Men's Basketball Collects Preseason Honors

A year after the program recorded its first-ever NCAA tournament win, Harvard men’s basketball has been getting increasing hype leading up to its Nov. 11 season opener against Holy Cross. The team, which returns four starters from a year ago, was ranked just outside the top 25 in the USAToday preseason poll, coming in at No. 32. The Crimson also fell barely beyond the top 25 of ESPN’s Future Power Rankings, which measure the team’s potential over the next three years, at No. 26.

NBCSports.com ranked Harvard as the second-best mid-major in the country, behind only Wichita State, which was five minutes last year from the tournament final. Junior swingman Wesley Saunders was named to the site’s preseason mid-major All-American second team, with sophomore point guard Siyani Chambers earning honorable mention honors.

In addition to taking home the preseason Player of the Year hardware from NBCSports, Sporting News, and Lindy’s Sports Annuals—which ranked Harvard 26th in the country—Saunders was also named to the preseason Lou Henson All-America team honoring the top mid-major players in college basketball.

Returning senior forward Kyle Casey was named to the Lindy’s Sports Annuals and College Sports Madness preseason All-Ivy second teams, but was left off both first team lists for Cornell forward Shonn Miller, who averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his junior season, when he made the All-Ivy first team and led the Big Red in scoring. In Casey’s junior season, when Miller was just a freshman, the Medway, Mass. native averaged 11.4 points and 5.5 rebounds a game while shooting 51 percent from the field.

Chambers, who last year was the first Ivy League freshman in conference history to ever be named to the All-Ivy first team, was named a top-ten national point guard by Lindy’s Sports Annuals. Chambers was also honored as the best playmaker and best NBA prospect in the conference. The returning Ivy League Rookie of the Year was nominated in 2012 for the Bob Cousy award for the best point guard in the nation.