MALE BREAKOUT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Housman Rises Above Ivy’s Best

One week defined an entire season for the Crimson men’s basketball team.

More importantly, though, it defined what the team’s standout point guard, sophomore Drew Housman, had become.

It began at home, against second-place Cornell, a team that had only suffered one loss in five Ivy League games to that point.

After Harvard surged to a 41-27 lead to begin the second half, the Big Red used a 14-1 run to climb to within one. The rest of the game proved a dogfight, as neither team went ahead by more than five points.

But in the final eight seconds, with the Crimson down one, Housman took control. He dribbled the ball down the court, and threaded a bounce pass through the legs of an unassuming Cornell forward to set up sophomore Evan Harris’ game-winning layup.

Despite struggling for much of the game, coughing up six turnovers, Housman showed poise under pressure beyond his years, notching his sixth assist with the game-winner.

The sophomore was fifth in the Ivies in assists, totaling 3.43 a game.

“I haven’t been around that many game-winning, buzzer-beating plays,” Housman said. “To be a part of the winning play, that was definitely great.”

But that was just the beginning. Housman first showed his calm during the non-league slate, leading the Crimson to a 84-76 overtime victory with a team-leading 25-point performance against Vermont.

He continued his stellar play down the stretch at Central Connecticut State, completing an 18-point Crimson comeback by nailing a back-breaking three with a minute to play.

But Housman was just setting the stage for his Ivy League heroics. What began with a game-winning assist against the Big Red finished as the team traveled to Princeton and Penn.

In the two games, Housman showed his versatility. Against the Tigers, Housman scored 18 of the team’s final 20 points in the second half and overtime, showing his ability to dominate on the offensive end.

Dribbling through as many as three defenders, Housman displayed his ability to score at will. But when he ran out of gas in the second overtime, the team followed suit, losing for the seventh straight year in New Jersey. For Housman, the 33-point performance did not ease the pain of a loss. But there was a saving grace—he had arrived as one of the best point guards in the Ivy League.

“I think in Housman’s case that was the next level,” former coach Frank Sullivan said following the game. “It was tremendous what he did [that night], so to see that poise and that confidence especially in a highly pressurized game was very rewarding.”

And against two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Ibrahim Jaaber the next night, he matched the league’s best stride for stride, holding Jaaber to nine points while he scored the same. But like much of Harvard’s season, this effort again ended in a loss. The weekend showed how great Housman can be, but it also showed how far the team still has to go to achieve Ivy League success.

Yet, after such a stellar season, the sky is now the limit for Housman, who now finds himself under the tutelage of former All-American point guard Tommy Amaker. And Amaker’s advice has already had an effect on Housman.

“He wants me to slim down, become less bulky,” Housman said, “I think it will change my game, make me even faster.”

Housman has already showed so much, but it seems under Amaker, there could be much more to come.

“We hardly even know, but he’s already bestowing knowledge on us, I guess you could say,” Housman said. “Personally, he was an awesome point guard, so he’s going to have great advice.”

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.