2011 Ivy League Player of the Year and 2012 second-team All-Ivy forward Keith Wright ’12 has spent the last few months preparing for the NBA Draft, which begins tomorrow, June 28.
Wright has worked out for a number of teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors.
Wright will most likely go undrafted, but has a chance of being picked in the late second round. At 6’8”, Wright is undersized at the 4, but lacks the midrange game and athleticism of a 3. Working in his favor are an array of post-moves and a nose for the ball on the offensive glass.
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Following a surprising year-end run that nearly culminated in an ECAC title, the Harvard men’s hockey team graduated some of its top players, including forward Alex Killorn, who paced the squad with 46 points in 2011-12.
But just months after the Crimson’s most prolific goalscorer in nearly a decade headed south to play in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, a new crop of NHL draftees—including another Lightning pick—is coming to Cambridge.
Incoming freshmen left winger Jimmy Vesey and right winger Brian Hart were selected in this year’s NHL Draft, held on Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pa. While Vesey was taken in the third round by the Nashville Predators, the Lightning selected Hart in the second round with the 53rd overall pick.
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All-American huh? Not so fast.
Two days after starting and registering 12 points and seven rebounds in an upset of the Czech Republic, sophomore Temi Fagbenle made the final 12-woman roster for the Great Britain team Friday in advance of the 2012 London Olympics, which begin in late July.
Fagbenle grew up in England before coming to the United States for high school. Following an impressive senior campaign, the 6’4” forward was named a McDonald’s All-American and was unanimously considered one of the top recruits in the Class of 2011. After Fagbenle’s Lavietes Pavilion debut was delayed as the NCAA forced her to sit out a year, she’s gotten on the court for the British National team faster than expected.
Since joining the squad for a series of warm-up contests this summer, Fagbenle has drawn immense praise from United Kingdom coach Tom Maher, which was backed up by her inclusion on the team at just 19 years of age. She is the only teenager to make the final roster, and only the second woman in Ivy League history to compete in the Olympics.
The British are guaranteed to be competing in the Olympic Games next month because the home nation is automatically qualified for the tournament. But, unlike in past years, this team may have been able to qualify the hard way. Officially ranked 49th in the world (right behind Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka) due to years of mediocrity, the Brits have been playing up to the competition in recent contests, topping global contenders South Korea, Canada, and Argentina this summer in addition to upsetting the No. 4-ranked Czechs. Some of the recent success can be attributed to the addition of Fagbenle, but she represents just one member of a growing crop of talented British basketball players that have taken the program to a new level.
Before tip-off of Olympic action July 28th, the UK has several more tough tests to prepare itself for the Games. The squad has upcoming matches with world No. 2 Australia and No. 7 China, two teams that have already qualified for the 12-team Olympic tournament, before playing its final pre-Olympics contest against the world No. 1, and defending Olympic Champion, the United States.
That American squad will face an England team tougher than any British squad they’ve faced in a long time, thanks in large part to the play of an All-American sporting the Union Jack.
It’s official: Jeremy Lin ’10 is a fan favorite. The emerging star received praise both on and off the court in the first-ever NBA Social Media Awards, which aired this past Wednesday on NBA TV and TNT. Lin played a role in three of the night’s 13 honors, tying him with Kobe Bryant for the most decorated social engager.
Prior to the one-hour show, Lin was honored as the “Social Breakout Player of the Year” thanks to enormous increases in his Twitter and Facebook following. By the time of the announcement, the point guard’s following had increased 34-fold on Twitter since the New York Knicks claimed him off waivers in December of last year.
After a career-changing 25-point performance against the New Jersey Nets on February 4, Lin scored over 20 points and dished eight or more assists in his next two contests, and a surge in popularity was well on its way. But skeptics were still able to point a lack of quality opponents during the streak.
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Coming off its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946, the Harvard men’s basketball team is lining up a tough non-conference schedule before it begins next year’s Ivy League season.
CBSSports’ Jon Rothstein reported yesterday that Harvard will face Saint Mary’s, California, and Memphis in 2012-2013, all on the road.
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