Men’s Basketball Tips Off Season with Crimson Madness

It’s that time of the year again. Soon, the lights will shine bright in Lavietes Pavilion and Harvard men’s basketball will take the court for the first plays of the 2024-25 season.

Last year, Harvard battled late into the Ivy League season for a spot in the Ivy Madness tournament, but ultimately ran out of steam after a heartbreaking overtime loss in a must-win game against Brown initiated a three game losing slide to end the season. Ultimately finishing fifth in the conference at 5-9, the Crimson posted a 14-13 overall record, finishing the season with a .500 or better win percentage for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons.

Harvard was led offensively by freshman guard Malik Mack, who became a breakout star averaging 17.2 points, 4.8 assists, and four rebounds per game enroute to earning unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. Mack routinely proved himself as one of the top first-year students in the country, with his 17.2 points per game proving good enough for third amongst freshmen nationwide.

This year, Harvard will have to look to some different faces to fill the score sheet. Mack will play his sophomore season with the Georgetown Hoyas after transferring this summer in the face of swirling questions about the Ivy League’s refusal to allow athletes in the league to accept NIL deals.

The Crimson also lost another key piece of its offense this offseason with forward Chisom Okpara departing Cambridge for Stanford after a phenomenal sophomore season. Okpara ranked sixth in the Ivy League with 16.5 points per game and played in 26 of 27 games for the Crimson. Harvard will also be without graduated senior forward Justice Ajogbor, who averaged 2.9 blocks per game and earned the team’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.

To bolster the squad, Harvard is welcoming a talented class of seven freshmen, comprising nearly half of the team’s roster. Amongst those young talents is guard Robert Hinton who joins the Crimson from Harvard-Westlake School. Hinton has played with the Chinese Taipei National Team for the past two years.

When asked about how he will integrate so many new faces, Head Coach Tommy Amaker emphasized the importance of the team’s culture.

“We always talk about working hard and fitting in,” Amaker explained. “This young class has done exactly that. I have no qualms about their work ethic and their willingness to fit into our program and our culture. Once you have those things in order, then your abilities and your talents will have a chance to blossom and to show up, whatever those talents may be,” Amaker added.

In addition to blossoming freshmen talent, Harvard’s core is strengthened by the return of co-captain guard Evan Nelson, who missed the entirety of last season after suffering an ACL injury while on Harvard’s preseason tour.

“Evan is a tremendous player,” Amaker said. “He's been out for a while, so sometimes you can tend to forget his production, his talents, but we haven't as a program, and certainly not as a coaching staff, so this is a shot in the arm for us to have him return.”

In his sophomore season, Nelson played in all 28 games for the Crimson, starting 26 while averaging 8.4 points and 3.4 assists, good enough for third in the Ivy League in assists per game, while shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range.

“It's been hard to get through, more so mentally than physically,” said Nelson of his recovery process. “It feels great to be back on the court, feeling that soreness again of just running, being out there with the guys playing the game I love and being able to lead seven freshmen and establish the culture that we want, playing together, working hard, and then just having fun at the end of the day. We think that winning and everything will take care of itself, as long as we trust and play together.”

Nelson will co-captain the team with junior guard Chandler Piggé, who stepped into a key role last season that saw his playing time per game jump by 20 minutes. Piggé spoke about how he sought to help the team last year by filling in whatever role was necessary.

“I think the trigger for me was definitely bringing a different kind of energy to the court,” Piggé said. “The players that we lost in Malik and Chisom took care of a lot of the offensive standpoint, so for me, I wanted to try and ease the pressure for them on the defensive side. If I can be on the glass or defend the best player, the best scorer, that's the energy that I try to bring.”

This offseason Harvard also welcomed a second program alumnus to the coaching staff with the addition of Seth Towns '20. Towns, a former Crimson forward and the 2017-18 Ivy League player of the year, joins the team after stints as a player at Ohio State (2020-22) and Howard (2023-24).

“These guys are the ones that we want our current guys to become one day,” Amaker said. “We talk about being scholars and ballers and Seth Towns embodied that as much as anyone we've ever had here in our program.”

In a league stacked with talent and experienced rosters, Harvard will be put to the test in its quest to secure a top-four finish and return to the Ivy League post season tournament. However, the team is eager about the opportunities that lay ahead.

“We're excited for what our culture and what our team can be this year,” Piggé said. “We have a lot of guys who can space the floor and knock down shots for us, so from that scoring aspect, I think we're going to have a different dynamic of a team, but I'm just excited to continue to do what we're doing and preach that culture that we've already been here, and have those young guys buy in, which they've already been doing.”.

Harvard will start its season Friday, Oct.18 at 5:30 p.m. with Crimson Madness, a joint showcase with the women’s basketball team. Food, games, and contests will be available for fans before the event begins. The Crimson will then officially open its 2024-25 campaign against Marist College on Monday, Nov. 4 at 5:00 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion. The game will also be broadcast on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Alexander K. Bell can be reached at alexander.bell@thecrimson.com.