Without Chambers, Cummins To Captain Men's Basketball Alone

The story of the offseason for the Harvard men’s basketball team has been the absence of senior guard Siyani Chambers. After tearing his ACL during a summer workout, dozens of questions have arisen within the team and amongst spectators of the Crimson.

Losing nearly 70 percent of its scoring from last year, the team needs someone to become an offensive focal point. Replacing Chambers is no small task—the season may depend on whether freshman Tommy McCarthy is up for the task.

Yet, another question rings loudest: Who will lead this young Harvard team?

Coach Tommy Amaker and Harvard have an answer: Evan Cummins.

After leading the 2014-2015 squad as a co-captain alongside Steve Moundou-Missi ’15, Chambers was slated to fill the same role this season. Cummins was voted by his peers as Chambers’s fellow captain, but now holds the reins in Chambers’s absence in leading what Amaker has deemed one of his youngest teams in recent years.

“HE LETS US CALL HIM DAD”

When asked about Cummins’ role as a leader, freshman guard Corey Johnson was effusive.

“He’s just the kind of guy that brings everyone together to talk as a team...leading us in every practice and being vocal and just keeping us going all the time,” Johnson said.

“He lets us call him Dad,” the freshman added with a smile.

Cummins has been a guiding force in welcoming the six rookies to the Crimson basketball program as several of the freshmen look to make an impact early on. As the rookies deal with the challenges of transitioning from high school basketball along with the academic and social adjustments of college, Cummins has led by example.

Freshman guard Tommy McCarthy spoke about how Cummins has helped him become a leader on the team as the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., native has begun to shoulder the point guard responsibilities that Chambers’ injury has left unfulfilled.

“As a freshman, you know, I had so many questions coming in, different things that coach Amaker wanted and their standards and stuff like that,” McCarthy said. “He’s been great just showing me everything that I need to do and helping me along, and he’s always encouraging me, telling me to talk more, and you know kind of really like push me into that leadership role.”

A CULTURE OF LEADERSHIP

From Moundou-Missi to Christian Webster ’13, the standard for a good captain has become ingrained in the system of Harvard basketball.

“Evan developed into a great leader within the program,” Webster said. “He leads by example on and off the court. He is a perfect example of what it means to be a Harvard basketball player.”

But Cummins’s leadership education didn’t just begin at Harvard. It started much earlier when he stepped on the court at Northfield Mount Hermon.

First, as a sophomore, he got the chance to learn from upperclassmen who would go on to captain Division I teams, including Laurent Rivard ’14. Under their leadership, Cummins was a member of a team that went to play in the New England Championship finals.

But then it was his turn.

Alongside fellow captains Tommy Carpenter and Ethan O’Day, now captains at Dartmouth and Vermont, respectively, Cummins became captain for the Hoggers during his senior season. The trio was joined by veteran point guard Spike Albrecht, who is now the captain of Michigan.

“There was this culture of leadership where even if you aren’t captain on our team, you learn to be a leader,” NMH coach John Carroll said. “Obviously Evan learned his skills from great captains and shared that responsibility with people who went on to be great captains.”

HIS TIME

Though he has not necessarily filled the stat sheet, Cummins is a perfect example of what Amaker said he has stressed to his team: “they cannot just think of it being their turn, they need to think of it more as being their time.”

Cummins has gotten sporadic minutes throughout his career with the Crimson, almost all of them coming off the bench. Since joining the team in 2012, the Westborough, Mass. native has averaged just 2.4 points per game in approximately 10 minutes on the court.

However, after the departure of five of the team’s six top scorers, Cummins will likely play a larger role in the team’s offense. As a recruit, Cummins was known for his scoring versatility, as his size allows him to pound the ball in the paint, but his length makes it easier for him to score from outside.

Cummins’s past experience will be extremely valuable on a team with just three seniors. Along with losing most of its scoring output, the Crimson lost 61.7 percent of its minutes.

“[H]e’s been in the NCAA tournament three times, he’s won three Ivy League titles,” junior guard Matt Fraschilla said. “That’s something that’s invaluable in terms of being able to take his experience and kind of use that to lead. He’s been in every situation you can imagine over the past three years, whether it’s up in Vermont or playing North Carolina in the NCAA tournament or Michigan State or MIT. It doesn’t matter: he’s been there.”

While finding minimal playing time as a freshman in the Ivy League is not uncommon, Cummins saw a major uptick in minutes during his sophomore campaign. After averaging just 2.7 minutes in six games played during his rookie year, the forward saw action in 30 games his second year, seeing an average of 10.1 minutes of action. However during his junior season, his stats remained nearly stagnant, if not lower in some categories.

But he has been plagued by a deep bench. At times, Cummins found himself the third big man off the pine behind Kenyatta Smith ’15 and Jonah Travis ’15. Though the Crimson will look to get more from junior Zena Edosomwan and sophomore Chris Egi, Cummins may see more opportunities to be the go-to player down low, rather than finding himself in a supporting role.

“He is an amazing passer and really crafty around the rim,” Edosomwan said. “Sometimes he will get you with those little hook shots here and there.”

As a recognized leader and the opportunity wide open to make an impact on a team in transition, the 2015-2016 season could certainly be Cummins’s time.

—Staff writer Theresa C. Hebert can be reached at theresa.hebert@thecrimson.com.