WEAK CORNELL BASKETEERS IMPROVING; COACH THINKS GREEN IS TEAM TO BEAT

Following is an article by Alan Gold, of the Cornell Sun, on the Cornell basketball team. The Crimson five will clash with Cornell on February 14.

What had promised to be one of Cornell's most successful basketball seasons in recent years is rapidly turning into a nightmare for Coach Blair Gullion.

The announcement at the start of practice that Captain Duke Ramsey would be unable to take part in the early games because of scholastic troubles was taken mildly, but now it has become apparent that the lanky captain will be ineligible for the Christmas trip through the West, and also will be of little use throughout the remainder of the year. Then Bill Webster, regular guard last year, was thrown off the squad for playing JV football, and just to make it unanimous, Hugh Bennett, brother of the famous Jim and star of last year's Freshman team, developed an eye ailment that will keep him on the sidelines through the entire season.

Gullion does have something to work with, however. The size of the squad that reports to him daily is tremendous, and includes: Jim Bennett, all-League forward for the past two years, Ken Jolly, regular guard last year, and Charlie Jack, who played enough in the early part of the 1939-40 season to earn his letter. These three, along with Howie Dunbar who has only recently reported, are the few returning lettermen.

The team, as it lined up at the start of the two games already played, is inexperienced but learning fast, and, especially due to the speedy development of some of last year's fresh, is beginning to look presentable, though hardly equal to the task of winning the Eastern title.

At present the team has Jim Bennett and Sophomore Bill Stewart at forwards, Sam Hunter, another Soph, at center, and Jolly in the back-court, with Junior Frank Burgess, who at present holds a slight edge over the slow starting Jack. When Howie Dunbar gets himself into shape it is expected that he will be moved into the pivot spot and Hunter will be shoved back to reinforce the guard situation.

The team looked terrible in its first game, with Alfred, but showed a great deal of improvement wine thumping Lafayette 57 to 21 a week later. But unless Ramsey can shake off the scholastic shackles that now tie him down, the chances are that the Big Red will be just another team in the League besides Dartmouth, which Gullion along with all the other coaches in the loop figures is the team to beat.