Athlete of the Week: Dan Clemente '01

His friends and fans call him 'D.C.' His opponents call him unstoppable. Now you can call Harvard men's basketball captain Daniel K. Clemente the Harvard Crimson Athlete of the Week.

Clemente is the leading scorer on the Ivy League's top-scoring team and the top rebounder on the second-best rebounding squad. More importantly, he is the undisputed leader of the Crimson, a team that almost made history this weekend when it crushed the defending conference champions Penn Quakers and lost by only two points to the Princeton Tigers.

The numbers on the weekend are impressive enough. Clemente scored 29 points against Penn and then poured in another 19 on Princeton. In the blowout win Friday, Clemente scored 18 of the team's final 25 points in the first half to give Harvard control of the game, and help the young team believe it could succeed where many others had failed.

His 48 points moved Clemente into eighth-place on Harvard's all-time scoring list, bringing his total to 1,375. He also hit his 200th three-pointer, his signature shot, over the weekend.

The individual statistics and streaks are not what drives Clemente, who constantly defers questions about his own play to the larger scope of the Crimson team in general. After the Penn game, however, Clemente was in fine form fielding queries about his herculean effort.

"The guys were giving me the ball where I wanted it," Clemente said.

Clemente's passion and knowledge of the game have contributed, along with his talent, to sustained success. In a pre-season interview, Clemente said the team would need him to pull down seven to eight rebounds a game in order to have a shot at winning. So far this season, he's averaging 7.5 rebounds per game.

His constant determination is also one of the reasons Clemente's opponents focus less on worrying about his points and more on his other teammates. They know he will get his points.

Still, Clemente almost managed to pull of a coup of sorts against Princeton. Down one point with ten seconds left, and four Tigers surrounding him, Clemente pumped and fought his way up in the air to take a jump-shot, which of course he made.

Clemente's effort so far this season, and especially this weekend, is the main reason the Ivy League named him Player of the Week and why his name is on the short list for Ivy Player of the Year.

Despite not being one enthralled with individual awards, Clemente will have to accept the Crimson's apology as we name him the Athlete of the Week.