From coaching changes to record-breaking performances, much happened in the world of Tufts athletics while the rest of campus was away on winter break. The Daily recaps what you missed:
Closer to the Hart
With 5:19 left in the second half of the women's basketball team's home tilt with SUNY New Paltz on Dec. 11, senior tri-captain Colleen Hart calmly stepped to the free-throw line and drained her pair of freebies. Her 17th and 18th points of the game gave the Jumbos an eight-point lead and cemented Hart's place in program history.
Hart entered the game needing 17 points to tie Teresa Allen's (LA '89) mark of 1,257 points set in 1989. For a brief spurt in the first half, it appeared as though Hart would reach the record easily. Beginning with 16:05 left in the opening 20 minutes, Hart hit a 3-pointer, two free throws, a slicing up-and-under transition layup and another 3, bringing her within eight points of history. A pull-up jumper, another layup in transition and a jumper on a fast break left Hart two points shy of surpassing Allen. When sophomore Kahsyrah Bryant was whistled for a reach-in, the record was all but secure.
"She's pretty humble, so we're not talking about it too much, but it's quite an accomplishment," coach Carla Berube told the Daily's Ethan Sturm after the game. "I'm proud of her and I'm proud of our team."
Reaching a milestone from the charity stripe is nothing new for Hart. She netted her 1,000th career point last January against Conn. College with two free throws, becoming the second Tufts player to accomplish this feat during her junior season.
After five more wins over break, the Jumbos sit at 11-2. In recent years, Tufts has grown accustomed to emerging on the winning side. Such stability comes, in no small part, because of Hart.
"It's no surprise why we've been so successful in the last three years," Berube said. "She's been our leader, our point guard, and she does it with such grace and she's humble and she'll give all of her teammates the accolades."
Out with the old, in with the new
After a disappointing 1-7 season, the football team parted ways with longtime coach Bill Samko, who stepped down on Dec. 14 after 17 seasons with the program. After the announcement, offensive coordinator Jay Civetti was named the interim head coach on Jan. 5.
With the Jumbos, Samko had compiled a 57-79 record, but struggled to find the win column in 2010 despite the debut of a new high-powered, record-setting spread offense. Tufts finished fourth in the nation in passing.
"I thought it was time; it was time to move," Samko told the Daily's Alex Prewitt after the announcement. "I've enjoyed my time here. I love the guys on the team right now, and now it's on to the next adventure. Seventeen years is a pretty long time, and sometimes you just need another voice."
In promoting Civetti, the Jumbos decided to forgo a national search for Samko's successor in the interim. Civetti arrived in 2008 at Tufts after stints at North Carolina State and Boston College. Last season, Civetti helped to restructure a previously cookie-cutter offense into a fast-paced juggernaut that averaged 323.4 passing yards per game, including a New England Div. III-record of 596 yards in October at Amherst.
"I'm very excited to announce that we have decided to elevate Jay Civetti to the position of interim head coach," athletic director Bill Gehling said in a Jan. 5 press release. "In his three years on the staff, Jay has distinguished himself. He has all the makings of an outstanding head coach with passion for the game and for coaching at this level, great organizational and communication skills, a strong coaching network and outstanding leadership qualities."
Men's lacrosse on top once again
"Lacrosse Magazine," a publication of U.S. Lacrosse, recently placed the men's lacrosse team atop its Div. III preseason rankings and voted senior attackman D.J. Hessler the Preseason Player of the Year.
In the wake of a remarkable season that saw the Jumbos capture their first-ever NESCAC title and NCAA Championship, the accolades are rolling in before the first faceoff in 2011. Despite the recognition, the team remains as driven as ever, recognizing that awards are meaningless without results.
"It always feels good to be No. 1, but it's as much a blessing as a curse," Hessler told the Daily's Phil Dear on Dec. 31. "Everyone is targeting us, so we can't let rankings or anything preseason get to our heads. In terms of accuracy, I have always felt that we have had the best team, but I don't need rankings in order to feel validated."
So how do the Jumbos prove to the nation that the No. 1 ranking is deserved? Hessler knows there's only one way.
"Winning another championship," he said. "The ranking doesn't matter until the end of the year, and even then it plays little role. We know that we have to be focused on what we can control and only that. I don't think I have heard a single word from any player about our ranking, which is good."
Men's basketball snags top recruits
The men's basketball team has already tied its 2009-10 win total and, with only two graduating seniors, appears on the cusp of breaking through in the NESCAC. With the commitment of two top recruits, things are about to become even more exciting.
CJ Moss, a 6-foot senior guard at The Taft School in Watertown, Conn., and Ben Ferris, a 6-foot-2 senior swingman at Essex High School in Vermont, will join the Tufts basketball roster in 2011, according to the New England Basketball Recruiting Report. The duo will join an already loaded group of Tufts guards who, eight games into the 2010-11 season, make up three of the team's top six scorers.
According to high school coach David Hinman, Moss, the captain at Taft, could have been a difference-maker at the Div. I level and boasts the athleticism and work ethic necessary to make an impact in the Jumbos' lineup.
"The one thing [Tufts] will find out quickly is that he'll work harder than everyone else," Hinman told the Daily's Ben Kochman on Dec. 29. "He's a gym rat, always in the weight room working on conditioning. He's probably a natural point guard, and likes to be in charge on the court, but he's also our best shooter, so I could see [Tufts] coach [Bob] Sheldon using him in different ways."
Ferris, likewise, has enjoyed success at the high school level, helping Essex win the Vermont state championship last season as a junior. He should eventually compete for a starting role at small or power forward due to a logjam at guard that includes sharpshooting sophomore Alex Goldfarb, freshman Oliver Cohen and junior Amauris Quezada. With one of the smallest lineups in the league, Tufts should continue to push the tempo like it has throughout this season.
