Top Recruit Headlines Incoming Class

After the Harvard men’s basketball team upset No. 3 New Mexico in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, the celebration was on in Salt Lake City. The players stormed the court at EnergySolutions Arena, but they were not the only ones celebrating.

Three high school seniors, spread out across the country, were just as excited as the men playing in Utah. Six months later, those seniors are now the newest members of the Crimson squad.

Headlining the incoming freshman class is Zena Edosomwan, a 6’9” forward from Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles. Edosomwan had been watching the game with his father and could not believe the result.

“I was just so happy for those guys because I don’t think a lot of people expected them to do that,” Edosomwan said. “That was just very special, knowing that those would be the guys that [I’d] be able to play with next year.”

Edosomwan, listed as the No. 76 prospect in the Class of 2013 according to Scouts Inc., is the most highly touted recruit to ever join the Crimson. The forward averaged 16.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in his senior season, earning him a McDonald’s All-American nomination.

Almost 40 different schools offered scholarships to the Harvard-Westlake senior in 2012, including UCLA, USC, Texas, and California. But Edosomwan had his heart set on joining the Crimson.

“Here at Harvard, it’s something really special because you have an elite academic institution that’s well recognized globally,” Edosomwan said. “The opportunity to be a part of that, from a student’s point of view, and also to represent the university as an athlete, I felt was something I couldn’t pass up.”

However, getting to Cambridge was not an easy process for the young forward. Edosomwan’s SAT scores came up just short of the qualifications for admission set by the university when he took the test in 2012. But he would not give up his dream.

Rather than accept an offer from another school, Edosomwan decided to reclassify as a 2013 prospect and spend a year at Northfield Mount Hermon, a reputable prep school in Western Massachusetts, before joining the Crimson.

One year later, after leading his school to a national championship and having qualified for admission to Harvard, Edosomwan has found his way onto the court for the Crimson.

Joining Edosomwan as a new addition to the Harvard frontcourt is Hunter Myers, a 6’7” forward from Douglas High School in Minden, Nev. The forward was in the middle of practice when the Crimson was in action against the Lobos, but he still remembers the game.

“I was only briefly getting score updates during my water breaks,” Myers said. “[But] I would be jumping with joy every time I saw Harvard lead.”

Myers brings plenty of winning experience with him to Cambridge, as his high school team won back-to-back Sierra League titles in his junior and senior seasons.

In his senior year, the forward averaged over 18 points and 10 boards per game, earning him the title of Northern Nevada Player of the Year. However, Myers is still looking to find his role in the Crimson rotation.

“I really see myself as being able to play whatever role [Harvard] Coach [Tommy Amaker] puts me in,” Myers said. “I’m not going to try to define my own role because I’m really trying to fit into the team’s system at this point.”

The Nevada native received offers from several schools all over the map, from Ivy League rival Princeton to the University of California. But Myers says he knew when he got to the Harvard campus on his official visit last year that he would be heading east.

“I really felt the camaraderie [among the team] coming in even on my visit, and that really carried over to this year,” Myers said. “It seems like, for myself, I really made the correct choice.”

Rounding out the rookies is Matt Fraschilla, a 5’11” point guard out of Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas.

Fraschilla was born into a basketball family. He grew up competing on the court against his older brother James, who is currently a guard at the University of Oklahoma. His father, Fran, used to be a college basketball coach and now serves as a broadcaster for ESPN.

The rookie guard has a very unique perspective on last year’s tournament game. One of the schools where his father coached? The University of New Mexico.

“That was funny how that worked out,” Fraschilla said. “My parents were out of town, so I watched that one by myself. I was kind of freaking out in my house when they pulled off the upset.”

While Matt had the last laugh on that night, the point guard credited his father for the majority of the success that he has had on the basketball court.

“He’s taught me almost everything I know,” Fraschilla said. “From a young age, I kind of learned to play the game the right way because of him.”

Fraschilla was the captain of his team at Highland Park during his senior season, and he led the squad with 8.1 assists per game. Amaker was a point guard himself at Duke University, which Fraschilla admitted was a huge selling point when he was making his decision about where to go last spring.

In addition to Amaker, Fraschilla will have the leaders of the Crimson backcourt, senior Brandyn Curry and sophomore Siyani Chambers, to lean on throughout the season.

“Going against them every day in practice, it’s been awesome,” Fraschilla said. “You know, sometimes you go out there and you get your butt kicked, [but] that’s just part of it…. If I was going to learn under two point guards, I couldn’t ask for two better ones.”

After a successful 20-win season in 2012-13, Harvard only lost one senior to graduation, forward Christian Webster, who is still with the team as an assistant coach. With more newcomers to the team than shoes to be filled, minutes may be tough to come by early on for the freshmen.

However, Amaker is happy with the depth that his three newest additions will provide the team over the course of the year.

“They’re learning, but if you’re going to work hard and try to fit in, you’re going to do just fine,” Amaker said. “I’m very comfortable and confident in what they’ve done so far.”

The 2017 class has only been practicing with the team for a few months now, but the players have already begun to make significant contributions on the court. Crimson Madness, held on Oct. 18 at Lavietes Pavilion, offered the rookies their first taste of action in front of the home crowd.

Edosomwan stole the show, putting up 16 points for the Crimson squad in a 36-31 win over the Black squad, which featured Myers and Fraschilla coming off the bench. Additionally, Edosomwan participated in the dunk contest, and Myers competed in the three-point shooting contest.

Just one exhibition into the season, Edosomwan, Myers, and Fraschilla have all begun to prove that they are capable of going a long way as a unit in the years to come.

“We’ve built a really strong bond,” Fraschilla said. “You know we have three more years after this one to continue to grow that friendship, and it’s going to be really cool.”