Promising High School Players Keep Harvard on List

With two of the most promising high school basketball players keeping Harvard on their lists as they narrow down their college choices, the Harvard men’s basketball program has taken another step closer to dramatically improving its roster.

Rising high school seniors Andre Hollins—ranked the 150th best player nationally in the class of 2011 by Rivals.com—and Kenyatta Smith—ranked the 18th best center nationally by in the class of 2011 by ESPN—have both included Harvard among their final college choices.

After reports surfaced earlier that Hollis, a six-foot-two shooting guard from Tennessee, was leaning toward Stanford, his Amateur Athletic Union coach Keith Easterwood stated that Harvard still remained on the athlete’s list of possible college destinations.

At some point in August, Hollins will pare down his list of college choices to five schools—a list that Harvard is expected to make: “I’ll be shocked if Harvard is not one of the top five schools,” Easterwood said.

The other “involved” schools for Hollins include Stanford, University of Mississippi, and University of Tennessee, according to Easterwood.

Meanwhile, Smith is a six-foot-seven, 265-pound center from California who has reportedly narrowed his final list down to four schools: Harvard, Penn, Vanderbilt, and Northwestern.

If he were to make Cambridge his ultimate destination, Smith—who averaged 16.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.1 blocks per game as a junior at Flintridge Prep—would immediately shore up the Crimson’s shallow frontcourt.

The successful recruiting of either Hollins or Smith for the Crimson would mean that one of the most highly-touted players would enter the Ivy League in recent years.

As Fox Sports senior basketball writer Jeff Goodman said in an interview with The Crimson, “If you start bringing in top 100 kids to Harvard, it’s going to start being scary for the rest of the Ivy League.”