Sullivan Welcomes Newfound Depth

The Massachusetts primary is only a week away, but its not too late to announce it: Carter of President!

No, I'm not flashing back to 1976. I'm talking about our own junior forward Eric Carter who won my vote this weekend with his "Rim-maiming, lion-taming, Casey-defaming, clinch-the-gaming" slam, the final two of his career-high 17 points in the Crimson's 70-67 victory over the Lions of Columbia.

Carter also produced a huge blocked shot during the 15-2 run which put away Cornell the night before.

But this weekend didn't belong solely to Carter, there were plenty of great performances to go around.

This two-games series was also a coming-out party for freshman guard Dan Morris, who was forced into action when injuries felled freshman guards James White and Jared Leake.

Known as "D-Nice" to his teammates, a better nickname for Morris might be "Klepto."

Morris showed no visible remorse for his clutch thefts that broke open both victories this weekend. There should be little dispute over Morris being Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Only a few weeks ago, the Crimson was facing the possibility of 365 days without a victory. Harvard now has a five-game home winning streak at Briggs Cage.

I wish there was an Ivy League Tournament so these guys could get another shot at Princeton.

The streak is in no small part due to the great play of seniors Ron Mitchell and Mike Minor who made their final home appearances this weekend.

Captain Mitchell, was his usual great self, producing 30 points and 19 rebounds. My favorite Mitchell play was his "Briggs so-long, point-to-Mom" rebound slam off a Peter Condakes miss.

Mitchell is just 49 points off the pace of third all-time leading scorer Ralph James '91, with two games remaining. Minor anchored the low post defense pulling down nine rebounds and controlling the paint.

Mitchell, Minor and injured guard Dave LaPointe will be missed, but the future's so bright I have to wear shades.

Maybe too bright.

Team depth is a lot like fire, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Going into the final weekend the Crimson has four solid underclass forwards (Carter, Condakes, junior Arturo Llopis and Rullman) vying for playing time.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Coach Frank Sullivan, he can currently count his guards on one finger: Morris.

The recent emergence of Carter and Morris highlights the perceptible problem ahead next year.

The aforementioned five will be joined by forwards Fred Scott, Jabbar Abdi and Annikar Chhabra, as well as guards Tarik Campbell, Jared Leake, James White and Matt McClain.

I'm not even considering incoming freshmen. That's at least twelve returning lettermen who have to share 200 minutes and only one ball. If this was a pro team, I would trade some of these guys for picks.

It will be Sullivan's job to gel this squad and to keep his talent happy.

If Sullivan proves up to the challenge, we may be banner shopping for Briggs Cage this time next year.