Flirting With Greatness

The Harvard Crimson junior athlete of the year, basketball's Ralph James, will be remembered for his performances on a "Lost Weekend" in February in Princeton, N.J. and Philadelphia.

The 6-ft., 4-in. forward, who led the Ivy League in scoring and led his team in scoring for the third consecutive season with 20.3 points per game, has always been a prolific scorer. But on the most important weekend of basketball for the Crimson, James quieted even the hardiest of disbelievers. With all his teammates struggling against league-leading Princeton, James took over in the second half, scoring 20 points in a remarkable eight-minute span and almost single-handedly beating the Tigers.

The next night, against Penn, James did not allow any room for error, pumping in a school record 41 points on 14-for-21 shooting from the field in a 105-97 victory.

"There's no doubt about it. He's the best player in the league," said forward Ron Mitchell, who will share captain's duties with James next season. "No one can stop him. In fact, there are some people around the league who say no two players can stop him."

But it was the addition of confident defense and leadership that distinguished this season from the past two for Harvard's big scorer. Last year against Princeton, James looked lost in Coach Peter Roby's pressure defensive scheme. This season, James was the one who was in the right position--he was the one pointing out to the younger players where they should have been.

James' junior year also marked his transition from being just the team's leading scorer to being also the squad's leader. Overshadowed at Archbishop Molloy High School by teammate Kenny Anderson, who starred in the NCAA tournament with Georgia Tech this year, James chose Harvard over Stanford and Duke for the opportunity to become a team's star immediately as a freshman. And a star he has been since day one, but getting the soft-spoken North House resident to discuss his personal accomplishments is a daunting task.

He is enthusiastic about supporting his teammates and many cite his personal attributes as a major factor in their decision to come to Harvard.

"He's helped me out a lot," freshman Tarik Campbell said. "He looked for me as soon as he got here last fall."

Next year, his teammates will be looking back to him--this time to capture that elusive first Ivy League title.