The Jason Norman fan club will have plenty to cheer about tonight.

The sophomore guard, who consistently attracts a loyal cheering section at Lavietes Pavilion, will make just his second start of the season when the Harvard men’s basketball team hosts Columbia. Norman replaces senior Patrick Harvey, who was officially declared ineligible for the remainder of the season Tuesday due to academic reasons.

“Jason will start for us,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said last night. “With what’s happened, everybody moves up a spot and Jason is the first guy on the depth chart. What he brings us is solid defense and a little bit more size.”

Harvey, the Ivies’ second-leading scorer and an All-Ivy pick last year, is leaving the University but can reapply in a year to complete his degree. His basketball career, however, is definitely over.

While Norman may be taking his place in the lineup, he is not expected to replace Harvey (16.7 ppg) in the scoring column. Instead he’ll try to make his presence felt on the other end of the floor.

“I’m going to try to attack the basket as much as possible and I’ll take the open shot, but most of my energy is going to be focused on defense,” Norman said.

Defense is the focus in general for Harvard (10-9, 2-4 Ivy) right now. Sullivan said that the Crimson’s strategy for replacing Harvey’s point production has yet to be determined.

“It’s a work-in-progress right now,” he said. “You like to not have that be true this late in the season, but circumstances have dictated that.”

Sullivan said he’ll likely lean on “experience,” not any one player, with Harvey gone. That puts the spotlight on veteran war-horses Sam Winter, Elliott Prasse-Freeman and captain Brady Merchant—all seniors and the team’s top three scorers behind Harvey—to assume the most responsibility.

It was Winter who emerged three years ago when Crimson great Dan Clemente ’01—Harvard’s leading scorer at the time—missed an extended stretch because of an eye injury. Sullivan said yesterday that his team’s current situation was different from when Clemente went down, primarily because Clemente sat during the less intense, non-conference schedule.

Sullivan did add that the Crimson’s frontcourt might be in position to come to the team’s aid now, just as Winter and former center Tim Coleman ’02 gave Harvard a lift without Clemente.

“You lose somebody like Pat, who was such a good ball-handler, and you expect people to increase the pressure on the perimeter,” Sullivan said. “That may open up chances for us in the post.”

Tonight’s contest won’t be Harvard’s first game of the season without Harvey. The star guard sat out Harvard’s 71-64 win over Vermont last December with an ankle injury. Norman, a slasher who can attack the basket as well as anyone in Harvard’s backcourt, scored six points in 18 minutes in that game.

Classmate Kevin Rogus, who added nine points in 21 minutes against Vermont, as well as freshman Michael Beal, are also likely to see increased minutes in the season’s final weeks.

“Kevin’s a great shooter and Mike can slash and play good defense,” Norman said.

Neither of them has the crowd of supporters that Norman does, though.

“They’re all my friends and blockmates mostly. I haven’t told them I’m starting yet, but they’ll probably find out tomorrow and go crazy,” Norman said.

Even though he won’t have to combat Harvey, Columbia coach Armond Hill isn’t taking anything for granted this weekend. He stressed yesterday that his team could not afford to look past the rest of Harvard’s lineup.

“He was a hard [person to] guard, no question about it,” Hill said of Harvey. “He was a terrific shooter, he put the ball on the floor and he always made big shots against us. We were set to prepare for him in practice on Monday when we heard the news. But they (Harvard) have a lot of depth and you still need to defend their plays, so we’re preparing the same way.”

Harvey was the Crimson’s best player at creating his own shot. But Hill had high praise for Prasse-Freeman’s own ability to create, noting his ability to make something out of nothing via the pass.

“Prasse-Freeman is, I think, the best passer in the league,” Hill said. “He finds players and sets them up so well that most of the time, all the other guy has to do is make the shot.”

For the time being, Prasse-Freeman will probably be counted on to play close to the full 40 minutes per game. Harvey was the Crimson’s de facto backup point guard and occasional fill-in David Giovacchini is injured, leaving the Crimson without a clear second option at floor general. Sullivan said that if Prasse-Freeman—who has been susceptible to foul trouble at points this season—needs to sit, he will make a decision on a replacement based on matchups.

—Staff writer Brian E. Fallon can be reached at bfallon@fas.harvard.edu.