Athlete of the Week

Any basketball coach in his right mind would probably ask his young freshmen to take an easy two-point jumper before moving further back to risk the three. But Yale Coach James Jones must think twice when it comes to Scott Gaffield, JE '04. Gaffield is the team's highest-scoring freshman, and with 5.2 points per game, he ranks fifth overall on the squad. What is exceptional, however, is that 17 of Gaffield's 21 field goals this season have been three pointers. He is 17-for-49 (.349) from beyond the arc, and along with fellow freshman Paul Vitelli, MC '04, Gaffield keeps the pressure on the defense even when he's not close to the basket.

On Mon., Dec. 11, Gaffield scored 17 points against Rhode Island, including five three-pointers. Fourteen of his points came in the second half, during which Yale scored 46 but failed to close the gap, losing 68-63. On Mon., Dec. 18, he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Despite his amazing personal success, Gaffield remains focused. "Individual recognition is nice, but we haven't won too many games yet," he said. "I think we'd all like a little more team success—the individual honors can wait." Gaffield said that one of the reasons he chose to play basketball at Yale was that he "felt that the coaches were really committed to building a quality program here." "We still have a long way to go," he said,"but we have a lot of potential."

For a team to realize its potential, it needs a strong leader. For Gaffield, Jones is just that."I really like playing for him," Gaffield said. "He's demanding, but in a really fair way. He does his absolute best to get the most out of all of his players."

Gaffield definitely gave his all during high school at the Glebe College Institute in Ottawa, Ont. After a senior year in which he led a 26-7 team by posting an average of 24 points, seven rebounds, and five assists per game, the Toronto Star named him first team All-Ontario and second team All-Canada.

Even for one of Canada's best, Division I basketball can be intimidating at times. "It's a big jump up from Cana-dian high school basketball," Gaffield said. "But I think I'm starting to figure out how I can help the team the most." He expects improvement in the remaining 15 games of the 2000-2001 season, 14 of which are Ivy League showdowns."We can do pretty well this year, but I have to improve my consistency, and so does our team in general," he said.

Gaffield and the Bulldogs will have ample opportunity to improve this weekend as the team goes on the road to challenge Harvard and Dartmouth in its first Ivy games of the season. The games are a good chance for long-range specialist Gaffield to take aim, let his shots fly true, and help make Yale's first Ivy road trip a memorable one. Photo by Julia Tiernan.

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