“It was tricky. Coaches would ask me a question, and I couldn’t really say what I really wanted to say,” Rivard recalls. “It was hard to say what I wanted.”

Now a sophomore in Cabot House, Rivard, who still struggles with the occasional word choice or French-to-English translation, distinguishes himself as not just a basketball star with a knack for French, but also one with a knack for computer science.

The son of a software translator, Rivard began studying computer science in high school, but his enthusiasm for the field only blossomed once he reached the university level of study.

Despite the notorious amount of work assigned within the concentration and Rivard’s loaded practice and lift schedule, he remains committed to computer science and will officially declare it as his concentration later this month.

“CS is something I enjoy doing,” Rivard says. “For me, it’s not a pain in the ass. It’s definitely time consuming, especially considering that time is what I don’t have. But I just have to be focused.”

Amaker believes that if Rivard applies the same work ethic to his programming as he does basketball, he will excel in both.

“Laurent has an incredible capacity for work,” Amaker says. “He’s going to work, or out-work, probably everyone he faces this season.”

While Rivard hopes to program iPhone apps later this school year and into next summer, he still has a potential Ivy League title and NCAA tournament bid to focus on for the time being.

Even for an athlete with such a varied background, that should keep him well-occupied.

—Staff writer Patrick Galvin can be reached at pgalvin@college.harvard.edu.