2013–14 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team

2013–14 Harvard Crimson men's basketball
Great Alaska Shootout Champions Ivy League regular season champions
NCAA Tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Ivy League
2013–14 record	27–5 (13–1 Ivy)
Head coach	Tommy Amaker (7th year)
Assistant coach	Brian DeStefano
Assistant coach	Adam Cohen
Assistant coach	Christian Webster
Captain	Kyle Casey
Captain	Brandyn Curry
Home arena	Lavietes Pavilion

2013–14 Ivy League men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
x-Harvard	13	–	1		.929			27	–	5		.844
Yale	9	–	5		.643			19	–	14		.576
Princeton	8	–	6		.571			21	–	9		.700
Columbia	8	–	6		.571			21	–	13		.618
Brown	7	–	7		.500			15	–	14		.517
Dartmouth	5	–	9		.357			12	–	16		.429
Penn	5	–	9		.357			8	–	20		.286
Cornell	1	–	13		.071			2	–	26		.071
Rankings from AP Poll x-Ivy League champion

The 2013–14 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team represented Harvard University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crimson, led by seventh year head coach Tommy Amaker, played their home games at Lavietes Pavilion and were members of the Ivy League. They finished the season 27–5, 13–1 in Ivy League play to win the Ivy League championship and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, as a 12-seed, the Crimson upset 5-seed Cincinnati in the second round before losing in the third round to 4-seed Michigan State.

Preseason

On September 27, USA Today's Scott Gleeson named Harvard the 31st best team in the country and projected the team to earn a number 8 seed in the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.^[1] When the preseason Coaches' Poll was released on October 17, three-time Ivy League defending champion Harvard received 28 points (the 32nd highest point total).^[2] When the preseason Associated Press poll was released, Harvard had 46 points (the 31st highest total).^[3] Sports Illustrated listed Harvard 20th in its College Basketball edition.^[4] Its support was largely based upon the return of 2013 Ivy Rookie of the Year Siyani Chambers and the 2013 Ivy League scoring champion Wesley Saunders as well as the return of Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry, who had redshirtted the previous season due to the 2012 Harvard cheating scandal.^[5] Casey and Curry had been 2011–12 All-Ivy League first and second team selections, respectively.^[6]

Harvard was the unanimous selection of the 17-member Ivy League media poll selection committee when it was released on October 23, 2013.^[7][8] Harvard was also the preseason selection of Athlon Sports, Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, Lindy's Sports and NBCSports.com, but Sporting News selected them second to Princeton.^[9] Saunders was selected as the preseason Ivy League player of the year according to Athlon Sports, Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, Lindy's Sports, NBCSports.com and Sporting News and was a CollegeInsider.Com Lou Henson Preseason Mid-Major All-America Team selection.^[9] Both Curry and Chambers were preseason Bob Cousy Award watchlist selections.^[9] The team selected Casey and Curry to be its co-captains.^[10]

Recruits

Class of 2013

Zena Edosomwan was a 4-star recruit and among the top 100 players in the class of 2012 according to multiple recruiting services. Harvard's recruitment of him has become controversial because he had substandard academic qualifications for Harvard. He had to take the SAT's multiple times and reclassify into the class of 2013 while pursuing a post-graduate year at Northfield Mount Hermon.^[11][12] Edosomwan declined basketball scholarships from UCLA, USC, California, Texas, Wake Forest, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Gonzaga, Notre Dame, San Francisco, Texas, Vanderbilt, and Washington to attend Harvard.^[12] He is the first player rated among the top 100 by Scout.com to ever commit to Harvard.^[13]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Zena Edosomwan C/PF	North Hollywood, CA	Northfield Mount Hermon School	6 ft 8.5 in (2.04 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Nov 3, 2012
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Hunter Myers SF/PF	Minden, NV	Douglas High School (NV)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	217.5 lb (98.7 kg)	Oct 10, 2012
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Matt Fraschilla PG	Dallas, TX	Highland Park High School	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	N/A	Dec 4, 2012
	Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Harvard 2013 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "2013 Harvard Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "ESPN Recruiting Nation Basketball". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013.

Class of 2014

On September 29, 2013 4-star recruit Chris Egi and 3-star recruit Andre Chatfield both made verbal commitments to Harvard. Egi is the second top 100 recruit in two years for Harvard.^[14]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Chris Egi C/PF	Montverde, FL	Montverde Academy (FL)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sep 29, 2013
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Andre Chatfield SG	Norcross, GA	Norcross High School (GA)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sep 29, 2013
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Harvard 2014 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "2014 Harvard Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "ESPN Recruiting Nation Basketball". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013.

Roster

2013–14 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Home town G 0 Rivard, LaurentLaurent Rivard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec G 1 Chambers, SiyaniSiyani Chambers 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Golden Valley, Minnesota G 2 Nesbitt, AlexAlex Nesbitt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Chicago, Illinois G 3 Brown, MattMatt Brown 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Barrington, Rhode Island F 4 Edosomwan, ZenaZena Edosomwan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Los Angeles, California F 5 Myers, HunterHunter Myers 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Minden, Nevada G 10 Curry, BrandynBrandyn Curry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Huntersville, North Carolina G 11 Fraschilla, MattMatt Fraschilla 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Dallas, Texas F 14 Moundou-Missi, SteveSteve Moundou-Missi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Yaoundé, Cameroon G/F 20 Steeves, PatrickPatrick Steeves 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Montreal, Quebec G 21 Giger, DeeDee Giger 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Arden, North Carolina G/F 23 Saunders, WesleyWesley Saunders 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Los Angeles, California F 24 Travis, JonahJonah Travis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Minneapolis, Minnesota C 25 Smith, KenyattaKenyatta Smith 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Sun Valley, California F 30 Casey, KyleKyle Casey 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Medway, Massachusetts F 32 Anastasi, CharlieCharlie Anastasi 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania F 33 Cummins, EvanEvan Cummins 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Westborough, Massachusetts F 34 Hamel, TomTom Hamel 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Methuen, Massachusetts G/F 35 Okolie, AgunwaAgunwa Okolie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Ajax, Ontario F/C 44 Hall, MichaelMichael Hall 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Atlanta, Georgia	Head coach Tommy Amaker (Duke) Assistant coach(es) Brian DeStefano (Duke) Adam Cohen (Arizona) Christian Webster (Harvard) Head Manager Basil Williams (Class of 2014) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 28, 2013

Schedule

Harvard opened its season on November 10 with a victory over in-state Greater Boston rival Holy Cross at the TD Garden.^[15] They then defeated Cambridge rival MIT on November 12 in the home opener at Lavietes Pavilion.^[16] After scoring 14 points and adding 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks while playing 37 minutes in the first game of the season,^[17] Curry missed the next three games due to a foot injury.^[18] After starting the season 4–0, the team lost its first game on the road against Pac-12 Conference Colorado on November 24.^[19] Curry re-aggravated his foot against Colorado and was described as out indefinitely by Amaker.^[20] In the 2013 Great Alaska Shootout, Harvard defeated Denver, Green Bay and TCU to win the November 27–30 tournament.^[21][22][23]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular season
October 11, 2013* 5:30 pm, NESN		vs. Holy Cross Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Tip-Off	W 82–72	1–0	TD Garden (6,037) Boston, MA
December 11, 2013* 7:00 pm		MIT	W 79–37	2–0	Lavietes Pavilion (1,414) Cambridge, MA
November 15, 2013* 7:00 pm		Howard	W 76–44	3–0	Lavietes Pavilion (1,815) Cambridge, MA
November 20, 2013* 7:00 pm		Bryant	W 86–68	4–0	Lavietes Pavilion (1,760) Cambridge, MA
November 24, 2013* 4:30 pm, ESPNU		at Colorado	L 62–70	4–1	Coors Events Center (9,770) Boulder, CO
November 28, 2013* 12:00 am, CBSSN		vs. Denver Great Alaska Shootout first round	W 68–60	5–1	Sullivan Arena (3,923) Anchorage, AK
November 29, 2013* 12:00 am, CBSSN		vs. Green Bay Great Alaska Shootout semifinals	W 76–64	6–1	Sullivan Arena (4,064) Anchorage, AK
November 30, 2013* 12:30 am, CBSSN		vs. TCU Great Alaska Shootout championship	W 71–50	7–1	Sullivan Arena (4,253) Anchorage, AK
April 12, 2013* 7:00 pm		at Northeastern	W 72–64	8–1	Matthews Arena (1,901) Boston, MA
July 12, 2013* 1:00 pm		at Boston University	W 79–68	9–1	Case Gym (1,233) Boston, MA
December 21, 2013* 4:00 pm		Vermont	W 74–68	10–1	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
December 28, 2013* 4:00 pm, SNY		at Fordham	W 94–86	11–1	Rose Hill Gymnasium (3,200) Bronx, NY
January 1, 2014* 4:00 pm		Boston College	W 73–58	12–1	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
April 1, 2014* 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at Rice	W 69–54	13–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,762) Houston, TX
August 1, 2014* 7:00 pm, ESPNU		at Connecticut	L 56–61	13–2	Gampel Pavilion (9,218) Storrs, CT
November 1, 2014 2:00 pm		Dartmouth	W 61–45	14–2 (1–0)	Lavietes Pavilion (1,766) Cambridge, MA
January 21, 2014* 7:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic	L 53–68	14–3	FAU Arena (2,315) Boca Raton, FL
January 26, 2014 4:00 pm, NBCSN		at Dartmouth	W 80–50	15–3 (2–0)	Leede Arena (1,544) Hanover, NH
January 31, 2014 7:00 pm		Princeton	W 82–76	16–3 (3–0)	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
January 2, 2014 9:00 pm, NBCSN		Penn	W 80–50	17–3 (4–0)	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
July 2, 2014 7:00 pm		Brown	W 52–45	18–3 (5–0)	Lavietes Pavilion (2,028) Cambridge, MA
August 2, 2014 7:00 pm		Yale	L 67–74	18–4 (5–1)	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
February 14, 2014 7:00 pm		at Columbia	W 88–84 ^2OT	19–4 (6–1)	Levien Gymnasium (2,474) New York City, NY
February 15, 2014 7:00 pm		at Cornell	W 67–44	20–4 (7–1)	Newman Arena (1,342) Ithaca, NY
February 21, 2014 7:00 pm		at Penn	W 83–63	21–4 (8–1)	Palestra (4,810) Philadelphia, PA
February 22, 2014 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at Princeton	W 59–47	22–4 (9–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium (4,306) Princeton, NJ
February 28, 2014 7:00 pm		Cornell	W 72–47	23–4 (10–1)	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
January 3, 2014 7:00 pm		Columbia	W 80–47	24–4 (11–1)	Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA
July 3, 2014 7:30 pm, NBCSN		at Yale	W 70–58	25–4 (12–1)	Payne Whitney Gymnasium (2,532) New Haven, CT
August 3, 2014 7:00 pm		at Brown	W 98–93 ^OT	26–4 (13–1)	Pizzitola Sports Center (2,226) Providence, RI
NCAA Tournament
March 20, 2014 2:10 pm, TNT	No. (12 E)	vs. No. 15 (5 E) Cincinnati Second round	W 61–57	27–4	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (10,862) Spokane, WA
March 22, 2014 8:40 pm, TNT	No. (12 E)	vs. No. 11 (4 E) Michigan State Third round	L 73–80	27–5	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,623) Spokane, WA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll, (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region E=East. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Honors

On March 11 Saunders was named to the District I (ME, VT, NH, RI, MA, CT) team by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).^[24] Saunders was listed on The National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I All‐District 13 first team on March 12.^[25]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP Poll	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV				RV	RV	RV	N/A
Coaches Poll	RV	RV	RV	RV						RV	RV	RV		RV				RV	RV	RV	RV

References

1. Gleeson, Scott (September 27, 2013). "College basketball countdown: No. 31 Harvard". USA Today. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
2. Favat, Brian (October 17, 2013). "USA Today Preseason Coaches' Poll Reveals Tough Slate For Boston College Basketball". SB Nation. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
3. "2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - AP Top 25 Preseason (Nov. 4)". ESPN. November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
4. "Sports Illustrated releases college basketball preview edition". Sports Illustrated. November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
5. Gleeson, Scott (October 18, 2013). "8 college basketball teams on the cusp of the top 25". USA Today. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
6. "Men's Basketball All-Ivy – 2011–12". IvyLeagueSports.com. March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
7. Franklin, Paul (October 24, 2013). "Harvard men's basketball heavily favored in Ivy, Princeton picked fourth". NJ.com. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
8. "Harvard Holds Top Spot as Preseason Pick in Men's Basketball". IvyLeagueSports.com. October 23, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
9. "Men's Basketball Collects Numerous Preseason Honors". IvyLeagueSports.com. October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
10. Benbow, Julian (September 27, 2013). "Brandyn Curry goes back to work for Harvard basketball". Boston Globe. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
11. O'Brien, Luke (March 13, 2012). "Is Harvard Now Behaving Like Any Other College Basketball Juggernaut?". Deadspin. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
12. Rogers, Max (March 13, 2012). "NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Harvard Nets Top-100 Recruit". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
13. Sherman, Scott A. and Dennis J. Zheng (March 11, 2012). "Elite Men's Basketball Prospect Edosomwan Picks Harvard". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
14. Mooney, Andrew R. and Juliet Spies-Gans (October 4, 2013). "Harvard Lands Two Big-Name Basketball Recruits". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
15. "Harvard puts away Holy Cross 82-72". ESPN. November 10, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
16. "Harvard trounces MIT 79-37 in home opener". ESPN. November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
17. "Holy Cross 72 (0-1, 0-1 away); Harvard 82 (1-0, 1-0 home)". ESPN. November 10, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
18. Layman, Tom (November 21, 2013). "Moundou-Missi, Crimson stretch streak to four". Boston Herald. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
19. "Colorado rallies in 2nd half to beat Harvard 70-62". ESPN. November 24, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
20. Mooney, Andrew R. (November 29, 2013). "Men's Basketball Tops Denver, 68-60, To Advance to Semifinals of Great Alaska Shootout". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
21. "Harvard beats Denver 68-60". ESPN. November 28, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
22. "Harvard uses late surge to beat Green Bay 76-64". ESPN. November 29, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
23. "Harvard's fast start leaves TCU in dust, 71-50". ESPN. December 1, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
24. "USBWA Names 2013-14 Men's All-District Teams". United States Basketball Writers Association. March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
25. "National Association of Basketball Coaches Announces 2013-14 Division I All-District Teams" (PDF). National Association of Basketball Coaches. March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.