Replacing the third-leading scorer in Harvard men's basketball history sounds like a tall task, but the shortest man on this year's team is up to the job: After just a few days of practice, new team captain Tarik Campbell is drawing rave reviews.

"He's a great captain, no doubt," said Coach Frank Sullivan of the explosive 5'10" point guard. "Before [the coaching staff] was allowed to work with the players, Tarik was in charge of getting them together to play informally a few times a week, and he's been really good at communicating his teammates' concerns to us."

While Harvard's first official practice for the 1993-94 season took place only this past Saturday, Campbell has already shown a distinctive style.

"Last year, [captain] Tyler [Rullman '93] was more of a quiet guy," sophomore Mike Gilmore said. "He led a lot just by example. But Tarik's a lot more vocal, more energetic."

While it's doubtful that Tarik will finish second in the Ivy League scoring race as Rullman did, his leadership has produced a squad that strikes many of its players as more cohesive.

"We're a lot friendlier with each other," sophomore Terry Mann said. "It seems like we're playing better together, too."

With the team coming off of two consecutive 6-20 seasons, those words can only comfort win-starved Harvard fans.

Fast Start

Sullivan and his troops got the first practice of the season off to a brisk start on Saturday, with several players noticeably fitter than at this time last season. The coach pointed to the six-week preseason conditioning program as the reason.

"We streamlined the program this year so that it was more convenient for the players but still effective in conditioning them," Sullivan said. "We had them running, lifting and doing quickness and agility drills."

Sullivan even had his team attending two-a-day practices on Saturday and Sunday before going back to its normal one-a-day routine this week.

Oh, the Numbers

With 20--that's right, 20--players currently on the varsity roster, several team members will inevitably have to move to the junior varsity.

Sullivan indicated that he would shrink the roster soon.

"We will be making some moves, possibly by the end of this week," he said. "We'll be moving some players down to JV, but not necessarily permanently. One of our goals this season is to make the JV more competitive, and some good players will be moved onto that team."