“The speed of the game [is the biggest change], physically and also mentally,” he said. “There’s more thinking and there’s less time to react. It’s more strategic.”

Greg Cohen offered up a different viewpoint.

“[Coming in], your reputation is nothing,” he said. “Everyone is an All-American. Everyone was the best player on their high school team. You’ve got to prove yourself again.”

Ultimately, only time will tell what specific impact that the class of 2007 will have. However, Anderson is confident that the impact will be a large one.

“We got a lot of adaptable guys,” he said. “Everyone in this class will end up contributing, and that’s rare. They’re great kids and they give our program energy.”

Regardless of what the future holds for this group of freshmen, for this season at least, they’ve been an integral part of the winning formula.

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.