Men's Basketball: It's Time to Look to the Freshmen

Quick, now: You coach a basketball team that's lost 11 of its last 12 games, has four players hampered by injuries and is in the Ivy League cellar.

What do you do?

Actually, Harvard men's hoops Coach Frank Sullivan, who faces that situation, has only one choice.

He has to cross his fingers, call on the youngsters, and hope.

Sullivan and his team know that tonight's game against Yale (5-12 overall, 2-4 Ivy) and tomorrow's contest against Brown (6-12 overall, 1-5 Ivy) represent a golden opportunity for Harvard--perhaps its last of the season--to break out of its current losing skein.

"I think the guys feel a lot better about finally getting back to Cambridge for some Ivy League games," Sullivan said.

"Our first two trips were the most difficult road games of the season, and it's nice to be home, where we did some good things at this same time last season. Hopefully we can do it again."

Unfortunately, the games this weekend won't be that easy. Yale lost barrowly to both Princeton and Penn last weekend--falling by only one point to the league-leading Quakers--while Brown actually upset Princeton on Saturday on the Tigers' home court.

The Crimson's task is made more difficult by the rash of injuries that has plagued the team.

With starting power forward Eric Carter out for at least another week after surgery on his knee and offguard James White and Captain Tyler Rullman also slowed by different ailments, Harvard will continue to rely heavily on its three freshmen: forwards Darren Rankin and Terry Mann and guard Mike Gilmore.

Aside from the sparkling individual performances of Rullman and junior point guard Tarik Campbell, the team's three rookies are probably the closest thing to a silver lining on this season's dark cloud.

"For guys thrust into a tough situation, they've come through quite nicely," Sullivan said.

Gilmore snagged Rookie of the Week honors in the Ivy League last week with his three strong outings against New Hampshire, Cornell and Columbia, while Rankin and Mann also played solidly in the three contests.

When asked about the increased role recently for the three freshmen, Gilmore said, "Actually, we feel pretty comfortable out there. Since the team's practiced so much together, we're used to each other."

Sullivan also noted the importance of this season for the team's younger players.

"For [our three freshmen] and for our sophomores, too, this year has been a good learning experience," the coach said. "Going through these tough times will help them down the road."

The only question now is, when does the future begin?