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The spotlight shined on the Harvard men’s basketball team last winter when the Crimson soundly defeated No. 17 Boston College by 12 points, on the road, two days after the Eagles had defeated eventual national champion North Carolina. But Harvard couldn’t live up to the expectations of stardom, as the Crimson faltered in Ivy League play and the program’s fifteen minutes of fame all but expired.

This year’s team hopes to return to center stage, but via another route—an Ivy championship.

With first team All-Ivy co-captain Jeremy Lin returning and coach Tommy Amaker’s new cast of standout recruits set to hit the floor, Harvard has its best opportunity in years to win its first ever Ivy League title.

“Our goal since Coach Amaker got here is to win the Ivy League championship and advance in the dance,” co-captain Doug Miller says.

But such a dramatic turnaround from last season’s 6-8 conference record and sixth place finish will be no easy task, especially in a league in which the top two finishers from last season—Cornell and Princeton—return with their entire starting lineups.

“Our conference is always going to be challenging,” Amaker says. “We’re hopeful that we can show the world that we’re one of those kind of teams that will contend in our conference.”

Any hope the Crimson has of upsetting the traditional balance of power in the Ancient Eight rests on the shoulders of Lin, who has led the team in scoring the last two seasons.

But if Harvard seeks to improve on its sixth-place finish, the squad will need help from more than just Lin.

“Jeremy’s the face [of the program] but everybody plays his part,” sophomore forward Keith Wright says.

Wright, who logged significant minutes as a freshman after several frontcourt players went down with injuries, proved his worth, averaging eight points and 5.5 rebounds per game. This season, the Crimson is looking for more out of Wright, who shed 30 pounds in the off-season and may emerge as Harvard’s number-two scorer.

“He’s got a much better touch this year,” Miller says. “He’s our main low post threat on the offensive end, so we’re looking to get the ball inside to him and trust that he’ll finish.”

The Crimson will rely on its healthy frontcourt to improve upon its league-worst rebounding margin from a season ago.

Defense is also a major concern for a Harvard team that surrendered 67.4 points per game and posted the worst defensive field goal percentage in the conference.

“We’re changing our attitude,” says Lin, who finished 17th in the nation with 2.4 steals per game. “In the past we’ve been just been more focused on putting up numbers, getting a lot of points on the board, but this year we’re clamping down on that.”

Lin looks to get help on the defensive end from freshman point guard Brandyn Curry who, along with 6-7 forward Kyle Casey, leads a recruiting class that is slotted to play an immediate role on a team that features only four upperclassmen.