Hope springs eternal in all endeavors.

With each freshman class, each September, come new athletes to compete for the crimson and white. Within this group, every Harvard coach hopes to find the next All-Ivy player, the next superstar.

September is a time when all teams stand equal with 0-0 marks, when all coaches hold equally great expectations for the future--in this case, for the future of the Class of 1990.

Take, for example, the tale of two teams.

The Harvard women's basketball team came out of nowhere last winter to capture its first-ever Ivy Championship with a 20-7 record. The men hoopsters, meanwhile, struggled home with a 6-20 mark.

But both squads are expecting great things from the '90ers.

The women cagers are out to defend their Ivy League title, for which purpose they pulled in four top prospects.

.Heidi Kosh of Hamden, Conn.: 5-ft., 7-in. Kosh is a point-and shooting guard, as well as a good penetrator. A strong defensive player, she is a former Junior Olympics star.

.Melinda Nelson of Waterville, Maine.: 6-ft., 2-in. "She's our first true center," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith says of Nelson.

.Sandy Springer of Ashbey, Mass.: 6-ft., 2-in. "She has phenomonal jumping ability, Delaney Smith says. "She's our diamond in the rough."

.Jody Fink of Amherst, Mass.: 6-ft. "She has very good athletic ability, and she runs the floor well," Delaney Smith says.

The new recruits join a team that has not reached its full potential, a team that promises to continue improving over the coming season.

On the other end of Briggs Cage, the story is both similar and different.

The Harvard men's basketball team is coming off a highly disappointing season, but prospects are beginning to improve with standout Arne Duncan returning from a year off for his senior year.

The men cagers pulled in five recruits to bolster an already young team: Scott Gilly of Washington, D.C.: 6-ft., 3-in.; Brian Mackey (son of Cleveland State basketball Coach Kevin Mackey) of Cleveland, Ohio.: 6-ft., 4-in.; Brian Perlich of Bethesda, Maryland.: 6-ft., 5-in.; Sean Duffy of New York, N.Y.: 6-ft, 7-in.; and Malcolm Hollensterner of New York, N.Y.: 6-ft., 10-in.