There have been two schools of thought about varsity coaches and their origins. The advocates of one maintain that a name coach is preferable to an unknown, primarily because he attracts good players. Members of the other believe that a coach who has risen through the farm system is better qualified.

Floyd Wilson, the new varsity basketball coach, is not nationally known, but his five year term as freshman coach has given him an insight into Crimson basketball and into the players he will be coaching. Despite his lack of experience, Wilson has many attributes. His numerous coaching and personal qualities are well balanced; none are out of proportion.

The factor boosting Wilson in the coaching field is his interest in the players and in their problems. Quiet and soft-spoken, he nonetheless gets to know his charges well and can often tell what personal problems may be harming the quality of an individual's play. One varsity player summed it up when he said, "Floyd is aware of many more things than coaches usually are."

A Strict Coach

But although Wilson is a friend to his players, he is still the boss on the basketball court. A confirmed believer in conditioning, he is stricter than most coaches in running hard, workmanlike practices.

Wilson knows basketball and he knows how to teach it. He has the ability to spot at a glance the minor faults causing a player to miss his set shots or layups. Fundamentals play an important part in Wilson's style of play, but he believes in stressing them in scrimmages, not in numerous drills, which are dull, isolated parts of the game.

In contrast to the sideline antics of some coaches, Wilson sets an example for his players by his gentlemanly conduct toward referees. And to his own players he is usually straight forward and fair about their rank on the team.

"You are seldom in doubt as to where you stand and why," one player remarked.

The most imposing problem for Wilson this winter will be the difficulty of teaching a basically new offense to the varsity veterans. However, it is a Wilson coaching principle to mold the type of play to the material at hand, not to mold the team to any preconceived style.

Wilson's coaching history outside Harvard is brief. His previous experience was as an assistant coach at Springfield University while he was getting a master's degree there in 1948. The war interrupted his undergraduate college career at Springfield, sending him to Dartmouth for a year in the V-12 and into the service for two more. He finished a three-year basketball career as co-captain of the Springfield varsity team in 1947.

'55 Freshman Team Best

Last year's freshman team, Wilson's fifth, went through 16 games undefeated to become the first undefeated freshman basketball team in the history of the College. Wilson, however, considers the '55 freshman team his best. That season the Yardlings suffered only one defeat, to Brown, early in the year.

If the I.A.B. houses winning basketball teams in the next few years, it is because the varsity has become a unit. Floyd Wilson can take most of the credit.