MOST IMPROVED MALE ATHLETE: Sam Winter

For all of junior guard Patrick Harvey’s in-the-paint dramatics, perhaps no play will be as widely remembered from the 2001-02 Harvard men’s basketball season as The Dunk.

Facing a strong Brown squad in a sold-out Lavietes Pavilion and on national television, junior forward Sam Winter took a nice pass from classmate Elliott Prasse-Freeman and proceeded to slam it down with authority. The dunk ended a Bears run near the end of the game and effectively sealed the win for the Crimson.

Winter, not known for his show of emotion on the court, yelped like Tarzan as he ran over to the Harvard crowd to exchange high-fives and back slaps.

“The atmosphere was absolutely great,” Winter said after the game, explaining his uncharacteristic outburst.

What was even greater was that the 6’8 Winter, from Topeka, Kan., had become an important contributor to the Crimson offense. Winter had started a dozen games as a freshman when star forward Dan Clemente ’01 went down with injury, but last season he averaged only 16 minutes per game—almost always off the bench. Averaging only 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, Winter wasn’t even Harvard coach Frank Sullivan’s first option off the bench.

But Clemente’s graduation left a huge hole to fill at the four-spot, and even though Harvard’s preseason media guide speculated Winter “might” start, his physical maturation and experience left no doubt as to who would join the other regulars.

Judging by the numbers, it looks like starting suits Winter just fine.

“It’s getting to the point where I’m more comfortable starting now,” he said in early December. “You just have to maintain energy a bit more.”

In an unexpectedly prolific junior season, Winter finished third on the Crimson in scoring with 8.9 ppg, and second in rebounds with 5.2 rpg. His 44 percent shooting was also the best among the starting five.

But those statistics don’t tell the full story of how many “big” games Winter had, especially during the Ivy season. The numbers also underestimate his improved defensive ability, hustle and acute sense of timing. During some of the Crimson’s cold outside shooting streaks, it was up to Winter to put back a few easy layups to steady the ship.

Winter officially arrived on Dec. 1 against Stony Brook, when he scored 11 points and picked up 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Eight of those boards came in the offensive end, as Winter picked up the slack for ailing junior center Brian Sigafoos.

The next week Winter had another double-double, this time at New Hampshire. He also achieved a career high in rebounds with 14. But it was when the real season began—the Ivy weekends—that Winter shined. In Harvard’s second go-around with Dartmouth in early January, Winter scored 17 points, all while controlling the Big Green’s Charles Harris, their second-leading scorer.

During the big Penn-Princeton home weekend, Winter showed he could bounce back from adversity. In the Crimson’s tough 50-48 loss to Princeton, Winter had done much of the heavy lifting with 13 points and six rebounds, but the game ended with him missing a short jumper which could have tied the score.

Instead of letting that setback drag down his play, Winter played brilliantly the next night versus Penn, scoring 12 points, hitting a clutch free throw down the stretch and teaming up with freshman Graham Beatty to contain the Quakers’ stars, Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong, in a 78-75 overtime win.

In addition to his inside presence, Winter has never been afraid to step outside and hit the big jump shot.

“[The big men] can step out and hit the threes,” Harvey said during the season. “That really opens up our offense.”

Harvard, of course, was unable to muster key wins on the road, which led to another 7-7 Ivy finish. When Winter was either well guarded or not playing well, the Crimson’s offensive woes magnified. He faded away at Penn and Princeton.

But when Harvard returned to Lavietes for its last home weekend, Winter went back down low and took control. The low post is where Winter will most likely be used in the future.

In one of the Crimson’s final games of the season, Winter put 17 points up at Yale, setting the tone for what should be an exciting senior season.

This time, there’s no question he will start.