HARVARD BASKETBALL 2005-06: NBA Talent, Dream Recruit Slipped Through Harvard's Hands

Harvard has struggled against its reputation in the attempt to recruit talent strong enough to consistently challenge tradition-rich Penn and Princeton for the Ivy League title. Ten years ago, however, coach Frank Sullivan nearly landed a player who would have surely brought several banners to Lavietes Pavilion and helped land Cambridge on the major college basketball map.

Wally Szczerbiak, the starting small forward of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, was extremely close to attending Harvard in 1995. Sullivan was one of the chief wooers of the 6’7 scoring machine from Cold Spring Harbor High School on Long Island, NY.

“To get a player of that caliber would have been huge,” Sullivan said. “He’s an interesting guy in that he wasn’t highly recruited. He wasn’t Wally Szczerbiak then as he is now.”

What he is now is a six-year NBA veteran, a 2002 All-Star with a career scoring average of 15 points a game. What he was then was a player with the potential to radically transform the landscape of Ivy hoops.

“This was a very skilled player, with a wonderful family,” said Sullivan, who made a recruiting trip to Szczerbiak’s home during his senior year. “He had a good initial feeling about Harvard. [His family] understood Harvard—usually when you go recruiting you have to introduce Harvard, [but] his family welcomed Harvard as an option for him.”

In the end, the decision came down to Harvard against Miami University of Ohio, and the lure of a full scholarship—something Harvard couldn’t offer—and the chance to play at an NCAA mid-major school won Szczerbiak over. In many ways, Szczerbiak’s decision to attend Miami was the sign of an increasing trend among top high school players, who due to increased media hyping of the NCAA tournament are looking for the school that offers them the best chance to make an impact on the national stage in March.

“It would be huge, [but] it doesn’t happen as much,” Sullivan said of a player like Szczerbiak choosing an Ivy school. “You see more peer pressure than we’ve ever had to make decisions to go to the highest level of basketball. Ten years ago, it was a little bit different. Kids wanted to be pioneers—you weren’t as saturated with the big dance and the media attention that Division I college basketball has gotten.”

Szczerbiak got plenty of media attention while leading the RedHawks to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 1999. After scoring 24 points a game in his senior season at Miami, he averaged 30 in the tournament to lead all scorers, and was selected by the Timberwolves with the sixth pick of the 1999 draft.

One cannot say whether Szczerbiak would have taken Harvard that deep into the NCAA tournament. It is likely, however, that just one tournament appearance would lead to higher profile recruits and greater goals. The Crimson narrowly missed out on a player who would have helped build a program strong enough to punch through the massive barrier separating Penn and Princeton from the rest of the league.

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.