This is the first of a two-part series about athletic recruiting at Harvard.

"If President Bok resigned tomorrow, I'd find it hard to believe that the Board of Overseers would just sit back and take applications. They'd want to find the best, most qualified person for the position." Frank McLaughlin, Crimson men's basketball coach

All Harvard coaches dream of the elusive "most qualified person for the position." Some coaches invest their faith in the admissions office, and recruit little; others recruit aggressively. Some sell the University; others, their individual program. But all the coaches feel occasional disappointment at losing topnotch athletes, whether to other schools or to academic shortcomings.

"Recruiting has intensified considerably recently," longtime men's track and cross-country coach William W. McCurdy says. "The basic reason is that people like to win.

Unfortunately, one of the measurements of effective coaching these days is recruiting," he adds.

McCurdy does not recruit heavily. "I'm happy to be friendly, give information, or show people our facilities. But I don't want to get into the business of pressuring, or bending minds for selfish purposes," he says. Despite his low-key attitude toward recruiting, McCurdy consistently lures high-caliber track athletes.

But for many Crimson coaches, the conflict between the desire to win and the need to conform to Harvard admissions standards is often uneasy. Although coaches respect the academic goals of the office of admissions, many express frustration that arises not from stringent standards, but from other constraints. Joe Restic, Crimson football coach, says the biggest problem he faces is the relative unattractivenesss of Harvard's financial aid package.

Because Harvard does not offer scholarships based on athletic ability, but solely on need, many prospective athletes receive more attractive financial packages from other schools and turn Harvard down. "Recruiting in the Ivy League is the toughest job in the world," Restic says. "It's painful to lose people who really want to come here because of the middle-class squeeze or other monetary considerations--we're losing well qualified applicants. With a scholarship, we could compete with anyone," he adds.

Restic pointedly says, however, that there are no easy solutions. "I don't think you're going to solve the problem in the Ivies. As a coach, you have to deal with that reality."

Many coaches cite the example of Stanford as a school having similar admissions standards but also having an allotment of athletic scholarships.

Restic also hints that other Ivy schools have initiated high-power recruiting tactics. "Last year, I went on the road for one week--it was the first time ever. This year I spent two weeks on the road. Some Ivy football coaches spend 13 weeks on the road. All I know is there's a number of Ivy schools we no longer compete with--we're involved with other people. The people we present to admissions here must be well-qualified."

The process of recruiting for Restic is as continuous as it is difficult. "We try to build up files, get all the pertinent information we can. We have a philosophy here, a policy; we have to work within that framework," he says.

Men's basketball coach Frank McLaughlin has faced an additional obstacle--facility. "The IAB (Indoor Athletic Building) just turns people off," he says. "That is a minus, but it is changeable. The other drawback is our lack of winning tradition. That is also changeable," he adds.

McLaughlin also calls the admissions committee "very fair and helpful." The former Notre Dame assistant coach says some highly-touted candidates do not even want to bother filling out an application or financial aid form. "We have to go out and get those kids--every school in the country wants to be good at basketball."

The rules governing recruitment of men and women differ. Robert Scalise knows both sides well, as coach of the women's soccer and men's lacrosse squads. "You can't fly in women to visit the University, nor can you travel to visit them at home. And, Harvard has other restrictions--we need clearance to visit people," Scalise says.