"No coach," says Jack Barnaby, "has a right to cry about his graduation losses. A man comes and a coach knows he'll have him for just three years. If he doesn't make plans to replace him, it's his own fault."
If there is any squash coach in the nation who has a right to cry, it is Barnaby Last year he had the top on-two punch in intercollegiate squash: Charlie Ufford, twice national individual intercollegiate champion, and Dave Watts, who, in three years was beaten only by Williams' Soapy Symington, led his team to the 1953 intercollegiate team championship, but both were lost through graduation.
Supposedly, now he has nothing left. Army, Navy, and Princeton have been rated the teams to beat. But Barnaby doesn't see it that way. He may not have his giants, but no one else has giants this year. Symington has left Williams, Potter has left Navy, Hutchinson has left Army, and Foster has left Dartmouth, leaving only Princeton's Roger Campbell of last year's racquet aristocracy.
It will be a team season this year, and Barnaby thinks he has as much potential strength as any other coach. "We don't have any great to crow about, but we may surprise. We could beat any major opponent."
Brownell in Top Spot
He is at once enthusiastic and objective about his individual players. Brownell, he admits, at number one, can't hope to fill Ufford's spacious shoes, yet in this lean year for giants he will do very well. He pulled the biggest upset of last season by knocking off Navy's Potter in the individual championships. He is lanky, an excellent retriever, and puts on plenty of hard, low pressure. Outs and drives win his matches. He won't dazzle an opponent, he'll wear him out.
Hadden Tomes, at number two, "goes bang right away, while Brownell burns with a slow fuse." Definitely an offensive player, he'll rush an opponent off his feet. He usually wins right away, or not at all.
The best all around game on the team belongs to Bill Wister. Barnaby calls him "a stylist." Last year he moved from twelfth position to fifth without losing a challenge match, and he may depose Brownell or Tomes because "he hasn't reached his peak yet."
Captain Mike Ward, fourth, and Guy Paschal, sixth, both lack a very important quality. In Barnaby's own image, "They haven't jelled yet." Ward has tremendous endurance and speed. Paschal has a good reach and knows the right shot for the right moment. But neither will consistently play his best match. "I like to see a man come out of the court limp," says Barnaby. Ward comes out sometimes looking like he could play two more matches.
Tennis Star Rauh at Five
Tennis star John Raugh is fifth man. He's a "shot artist" with lots of speed. His rise on the team has been exceptional since he never played before entering Harvard.
The rest of the squad are newcomers to the varsity. The six above all earned letters last year. Ed Rose, seventh, started out on the team last year, but fell down to the C team. Paul Garrigue is, in Barnaby's eyes, the most improved player on the squad. Last year he was the doormat to the team. Whoever beat him could usually make the team. He was brilliant defensively, but weak on his attack. This year he has picked up a variety of serves and mixes up his volleys with new corner shots. A victory in the eighth position means as much to a team as a first-man victory, and Barnaby sees Garrigue as a particularly strong point-getter in the eighth spot.
Allen Thomas is now ninth, Bob Brown tenth, Landon Thomas eleventh, and Batts Wheeler twelfth. These positions are quite fluid and will probably shift. Thomas is the highest ranking sophomore, Stone, a senior, Wheeler and Brown, juniors. There are fifteen others on the squad, but these look like twelve who will see most of the varsity action. In a team year, the Crimson has an excellent team to defend its national championship.
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