“There’s a lack of [a frontcourt threat] right now,” Sullivan said. “We’d certainly love to have that legitimate presence down there to draw guys inside and create more space on the perimeter, but we’ll have just to see. We’re certainly going to miss Tim Coleman and his rebounding and the second-chance points he helped us get.”
Coleman was the team’s second leading scorer (9.4 ppg) in 2001-02 and grabbed 7.2 boards per game, good for second-best in the league.
Sigafoos, Harvard’s 7’0 center, will look to step up into a more productive role following a disappointing junior campaign.
“His numbers on paper were way down,” Sullivan said of Sigafoos’ performance last year. “His field-goal percentage was down, rebounding was down, shot blocking was down. But he worked very hard this summer with a one-on-one trainer. He feels accountable for last year and has worked hard to improve.”
Winter (8.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg), who plays power forward, also worked on his strength and size this summer in order to give the Crimson more of a post presence.
“I’ve always been comfortable playing outside,” Winter said. “But I think the team is really looking for an effective scorer down low.”
Other players that will look to enhance the Crimson’s post play will be sophomore Graham Beatty, who showed flashes of promise in brief appearances last season, as well as freshmen Brian Houlihan, Luke McCrone, Matt Stehle, and 7’0 Brian Cusworth.
Outlook
How will having so many freshman and sophomores on the team affect Harvard’s play this season? Judging by the competitive spirit that dominates practices, it seems as though this atmosphere will translate into more aggressive play on the court.
“There is a lot of intensity at practice,” Martin said. “Not everyone has a guaranteed spot. It’s wide open.”
The Crimson knows that if it is to contend for the Ivy title this season, it will have to come up with big victories against Penn and Princeton, a difficult task considering the dominance of these two teams over the last decade.
Despite these odds, Sullivan’s squad remains confident.
“We know how this league works,” said Prasse-Freeman. “I think this team has the senior leadership and mental toughness.”