Men's Basketball: Ricketts continues comeback with big weekend

Late last season, Matt Ricketts, TD '98, could only watch the action from the bench. He missed six games during the second half after a serious back injury.

At the outset of this season, Ricketts struggled, as did the Bulldogs, who had a 2-5 start. But the Elis (10-10 overall, 5-3 Ivy) have won six of eight games, and now face two tough contests against Pennsylvania and Princeton. Yale has to be encouraged by the play of Ricketts, who has suddenly emerged as one of the team's go-to men.

Last weekend was a breakthrough for Ricketts. On Fri., Feb. 6, in the Bulldogs' heartbreaking 54-52 loss at Columbia, Ricketts stepped up with a career high 22 points as captain and leading scorer Emerson Whitley, SY '98, struggled. The following night against Cornell, Ricketts broke his career mark again, this time with 23 points in the Bulldogs' 78-63 win.

Head coach Dick Kuchen has been pleased with Ricketts' emergence. "Ricketts knows the system," he said. "He responds very well to pressure and works well under it, which is very helpful since we've had very competitive games."

Ricketts feels his recovery from injury has smoothed his return to the court. "I'm older and my role on the team has changed," Ricketts said. "I'm a healthier player."

"He was plagued with injury the last half of the season last year and had to miss many games, but now he's as strong as ever," Jason Williams, PC '00, said.

--Alice Kim

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