Seeking Scholars and Sportsmen

This is the first of a two-part series about athletic recruiting at Harvard.

"If President Bok resigned tomorrow, I'd find it hard to believe that the Board of Overseers would just sit back and take applications. They'd want to find the best, most qualified person for the position." Frank McLaughlin, Crimson men's basketball coach

All Harvard coaches dream of the elusive "most qualified person for the position." Some coaches invest their faith in the admissions office, and recruit little; others recruit aggressively. Some sell the University; others, their individual program. But all the coaches feel occasional disappointment at losing topnotch athletes, whether to other schools or to academic shortcomings.

"Recruiting has intensified considerably recently," longtime men's track and cross-country coach William W. McCurdy says. "The basic reason is that people like to win.

Unfortunately, one of the measurements of effective coaching these days is recruiting," he adds.

McCurdy does not recruit heavily. "I'm happy to be friendly, give information, or show people our facilities. But I don't want to get into the business of pressuring, or bending minds for selfish purposes," he says. Despite his low-key attitude toward recruiting, McCurdy consistently lures high-caliber track athletes.

But for many Crimson coaches, the conflict between the desire to win and the need to conform to Harvard admissions standards is often uneasy. Although coaches respect the academic goals of the office of admissions, many express frustration that arises not from stringent standards, but from other constraints. Joe Restic, Crimson football coach, says the biggest problem he faces is the relative unattractivenesss of Harvard's financial aid package.

Because Harvard does not offer scholarships based on athletic ability, but solely on need, many prospective athletes receive more attractive financial packages from other schools and turn Harvard down. "Recruiting in the Ivy League is the toughest job in the world," Restic says. "It's painful to lose people who really want to come here because of the middle-class squeeze or other monetary considerations--we're losing well qualified applicants. With a scholarship, we could compete with anyone," he adds.

Restic pointedly says, however, that there are no easy solutions. "I don't think you're going to solve the problem in the Ivies. As a coach, you have to deal with that reality."

Many coaches cite the example of Stanford as a school having similar admissions standards but also having an allotment of athletic scholarships.

Restic also hints that other Ivy schools have initiated high-power recruiting tactics. "Last year, I went on the road for one week--it was the first time ever. This year I spent two weeks on the road. Some Ivy football coaches spend 13 weeks on the road. All I know is there's a number of Ivy schools we no longer compete with--we're involved with other people. The people we present to admissions here must be well-qualified."

The process of recruiting for Restic is as continuous as it is difficult. "We try to build up files, get all the pertinent information we can. We have a philosophy here, a policy; we have to work within that framework," he says.

Men's basketball coach Frank McLaughlin has faced an additional obstacle--facility. "The IAB (Indoor Athletic Building) just turns people off," he says. "That is a minus, but it is changeable. The other drawback is our lack of winning tradition. That is also changeable," he adds.

McLaughlin also calls the admissions committee "very fair and helpful." The former Notre Dame assistant coach says some highly-touted candidates do not even want to bother filling out an application or financial aid form. "We have to go out and get those kids--every school in the country wants to be good at basketball."

The rules governing recruitment of men and women differ. Robert Scalise knows both sides well, as coach of the women's soccer and men's lacrosse squads. "You can't fly in women to visit the University, nor can you travel to visit them at home. And, Harvard has other restrictions--we need clearance to visit people," Scalise says.

Scalise says he actively recruits--but only to "replace and build at a rate that still accommodates those already involved in the program." He also points to the admissions office's insistence that coaches not "build up expectations for those who do not have a chance of acceptance" as a good policy.

"I don't want to flatter or cajole--people should want to come to Harvard," Scalise says.

Women's swim coach Stephanie Walsh says many women athletes "cannot believe they are Harvard material." Consequently, she adds, many women athletes are scared away.

Walsh says she sends a list of prospectives to the admissions office which is divided into "Blue Chip, Red, and White." The ten or so people under the "Blue" heading are those who can "singlehandedly turn the program around," Walsh says. She places about 20 people each in the "Red" and "White" categories, based almost exclusively on swimming ability, but often ranked with academic considerations in mind.

Walsh says there is "absolutely massive abuse" of the recruiting regulations governing women's sports. "People will find a way to cheat as long as there is the pressure to win. In the Ivy League, abuse occurs to a lesser extent," she adds.

"According to Ivy ideals, we're not supposed to aspire to national competition. But I need national level kids just to keep up with Princeton," Walsh says.

Men's swimming coach Joe Bernal has acquired a reputation as a recruiter extraordinaire. "I have to go and find swimmers who meet the academic standards of Harvard," Bernal says. "Stanford can offer full scholarships, and it has as good a reputation as Harvard for total education. But I think we do a better selling job, in terms of a consistent bombardment of literature and possible material selling the University and its programs," he adds.

One of the problems Bernal notes is persuading athletes to apply. "We have our January deadline, but other schools can wait, even until June. I know the Yale coach has had difficulty in this respect."

L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of admissions and financial aid, says there are relatively few substantive restrictions within the Ivy League which are binding on all schools. "We elicit information and opinions from the orchestra, the band and the Loeb," Jewett says, adding that coaches are "most eager" to give information.

To facilitate what Jewett describes as "a regular dialogue" between the two departments, admissions added a liaison to its staff to co-ordinate communications recently. James W. Stoeckel '74, a former varsity quarterback, now occupies the role.

"We just want to give proper weight in our overall assessment to the commitment and energy of an athlete. If we get a number of totally unrealistic candidates, we give coaches feedback as soon as possible," Jewett says.

Jewett also says that although the financial aid is often increased for athletes after admission, the committee provides additional funds solely on the basis of need. "Historically, many of our most outstanding athletes have had no aid at all. But there is no change of aid for athletic reasons, only because of a reevaluation of need."

Christopher Morris, now in the athletic department, preceded Stoeckel as admissions-athletics liaison. "Harvard was really the last school in the Ivies to send coaches on the road. We're still in a catch-up situation--we're not identifying a large number of viable candidates or getting to them early enough," Morris says.

The Ivy League is becoming tougher because of specialization. You don't find too many athletes involved in more than one sport," he says. Morris has compiled data to try to monitor Harvard's direction in recruiting. "We're still learning."

"Winners breed winners," Morris says, but it is still questionable whether Harvard can consistently produce winners with its present policy of restrictive recruiting.

Part two will examine the student athlete's perspective.