Because if this reporter looks at the record, this season will be marked by the relative sameness of it. Harvard went 14-12 overall, and 7-7 in the Ivies. This is exactly the same Ivy record as the past two seasons and roughly the same overall record. For the fifth year in a row, Harvard closed out the season with two straight wins.
She will see a team that loved playing at home and has been historically inconsistent on the road. In fact, in the ten years under Coach Sullivan, the Crimson has never won a game at Penn or Princeton, which are necessary wins for any team hoping to win the league.
Finally, that reporter will find a team that could never quite find its groove after a home loss to Princeton and ended up an underachiever in a year of Ivy League parity.
"Were they stung by the Princeton loss? Yeah they were stung big-time," Sullivan said. "But I thought they regrouped in practice during the week. I don't think I'll ever really have an answer to that. I don't know if they have an answer to that."
Perhaps the only player who can walk away with something truly positive from this season is Clemente, once he gets over the wins and losses. He stayed injury-free the entire season and did a superb job as captain. He established himself by scoring 18.8 points per game, and while his rebounding average (6.8 rpg) is lower than he'd like, Clemente has put himself in the running for Ivy League player of the year.
His love of the game and his commitment to it means that Clemente will undoubtedly be playing basketball overseas after graduation, probably in Europe. Of course, he can't talk to an agent until the season officially ends. But following the Cornell game, he already sounded nostalgic when asked about his storied career.
"I can't believe it's over--how about that? Tomorrow's not just another day off," he said.
So while Clemente and fellow senior Parker finish up their academic careers and move on, Sullivan and the rest of the Crimson squad will have to scramble to recruit and develop players to fill the rather large shoes of a star player.
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