Harvard

From Serbia to L.A. to Cambridge: Meet Harvard freshman Balsa Dragovic

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(insidesocal.com)
Balsa Dragovic’s stellar perimeter shooting should give him a chance to have an impactful freshman campaign at Harvard. (insidesocal.com)

Balsa Dragovic, a 6-foot-11 power forward, was born in Montenegro but moved to Serbia nine years ago. After attending grade school in Serbia, Balsa and his family decided that a U.S. high school would be the best choice for him. After enrolling at Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary in Montebello, Calif., Balsa was faced with not only the normal challenges of high school, but also a whole new language and culture.

Having to essentially be an adult at age 14, he adjusted well to these changes and thrived both in the classroom and on the basketball court. Basketball runs in the Dragovic family. Both of Balsa’s parents played professional basketball, and even his grandmother played basketball in her youth. Last fall, Balsa committed to continue his academic and basketball career at Harvard, where he will be a member of the Class of 2019. I had a chance to interview Balsa last month.

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Kyle Casey added to Phoenix Suns training camp roster

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Harvard 2014 graduate Kyle Casey has signed a training camp agreement with the Phoenix Suns, according to the Arizona Republic.

Casey averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds during his four-year Harvard career.

Casey has most recently played for Helios Domzale in Slovenia, averaging 12.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game. Casey also played for the Nets summer league team in 2014 after going undrafted.

Casey and teammate Brandyn Curry were involved in a 2012 cheating scandal involving 125 students, and both withdrew from the school for the 2012-13 season.

Harvard all-time moment No. 1: Crimson capture first ever Ivy title

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. We did the Crimson next because, hey, it”s their dynasty.

When Harvard players awoke on the morning of March 5, 2011, they were part of a basketball program that had never won an Ivy League basketball championship. That night, however, they would have a chance to make history. One win over Princeton would give the Crimson their first title and bury the demons of the past 50 years.

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Harvard all-time moment No. 2: Harvard stuns New Mexico

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because the Crimson wreak havoc on 10-year contracts.

Harvard won its third straight Ivy League title in 2013, but the Crimson were happy just to be mentioned on the nationally televised Selection Sunday Show, as this would be only its second NCAA Tournament appearance. When the matchup with the 11th-ranked, third-seeded Mountain West Champion New Mexico Lobos was finally announced, Harvard players and fans gulped at the daunting challenge that lay ahead. Then they sat on the edges of their seats to hear the CBS analysts’ take: “I like this New Mexico team to go to the Final Four!” Doug Gottlieb said enthusiastically. With that, the Crimson headed to Salt Lake City as 11-and-a-half point underdogs.

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Harvard all-time moment No. 3: Harvard beats Yale in 2015 Ivy playoff

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because Jonah Travis is a master Tweeter.

With 28 seconds remaining in March 7’s Yale-Dartmouth game, Harvard had a 0.41 percent chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament (according to KenPom). The Crimson needed Dartmouth to pull out a miracle victory to force a one-game playoff between Harvard and Yale, and even then the Crimson would need to win that game to earn an NCAA bid. By the time those 28 seconds elapsed, Dartmouth had taken care of the “miracle victory” part of the equation, setting the stage for an epic Ivy League battle at the Palestra between two archrivals who had split the season series.

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Harvard all-time moment No. 4: Harvard Defeats Cincinnati in the 2014 NCAA Tournament

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because its students are “fraudsters and liars” … according to 1968 Penn alumnus Donald Trump.

In 2014, the Crimson capped off a fourth consecutive “Ivy banner” season with a third straight trip to the Big Dance. A year after being huge underdogs versus New Mexico in the NCAA Tournament, however, the Crimson were a popular upset pick in the always interesting “twelve-five game.” Harvard was looking for a second straight first-round win, but Cincinnati, which had shared the American Athletic Conference regular season title with Louisville and had knocked off eventual national champion UConn, was no pushover.

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Harvard all-time moment #5: Winning the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2012

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because who needs ties?

In 2012, the season following Harvard’s first Ivy League title, the Crimson competed in “The Battle 4 Atlantis” in the Bahamas. The tournament field was stacked with high-major competition, including No. 4 Connecticut and No. 22 Florida State. The Crimson cruised against Utah, their first opponent, then faced a tougher test in the Seminoles.

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Harvard all-time moment No. 6: Harvard hangs with Michigan State in the Round of 32

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because Crimson uber-donor Steve Ballmer can stick his entire hand in his mouth.

The Sweet Sixteen was the hallowed ground Harvard had never reached since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. The only thing standing in their way in the 2014 NCAA Tournament was the seventh ranked Michigan State Spartans. Harvard held its own for much of the first half but trailed by 12 at the break. The start of the second half was no better, and Harvard trailed by 16 with 15:48 remaining. Then-senior captain Brandyn Curry nailed two threes to start a comeback for the ages.

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Harvard all-time moment No. 7: Harvard’s amazing comeback vs. North Carolina in first round of 2015 NCAA Tournament

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because …go Knicks!

March 15, 2015 was Selection Sunday, and Harvard fans and players gathered in the Murr Center in Cambridge to see who the Crimson would face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This was the fourth consecutive year the Crimson would be dancing. In the previous three years, they had faced three solid teams in Vanderbilt, New Mexico and Cincinnati. Then the brackets were revealed, and Harvard learned that this year it was matched against perennial national championship contender North Carolina. Everyone knew this year would be different.

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Harvard all-time moment No. 8: Dartmouth keeps Harvard in the dance

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We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Harvard is next because why not turn fat cells into lasers?

March 6’s bout between the Yale Bulldogs and the Harvard Crimson was the rubber match of the 2015 Ivy League season. People (like me!) called it “The Game 2.0.” Yale came into Crimson territory and left with a big win, one that seemed to ensure that the Bulldogs would go to the Big Dance for the first time in 53 years. All Yale needed to clinch sole possession of the Ivy League title was a win at Dartmouth the next night, or a Harvard loss to Brown. As for Harvard, there was only one way left for them to tie Yale for the Ivy title: Defeat Brown the following night and pray for the Big Green to shock the Bulldogs in Hanover.

The Crimson took care of business at Lavietes Pavilion, beating Brown 72-62 behind a strong second-half surge. As the Harvard-Brown game ended, a group of diehard Crimson fans in Lavietes turned their attention to the Dartmouth-Yale game, which Yale led by two with 10 minutes to go. The teams battled hard until, with 24 seconds remaining, Yale led by three and had possession of the ball. Then craziness ensued.

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