After the Harvard men’s basketball team upset No. 3 New Mexico in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, the celebration was on in Salt Lake City. The players stormed the court at EnergySolutions Arena, but they were not the only ones celebrating.

Three high school seniors, spread out across the country, were just as excited as the men playing in Utah. Six months later, those seniors are now the newest members of the Crimson squad.

Headlining the incoming freshman class is Zena Edosomwan, a 6’9” forward from Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles. Edosomwan had been watching the game with his father and could not believe the result.

“I was just so happy for those guys because I don’t think a lot of people expected them to do that,” Edosomwan said. “That was just very special, knowing that those would be the guys that [I’d] be able to play with next year.”

Edosomwan, listed as the No. 76 prospect in the Class of 2013 according to Scouts Inc., is the most highly touted recruit to ever join the Crimson. The forward averaged 16.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in his senior season, earning him a McDonald’s All-American nomination.

Almost 40 different schools offered scholarships to the Harvard-Westlake senior in 2012, including UCLA, USC, Texas, and California. But Edosomwan had his heart set on joining the Crimson.

“Here at Harvard, it’s something really special because you have an elite academic institution that’s well recognized globally,” Edosomwan said. “The opportunity to be a part of that, from a student’s point of view, and also to represent the university as an athlete, I felt was something I couldn’t pass up.”

However, getting to Cambridge was not an easy process for the young forward. Edosomwan’s SAT scores came up just short of the qualifications for admission set by the university when he took the test in 2012. But he would not give up his dream.

Rather than accept an offer from another school, Edosomwan decided to reclassify as a 2013 prospect and spend a year at Northfield Mount Hermon, a reputable prep school in Western Massachusetts, before joining the Crimson.

One year later, after leading his school to a national championship and having qualified for admission to Harvard, Edosomwan has found his way onto the court for the Crimson.

Joining Edosomwan as a new addition to the Harvard frontcourt is Hunter Myers, a 6’7” forward from Douglas High School in Minden, Nev. The forward was in the middle of practice when the Crimson was in action against the Lobos, but he still remembers the game.

“I was only briefly getting score updates during my water breaks,” Myers said. “[But] I would be jumping with joy every time I saw Harvard lead.”

Myers brings plenty of winning experience with him to Cambridge, as his high school team won back-to-back Sierra League titles in his junior and senior seasons.

In his senior year, the forward averaged over 18 points and 10 boards per game, earning him the title of Northern Nevada Player of the Year. However, Myers is still looking to find his role in the Crimson rotation.

“I really see myself as being able to play whatever role [Harvard] Coach [Tommy Amaker] puts me in,” Myers said. “I’m not going to try to define my own role because I’m really trying to fit into the team’s system at this point.”