Smith, a junior, joined Ferry in Cambridge the following year. "It was comforting to know that someone was here who could handle it," he says.

The two guards, perfectly matched in the backcourt as the shoot the lights out big guard and the "hard-nosed" ballhandler (as Ferry calls Smith), didn't play much together at DeMatha, however.

Smith, a scrappy occasional starter in his two years at DeMatha, didn't see a lot of playing time when Ferry, an all-league star, was in the game.

Further, the two "never really hung around" off the court, according to Ferry, Smith, who transferred to the school as a junior, says he "didn't get to know Bob real well," adding that the two nonetheless got along well, and developed a friendship that strengthened when they occasionally roomed together on the road. Their mutual respect is obvious.

Lerry calls Smith a "fierce competition," a player who "was always getting tunover" and who "did what it took to win." Returning the compliment. Smith recalls Ferry as a "team' leader" at DeMatha, who "always played well in the big games.'"

Chemistry

Although, according to Ferry, DeMaiha and Harvard play a similar style of "push-the-batt-up" basketball, both players admit that they don't really have any special on-court chemistry together left over from high school days.

The big advantage of having at tended DeMatha together, really, is that they're both better players because of it.

"Going to high school together only helps as long as they're two good players." McLaughlin agrees.

Another benefit of having attended a hoop mecca is that the DeMatha Boys know what winning is all about. "At DeMatha," says Smith, "there's a winning foundation, a tradition."

At Harvard--thanks in no small part to the contributions of Ferry and Smith--that tradition is just getting started