Several games into the 1997-98 season, Harvard men's basketball coach Frank Sullivan made a good decision. A very good decision.

A few minutes before game time, against Holy Cross, Sullivan informed freshman forward Dan Clemente that he was going to start.

Three years and many accolades later, Clemente is the captain and undisputed leader of a tight Crimson squad that has the potential to go further in the Ivy League than any Harvard team before.

"This is definitely the closest team I've ever been on," Clemente said. "Everybody hangs out off the court; everybody's really close."

"D.C.," as affectionate Harvard fans call him, is the glue that keeps the team together both on and off the court. A tough inside and outside scoring threat--he averaged 18.6 points per game last season shooting from all distances--the 6'7 Clemente is the best thing this Harvard team has going for it.

Part of the Clemente mystique is that there is none. He has been described by friends and teammates as open, honest and accessible. Much like last year's captain, Damian Long '00, was the heart and soul of the Crimson, Clemente is the mind and body of this year's squad.

The Dan Clemente story is a good one to tell. Clemente is not a "shoulda, coulda" type of guy. Over his three years at Harvard, he has been injured numerous times yet plays through the injuries with a seeming nonchalance that has earned him all-Ivy honors many times over.

Clemente grew up and attended high school in Albany, N.Y., where he started all four years for his varsity basketball team. A Larry Bird fan, Clemente said his room at home is filled with all types of Bird memorabilia, from jerseys to posters. After a short stint at St. Thomas More, a prep school in Oakdale, Conn., Clemente came to Cambridge. But the decision wasn't as automatic as some might think.