MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Frosh Becomes Offensive Leader

Heading into the season, the Harvard men’s basketball team had two sure things, a couple of uncertainties, and one huge void.

While the Crimson boasted the strongest returning frontcourt in the league, the guard spots were left cloudy with the graduation of shooting guard Kevin Rogus and point guard Dave Giovacchini.

Junior Jim Goffredo was set to fill in for Rogus at the two. The one, however, was a different matter. Versatile senior Mike Beal, originally recruited to play small forward, was expected to handle much of the duty of bringing the ball up the court as the two freshman point guards, Drew Housman and Eric Groszyk, were expected to need a gradual introduction to the rigors of running a Division I offense.

That contingency plan turned out to be entirely unnecessary. Housman immediately showed that he was no conventional first-year player and, after playing well in the preseason, was named the starter for the season opener against Vermont. The rookie scored 13 points, handed out 3 assists, grabbed four rebounds, and never looked back.

“I put a lot of hard work in over the summer [and] during the year,” Housman said. “I felt I had as good a chance as anyone, but I wasn’t really expecting [to start]. It was just fortunate the way it worked out.”

Fortunate for Harvard, as Housman proved to be the able director of the Crimson’s inside-out attack that the team needed. Housman learned from Harvard’s strong contingent of seniors how to feed the post and put Harvard’s big men in position to cause damage. He also developed a strong rapport with Goffredo, whom he played with in a summer league before entering Harvard (and will play with again this summer), and his feeds helped facilitate the junior’s breakout season.

“[Our chemistry] has gotten a lot better,” Goffredo said. “It was good to get on the court with him a lot before he even got to Harvard. I think we’ve got a really good feel for each other’s game.”

For the season, Housman finished first on the team with 82 assists, but passing was not the only offensive dimension he displayed. The freshman grew into a crucial alternate scoring option, averaging 10 points per game, and his 271 points were the third most on the Crimson. He led Harvard in scoring on three occasions, including a 20-point performance in a win at Columbia in which he played all 40 minutes and shot 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.

As evidenced by that performance, Housman’s offensive prowess manifested itself in an uncanny ability to get to the line.

Time and again, when opposing defenses clamped down on captain Matt Stehle and Goffredo, Housman would shake his defender with a dribble move and take the ball to the basket, unafraid to draw contact from the behemoths in the paint. He took 119 free throws on the season, second on the team to Stehle, and converted at a solid 76.5 percent.

In light of the number of hits Housman took in the paint, the point guard’s durability was perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance. The rookie played in all 27 of the team’s games, started 26 of them, and averaged 33.7 minutes, second only to team linchpin Stehle. Predictably, Housman had to fight through fatigue and shooting slumps mid-season but finished strong, shooting 48 percent over the season’s final 10 games.

Housman’s progress has Harvard hoping it can return to its traditional dominance at the point guard spot, epitomized by the careers of Eliott Prasse-Freeman ’03 and Tim Hill ’99. Prasse-Freeman’s 705 total assists is an Ivy League record, but even he did not start from the beginning of his freshman year.

“[Housman] gets the game, he understands the game, he gets our league—he made a lot of progress mentally this year,” Sullivan said. “We’re feeling good that we’re back to that [Prasse-Freeman] point-guard model.”

For Housman to build upon his freshman year success and live up to the legacy of Harvard’s point-guard play, he will have to learn to carry the Crimson offense. Next year without Stehle, the team will live and die with its guards. Besides the added scoring load, Housman will also no longer have the luxury of Beal spelling him at the point or Stehle bringing the ball up when teams pressure Housman.

Besides these challenges, Housman has other areas of his play to work on, but it’s clear he has the ability, and the time, to move to the same higher level as Prasse-Freeman.

“He’s only going to get better—he’s got three more years,” Goffredo said. “He’s got a chance to be a pretty special player.”

—CALEB W. PEIFFER