Reardon's Legacy

Jack Reardon, who announced his resignation Monday after a 12-year tenure as Harvard's Athletic Director, will be leaving quite a legacy for Harvard sports.

What legacy? Take a good look at the Harvard men's basketball program.

There will be no more Joe Beaulieus at Harvard.

Beaulieu was a highly-touted All-America basketball player from Don Bosco Technical High School who chose to attend Harvard University in 1976. He was going to get a Harvard education and Harvard was going to become a basketball power.

After a stagnant year on the freshman team--then freshman were not eligible to participate in varsity programs in the Ivy League--Beaulieu's and Harvard's dream ended. Beaulieu transferred to Boston College three weeks before Reardon was named athletic director.

Why did Harvard lose one of the best basketball prospects ever to enroll in the University? There were several reasons, and too many centered around the lack of commitment to athletics at Harvard.

The team played on the fourth floor of the Indoor Athletic Building (now the Malkin Athletic Center), which could not even pass for a poor high school gym. Because there were so few basketball courts at Harvard, Beaulieu wasn't even able to practice every day.

The team's attitude angered Beaulieu--he claimed that only one player on both the varsity and freshman teams was serious about basketball.

The team's strategy angered Beaulieu even more--Harvard had a deliberate game plan, which focused on setting up the open shot and placed no emphasis on the transition game. This didn't, and couldn't, appeal to talented athletes accustomed to displaying their impressive skills. Beaulieu claimed that most of the talented players at Harvard didn't play for the varsity team, but instead preferred to play the more informal style of intramurals.

"Joe Beaulieu seems to resurrect the question of whether a competitive basketball program, nationally or locally, can exist at Harvard," David Dalquist wrote in The Crimson in September, 1977.

That was the state of Harvard basketball when Reardon took over as athletic director.

Today, Harvard has one of the finest facilities in the Ivy League--Briggs Athletic Center, which opened in 1983.

Today, Harvard has basketball players who are serious about the sport. Sophomore Ralph James could have played basketball at Stanford and freshman Ron Mitchell could have played at Princeton. Co-Captains Scott Gilly and Fred Schernecker have implemented an off-season training regimen designed to keep the Crimson in game shape until November.

Harvard's game plan is the most exciting in the Ivy League. Coach Peter Roby has implemented a commitment to uptempo, run n gun, pressure basketball.

This renewed commitment to basketball has not brought Harvard its first Ivy League championship, but it has allowed Roby the tools to consistently attract prized student-athletes. James and Dana and Ian Smith matriculated at Harvard last year, Mitchell this year and five top recruits-- including First Team All-Massachusetts Matt McClain--will enroll in Harvard next fall.

And Reardon has had a lot to do with the resurgence of Harvard basketball. He oversaw the building of Briggs Cage and he made the gutsy decision to hire a 27-year old Black coach to head a Division I basketball program. He created the atmosphere for a serious commitment to basketball without sacrificing academic standards.

Monday Reardon was named "Man of the Year" by the Friends of Harvard basketball.

Jack Reardon's efforts in the last 12 years have gone a long way to ensure that Joe Beaulieu remains a remnant in the history of Harvard athletics.