To get a sense of what is gone, one need look only so far as the energy and perseverance that carried Harvard through the final eight games of last season without Harvey, its leading scorer and a player who defined the team’s seniors and bound them together.

One need look only at Merchant—the career sixth man who finally got his chance in the sun during his final season—single-handedly carrying the Crimson through the final game of the season, burying shot after unexpected shot in a desperate effort to carry his squad past Brown. Or Prasse-Freeman, who led the nation for a time in assists per game en route to setting the Ivy career record.

The experience, unity and ownership that the now-departed group of five shared and the passion on the court—embodied by Merchant’s farewell performance—that it inspired can’t be found in any stat book.

…And In With The New

With such large holes to fill and few proven players available to plug them—only Cusworth and Norman averaged more than 10 minutes per game last season—the preseason and the lineup decisions normally associated with it figure to extend well into the heart of the non-conference season, if not beyond.

“We have as few starters back as anyone on our schedule,” Sullivan says. “Clearly, it’s going to be a work in progress.”

Even following the Crimson’s scrimmage against St. Francis Xavier in which nine players saw at least 13 minutes of court time, all that is set in stone is that nothing is ready to be set in stone.

And with Cusworth having sustained a stress fracture beforehand, the work becomes that much more difficult.

One of the league’s most promising young big men, Cusworth—who has dramatically increased his physical strength and presence since coming to Cambridge—figured to play a prominent role at both ends of the floor, providing a shot-blocking presence in the paint while serving as the focal point of the offense in the low post.

“Losing Cusworth for a month is absolutely critical,” Sullivan says. “There’s no secret that he’s probably the best young center in the Ivy League. There’s no doubt about that.”

Now, the comfort of that bridge between last year’s team and this one—and the easing of the transition that would have come with it—is gone.

So, too, is the size advantage that Harvard claimed when its seven-footer towered in the lane. The Crimson has no one else taller than 6’8.

But, if anything, the injuries, the graduations and departures and, most especially, the doubts have only added fuel to the fire for this youthful bunch.

“All these websites say, ‘Well, there’s Columbia and Harvard, who are just rebuilding completely, but then the other six teams are all in contention and I just think people are overlooking us,” Cusworth says. “The reason people say that is because they don’t know enough about us just because the guys who are coming back haven’t had as much exposure as a lot of the other guys on those teams, so it’s really hard to judge how, say, the juniors will be as the leaders of the team or [how] the sophomore class—the majority of whom really didn’t get to play—[will perform].”

They’ll certainly get more than their fair chance to play this season.