At the start of last season, the prognosis for the Harvard men's basketball team wasn't too promising. After losing Tim Hill '99--the program's career assists leader and seventh all-time scorer--and Mike Beam '99, many felt that the 1999-00 season would be a "rebuilding year."

Conventional wisdom dictated that a team that would have to rely so heavily on young players could never equal the performance of a team guided by veterans.

As it would turn out, conventional wisdom was wrong.

Last year's Crimson team, on the strength of seasoned players like forward Dan Clemente and guard Damian Long '00 as well as the talents of younger stars like Drew Gellert and Elliott Prasse-Freeman, equaled the mark of the previous year's team with a 7-7 record in Ivy competition.

Now, with the many of the same players returning for the 2000-01 season, the expectations are high that the Crimson, led by captain Clemente, will build on its success from last year and again remain competitive in the race for the Ivy League crown. In a preseason media poll, Harvard was ranked third.

Harvard certainly has many positives to build upon going into the season. On the offensive side of the ball, the 1999-00 Crimson made 178 three-pointers--the third most in school history--with a 36.7 percent success rate. Also, Prasse-Freeman led the Ivy League in assists per game and ranked ninth in the nation as a freshman.

On the defensive side of the ball, Harvard was also impressive statistically. The Crimson led the Ivy League in turnovers forced with 17.9 per game, turnover margin (plus-2.2), and steals per game (8.6). Gellert set a school record by finishing the year with 74 steals and led the Ivy League with 2.8 steals per game.

However, Harvard will have to shore up certain areas where it has demonstrated inconsistency before it can be considered a legitimate contender for the title.