Catching up with Oliver McNally

Mark O'Meara profiles Oliver McNally and what the Branson and Harvard graduate is up to now.

McNally goes pro

Oliver McNally is headed north to play pro hoops. His teams -- Harvard and Branson -- won championships and such weren't just coincidences.

McNally looks back on his four years at Harvard

Fromer Branson backcourter Oliver McNally talks about his time at Harvard.

Vanderbilt 79, Harvard 70

In a battle of SAT scores and basketball supremacy, Vanderbilt handled Harvard tonight 79-70 so that's the season for the Crimson. Senior Oliver McNally, out of Branson High, contributed a team-leading seven assists for the Ivy Leaguers.

McNally and Harvard Big Dancin'

Theo Fightmaster offers background on Harvard's -- and thus Oliver McNally's -- entry into the Big Dance this season.

The Brothers McNally

Xander and Oliver McNally, Branson School graduates, were on the same wavelength on Saturday despite being on different coasts. The following is from Dave Albee, Associate Director of Public Relations at Dominican University:

  * On Saturday night, Xander McNally, in the final game of his Dominican career, had five steals for the Penguins in a upset win at California Baptist, allowing Xander (104 steals in 26 games) to top the nation and NCAA Division II men's basketball in that category this season. The Penguins, picked to finish last in the 10-team Pacific West Conference under first-year head coach Booker T. Harris (a member of the USF Dons' last NCAA tournament team), finished fourth and was the only team to defeat PacWest champion Dixie State in league play.

* On Saturday, Xander's brother Oliver scored 17 points and sank four clutch free throws at the end to help Harvard win a share of the Ivy League title. If Princeton defeats Penn on Tuesday night, Harvard will win the Ivy League title outright and earn its first berth in the NCAA Division II tournament since 1946.

Harvard 67, Cornell 63

Oliver McNally scored 14 points, including four straight free throws in the final 21 seconds, as Harvard won its second straight Ivy League championship tonight.

Harvard 77, Columbia 70

It went into overtime before Harvard garnered a 77-70 win over Columbia as two Bay Area talents looked good. The Crimson's Oliver McNally concluded with 12 points plus four assists while Brian Barbour of the Lions totaled 23 points, five assists and two steals.

Harvard falls short

Oliver McNally totaled six points, five rebounds and four assists but Harvard fell at home to Penn 55-54 on Saturday night.

McNally aids Harvard's win over Princeton

Now 24-3 Harvard took down Princeton 67-64 as Oliver McNally scored 13 points, going 6-6 at the foul line, including 4-4 in the last 30 seconds.

The Family McNally

From Dave Albee, the Associate Director of Public Relations ar Dominican University comes these intriguing three paragraphs:

"Xander McNally, a 6-foot-2 Dominican University of California senior guard out of San Francisco, had a game-high seven steals last night in 88-year-old Kezar Pavilion (the former home of Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and the NCAA champion USF Dons) in a Pacific West Conference win over Academy of Art of San Francisco to take over the nation's lead in steals in NCAA Division II men's basketball. He is currently averaging 3.94 steals per game and has 14 in his past two games.

Xander's parents, Rich and Vicki, were at the game last night but they are not going to Xander's game this Saturday in Belmont against Notre Dame de Namur. They're flying back east again to see their younger son, Xander's brother Oliver, play for 23rd ranked Harvard against Cornell and Columbia this weekend. Oliver is Harvard's team captain. Xander and Oliver led The Branson School in Ross in Marin County to their first ever state Div. V championship in 2006.

So you've got one McNally now playing for a nationally-ranked NCAA Div. I team in Boston and another McNally leading the nation in steals in NCAA Div. II 3,0000 miles away here in San Rafael and their parents criss-crossing the country to see them both play in their senior years"

McNally leads Crimson over Dartmouth

Here's a photo of Oliver (Branson High) McNally and the game report of his helping Harvard down Dartmouth via his 17 points, four assists, two steals, zero turnovers.

Harvard wins again

12-1 Harvard nabbed another game, 74-69 versus St. Joseph's -- former Branson Star guard Oliver McNally scored eight points and garnered seven of the Crimson's 15 assists.

Following up on three Harvard - Bay Area basketballers

We see former Branson backcourter Oliver McNally on the Harvard roster this season as well as freshman Max Hooper who played at Valley Christian but Jesuit High's Jamie Moore is absent. The 6-foot-8 Moore was on the roster last season. Anyone know what's up?

Harvard continues to roll, wins Atlantis tourney

The Harvard Crimson should be in the Top 25 rankings next week and former Branson star Oliver McNally, now a senior, is the power source increasing the effectiveness of others.

In beating Central Florida (who beat Connecticut earlier) for the Atlantis tournament championship, McNally scored but one point (on three shots) but passed for a team-leading five assists and nabbed a trio of rebounds. He's 19-19 from the foul line so far this season.

McNally leads Harrrrvard past LMU

Oliver (Branson) McNally's 16 points, four rebounds and four assists helped Harvard past host Loyola Marymount.

Some Oliver McNally love

Coach Doherty displays both his loyalty and basketball commonsense:

"@diamond83 How do you leave off San Francisco native, 3 Year Starter, 2 Year Captain @omcnally11 in your 1 min. preview of Harvard on ESPN"

McNally a senior at Harvard

Sometimes talents who migrate to the East Coast for college become forgotten by northern California fans. So with pleasure we want to note that Oliver McNally, the former Branson star, is now a senior for Coach Tommy Amaker at Harvard (plus, ex-Valley Christian sharpshooter Max Hooper is a freshman for the Crimson).

Last season, McNally started all 30 games and was a co-captain of the team. He scored 10 points per game, shooting 46% overall and 93% from the foul line.

Some prognosticators have Harvard projected in the Top 25 this season.