The Tufts Men's Basketball team, which won only eight games during the 2003-04 season, re-ignited basketball excitement on the Tufts campus last winter with 16 wins and a second-place finish in NESCAC. Most emblematic of the team's progress was the individual growth of senior Reggie Stovell, its best player. The 6'5", 220-pound forward became a force on the court, averaging 18.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

Equally impressive was how he worked through adversity to emerge as a team leader along with classmates Jesse Belodoff and Drew Kaklamanos. They worked with the coaching staff to replace the negative attitude surrounding the team with a desire to achieve together. Unhappy with the team situation during his first three seasons, reacted with what he now admits was selfish play. With one more season to do something about it, Reggie rededicated himself during the summer and returned to campus a new man. With a commitment to team play, he was awarded a role as team captain during the preseason after not being voted for the role following the previous year.

Among many achievements this year, he scored a season-high 29 points to lead Tufts to its first victory against Williams since 1995. He was a three-time NESCAC Player of the Week and was named to the All-NESCAC First Team.

"I was happy for him as a human being to be able to come through what he's done," Coach Bob Sheldon said. "It changed the way he thought about things. He changed himself for the team, and to see the payoff was very special."

There has always been more than basketball to this 2005 Tufts graduate. At Tufts he also expressed himself artistically by writing poetry. Some of his work was published in Onyx, a campus magazine. And English/communications major, he graduated with a grade point average over 3.0 and listed reading and chess among his other interests.