Basketball's Kenyi Leaving Harvard

Former men’s basketball starter Max Kenyi will not be back in a Harvard uniform this fall, Kenyi told The Crimson this afternoon.

“I won’t be back,” said Kenyi, who took a voluntary leave of absence from Harvard for personal reasons this past October—just two months into his junior year.

At the time, Kenyi told The Crimson he intended to rejoin the Harvard basketball program after his year off.

But after a summer in which he reportedly played in a summer league with a team of incoming Georgetown freshmen, rumors began to swirl that the athletic guard out of Maryland would be leaving the Crimson to join the Hoyas.

Kenyi declined to comment on the rumors, except to confirm that he would be leaving Harvard.

“I can’t really elaborate on it,” Kenyi said. “Can’t really talk about it.”

Kenyi also declined to comment on the reasoning behind his decision not to return to Cambridge, saying, “Just leave it at I’m not going to be back.”

In his two seasons with the Crimson, Kenyi started 19 games and averaged 4.7 points per game. One of the top recruits from Harvard coach Tommy Amaker’s first recruiting class, Kenyi was used primarily as a defensive stopper.

But the 2007-08 Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Basketball Player of the Year of the Year struggled on the offensive end and was hobbled by an MCL injury that limited him to just 17 games during his sophomore season.