Top of their class: Recruits will make immediate impact

It’s getting to be a Crimson rite of passage. Season begins, shy freshman joins team. Season ends, assertive freshman wins Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

Two year ago, it was Hana Peljto who took home the award. Last year, Reka Cserny earned the honor. Will it be Jessica Holsey this year?

Holsey, a standout freshman guard, selected as a McDonald’s All-American honorable mention in high school in Potomac, Md., is one of five freshman additions that appear primed to inject new life into an experienced Crimson lineup.

Holsey should make an immediate impact on the court, stepping in as one of Harvard’s options at point guard after the graduation of Jenn Monti ’02. Junior Dirkje Dunham will attempt to replace last year’s Ivy League assist leader as the ‘quarterback’ of Harvard’s offensive attack. According to Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who calls Holsey “one of, if not the, quickest player I’ve ever coached,” the freshman should be up to the challenge.

Yet, Holsey is not the only first-year who could make a big splash in league competition.

Shana Franklin, a 2001 Nike All-American from Wilmette, Ill, will also see immediate playing time this season. In spite of her success in high school, Franklin, like her teammates, seems enervated by the challenge of joining such a competitive Harvard squad.

“Being an All-American isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be,” Franklin said. “I’m excited, though, to be moving my game up to the next level.”

The other freshmen seem to share Franklin’s emphasis on the major transition required between high school and college-level basketball.

“I went to a small high school in Virginia so it’s a big change coming to play in the Ivy League,” new forward Kate Mannering explained. “Fortunately, the coaches and the upperclassmen have been really supportive in helping me take the step up.”

For her part, Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith says that she is amazed with the potential that the five freshman players have shown during preseason practices.

“These might be the fastest learners on the face of the earth,” Delaney-Smith said. “We knew that they were skilled when we recruited them but the ability that they have shown so far is fabulous.”

Delaney-Smith has singled out each of her new players for praise and has given Mannering and fellow rookie forward Maureen McCaffery the nickname of “the Twin Towers.”

The players, in turn, seem to enjoy a good rapport with the coach and seem bound to her philosophy of playing hard basketball from the get-go and rotating every player in from the bench.

“It’s awesome to have a woman coach to look up to—I, for one, have never had that chance before,” McCaffery said. “Her achievements and management have been inspiring and, as an incoming freshman, I’ve found these coaches to be great role models.”

The decision to play an uptempo game to outrun and outhustle the opposition is a result of the coaching staff’s confidence in the freshmen’s ability to contribute productively off the bench.

“[Coach Delaney-Smith] has mentioned that she wants to have a hard style of play where everyone is playing hard and will need a break,” McCaffery said.

Or, as Delaney-Smith put it, “There isn’t a player I wouldn’t want in the game. I can’t even figure out who goes in next without hurting someone’s feelings…this is one of the great freshman classes.”

California native Laura Robinson, a 5’7 guard, rounds out the Crimson quintet of new faces. Though Delaney-Smith believes her most daunting challenge this season will be to find playing time for her entire roster, Harvard’s coach looks to Billy Donovan’s model at the University of Florida as an archtype for what to expect this year.

“Donovan likes to play nine, ten, eleven guys and just run and run and run,” Delaney-Smith said. “That’s what I want to do here.”

After a challenging program of summer workouts and a series of grueling practices this fall, the freshman players seem ready to begin competitive matches. And, perhaps mindful of Harvard’s 1998 first round upset of then-No. 1 Stanford, they have their sights set high.

“I’m excited as we’re really looking toward winning the Ivy League,” Mannering said. “And, if we keep up our hustle and work ethic, we could go really far.”

Holsey said that she planned to take the season a game at a time but admitted her ultimate goal was to win the Ivy League title and then do well in the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile, away from practice, Harvard’s new stars say they are settling in happily to life in Cambridge. The arrival of winter clothes at Freshman Parents’ Weekend greatly cheered McCaffery, who now hopes to keep warm both on and off the court.

Mannering, the other “Twin Tower,” said that she was delighted with her first few months at college.

“We’ve had plenty of time to do our work, relax and be normal as well as playing serious basketball,” Mannering said. “I could not have asked for a better situation.”

Nor, it seems, could the Crimson. The future looks bright for women’s basketball at Harvard. And, for now, these freshmen sound happy to contribute in any way they can, focusing on winning titles instead of racking up minutes of playing time.

But for a such a promising freshman class, both seem possible.

“With the talent we have, the sky’s the limit,” Franklin said.

—Staff Writer Anthony S. A. Freinberg can be reached at freinber@fas.harvard.edu.