Junior forward Zena Edosomwan rises up for a dunk in the 2015 Crimson Madness exhibition game.
Five Things We Learned
Men’s basketball beat reporter David Freed reflects on three things to take away from the squad’s opening scrimmage.
1. It’s 2012 All Over Again — For the first time in three years, the Crimson are going to be young. As in, really young. The team has six freshmen and just three seniors—one of which, Patrick Steeves, is still out with injury. Among the seniors, Agunwa Okolie looks like a starter on the wing, but Evan Cummins—who fell out of favor with Amaker midway through last year after some erratic early performances—may start on the bench. Sophomores Chris Egi and Andre Chatfield look like possible starters, and freshmen Tommy McCarthy and Weisner Perez will be early options off the bench.
2. Siyani Will Be Missed In A Big Way — The return of senior Siyani Chambers, who is taking a year of leave due to a torn ACL, for the weekend only accentuated the team’s presumed hole at point guard. McCarthy and junior Matt Fraschilla handled the ball for the two teams, both flashing good vision and poor shooting. Fraschilla in particular was a revolving door at one end, letting McCarthy get by at will.
3. Same Old Zena — Not many changes at Crimson Madness. For the third straight year, junior Zena Edosomwan looked like a star against his scrimmage competition—dominating on offense and getting to the rim at will. He won the dunk contest by—once again—jumping over a player on his team (freshman Balsa Dragovic this year, Egi lsat year). Ultimately, however, he looked a lot like the freshman who put up 18.2 points per 40 minutes—his offense may be more effective, but his defense and passing remain suspect.
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Four-star guard Bryce Aiken and three-star center Henry Welsh are the newest members of men's basketball coach Tommy Amaker's highly touted 2016 recruiting class.
The Harvard men’s basketball team added a seventh member to its 2016 recruiting class with the verbal commitment of three-star recruit Henry Welsh. Welsh, a 6’9” center from Loyola High School in Los Angeles, took to Twitter Wednesday morning to announce his decision to join the Crimson.
As a junior at Loyola, Welsh averaged 11 points per game and was second on the team with 9.2 rebounds per contest. He was the third member of last season’s team, which finished the year with a 20-10 record, to commit to a Division I program. Point guard Max Hazzard is now a freshman at UC Irvine while Stone Gettings will travel to Cambridge on Jan. 29 as a member of Cornell’s team.
Several recruiting outlets laud Welsh’s length and his steady improvement over three seasons at Loyola. One website says that the center has “a nice touch around the basket” and “is a good passer, especially from the high post”.
In addition to Harvard, Welsh also took official visits to UC Irvine and Lehigh. He is the third big man to commit to the Crimson in the class of 2016, joining top 100 power forward recruits Chris Lewis and Robert Baker, Jr.
Welsh is also the second pledge Harvard coach Tommy Amaker has received in the last week. Bryce Aiken, a four-star point guard from Randolph, N.J. committed to the Crimson last Thursday. Harvard’s recruiting class for next season is currently ranked as the 27th-best in nation by 247 Sports.
He is the second player in next year’s class from Los Angeles County to commit to the Crimson, joining point guard Christian Juzang. Current freshmen Robbie Feinberg and Tommy McCarthy and junior Zena Edosomwan also hail from Southern California.
Assuming Siyani Chambers ’16 returns to the team next fall following his ACL tear and all of this year’s non-graduating players return, Harvard will have 21 players competing for playing time next season.
While women's soccer junior Midge Purce took home the Athlete of the Week honors, three Harvard athletes finished still managed to stand out as runners-up for Athlete of the Week. The trio each contributed significantly over the weekend, helping their teams emerge victorious.
Kathleen Wallace, Women's Volleyball
The senior outside hitter racked up a total of 13 kills in Harvard’s match against Penn. Wallace’s performance guided the team to its second win in Ivy League play as the Crimson prevailed in straight sets, 3-0. The San Francisco, Calif. native also tallied four digs and four blocks in the contest, and she finished with a .370 hitting percentage.
In the first eight matches of her final year at Harvard, the senior is averaging career highs in kills per set, digs per set, as well as a career-high .251 hitting percentage. As women’s volleyball continues its conference play, Wallace figures to play an important role in the team’s quest to repeat as Ivy League champions.
Jake Freeman, Men's Soccer
In Harvard’s 3-1 victory over Yale on Saturday, it was senior forward Jake Freeman who netted the game-winning goal. With his 63rd minute score—a diving header past the Bulldog keeper—Freeman put the Crimson up for good to lead the team to its second win of the year.
The native of Melville, N.Y. has built on impressive freshman and junior-year campaigns and has already recorded six points in the team’s first eight games. Freeman has impressed in the spotlight, having scored in one of two draws against nationally-ranked opponents and having tallied the game-winner in each of the team’s wins.
Noah Reimers, Football
Reimers ran 15 times for a total of 64 yards on Friday in Harvard’s 45-0 shutout of Georgetown and ended up in the end zone after three of them. The freshman running back now leads the Ivy League with five rushing touchdowns. He is averaging 48.0 all-purpose yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry.
The rookie has seen the field in each of Harvard’s first three games of 2015, and he won Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks for his performances against Brown and Georgetown. With an impressive hurdle of a Georgetown defender on Friday, Reimers earned a spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.
Four members of the Crimson also earned individual distinctions from the NABC, including senior Agunwa Okolie.
The Harvard men’s basketball team was one of three Division I programs that participated in this year's NCAA Tournament to receive the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award. The National Association of Basketball Coaches bestows the honor on teams that reach a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
Additionally, four student-athletes were honored with a place on the NABC Honors Court. Charlie Anastasi '15, Alex Nesbitt '15, and seniors Agunwa Okolie and Patrick Steeves received the honor, which is given annually to junior and senior athletes who maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better.
Okolie, an Economics concentrator from Ajax, Ont., had a breakout 2014-2015 campaign, earning the Crimson's Most Improved Player Award. The swingman progressed in nearly every statistical category and became a key contributor for Harvard, starting 27 of the team's 30 games and often covering the opponent's top scorer.
Fellow Ivy League teams Columbia and Yale joined the Crimson in receiving the team distinction, while the Crimson led the Ancient Eight with its four individual honorees. Northern Iowa and Belmont were the only other teams to receive the award and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Overall, Harvard was one of 175 teams recognized, while Anastasi, Nesbitt, Okolie, and Steeves joined a record-setting 1,000 players in the Honor Court.
Kyle Casey '13-'14 has reportedly signed with the Phoenix Suns.
With the ability to keep 15 salaried players on their roster, the Phoenix Suns have reportedly filled the end of their bench with former Harvard men's basketball forward Kyle Casey ’13-’14. The Suns, who had just 13 players with guaranteed salaries on their roster, signed Casey and shooting guard Terrico White to training-camp contracts on Friday, according to the reports.
Casey averaged just over 11 points a game as a junior before taking on a reduced role in his final season in Cambridge, averaging just under 10 points a game. He shot better than 50 percent in his first three seasons at Harvard and was a four-time All-Ivy League teamer. The 2009-2010 Ivy League Rookie of the Year ranks among the top-15 in Harvard history in points, rebounds, and blocks.
After college, Casey was invited to workouts with various NBA teams—including the hometown Boston Celtics—but eventually went undrafted. After a summer league stint with the Brooklyn Nets, Casey played the 2014-2015 season overseas for Helios in Slovenia.
In camp, Casey will likely compete with Sonny Weems for playing time on the wing behind presumed starter P.J. Tucker and top reserve T.J. Warren. If he doesn’t make the team, he will likely suit up for Phoenix’s D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam, this coming season.
