Ivy Players, Alums React to News of Casey and Curry

The Harvard men’s basketball team was nearly unanimously considered a favorite to repeat as Ivy League champions four days ago. After the withdrawal of co-captain senior Kyle Casey and the expected departure of Brandyn Curry, the team’s championship prospects have significantly diminished.

“From a purely Bball perspective, this season feels wide open now,” Ivy Hoops Online tweeted Tuesday night. “[Princeton] probably out front but anyone could crack top half this year. #fun.”

Basketball writer Andy Katz said that their expected absences create an opportunity for Yale and Columbia in particular.

The parity in Ivy League competition this year may be fun for Ivy fans, but players are not viewing the current situation that way.

“My heart automatically went out to [Casey and Curry] because they’re both good guys and good competitors,” Penn junior Miles Cartwright said. “I know it’s hard for both of them to go through this.”

Even from the perspective of a rival and potential benefactor of Harvard’s loss, Yale senior Austin Morgan believed the situation was unfortunate.

“Obviously we are inextricably linked, Yale and Harvard,” Morgan said. “As a competitor, I would never wish this on anybody.”

“Kyle Casey is a great player,” Morgan added. “He is one of the players that is most respected in our league. It is unfortunate that this had to happen during his senior year.”

Though both players showed sympathy for the situation players are in, they did not condone the alleged actions.

“When you’re super busy and you’re juggling a lot of different things, it’s hard,” Cartwright said. “But it should never come down to that point to take shortcuts.”

From a basketball perspective, Katz said that the potential loss of Curry would have a larger impact on the team.

“If Brandyn is gone, that’s a major, major blow,” Katz said. “One thing they don’t have is experience in the backcourt, specifically at point guard.”

Katz said that the loss will be most evident early in the year as Curry's and Casey’s younger replacements adjust to their larger roles. By the time the team reaches the heart of its conference schedule though, the team should look strong.

“I don’t think it affects them long term,” Katz said. “I think they’ve recruited well enough where I think they’ll be ok.”

Tom Stemberg ’71, the honorary chairman of Friends of Harvard Basketball, believes that the scandal will not affect the alumni support group nor its relationship with the team.

When asked to comment in an email about the impact, Stemberg wrote, “There will not be any. People make mistakes. They pay the price. Life will go on.”

Co-chair of Friends of Harvard Basketball Tom Mannix ’81 thinks it is still too early to understand what, if any, long-term ramifications the scandal will have on the program.

“Until I really know how the decision was made, both in terms of why Kyle [Casey] decided to withdraw and what [Harvard coach Tommy Amaker’s] role in that was, and how it’s going to be disseminated.... It’s impossible to know [the impact].”

Despite the withdrawal of Casey and the expected departure of Curry, Mannix remains optimistic about Harvard’s chances this season.

“I’m not going to belittle how big of a hole [Casey and Curry] will be.... However, there are a lot of really good players left, and Tommy [Amaker] is a leader and an inspiring leader,” Mannix said.

As for Cartwright, the Penn junior was hesitant to remove the Crimson from the conference’s mantle.

“They’re still the defending champs, so right now I guess you would say they’re on top,” Cartwright said. “I know from our standpoint, we’re still going to come out and compete because we feel like we had chance to win even before scandal, so we’re just going to come out and play hard.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacobfeldman@college.harvard.edu.