Talk about sophomore jinxes.

Just two weeks before its season opener at Boston College, the Harvard men's basketball team has learned that standout power forward Dan Clemente must undergo season-ending surgery to repair a degenerative ankle condition.

The 6'7" Clemente, last season's runaway Ivy League Rookie of the Year, aggravated pre-existing weakness in his left ankle with several sprains over the summer. When the ankle did not respond to attempts by the Harvard training staff to treat and rehabilite it, Clemente, Coach Frank Sullivan and team physician Dr. Arthur Boland made the decision to do reconstructive surgery.

"I sprained it for the last time at the end of August, just working out and shooting around by myself," Clemente said. "I was being an idiot and playing on it, not wearing a brace. Then I came to school and played on it, and it started getting ridiculous. I couldn't run on it or anything."

The sprains this summer were the last straw in a series of ankle problems dating back to Clemente's high school career. A twisted ankle last season kept Clemente out of three games last season, including the Penn-Princeton series at Lavietes Pavilion in February. The Crimson was 1-2 in games Clemente missed.

Clemente and the Harvard training staff did not originally anticipate that surgery of this magnitude would be required, and they tried to accommodate it during this pre-season by holding Clemente back from practice and doing light rehabilitative therapy. As recently as the middle of October, Clemente was not expected to miss substantial time.

"He was doing preseason conditioning, but he never practiced, and it was still bothering him," Sullivan said. "The progress was such that it merited further assessment. The thought [last month] was that it could still be rehabbed, and that maybe Dan would miss the first 8 to 10 days of practice. But then during some off-court activity there was still aggravation, and we wanted to get it checked out."

In consultation with Boland, Clemente reached the point where surgery was inevitable.

"I saw [Boland] for the first time one month ago and realized that it wasn't responding to treatment," Clemente said. "[Last week] we made the decision to finally get it fixed."

Clemente hopes to undergo the surgery around Thanksgiving, and the recovery timetable is roughly three months. Clemente will wear a cast for five to six weeks, then do rehabilitation for five to six weeks if all goes according to plan.

"Sometimes guys have ankle problems, do surgery and get back on the court," Sullivan said. "This kind of surgery is a pretty big deal. It's about the biggest deal there is. Dan's going to be out for some time."

Clemente said that he would retain his year of eligibility, but was still deciding how he would choose to manage his year off.

Clemente emerged as one of the League's dominant four-men last season, finishing with 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, 9th and 11th in the lvy, respectively.

And in a conference chock full of sharpshooters, Clemente was seventh at 43.2 percent from three-point range, converting on 48 of III attempts.

His departure poses a host of questions for Sullivan and the Crimson's reconstituted lineup, particularly now that replacements are needed for two spots in the frontcourt instead of just one--Clemente at power forward and Mike Scott '98 at small forward or swingman.