CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men's and Women's Basketball held its annual Crimson Madness preseason event on Friday, Oct. 17 at Lavietes Pavilion with 3-pointers, dunks, and contest winners highlighting the evening as all student-athletes and fans enjoyed the return of basketball.
Throughout the evening, fans enjoyed their first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the 2025-26 edition of Harvard Basketball. The event began with a pre-party on the Lavietes Lawn and Dillon Quad featuring music, lawn games, raffles, and more fan-friendly opportunities before team introductions inside Lavietes. From there, the night included player and fan contests, team scrimmages, performances from cheer, dance, and band, and a post-event autograph session.
Gallery: (10-17-2025) 2025-26 Crimson Madness
Basketball Challenges
Following introductions and with the support of music from DJ Blayze, the event opened with a trio of basketball challenges.
Starting off with the 3-point contest in which each contestant received 45 seconds to attempt 15 shots, junior
Mary Hollensteiner earned the women's title with a score of 11. On the men's side, first-year
Kenan Parrish took the men's title, posting a score of 10 to tie with junior
Xavier Nesbitt before tallying a score of 12 to capture the win in a tiebreaker round.
In the skills challenge – which tested players' dribbling, passing, and 3-point shooting – senior
Gabby Anderson and sophomore
Ben Eisendrath combined for the victory in a time of 26.5 seconds.
Closing out the night's basketball challenges, senior
Greg Cooper won the dunk contest with a score of 47 out of a possible 50. After assistant coach Seth Towns sent the ball off the side of the backboard, Cooper threw down a two-handed slam.
The evening's dunk contest judges included
Erin McDermott, The John D. Nichols '53 Family Director of Athletics,
Carrie Moore, The Kathy Delaney-Smith Head Coach For Harvard Women's Basketball, Chris Egi '18, Bryce Aiken '20, and Osa Okolo '17.
Team Scrimmages
After the conclusion of the basketball challenges, the two teams closed the evening with a pair of scrimmages.
In a 10-minute running clock scrimmage for the women, seven different student-athletes entered the scoring column, and the Crimson notched assists on all of their made field goals on the night.
Concluding the night with a 15-minute running clock scrimmage on the men's side, sophomore
Austin Hunt scored a scrimmage-high nine points on 3-of-4 3-pointers, junior
Thomas Batties II posted eight points on 4-of-5 field goals alongside scrimmage highs in rebounds (four) and assists (three), and sophomore
Tey Barbour netted eight points on 3-of-4 field goals and 2-of-3 3-pointers. For the scrimmage, Harvard's Black Team hit 11-of-20 field goals (55.0 percent).
Next Up
Both men's and women's basketball tip off the season on Friday, Nov. 7 in a doubleheader at Lavietes Pavilion with the men hosting MIT at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and the women hosting St. John's at 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
Men's basketball will also compete in two exhibition contests prior to the regular season opener with matchups at Providence on Oct. 25 at 4:00 p.m. and at home vs. UMass Boston on Oct. 30 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
