You can read all about Harvard’s Jeremy Lin in this story in today’s paper. Lin has overcome a lot of stereotypes about Asian American basketball players and a had a successful career at Harvard. But what makes the senior guard so effective on the court? The answer: it’s hard to say.

When asked the question, Lin struggled to come up with an answer. After thinking, he finally said he’s a slasher and tries to play as fast as possible while staying under control.

Despite not having picture-perfect form on his jumper, Lin shot 50.2 percent from the field and 40 percent on 3-pointers last season. Lin averaged 17.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals last year. Backcourt mate Oliver McNally said it takes time to appreciate all of the things Lin does on the court.

“Even hearing from everybody around me that this dude is really good, as bad as it sounds, you really have to see it to believe it,” McNally said. “Other teams, I’m sure they hear from their coaches that this guy’s legit – he’s a top 100 player in the country. But you really have to see it to believe it.”

(more…)

Boston University forward Scott Brittain will miss tonight’s home opener against George Washington (tips off in about 10 minutes at Agganis Arena) as he recovers from a concussion. Brittain, a senior forward, suffered the concussion last month and is out indefinitely.

Without the 6-foot-9 Brittain, new BU coach Patrick Chambers will throw a small starting lineup at the Colonials. The Terriers will start three players under 6-foot-3, with Jake O’Brien and Valdas Sirutis serving as the only big men. O’Brien, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, did most of his damage from the perimeter last season, but will need to be more of a presence in the post with Brittain sidelined. Sirutis was a reserve last year, but will start  in Brittain’s absence. Jeff Pelage, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound sophomore, should also see an increase in playing time.

The Colonials, who are coached by former BU assistant and Roxbury native Karl Hobbs, went 10-18 last season. GW is young, starting two freshmen and a sophomore, and showed some of those fresh legs in warm-ups. Before the referees took the court, the Colonials lay-up lines turned into an impromtu dunk contest, with a number of impressive throwdowns in the mix. While that will likely have no bearing on tonight’s game, it was fun to watch.

Northeastern will make its season debut at Siena today at noon on ESPN as part of the network’s 24-hour season tip-off marathon. The Huskies have high expectations for this season and this will be a tough test out of the gates, as the Saints return four starters from last year’s team that advanced to the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament. It was the second consecutive season the Saints reached the second round.

You can check out Rich Thompson’s Northeastern preview in today’s paper here.

In other local action, Boston U. looks to rebound from a season-opening loss when it hosts George Washington tonight at 7 at Agganis Arena. Fans can catch that game on NESN.

Boston College takes aim at a 2-0 start when it squares off with St. Francis (NY) tonight at 7 at The Heights. The Eagles will once again be missing Rakim Sanders, Corey Raji and Courtney Dunn. The trio was suspended for the first two games of the season for a violation of team rules. They will be eligible to return to the lineup on Friday when the Eagles face Saint Joseph’s in the first round of the Paradise Jam tournament in St. Thomas.

Maxie Esho, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, has signed his National Letter of Intent to attend UMass. Esho is currently playing at Lee Academy in Maine and will join the Minutemen next year.

Esho played his AAU ball for the DC Assault, a powerhouse program in the nation’s capitol that has become a pipeline for second-year UMass coach Derek Kellogg. Esho will join former Assault players and current UMass freshmen Javorn Farrell, Terrell Vinson and Raphiael Putney.

Esho averaged 12 points and eight rebounds for the Assault and averaged 14 points and seven rebounds at Henry Wise High School before moving on to Lee Academy.

“He is another very long and athletic player with great upside,” Kellogg said in a press release. “We have watched him grow as a person and a player for the last couple of years and I know the UMass fans will be excited to get to know him on and off the court. We are looking forward to him having a great senior year at Lee Academy and then coming to UMass. He has the length and athleticism that is necessary for the type of players we want to coach here at UMass.”

Sure you’re still shaking your head over how that Patriots’ game ended, but check out this shot by Harvard’s Jeremy Lin. The video pretty much tells the story but here’s a quick synopsis: In the third overtime of Sunday’s game against William & Mary, Harvard trailed by a point with four seconds remaining after a driving layup by the Tribe’s Sean McCurdy.

The Crimson wisely in-bounded the ball to Lin, who raced up the right the side of the court. As he crossed half court, Lin was bumped by McCurdy. A foul was called as Lin let a desperation shot fly from about midway between the 3-point line and midcourt. Lin took away the potential drama of any pressure-packed free throws by draining the shot, giving Harvard an 87-85 win.

It was the highlight of another stellar performance from Lin, who finished with 19 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 46 minutes. The win improves the Crimson to 2-0. The play next on Friday at home against Bryant.

UPDATED Mon. at 10 a.m. – Lin’s play was ranked the No. 3 play of the weekend on this morning’s SportsCenter.

The Harvard basketball team will look to improve to 2-0 when it hosts William & Mary today at 2 p.m. The Crimson got 24 points from Jeremy Lin to beat Holy Cross 87-77 in their season opener on Friday.

William & Mary dropped its season opener Friday, 75-67, at UConn. Despite the loss, it was an impressive performance for the Tribe to hang with the No. 12 team in the country on the road.

When talking about this game last week, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker — though careful not to predict a Tribe loss to UConn — anticipated a hungry squad would arrive at Lavietes Pavilion this afternoon.

“I see it as a huge game for us. I’m sure they’re going to look at it the same way,” Amaker said. “Having gone to Connecticut and then playing us –  I’m not saying they won’t beat Connecticut — but odds are Connecticut will be favored. Looking at teams that are struggling out of the box in terms of getting wins, I think that’s going to be a critical matchup for both teams. Being that we’re home, it’s incredibly important for us to try to get a homestand and get out of the box early here with our kids. I think that’ll be a fiercely competitive, (hard) fought ball game. No question about it.”

Amaker talked about trying to find a balance with the out-of-conference schedule. He wants it to be challenging, but balanced. With trips to UConn, Boston College and Georgetown next month certainly signaling the challenging portion of the schedule, today’s game fits more into the balanced category. But Amaker doesn’t expect it to be easy.

“We had a very tough game with them at their place last year,” Amaker said of his squad’s 67-54 loss at William & Mary last December. “We played well. They had a tough year last year overall and return a few of their better players. That’s the kind of game we were interested in playing.” 

The college basketball season tip-offed for most of the local Div. 1 programs last night. Here is a quick round-up of the action:

• Boston College 89, Dartmouth 58:  Despite missing three players due to suspension, the Eagles cruised past Dartmouth (0-1). With only seven scholarship players in uniform, Tyler Roche picked up the slack. The senior forward had a career-night, pouring in 30 points on a blistering 10-of-12 shooting from the field (4-of-5 on 3-pointers). The Eagles (1-0) will again be without starters Rakim Sanders and Corey Raji as well as reserve big man Courtney Dunn for Tuesday’s home game against St. Francis (NY). The trio was suspended for two games by coach Al Skinner for an unspecified violation of team rules.
• Harvard 87, Holy Cross 77: The Crimson’s Jeremy Lin was the difference in this competitive matchup. The senior guard had 24 points (10-of-13 at the free throw line) and seven assists. More importantly, Harvard (1-0) got contributions from its young supporting cast. Lin’s backcourt mate, sophomore Oliver McNally had 11 points while freshmen Dee Giger (13 points) and Kyle Casey (12 points) got their college careers off to a good start. The Crusaders (0-1) were led by Andrew Keister’s 22 points and eight rebounds.
• Iona 82, Boston University 73: Patrick Chambers took a tough loss in his debut as BU’s coach. The Terriers (0-1) had four starters in double figures, led by Tyler Morris‘ 21 points, but weren’t able to contain the Gaels. Iona (1-0) shot 46.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range (12-of-24).
• Central Florida 84, UMass 67: Central Florida (1-0) pulled away in the second half, as UMass fired away often from 3-point range (school-record 38 attempts), but not successfully (12 makes, for a 31.6 percentage from downtown). Ricky Harris led the Minutemen with 15 points, but the rest of the starting lineup combined for just 14 points. UMass (0-1) got a jolt from its bench, with Anthony Gurley (14 points) and Freddie Riley (12) providing some offense.

The Herald has confirmed a report that three Boston College basketball players have been suspended two games for a violation of team rules, meaning they will miss tonight’s season opener at home against Dartmouth, as well as Tuesday’s home game against St. Francis (NY). The players are starters Rakim Sanders and Corey Raji and reserve Courtney Dunn.

The story was first reported by Foxsports.com.

This marks the third consecutive year the Eagles will be short-handed for their season debut. Tyrese Rice, who is now playing professionally in Greece, was suspended for last year’s opener for violating team rules. Two years ago, Rice and then-starting forward Shamari Spears were benched for a game for playing in an unsanctioned game.

The college basketball schedule is in full swing this weekend, with most teams making their season debuts. Harvard and Holy Cross will come out of the gates tonight at 7 in Worcester in what should be a physical battle.

The squads met last November, with Harvard pulling out a 69-59 win at home. That game was a slugfest, with the teams combining for 42 turnovers and 6-for-31 3-point shooting. The Crimson were led by Jeremy Lin, who scored a career-high 30 points. Lin is now a senior and is the leader of a team that is hoping to contend for an Ivy League title.

Holy Cross was picked by the league’s coaches and sports information directors to win the Patriot League this season. The Crusaders return four starters from a team that was a game away from reaching the NCAA Tournament last year, falling to American in the conference championship game. The Crusaders are led by sophomore guard R.J. Evans, who was named Patriot League rookie of the year after averaging 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds last season.

While the core players return, the program underwent a major change in the offseason. Coach Ralph Willard, who compiled a 192-117 record and led the Crusaders to four NCAA tournaments in 10 seasons, left to join Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville as an assistant. Sean Kearney was tabbed as Willard’s successor after spending the last nine seasons as the associate head coach at Notre Dame.

(more…)

I was at Harvard Monday afternoon to speak to coach Tommy Amaker for our season preview (which will run on Friday). Amaker spoke at length about his team’s outlook, and his optimism has a way of rubbing off.

Cornell returns the entire starting lineup from last year’s Ivy League championship team so naturally the Big Red are the favorites in the conference this season. But Amaker is positioning the Crimson to challenge for the top spot. He returns some key players and for the second straight year he brought in a sizable recruiting class as he makes his imprint on the program.

The Crimson won eight games in Amaker’s first season and improved to 14-14 last year, but only went 6-8 in the Ivy. Amaker will need to rely on his recruits, as the roster has four seniors, no juniors, seven sophomores and seven freshmen. Obviously relying on so many young players will result in some growing pains, but there are some pieces in place for the Crimson to give Cornell a run.

(more…)