Though the team boasts the Ivy League's leading scorer and leading rebounder, Big Green men's basketball head coach Dave Faucher knew his team needed an impact player to improve on last year's 7-19 record. In fact, the search was narrower than that for Faucher. He needed an impact player at one position, point guard.
With that in mind, Faucher and his coaching staff packed their bags and headed west, all the way to Southern California to land this year's prize recruit, point guard Flinder Boyd. Boyd, a 6'0" ball-handler out of Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, is the one player out of the Big Green's six recruits whom Faucher expects to start immediately, a player he hopes can evolve into the Kenny Mitchell '97 prototype.
"Our first priority this year in recruiting was to get a point guard," Faucher said. "We wanted a true point guard that was real strong with the ball, a player who did not look to score but focused on passing and getting everybody involved in the offense, but could also be very strong on defense."
Not only does Faucher believe Boyd has the talent he was looking for, but he will also get a chance to prove it from the first game.
"Flinder will be our starting point guard next season. We told him that throughout the entire process."
The success of landing Boyd comes on the heels of last year's recruiting nightmare that saw highly-touted point guard Jihan Bowes-Little, also out of California, change his mind during the summer and enroll at Portland State in Oregon. Faucher is confident that scenario will not play out a second straight year with the Big Green's prize fish.
"I am fully convinced that the incident with Jihan was an isolated incident that will not occur again," Faucher said. "He was a good kid who got some bad advice and was frightened by being so far away from home."
If nabbing a point guard was the first priority on Dartmouth's wish list, adding size and versatility to the lineup was close behind. Perhaps the most interesting player in the Class of 2002 is forward Vedad Osmanovic, a 6'5" swingman from New York. Osmanovic, who is originally from Bosnia, entertained scholarship offers from Miami, Fairfield University and Manhattan College before settling on the Big Green. Joining Osmanovic in the swing man role will be Mark Kissling, a tall 6'9" forward who according to Faucher, has a strong outside shot and very soft shooting touch.
Faucher also added size to the Dartmouth frontcourt by bringing in center Jay Jenckes, a 6'11" center who should compete with Ryan Smerek '00 for playing time at the post position. The addition of Jenckes will help the Big Green offset the loss of two seven-footers over the past two seasons.
Rounding out the recruiting list are two guards, Charles Harris from Memphis, Tenn. and Nick Murphy from South Carolina. The two players are natural shooting guards, but Harris can expect to get a look at the swingman spot as well.
"We feel real fortunate to have gotten the group we got," Faucher said. "It was a long process, and to finish with the players we did is a real testimony to the hard work and effort of the assistant coaches who were constantly on the road recruiting."
Although Princeton was able to land a phenomenal class according to Faucher, the Big Green's six newcomers rank among the top classes in the Ivy League.
"Princeton has such an advantage because of their national exposure and success over the past few years," he said. "But when you look at the rest of the league, I believe the kids we have coming in are right up there after Princeton."
One thing for sure though is that the players will have to come in and adjust to collegiate play to find their respective spots in the Dartmouth program. As a result, the incoming recruits will have to make a quick adjustment if they want to see significant playing time at the beginning of the season.
"Everybody has some adjustments to make jumping from high-school to the college level," Faucher said. "The freshman who play next year will have earned the chance to be on the floor."
