NBA Players Who Went to Harvard

While Harvard is, most notably, known for their rigorous academia and distinguished academics, the school has produced a number of notable NBA and basketball players.

And while Harvard is not particularly known for their basketball team, who compete in the NCAA Division I Ivy League, a number of star basketball players have been drafted to, and made an impact on, the NBA.

Below, we are going to review the best NBA players who went to Harvard, proving both their intellectual and athletic prowess in the process.

Quick History on Harvard

Harvard University is one of the most-renowned universities in the world. A world-class university, Harvard University was established in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard. Having started in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.

A private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious universities. Notable alumni have roots with the university, including eight United States president’s, 188 living billionaires, and a slew of global company founders and CEO’s.

Although Harvard University is one of the most competitive universities to attend, with an annual acceptance rate of just 5%, the university has a total endowment of $53.2 billion.

And in terms of athletics, including basketball, soccer, and baseball, Harvard University offers intramural sports programs for both the undergraduate and graduate programs.

With the school colors officially recognized as crimson, the university fields 42 intercollegiate sports teams in the NCAA Division I Ivy League, which is more than any other college in the country.

In addition, every two years, the Harvard and Yale track and field teams come together to compete against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team in the oldest continuous international amateur competition in the world.

However, and as with other Ivy League universities, Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships.

Jeremy Lin

Perhaps the most famous NBA player who went to Harvard is none other than Jeremy Lin. The former NBA superstar who attended Harvard University between 2006 to 2010 was actively recruited by Harvard once Bill Holden, the assistant coach, saw that Lin had the, “instincts of a killer.”

In addition to having attended Harvard University, Lin is also the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA and he is the first Asian American to win an NBA championship, having won one with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

Ed Smith

Ed Smith was a former NBA player who attended Harvard University between 1948-1951. Playing for the New York Knicks, Ed Smith was drafted with the sixth pick in the first round of the 1951 NBA Draft by the Knicks.

He made his NBA debut in the 1953–54 NBA season and played in eleven games where he averaged 2.5 points per game and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Wyndol Gray

Wyndol Gray is another former NBA player who attended Harvard University, albeit briefly. Having attended Harvard University for one season, from 1945-46, he led the team to their first NCAA tournament appearance.

After his time at Harvard, Gray played on the first Boston Celtics team in 1946–47. He played in 55 of the team’s 60 games and finished third on the team in scoring at 6.4 points per game.

The following season, the Celtics traded Gray to the St. Louis Bombers. Eleven games into his Bombers career, Gray was again traded, this time to the Providence Steamrollers. Gray’s Steamrollers career lasted only one game before he retired.

Saul Mariaschin

Saul Mariaschin played college basketball for both Syracuse University and Harvard University. However, having played for Syracuse University for one season, he took a hiatus to join the United States Navy during World War II.

Once he returned, he joined Harvard University and helped the team reach its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. He would sign with the Boston Celtics and play for the team in the 1947-48 season.

Wesley Saunders

Wesley Saunders was a former Harvard basketball player who played for both Dolomiti Energia Trento of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroCup Basketball.

He played for Harvard for four-years, averaging 12.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 120 games. In his senior year at Harvard, he averaged career-highs of 16.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, earning him the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2014.

Although Saunders was undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, he joined the Utah Jazz for the 2015 NBA Summer League and signed with the New York Knicks in September of 2015.

His time in the NBA was short-lived and Saunders would go on to join the Italian club Vanoli Cremona.

Harvard Basketball Players Who Opted Out of the NBA

While, for many of us, making it to the NBA is a dream come true, for many Harvard University graduates, the opportunity to make it to the NBA did materialized but they chose differing careers.

Below is the list of Harvard University basketball players who were drafted to the NBA but opted on different careers.

• George Hauptfuhrer – George Hauptfuhrer was selected third in the 1948 BAA Draft after playing for Harvard but opted to pursue a career in law.

• Glenn Fine – Glenn Fine is a former principal deputy Inspector General of the Department of Defense and former Acting IG of the Department of Defense. He graduated with an A.B. degree in economics from Harvard and was co-captain of the varsity basketball team. Although he was selected a 10th-round pick by the San Antonio Spurs in 1979, he accepted a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University.