Superstar 3

[Wayne23]

(Note: Like the association I did with Bill Russell [which I still plan to try again at some point] this is a four year association with one player at its center. The first two attempts just weren’t done correctly. I was recruiting for way too much talent. The focus should be on the superstar and the supporting players should not be all that good. This time I’ll either get it right or give the whole thing up.)

Every Division I team in the country has been watching Ali Rice since he turned 12. He’s the kid who has everything. Tall and rangy (grew to be 6’6”), can play all 5 spots if need be, incredible reflexes and quickness, a vertical leap that seems to be four feet (it isn’t, of course), great defensive instincts, a passer as good as the best in hoops history, and born to shoot, with a range of at least 25 feet. He’s a natural SF but again, can play anywhere.

He’s an extremely bright kid who does very well in school, from a family that hasn’t allowed him to become a head case. He has made it clear that he has no interest in pro ball. He intends to graduate in three years, then immediately begin Ph.D. work in Astrophysics (which means, if he stays at the same school, he can play for four years). At 17 he has perspective and good sense that is all but scary. Dad is a professor of Black Studies at Boston University, and mom is a psychiatrist, M. D. and all. She was an All American Shooting Guard and was her son’s first teacher, in hoops and in most everything else. Dad and son are also very close but dad has never been particularly athletic.

The family understands that their son can pick his school, literally any school in Division I. They want their son to play for a good coach, kid friendly coach, not a hothead or a win at all costs guy. In the end they chose Harvard, a school that had never been a basketball power, but in retrospect seems like the inevitable choice. It had the advantage of being dad’s alma mater. Young Ali Rice wanted to be a little further from his parents, not because he planned to raise hell, which he didn’t, but because he wanted to spread his wings and make it on his own, but Boston was big enough for him to feel separated from his parents, at least a little. He would live on campus, of course. Harvard Coach Wes Carter was ecstatic, and couldn’t believe his luck.

Make no mistake, Ali Rice was not just the “phenom of the year,” he had the potential of being among the very best to ever play the game.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Hired my staff, met to discuss what I’m putting in on O and D. We’ll buy the National Basic and East Gold reports.

6/26: Only 2 scholarships. Need guards. Looking at 10, 4 PG, 4 SG, 2 PF. 6 are scholars, 4 Jucos, rating are from 43-273.

8/7: Working the recruits.

8/21: We offer to a pair of SGs.

9/11: Home visits.

9/18: 1 guy seems pretty interested, the other does not. We tried to get a strong schedule but not many good teams wanted to play us. We have two ranked teams and a few other good teams- all on the road.

9/25: One recruit has us at #1. The other isn’t interested.

10/2: Still no commitments. First day of practice. Ali looks great but I don’t know that he’s going to get much help.

We’re predicted to finish dead last in the Ivy.

10/9: Dom Sims, #196 SG, has committed.

11/2: 1st exhibition is with Akron. 49-33 at the half.

87-57. +17, +2, 56-37%, fouls 17-19.

11/2: 2nd exhibition is with Akron. 53-38 at the half.

98-79. -4, +4, 63-53%. Fouls 22-25.

[Wayne23]

We start at #24 North Carolina State. Very good at 1 and 5 good at 4, pretty good bench. 2 and 3 look weak.

11/14: 84-66. Ali had a great debut.

+7, -4, 63-45%.

56, 13, 4, 3, 4 for Ali with 0 TOs, 1 foul, and he played terrific D.

At 2-0 New Mexico next. Beat two nobodies. They have some talent but don’t look like they’re as good as NC State.

11/17: 88-55. Never a doubt, we scored 55 in the 1st half, and Ali outscored their entire team for the game.

+13, +2, 69-41%.

61, 9, 0, 3, 1 for Ali, again no TOs, 1 foul, great D. 6, 2, 7 for Odom and good bench play in general.

11/20: #19. Harvard has been ranked from time to time in our history but never this early.

Missouri State, 1-1, in our home debut which is sold out. Evidently our entire home season is sold out. There’s talk of trying to move some games to the Fleet Center. This looks like a mismatch.

11/21: 89-50. Ali again outscored the other team.

+16, +6, 60-37%.

54, 8, 4, 1, 5 for Ali, no TOs, 2 fouls. 8, 3, 5 for Fark, 10, 6, 3, 1 for Carr, 8, 3, 2, 2 for Camp.

[Wayne23]

At 3-0 Virginia next. Talent at 5 and 1.

11/24: This one stayed close for a long time, we were up 5 at the half. Then early in the 2nd we went on a 19-2 run and that was that, 81-63.

+9, even, 50-42%, fouls 13-24.

46, 12, 2, 2, 4 for Ali, 3 TOs, 2 fouls. His opponent reached double figures (13); first time that’s happened. All in all not a bad “off night.” 13, 3 for Kirk, 8, 4, 3 for Fark.

11/27: #18.

3-1 Penn State is here. They beat #14 Syracuse. Strength is outside.

11/28: 81-54, no contest.

+22, even, 59-33%.

54, 14, 3, 1, 1 for Ali, no TOs or fouls and his opponent went scoreless. 9, 4, 6 for Fark, 7, 9, 2 for Kirk.

4-2 Houston is in. 1 good win, 1 bad loss. Starting C broke his arm. 3 and 2 can play.

12/1: 90-60. 53-15 at the half, then I played everybody.

+12, +4, 61-43%.

50, 17, 3, 0, 4 for Ali. 10, 1, 1, 1 for Gain.

Ali is getting 53.5 per game and is shooting 90.6% from the floor, and he’s 60-60 from the line. He’s 5th in the nation in rebounding.

12/4: #16.

[Wayne23]

3-3 Charleston is in next. Talent outside but not that much of it.

12/5: 94-64.

+18, +2, 56-48%.

59, 8, 4, 0, 5 for Ali, 1 TO, 1 foul. 12, 2, 1, 3 for Kirk, 6, 4 for Carr, 5, 2, 5 for Fark. I decide to start Carr for Gain.

At 4-4 Purdue. They’ve really under achieved. They seem like a better team than they’ve shown. I’ve been trying to convince my guys of that.

12/8: It was close for 32 minutes, then Ali went crazy. 86-65.

+6, -2, 68-46%.

63, 6, 2, 1 for Ali, 7, 4, 3, 3 for Kirk, 6, 4, 7, 2 for Fark.

12/11: #14, RPI #2.

4-2 Baylor is here. Looks like another mismatch.

12/12: 98-57. HUGE game for Ali.

+4, +3, 70-35%.

70, 8, 5, 2, 2 for Rice, 8, 3, 1 for Camp, 6, 1, 4, 1 for Carr.

Rice sailed through exams. He had a terrific first semester, having no problems with meeting his academic commitments. Grades won’t come out until next week but he says he thinks he got all A’s. He’s one of those strange people who requires very little sleep, only 3-4 hours per night, so he often goes out to the jazz clubs in Boston. He knows which ones are the real deal and gets there whenever we’re at home. He doesn’t drink so I have no issue with him going. He spends some time with family when he can, and mom and dad are at every home game, and at road games when they can work it out.

[Wayne23]

We play our second ranked team, at #20, 8-1 Illinois. They haven’t played a ranked team and their loss was a bad one. Their PF is outstanding and their SG can score but they get ordinary quickly after that.

12/15: 89-67. They led by as many as 7 but we came back and took a 9 point lead into the locker room and were never threatened in the 2nd half.

+14, -12 (19 TOs), 74-41%, fouls 11-29.

53, 14, 6, 1, 6 for Ali. He has now made 128 straight free throws, leads the nation in scoring by 24.3 per game, leads in field goal %, .911, free throw %, .100, 3 point shooting %, .893, is #4 in blocks, #5 in rebounds. He’s a great defender, and he averages only 1.1 TO per game and 1.0 fouls.

#10.

3-4 Old Dominion is in. We were able to get the Fleet Center for this game, and it is sold out. We’ll be there three more times this season and we’re working on next season. I can’t imagine these guys staying with us for long.

12/19: It was never a game but they played better than expected, 83-62.

+15, +2, 60-44%.

54, 12, 4, 4, 3 for Ali, 10, 5, 3, 2 for Camp, 6, 7, 3, 1 for Carr, 6, 6, 2, 2, 1 for Fark.

At 4-6 Arkansas. Played a tough scheduled, lost 5 of last 6. Only 1 bad loss. PG is pretty good but he doesn’t get much help.

12/22: 98-76. They stayed with us well into the 2nd half when we finally went on a big run and put them away.

+27, -16 (20 TOs), 63-44%.

74, 17, 4, 0, 2 for Ali but 6 TOs, a season high, and 3 fouls. 8, 5, 1 for Carr, 4, 8 for Camp, 4, 4, 6 for Kirk.

#9. Grades are out. Ali hit 3.9 and the lowest on the team is 3.5.

South Florida, 5-5, is in to close out the pre-conf. season. 4 bad losses.
Their 2 can play a little.

12/26: 85-63. +16, -8, 66-39%, fouls 11-23.

65, 14, 3 for Ali, who again outscored the other team. Carr and Camp played well, as did King. Rice is 183-183 from the line.

13-0 in the pre-conference schedule and I can’t believe we’ll lose until the NCAA tournament, hopefully deep into it.

#9.

[Wayne23]

At 3-10 Dartmouth to start conf. play. They’ve lost their last 8.

1/2: Never a game, 93-65.

+20, -3, 62-44%.

60, 9, 2, 0, 4 for Ali, 8, 7, 2 for camp, 8, 4, 1 for Carr.

6-8 Cornell is in. I just don’t see anyone in the conf. challenging us unless we simply have a terrible night.

1/5: 91-65. Cornell did something no one else has done, they held Ali relatively in check. It did them no good, they never led and it was never close after the first few minutes.

+5, -4, 73-36%.

44, 12, 3, 1, 1 for Ali, 11, 3, 2 for Camp, 8, 3, 3, 2 for Carr, 10, 2, 5, 1, 1 but 7 TOs for Fark.

#6.

I’ve been a relatively successful coach, 22 years as a Head Coach, all here at Harvard. I’ve gone 403-257, .611 before this season. We’ve gone to the NCAA 11 times and won 2 first round games, but we’ve gone to the NIT 4 times and gone to the final game twice, and we’ve reached the CHI 4 times and won it twice and lost in the finals once. Still, I’ve never experienced anything remotely resembling this season. It’s been quite a ride. The challenges for me are (1) to keep the guys focused, (2) to take us as far as we can possibly go, (3) to prepare for next year and for the two seasons following next year, and (4) to prepare for what follows after Ali’s graduation.

5-10 Princeton is in. This is usually one of the more successful teams in the Ivy but not this year, at least so far.

1/9: 98-62.

+12, +5, 71-37%.

54, 7, 7, 3, 2, no TOs, no fouls for Ali. His opponent got 2 points. 16, 6, 3, 1 for Carr, 10, 1, 6, 3, 2 for Fark, 8, 3 for Camp.

16-0, 3-0.

[Wayne23]

At 9-7, 3-0 Penn. They are the only other team that is undefeated in conf. play. The good teams eat them for lunch.

1/12: 97-67. We may never see an individual player play a better game. WOW!

+17, -4, 60-44%.

85, 14, 2, 0, 3 for Ali. 227 straight free throws. Still shooting 90% from the floor (.904).

Ben Carr strained a hammy, out for about 10 days. I’ll adjust the lineup.

#5, RPI #2. RPI is way too high.

9-8, 3-1 Yale is in. This one’s at the Fleet.

1/16: Their SG had a great game but it didn’t matter a bit, 92-70.

+10, even, 55-46%, fouls 15-26. Maybe our lowest shooting pct. of the season.

58, 14, 3, 0, 3 for Ali, 11, 0, 4 for backup guard Wes Odom, 6, 8, 2 for King, filling in for the injured Carr.

At cellar dwelling 3-15, 1-4 Brown. This won’t be pretty.

1/19: 107-79, most points all year and first time over 100.

+6, even, 79-57%.

78, 11, 4, 2, 1 for Ali, 8, 4, 2 for Camp.

Ali has now made 251 free throws without a miss. He’s .910 on threes and .913 overall.

#4, RPI #4. We have a 2 game lead.

[Wayne23]

9-10, 3-3 Columbia is in. They played a very weak pre-conf. sched.

1/23: We were asleep tonight except for Ali and Fark, 81-62.

+6, +2, 65-45%, fouls were 9-20.

61, 13, 2, 2, 5 for Ali, 8, 2, 5 for Fark. Ali did not have a great game on D, his guy had 10 points and 4 assists.

I suppose a night like this was inevitable but I plan to kick some butts to wake the guys up. I set certain goals for each game since I expect to win. The goals are to keep the guys focused and they are things like less than x turnovers, allowing fewer than x threes, keeping the opponent shooting pct. below x… The goals are derived from watching video of the other team and they are arrived at during staff meetings. We usually hit most of them but that didn’t happen tonight. They hit 10 threes and we had 17 TOs.

6-14, 3-4 Dartmouth is in. We’ve now played everyone once. We beat these guys by 28 at their place.

1/26: 95-60.

-2 (unusual!), +11, 64-40%.

61, 10, 1, 1, 5 for Ali who shut out his opponent, 6, 2, 4 for King.

Carr is 100%. King did a great job filling in.

1/29: One of the guys we offered to did not hit the 1100 SAT score we require. Looking at three Jucos.

Fred Mull, who rarely plays, hurt a leg. Day to day.

At 8-13, 3-5 Cornell. Beat them by 26 at our place.

1/30: 99-72.

+10, +2, 65-47%.

58, 9, 8, 3 for Ali, 16, 4, 3 for Kirk, 8,3 for Carr in his return, 5, 7, 3 for Camp, 4, 4, 6 for Odom.

2 up on Penn, at least 4 up on the rest.

[Wayne23]

6-16, 2-7 Princeton.

2/2: 109-78. New season high for points, most points Harvard has scored in its history.

+8, +4, 81-57% (81%!).

81, 13, 2, 1, 1 for Ali, 8, 4, 6 for Camp, 11, 0, 3, 3 for Kirk.

Jim Kirk, starting SG, strained abdominals. Out about 10 days. Odom will start in his place.

2/5: #2 in the nation! #2 RPI.

2nd place Penn, 14-9, 8-2 is here, at the Fleet Center. We won by 30 there.

These guys are looking good in conf., but I don’t think they can stay with us.

2/6: 98-61. No contest.

+2, +6, 66-44%.

67, 12, 6, 1, 1 for Ali, 8, 4, 3, 1 for Carr. Everyone played except the injured Kirk.

Up 3 on Penn, 6 or more on the rest.

At 11-13, 5-6 Yale. We won by 22 at our place. They’ve lost the last 4.

2/9: 92-70, which is the same score as last time we played them.

+20, -9, 80-45%, fouls 12-23.

63, 14, 6, 3, 5 for Ali, 8, 5, 2 for Camp.

25-0, 12-0, with 2 to play in the regular season. Ali is averaging 61.2, shooting .924, also .924 on threes, 331-331 free throws, 4th in RBs. The team is averaging 92.3 points per game, also 1st in FG % and assists.

Still #2 behind 23-1 Duke.