M. Cagers' Peter Condakes: A Classic Study In Versatility

Junior Peter Condakes is the Harvard men's basketball team's Mr. Versatility.

Want a three? Condakes will take it with a man in his face.

Want an easy two? Condakes can hammer the ball home as well as anyone in the Ivy League.

Want a rebound? Condakes had a career-high nine against Pennsylvania, and followed up with 10 against Hartford.

Troubled by the full-court press? Condakes is the frontcourt's best ballhandler.

And on a team that starts four forwards, skills like that are always in demand.

The Crimson has rebounded from an 0-11 start, reeling off three consecutive victories.

A key Factor

One of the key factors in this startling turnaround has been Condakes.

Condakes has been brilliant in the last six contests. His 25 points in the Crimson's 82-69 defeat of Yale were a career high.

Over those six games, Condakes has averaged 15.3 points per game, along with 3.1 rebounds. For the season, he averages 10.3 points and 4.1 boards.

Against Hartford, Brown and Yale Condakes pumped in 55 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

"I think I set pretty high goals for myself." Condakes said. "This weekend I was very happy with the way I played and the team played."

This weekend was indeed something special. Victories over brown and Yale pulled Harvard into a tie for third in the Ivy League, at 3-3.

"Very Optimistic'

"I'm very optimistic [about the rest of the season]," Condakes said. "As far as any other team in the league, I think we have more momentum than anybody."

Condakes has seen his role with the Crimson change slightly from last season to the present.

Last year he took 113 three-point shots, and connected on 41 of them (36 percent).

So far this season, Condakes has attempted only 26 shots from behind the three-point line and has hit just seven, a consequence of adapting to his new role as a low-post scorer.

Condakes' inside play has increased his overall shooting percentage from 36 to 42 percent from the floor. His 75 percent from the free-throw line leads the team.

"Last year because of the system of [former Harvard] Coach Roby, I was the starting center, yet I took over 100 three-point shots, just because of the fast break, run-and-gun offense we had," Condakes said. "As far as Coach Sullivan, we have a big size advantage in the Ivy League. We're just banging it down low and taking advantage of that."

For two straight seasons, Condakes has started the year on the bench, only to assume a starting role later on. He drew 15 starting assignments last season, and has gotten the call in 12 consecutive games this campaign.

"I've been used to starting," Condakes said. "I started pretty much all of last year. It's just a matter of getting back into the swing of things, doing it all over again."

Condakes attended Weston High School and Phillips Academy in Andover, where he averaged 32 points and 14 rebounds. In his freshman year at Harvard, Condakes appeared in 20 games, averaging 3.1 points per night.

A Guiness Kind of Guy

Last year, Condakes set two team records: the most three-pointers made in one game (six, against New Hampshire and Brown) and the best three-point percentage in one game (80 percent, against Princeton).

If Peter Condakes and the rest of the Harvard men's basketball team can keep up the level of play they have displayed in the last three games, the rest of the Ivy League better watch out.

Condakes and the Crimson's future is even brighter.

While Mitchell and forward Mike Minor will be sorely missed, Condakes and his classmates Eric Carter, Rullman and Matt McClain (hopefully) may have the ability to push Harvard into the win column a bit more frequently.

High Expectations

"I really have high expectations as far as next year," Condakes said. "Next year, I don't see anyone else in the league with as much experience as we do. Everyone else is losing a lot of people, except for maybe Penn. I think it should be us and Penn. "