The recruits:
SG Tommy Balcetis – 6-5, 190 lbs – Holderness School (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Balcetis is an excellent shooter with a great stroke from three-point range. Stanford was interested in the Lithuanian last summer and hosted him for a campus visit, but his stock seemed to fall over the past year. He had expressed interest in Penn and Princeton during his senior season, but in the end he’ll be matriculating to Harvard. Perhaps because of his involvement with Stanford, Balcetis received by far the most national recruiting attention of any 2006 Harvard recruit. There are concerns about his quickness and the other aspects of his game, but there’s no question about his shooting ability.
SG Alek Blankenau – 6-3, 180 lbs – Southeast HS (Lincoln, NE)
Another long-range threat, Blankenau is a late bloomer who didn’t play varsity basketball until his junior year of high school. His relatively low scoring average (13.2 points per game) led to him being somewhat of an under-the-radar recruit for the Crimson. But the Second Team All-City selection shoots the three-pointer very well (43.8 percent as a senior), and that has to intrigue the Harvard coaches.
SG Darryl Finkton – 6-3, 200 lbs – North Central HS (Indianapolis, IN)
Finkton joins the program as an unrecruited player, though he could end up making an impact. Those who have seen him play praise his effort and hustle, as evidenced by his team-high rebounding total while standing just 6-3.
PG Jeremy Lin – 6-2, 180 lbs – Palo Alto HS (Palo Alto, CA)
Lin led Palo Alto to a 32-1 record and the Division II California state title with a huge upset of nationally ranked SoCal powerhouse Mater Dei in the CIF championship game — in which the 6-2 guard led his team with 17 points. His game isn’t flashy or even particularly smooth, but in high school he made the plays when they mattered. The San Francisco Chronicle Boys Player of the Year averaged 15.1 points 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.8 steals per contest as a senior, and opted for Harvard over offers to walk on at Stanford and California.
PF Pat Magnarelli – 6-7, 215 lbs – Duxbury HS (Duxbury, MA)
Magnarelli is the recruit those around the Harvard program are most excited about. With similar size and athleticism at the four spot, Magnarelli has drawn comparisons to Crimson great and fellow local product Matt Stehle. The power forward led Duxbury to the Division 2 Massachusetts state championship and was named to the Boston Globe‘s Super Team and the Boston Herald‘s All-Scholastic Team. In four years as a starter, Magnarelli tallied 1,436 points, 1,012 rebounds, and 258 blocks. If he lives up to the hype, don’t rule out the possibility of him approaching those numbers collegiately at Harvard.
PF Doug Miller – 6-7, 220 lbs – Winchester HS (Winchester, MA)
Miller’s stock rose dramatically during a senior season that saw him carry Winchester to a shocking appearance in the Division 2 title game at the TD Banknorth Garden, where they lost to Pat Magnarelli’s Duxbury team. Miller is more of a conventional post player than Magnarelli, relying more on his size and strength than quickness and athleticism. Brown and Dartmouth showed interest, but ultimately the big man elected to stay close to home.
The fit:
With Stehle and Mike Beal leaving with their sheepskins and Brian Cusworth strangely prepared to play only the first semester, this is a key recruiting class for Frank Sullivan, whose squad will open Ivy play with three new starters for the second straight season. Add in the very real possibility that Sullivan’s job is on the line this season, and the stakes are even higher.
As the heir apparent to Stehle at power forward, Magnarelli should get every chance to start from day one. Sullivan has been willing to throw freshmen into the fray in the past, and there’s an opening at his position this season. Miller may find playing time tougher to come by — at least the first semester while Cusworth is still around. Sophomores Kenyon Churchwell and Evan Harris are also going to be in the mix for frontcourt minutes this season, and one of them may end up starting in the middle once Cusworth departs.
Drew Housman and Jim Goffredo are locks to start at point guard and shooting guard, respectively, which leaves an opening on the wing. Expect Balcetis and sophomore Andrew Pusar to battle for minutes at the three, while Lin figures to be a top backcourt reserve. If three-point shooting is a problem this year for Harvard as it has been in recent years, Blankenau could get a look as well.
Based on the scouting reports and evaluations, it appears Harvard is bringing in three future starters in this class, with Magnarelli projecting as a potential All-Ivy player. Losing out on Mustafa Abdul-Hamid hurts a lot. The St. Louis guard would have looked great in crimson, but he opted to walk on at UCLA over the offer from Harvard. Without Abdul-Hamid, the class is merely average by Ivy standards.
