Advertisement

Lining Them Up

A new year-around sport has been developed at Harvard, and is being followed by a small but rabid bunch of enthusiasts, and its name is basketball. For the second year in a row, as soon as the spring football practice sessions have ended, End Coach Wes Fesler has rapidly metamorphosed into Cage Coach Fesler, and the moleskins and dirt of the Briggs Cage have been exchanged for the shorts and the hardwood floor of the New Indoor Athletic Building.

Good First Turnout

Monday the first warm-weather session of the year was held, and most of the letter men returning came out bolstered by a few Freshman veterans and by some unknowns seeking the exercise. Headed by Captain Leavitt S. White '37, the first Junior to head a Crimson quintet for over a decade, the candidates went through a light drill, in preparation for the heavier work to come.

Playing basketball in any form at any time is hot work, but basketball a la Fesler in springtime in the stuffy gymnasium is a task to try any man's soul. Despite the intimidating aspects of the sport, 22 brave basketeers turned up to do or die, six of them being lettermen. Only two of the returning lettermen did not appear, Graham Spring, who subbed for Long Bill Gray at the pivot post all winter, and Ray Lavietes, small, quick utility man, who is now playing on the Adams House nine.

So Many Lettermen!

Advertisement

Besides White, By Meser, Jack Mason, Bill Gray, Tommy Stephenson, and Jim Robinson turned out. With the exception of Robinson, these men all saw considerable action this winter, and were instrumental in the defeat of Yale in the final game.

Fran Meyer, Sophomore from the environs of Cleveland, who was ineligible for Freshman play two years ago, and who was a dropped Freshman this winter, has also reported, and if the scholastic barriers are surmounted, will prove a valuable addition to the squad. He is faster and can pivot quicker than practically anyone on the floor at present, and has a good basket eye. His loss to the 1937 Freshman team was a severe one, but if he is available next winter, it will delight the Fesler heart.

Horses of Sombre Hue

Among Samborski's graduates now caverting on the court, Jack Dampeer, who captained his five is the outstanding man. Other yearlings are Arnold Litman, Tony McGowan, George Lowman, and Art Snell. These distinguished wearers of numerals are not having such an easy time of it despite their shining records, for numerous so-called unknowns are just waiting their turn to prove their own superior abilities. Tommy Geraghty, who has played at Chicago Latin School, and Brent Abel, Sophomore, who has been seen on and off the floor intermittently for two years, are of the latter classification.

Spring basketball will last but three weeks. In that paltry time Fesler will endeavor to iron out the faults in technical execution of the elementals that his charges may show, and will form some idea as to his prospects for next year. The busy-like-bees atmosphere and the delightfully athletic smell of the upper reaches of the Athletic Building bode well for the next winter. The team ought to be a good one. By TIME OUT.

Advertisement