Never is a very long time.

Never has the Harvard men's basketball team won the Ivy League title.

Never has the Crimson earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Never.

But the 1988-89 Crimson is trying to do what has never been done before, and this year the team is one of the favorites in the Ivy League race.

"I don't mind being picked as one of the favorites, like some people do," Harvard Coach Pete Roby said. "I think it shows that they have a lot of respect for the program and for the talent of the players."

Led by a solid core of experienced seniors and a talented bunch of newcomers, Harvard will not be short on talent. The Crimson has lost only three players from last year's squad to graduation and will return its top three scorers.

The Harvard roster features five seniors, all of whom have made significant contributions in the past. And a strong crop of seniors, Roby is quick to point out, has paid off in Ivy League races over the last few seasons.

"The past few teams that have won the Ivy League have been senior-laden, senior-dominated," Roby said. "This year we have not only a lot of seniors in key positions but also a lot of seniors who have been tested in games."

The man in the spotlight will be guard Mike Gielen, who will be the team's co-captain for the second-consecutive season. An adept ball-handler and strong defensive player, Gielen sets the tempo for the team.

A year ago, Gielen was the second-leading scorer on the Crimson, averaging 13.0 points per game despite suffering through a season-long shooting slump. Gielen nailed only 38.9 percent of his field goal attempts, including a weak 31.9 percent from three-point range, from where he took almost half his shots.

"When I was just starting out coaching, I remember talking to an established coach who said that when you put a shooter at point guard, he will start to have trouble shooting," Roby said. "I think that last year Mike was too busy thinking about the other things that go along with being a point guard."

But with the emergence of sophomore Dana Smith as a solid alternate point guard, Gielen will be able to concentrate more on scoring.

Smith averaged just 3.1 p.p.g. last year, but his ball-handling ability should free Gielen for far more. In the squad's pre-season scrimmage against St. Francis Xavier, Gielen was a fiery 10-for-17 from the field for 27 points.

"He's been playing well this year, and I think his mind isn't cluttered because he knows that Dana can get him the ball," Roby said.