Men's Basketball Will Return to the Court with "Crimson Madness"

The last time the Harvard men’s basketball team took the floor, it was to play in the third round of March Madness. On Oct. 17, the “madness” will move to Lavietes Pavilion, as the squad begins the 2014-2015 season with its fourth-annual “Crimson Madness” festivities.

The event will be modeled after the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, with a dunk contest and a three-point shootout leading up to the evening’s marquee event, the Crimson and Black inter-squad scrimmage. The entirety of the night will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Last year, 1,785 fans packed the pavilion to see how returning stars like Brandyn Curry ’14 and Kyle Casey ’14 would mesh with the younger group that led the Crimson to its first-ever NCAA Tournament win in 2013.

This year, the question marks leading up to the season are quite different, as the graduation of Curry and Laurent Rivard ’14 means that Harvard has lost two of its best gunners from behind the arc. Many have thought that sophomore Corbin Miller—returning from a two-year mission—can fill in as the team’s go-to sharpshooter. But the night’s three-point competition will allow Crimson fans to witness the full arsenal of Harvard’s talent from deep, with Miller being joined by junior co-captain Siyani Chambers, freshman Andre Chatfield, and—not normally known for his play from behind the three-point line—co-captain Steve Moundou-Missi.

The dunk contest will feature a slate of familiar faces as well, as junior Agunwa Okolie will look to defend his 2013 title against frontcourt-mates sophomore Zena Edosomwan and senior Jonah Travis, along with wingman senior Wesley Saunders and rookie Chris Egi. Last year, Edosomwan got the crowd roaring by putting on a vintage Toronto Raptors Vince Carter jersey and imitating the NBA star’s famous arm-in-hoop slam (seen at 0:25 here). Okolie followed with an equally well-received pair of dunks, the first of which involved tossing the ball against the glass, jumping, catching, and throwing the rock home with two hands, all in one motion. The second slam was a 360 dunk, which he easily completed and which earned him his dunk contest title.

This year, the highflyers will have to impress two people well known in the Boston community—the Boston Celtics’ Jared Sullinger and Harvard Law School professor Randall L. Kennedy—who will judge the players’ dunk efforts.

The last time anyone saw the Harvard players in uniform, they were in Spokane, Wash., battling for a spot in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. In two weeks, they will be back in the familiar crimson and black jerseys, looking to bring some of last spring’s excitement to their very own version of “Madness.”