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Loyola’s Brett Harvey Makes The Greyhounds Go
January 8, 2010Stacy Karten
Contributing Editor
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In what has been a storied basketball career to date for Loyola University’s Brett Harvey, the senior guard says his fondest memory occurred just last month when he was instrumental in the Greyhounds’ 72-67 upset victory over the University of Indiana on Dec. 22 in Bloomington. Mr. Harvey paced Loyola with 25 points, five assists and four rebounds.
After leading 46-28 at the half, Loyola saw former national champion Indiana battle back and take the lead, 65-62, with just under four minutes remaining. At that point, Mr. Harvey took over the game. He made one of two foul shots, then stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup to tie the score at 65. After Indiana failed to score on its trip down the floor, Mr. Harvey hit a three-point attempt, was fouled in the process, and converted the free throw for a four-point play. The Hoosiers were again denied from scoring, Loyola regained possession, Mr. Harvey was fouled and sank both foul shots, giving him nine straight points to ice the win.
Playing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Loyola recorded its first-ever win against a Big Ten team in eight tries.
“This was one of the greatest wins in our school’s history, along with the win that put us in the NCAA Tournament in 1994,” said Mr. Harvey. He said to win on the road against Indiana was fantastic, especially with many Loyola alumni in attendance. “This game showed we could play with any team,” remarked Mr. Harvey. In what seemed like a “David and Goliath” match on paper, for the Greyhounds it also had the similar feeling that was depicted in the famed basketball movie “Hoosiers,” in which a small Indiana high school bests the perennial powerful team. “Coach Patsos [Loyola head coach Jimmy Patsos] did mention the movie before the game,” noted Mr. Harvey. For his efforts in the Indiana game, Mr. Harvey was named co-Player of the Week in the MAAC for the second time in his career.
“Brett is a very, very good player who is a great competitor. I have seen great players who aren’t competitive. We are lucky to have him as a player and a person,” said Coach Patsos.
“It’s amazing how many games he has won for us,” said Joe DelBalso, Loyola’s assistant director of athletics. Mr. DelBalso cited, as an example, a game against Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., last January when Mr. Harvey hit a 35-foot shot at the buzzer to force overtime. The Greyhounds went on to defeat Marist for the first time. “Brett is also one of the nicest kids I have ever been around,” Mr. DelBalso remarked.
According to Mr. DelBalso, Mr. Harvey is the only Jewish student-athlete on the campus of the Jesuit college, with a student population of around 3,800, so it begs the tongue-in-cheek question: What’s a nice Jewish boy doing in a Jesuit school?
“I was committed to Manhattan College [starting the fall semester of 2006], but the basketball coach left in August so I withdrew my commitment. Coach Patsos called me and said the team could still use me,” recalled Mr. Harvey, who had been recruited by Loyola. “I liked the school, the campus and Baltimore. I was assured by Coach Patsos that being Jewish would not be a problem,” added Mr. Harvey. His religion has not been an issue whatsoever, says Mr. Harvey. “The only required course I have to take is a theology class and that isn’t really a Catholic course,” he noted.
Coach Patsos has been especially supportive and respectful of Mr. Harvey and his Judaism, understanding when Mr. Harvey has to be away for major Jewish holidays, for example. In fact, Coach Patsos says he has some knowledge of Judaism as he was mentored from age 20 to 40 by a Jewish man in Washington, D.C., Robert Ades. “We have learned a lot from Brett,” said the coach.
Growing up as a Reform Jew in Rockland County, N.Y. (Mr. Harvey was born in Yonkers) and attending Temple Beth Shalom where he became a bar mitzvah, Mr. Harvey usually goes home for the High Holidays. New York City has a large Jewish population and Mr. Harvey says he attended a bar or bat mitzvah almost every week when he was 13.
“Coach Patsos has been supportive and interested in my religion,” said Mr. Harvey. In fact, it was Coach Patsos who alerted Mr. Harvey about the tryouts for the Team USA basketball team that would compete in the 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel last summer.
“I got him the tryout. I got him in the gym. The rest was up to Brett,” Coach Patsos explained.
“Coach Patsos told me about the tryouts in Los Angeles last spring. I really wanted to make that team badly. A lot of players tried out and I found out in April that I made the team,” said Mr. Harvey. The men’s basketball team was coached by Bruce Pearl, head coach for the University of Tennessee, and the U.S. squad went on to win the gold medal in an overtime championship game against Israel. “I didn’t do anything spectacular [on the court] but it was a lot of fun,” remarked Mr. Harvey. His first trip to Israel was nonetheless a memorable one. “We spent the first week touring the country. We saw Masada, Jerusalem and the [Western] Wall,” said Mr. Harvey, just to mention a few of the highlights. He says it was exciting to see all of the places and history in Israel that he learned about in Hebrew school. “I told our players that this wasn’t just about Brett playing in the Maccabiah Games, but that he went to Jerusalem,” said Coach Patsos.
The Maccabiah Games were not Mr. Harvey’s first taste of a Jewish athletes-only sports competition or international play. “As a sophomore in high school I played for my JCC basketball team in the Maccabi Games. I remember the games were held in New Jersey and we didn’t win any medals,” Mr. Harvey said. The jersey he wore in the Israel games last summer was signed by all the players and the coach and is on display at the Rockland County JCC. He was also a member of a college all-star team that played in the Netherlands and Belgium in the summer after his freshman season at Loyola.
Mr. Harvey’s parents, Richard and Stacy Harvey, also traveled to Israel to watch their son play. Needless to say, his parents are his biggest fans. “My parents and my aunt and uncle come to just about every game,” Mr. Harvey said, beaming. Mr. Harvey also has a sister, Alexa, who attends Syracuse University. Richard Harvey, a chiropractor, was a skilled basketball player himself, having played for Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.
During Loyola’s Jan. 2 game against Rider College, a 68-66 nail-biting victory for the Greyhounds, Mr. Harvey’s mother and sister were in attendance. They had just flown in from a vacation in Mexico — Richard Harvey had to get back to his office — and Mrs. Harvey and Alexa kept Mr. Harvey updated on the game’s progress by text messaging him. “Playing at Loyola has been a wonderful experience for Brett. I wasn’t concerned about him attending this school. He is levelheaded. Jimmy has been fantastic, too,” said Mrs. Harvey, who noted that they have family friends in Baltimore who would welcome Brett at their home and temple during holidays.
The elder Mr. Harvey introduced basketball to Brett at an early age. “I played all sports — hockey, basketball, baseball and football — so there was no pressure to play basketball in particular,” the younger Mr. Harvey remembered. Basketball became his favorite sport and he had the talent to play the game well. “I played in rec leagues. I was in four leagues at a time and on a travel team,” said Mr. Harvey. He starred at Clarkstown North High School in New City, where he was only one of three players to score 1,000 points in their careers at the school. As a senior, he averaged 22 points and seven assists per game. Mr. Harvey was the Rockland County Player of the Year and named to the All-New York State Section I Team. He also was selected to play in the annual Wheelchair Classic in New York City.
“This is a fund-raising tournament to benefit a hospital. The Bronx plays Manhattan and Queens plays Brooklyn, then the winners meet. We also go into the hospital to do some work with the people in wheelchairs,” explained Mr. Harvey, who noted this was a very emotional experience.
As Mr. Harvey gravitated to basketball growing up, he followed the New York Knicks as his favorite team. “I also admired watching Allen Iverson [of the Philadelphia 76-ers] play and more recently I enjoy watching Steve Nash [of the Phoenix Suns],” said Mr. Harvey. It is probably no coincidence that those two NBA stars attracted Mr. Harvey’s interest as, like him, they are guards who are not very big by NBA standards. They use their quickness, ball handling and shooting skills to help their teams.
Standing just 6 feet 1 and weighing only 175, Mr. Harvey brings a variety of abilities to the basketball court to compensate for his stature in a sport defined by size. “I can do a little bit of everything. I’m a good shooter and my ability to shoot the three causes the other teams to defend me differently. I also play good defense,” said Mr. Harvey.
But there is one area of the game in which Mr. Harvey truly excels and that is his foul-shooting ability. He is a career .856 percentage free throw shooter and last season he led the nation by sinking 91 percent of his shots from the charity stripe when he converted 142 out of 156 attempts. As a comparison to another area star, Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez was 22nd in the country with an .867 percentage (111 out of 128). In December of 2008 Mr. Harvey made all 31 free throws that he attempted, part of a string of 47 straight successful foul shots.
“One day during practice before the season started last year, Brett told me he wanted to lead the country in foul shooting,” recalled Mr. DelBalso. “We were joking around when I said that,” quipped Mr. Harvey, but his jesting turned into reality. The old joke about someone asking how you get to Carnegie Hall — practice, practice, practice — certainly applies to Mr. Harvey. He takes a few hundred foul shots a week in practice and he performs the same exact routine before every free throw. “I have been doing this since my sophomore year in high school. I get the ball from the referee, I bounce it three times, I spin the ball once, I bounce it twice, I spin the ball once, I bounce it once, I spin the ball once then release the shot,” Mr. Harvey explained. Regarding watching the highly paid professionals who struggle at the foul line, Mr. Harvey says, “It drives me crazy,” although he marvels at the athleticism, strength and size of today’s players. This season (as of Jan. 4) Mr. Harvey has achieved an .882 free throw percentage by making 45 out of 51 attempts. “Brett has a mental toughness that enables him to make his foul shots,” said Coach Patsos.
Another valuable trait that Mr. Harvey brings to his team is leadership, especially as one of four seniors on the squad. “As a senior, I try to help out and especially show it’s important to play hard every game,” he said. Mr. Harvey also gladly meets with prospective Loyola University basketball recruits who visit the campus to extol the virtues about the school and its basketball program.
Seth Gelblum of Mount Washington, a 16-year-old who plays for the Park School junior varsity, attends several Greyhounds games every season and admires Mr. Harvey. “He plays a very fundamental game. I like the way he can take over a game,” said Seth.
When Brett Harvey’s collegiate basketball career comes to an end, he will have left his mark in various ways on the school and the program. He joined a rebuilding program under Coach Patsos during which the Greyhounds have won 18, 19 and 12 games during Mr. Harvey’s first three seasons and are 8-5 this year. In a game against Canisius on Dec. 5, he became the 30th Greyhound to score 1,000 points in his career when he hit a three-pointer and he is on pace to become the school’s all-time leader in games played with 120 when the game against Manhattan tips off on Feb. 7. “Playing the most games means a lot to me. I never thought anything like this would happen. I’m very proud and happy,” Mr. Harvey said.
Mr. Harvey’s last home game at Reitz Arena on Feb. 28 will be against Manhattan College, the school that almost benefited from his enrollment, and it will be senior day as he and fellow seniors Garrett Kelly, Tony Lewis and Jawaan Wright will be honored before the game. “It will be my last game here. It will be sad, but it has been fun playing here,” he reflected. Fellow senior Tony Lewis, of Fredericksburg, Va., said he has enjoyed being Mr. Harvey’s teammate for four years. “He’s been great. We roomed together our first year. We were the only two to come into the program that year. With Brett it is the team first. He goes hard all the time, whether it’s practice or a game,” Mr. Lewis said. Mr. Lewis added that he has learned about some of the Jewish holidays from Mr. Harvey. Added Mrs. Harvey, “It seems like only yesterday that we got the call about Brett coming to Loyola. What will we do next winter?”
Majoring in communication with an advertising/public relations emphasis, Mr. Harvey would prefer to stay involved with basketball after graduating. “I would like to play in the Israel pro league, then perhaps get involved in college coaching,” he said. Coach Patsos believes Mr. Harvey has the ability to play in Israel or in Europe. First, though, is the remainder of this season and the MAAC tournament in Albany, N.Y., in March where, maybe, Brett Harvey and the Greyhounds can extend their season by emerging out of the 10-team conference with an NCAA berth.
The Brett Harvey Profile
Senior Guard, Loyola University, Baltimore, Md.
Height: 6-1
Weight: 175
Age: 21
Hometown: New City, N.Y.
High School: Clarkstown North Collegiate Career Highs
Points: 34 vs. Tennessee State, 11/16/08
Free Throws Made: 13 vs. Niagara, 12/7/08
Rebounds: 10 vs. Manhattan, 12/9/07
Assists: 11 vs. Manhattan, 12/9/07
Led NCAA in free throw percentage in 2008-09 with 91.0
Member Team USA men’s basketball in 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2009