CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University men's basketball opens its 2023-24 season when it hosts UMass Boston on Monday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at Lavietes Pavilion.

What to Know

• Harvard and UMass Boston will meet for the first time on Monday.
• Senior forward Justice Ajogbor ranked third in the Ivy League last season with 1.4 blocks per game and added 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.9 percent from the field. In Ivy play, he ranked fourth in the conference in blocks per game (1.4) and third in field goal percentage (.603), while registering 7.1 points and 3.4 boards per game. He tallied multiple blocks in each of 13 games on the season. In the NCAA rankings, he stood 78^th in blocks per game (1.39).
• The Crimson's trip to Asheville, North Carolina last season marked a homecoming for senior forward Justice Ajogbor who played in high school at Christ School in nearby Arden, North Carolina. A native of Benin City, Nigeria, Ajogbor lost both his parents at the age of 10 in 2011. Ajogbor came to the U.S. in 2016 with host parents Gina and Greg Bridgeford after the Bridgefords met Ajogbor while serving as volunteers in Nigeria.
• Sophomore forward Chisom Okpara averaged 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, scoring in double figures nine times. In Ivy only play, he shot 54.1 percent from the field. He dropped a career-high 24 points on 10-of-13 field goals with eight rebounds vs. Siena (Nov. 20). Okpara gained Ivy League Rookie of the Week four times (Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Dec. 26, Feb. 20) as a first-year last season.
• The Crimson brings back several other veterans in the backcourt including juniors Louis Lesmond, Denham Wojcik, and Tyler Simon and sophomore Chandler Piggé. Lesmond averaged 7.9 points per game in 2021-22 before missing most of the 2022-23 season due to injury while Wojcik has played in 41 career games despite missing time due to injury last season. Piggé and Simon played in 18 and 16 games respectively last season.
• Harvard returns another pair of student-athletes in the frontcourt in senior forward Josh Hemmings and sophomore center Matt Filipowski. Hemmings played in 23 games last season while Filipowski missed much of 2022-23 due to injury.
• The Crimson welcomes five first-years to the program in the Class of 2027. The group includes guard Malik Mack – the 2022-23 Gatorade Player of the Year for Washington, D.C. – forward Thomas Batties II, and forward Luca Ace-Nasteski as well as guards Xavier Nesbitt and Payton Pitts.
• Harvard held its annual Crimson Madness preseason event on Friday, Oct. 13 as the unofficial tip-off to its 2023-24 season. Throughout the evening, fans enjoyed their first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the 2023-24 edition of Harvard basketball. The event began with a pre-party on the Lavietes Lawn for Harvard undergraduate students before team introductions. From there, the night included a skills challenge, a 3-point contest, team scrimmages, and a post-event autograph session.
• In August, Harvard announced that the Crimson's men's basketball locker room will be renamed in honor of Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball, following his eventual retirement thanks to a generous donation from the Shutzer family in a first-of-its-kind honor at Harvard and across the Ivy League. Amaker will be the first Black coach in Harvard history – and in the Ivy League – to inspire such a naming gift.
• Harvard took part in a comprehensive experience during its 2023 Foreign Tour in Canada from August 20-26, including several cultural and sightseeing stops across the three cities in which it visited – Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. In Montreal, the Crimson visited St. Joseph's Oratory and Mount Royal before taking a jet boat tour of the St. Lawrence River. In Ottawa, Harvard toured Parliament before a luncheon at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Cohen. In Toronto, the Crimson visited CN Tower – the tallest free-standing structure on land in the Western Hemisphere.
• On the court in Canada, sophomore forward Chisom Okpara led the Crimson with 15.0 points per game alongside 6.5 rebounds per game while junior guard Evan Nelson tallied 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and a team-high 3.8 assists per game. Junior guard Tyler Simon posted 11.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and a team-best 3.5 steals per game, senior forward Justice Ajogbor averaged 8.3 points and team highs in rebounds (7.5) and blocks (2.5) per game, and sophomore guard Chandler Piggé added 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
• The Crimson tipped off the 17^th year of The Breakfast Club in September with featured guests at the group's first meeting of the year including NBA great Doc Rivers, former Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu '07, JD '12, and Massachusetts Governor and Harvard women's basketball alumna Maura Healy '92.
• Prior to the 2023-24 academic year the Harvard community lost a giant in the passing of Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, one of the co-founders of The Breakfast Club when head coach Tommy Amaker arrived at Harvard.
• Junior guard Evan Nelson will take part in The Team's Engaged Athlete Fellowship as the organization unveiled its inaugural cohort for the 2023-24 academic year. This innovative program is designed to inspire and cultivate the leaders of tomorrow, focusing on a diverse cohort of 28 student athletes from all corners of the country.
• Junior guards Evan Nelson and Denham Wojcik are set to serve the Crimson as captains during the 2023-24 season.
• As a team in 2022-23, Harvard ranked second in the Ivy League in scoring defense (66.4), 3-point percentage defense (.322), and steals per game (7.54) and third in rebounding margin (4.0) and blocks per game (3.82).
• In Ivy play only last winter, the Crimson led the conference in offensive rebounds per game (10.5), and blocks per game (3.79), while ranking second in rebounding margin (3.9) and scoring defense (68.6) and third in steals per game (7.14) and 3-point percentage defense (.333).
• In the national rankings, Harvard stood 26^th in fewest fouls per game (14.6), 47^th in rebounding margin (4.0), 65^th in steals per game (7.5), and 68^th in scoring defense (66.4).
• Highlights from the Crimson's non-conference schedule include the season and home opener against UMass Boston on Nov. 6, trips to the cities of Houston (at Rice on Nov. 10), Indianapolis (at Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Nov. 26), and Chicago (at Loyola Chicago on Dec. 2), and a week of contests against Bay State rivals – vs. Northeastern (Nov. 14), at Massachusetts (Nov. 17), and at Boston College (Nov. 18).
• Junior guard Evan Nelson will miss the 2023-24 season after suffering an Achilles injury during the team's trip to Canada. He averaged 8.4 points, a team-best 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game last season, while shooting 38.8 percent from 3-point distance and 81.0 percent from the free throw line. In Ivy play, he tallied 9.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.
• Junior forward Bennett Pitcher has medically retired after sustaining a knee injury during the team's trip to Canada. He missed the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons due to knee injuries.
• Harvard brought on board a pair of new support staff members in the offseason, including director of basketball operations Tripp Doherty and strength and conditioning coach Dexter Taylor. Doherty previously served on the Crimson staff from 2014-17.
• In 2022-23, the Crimson captured the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award for the ninth straight season, marking the longest active streak in the Ivy League. Harvard's seven NABC Honors Court honorees tied the school record set in 2021-22.
• In 2022-23, Harvard posted a record of .500 or better for the 13^th time in the last 14 competitive seasons. 

Next Up

Harvard plays at Rice University in Houston, Texas on Friday, Nov. 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. CT) on ESPN+.