The Harvard men's basketball team suffered a serious blow this weekend when it discovered that junior Dan Clemente, the team's leading scorer, is out for the season with a detached retina in his right eye.

Before the injury was diagnosed Thursday, Clemente had been experiencing blurred vision in his right eye, and he underwent season-ending surgery Friday morning to correct the injury.

Before his season was prematurely curtailed, the 6'7 forward had been the 24th leading scorer in the nation, averaging 21.2 points per game, and chipping in 4.7 boards per contest.

After the 1997-98 season, he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and last season, Clemente earned Honorable Mention All-Ivy honors after averaging 14.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

The NCAA will not grant Clemente a medical redshirt this season because after appearing in six games, he has already played in 22 percent of the Crimson's 27 games this year. According to NCAA rules, a player must have appeared in less than 20 percent of the team's games in a season in order to claim a medical redshirt.

The loss of the experienced and dynamic Clemente makes a young Harvard team even younger. After losing four talented seniors to graduation last year and with four promising but inexperienced freshmen on the roster, the Crimson must now find a replacement for Clemente's offensive firepower.

Two freshmen who have seen limited playing time this year, Onnie Mayshak and Sam Winter, are expected to replace Clemente for the remainder of the season.

The Crimson (3-4) was painfully aware of Clemente's absence on Saturday against Colgate. After falling behind 31-14 at the half, Harvard lost 76-49 and continued its four-game losing streak.