the biggest question is whether they can make enough of an impact in the 1999-2000 season to make up for the loss of three starters.

"We have seven newcomers, but it's difficult to know for certain who will make the biggest impact," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said. "We're hopeful that Brady Merchant and Elliott Prasse-Freeman will contribute in the backcourt, and that Onnie Mayshak and Sam Winter can help us up front. There are going to be opportunities for our new players to contribute this year."

Fixing a Hole

The Crimson are desperately in need of someone to step up from the backcourt to ease the loss of All-Ivy point guard Tim Hill and shooting guard Mike Beam.

Hill was the team's leading scorer and broke the Harvard record for career assists, averaging 16.1 points per game and 6.6 assists per game last year.

Prior to this season, captain Damian Long and sophomore Andrew Gellert were expected to get the nod to start in the backcourt, along with freshman Elliott Prasse-Freeman.

Just a month before the start of the season, however, Gellert went down with a separated right shoulder and will not be ready in time for the season opener. Sullivan said the earliest he could be available is a Nov. 23 game at Holy Cross.

"It's a pretty big setback for me," Gellert said. "I haven't been able to practice for the past couple of weeks and it's hard not being on the court with the rest of my teammates. It's important to get used to your teammates and I haven't had that chance, but hopefully I'll be able to start practicing in a week or two and be back to start the season."

Both Gellert's separated shoulder and sophomore guard Alex Lowder's recently-sprained ankle have opened up a lot of playing time in the backcourt, and the freshmen are sure to use every minute they can get.

Prasse-Freeman, a 6'3, 185-lb. point guard from Mercer Island High School in Washington state, headlines the freshmen class and is the most likely to be an impact player.

A High School All-American, Prasse-Freeman led his high school team to a pair of state championships in his junior and senior years while averaging 12 points, seven assists, and five boards per game.

As the only freshmen point guard, there is a lot of pressure to perform as the heir apparent to the Tim Hill dynasty.

"Sure, there are definitely some pretty big shoes to fill, and the comparisons are always going to be there, I'm even wearing his old number," Prasse-Freeman said. "However, I'm more of a pure passer. I try to run the offense from the backcourt, know where everyone is on the court, and just try to make my teammates that much better."

Given time, Prasse-Freeman has the potential to fill Hill's shoes and even exceed the performance of last year's star point guard. In the team's first exhibition match up against St. Francis Xavier, Prasse-Freeman logged 32 minutes on the floor and picked up 10 assists, all without taking a shot.

"Elliott is going to be a great point-guard," Gellert said. "He sees the floor really well and is good at distributing the ball."

Highly recruited out of high school, Prasse-Freeman almost went to Stanford to play basketball.

"It was down to two kids and in the end they chose the other guy," Prasse-Freeman said. "After that, there was some discussion about playing at Stanford as a walk-on, but you can't beat Harvard in terms of the academics, and school's really important to me. Between riding the bench at Stanford and getting a chance to play here, it really wasn't much of a decision."

Prasse-Freeman's decision to choose Harvard is a major indication that the Harvard basketball program, under Sullivan, is gaining national attention.

"Harvard was never considered very good in basketball, but Coach Sullivan's really turned the program around," Prasse-Freeman said. "He's really developed a consistent ethic of winning, and knowing that Timmy was graduating, I was really excited that I'd get a chance to come play and help a program that was really on its way up."

However, Prasse-Freeman wasn't the only highly touted guard to choose Harvard. Alongside him, 6'4, 180-lb. shooting guard Brady Merchant will likely make an impact this year behind Long.

A good defensive player with the ability to dunk the ball, Merchant grew up in Lebanon, Ohio playing high school basketball on his father's team.

"My dad was the high school basketball coach and I've grown up around basketball all my life," Merchant said. "It was great playing for him, because if I didn't understand something, I could just go home and ask him. It's different now that I can't just go home and ask the coach questions, but the entire coaching staff has been just so helpful. They've just made it so easy, and they really want to teach us and help us learn."

Merchant's Harvard career got off to a rough start, however, as he pulled his groin a week before Sunday's exhibition season started and had to sit out.

Merchant is the third Crimson guard to fall to injury in recent weeks, but he's hopeful that after resting this week he will be ready to go.

"It's definitely set me back personally," Merchant said. "Right now I'm not sure what my role on the team's going to be and I'm just looking to find mine. Everyone has to find their role, but I see myself contributing a lot defensively early on."

Likewise, freshmen forward Onnie Mayshak will probably make his mark on the defensive end.

A 6'8, 220-lb. power forward, Mayshak's imposing figure intimidates on the court.

Despite his bulk, Mayshak is a very quick forward. He will be expected to grab a lot of rebounds and should develop into a potent offensive threat with seasoning.

Mayshak, who is from Canada, has not played basketball for nearly as long as some of the other recruits, but has tremendous athletic ability and the potential to become a star for the Crimson in the long term.

"The coach has said that he wants me to play, but I admit that there's a lot to learn," Mayshak said. "The hardest thing for me has been the level of conditioning of all the players on the team."

In a similar situation to Mayshak, power forward Bryan Sigafoos has the potential to star up front for the Crimson but will need at least a year of experience before he'll be able to make a contribution.

Sigafoos, a 6'10 tower, will play on the junior varsity team this season along with 6'7 freshman forward Don VanValkenburgh.

Both VanValkenburgh and Sigafoos look to provide the Crimson with help up front down the road, but will do little for the Crimson offense this season.

With the loss of center Bill Ewing and captain Paul Fisher, who averaged 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, the Crimson is definitely looking for someone to step up immediately and aid junior forward Dan Clemente, the team's only returning double-digit scorer.

Clemente averaged 14.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range, but if the Crimson is to repeat last year's performance they will need more than a hot-handed Clemente.

If the call goes out to the freshmen class to step up, forward Sam Winter should be ready.

A 6'6, 200-lb. native of Topeka, Kan., Winter has the ability to make an immediate impact.

A very polished forward, Winter comes with the ability to drain baskets like a shooting guard or post up like a power forward, depending upon the situation.

"Sam plays a very similar game to Dan [Clemente]," Gellert said. "He's good at going outside a lot and can score."

Senior forward Ethan Altaratz and junior forward Bryan Parker are likely to get the coach's nod backing up Clemente, but Altaratz saw minimal time last season, and Parker is a junior-college transfer. If either of them falters, the freshmen may get a chance to prove themselves.

"Although there's not as much experience on our team as in recent years," Sullivan said. "This group has the work and practice habits--and the enthusiasm--that will allow them to improve individually and help us grow as a team."

Despite the wealth of talent, Sullivan may have to look beyond the freshmen class if he wants to find players who can step in and put a lot of points on the board this year.

Besides Winter, there are not many freshmen who can be considered pure scorers.

Nevertheless, this freshmen class must figure greatly in Sullivan's plans for a winning season.

"We've got a lot of leaders on the team," Prasse-Freeman said. "So we don't bear the brunt of the burden, but as a part of the team, we certainly feel the pressure to win and do as well as last year, but we'll be ready."