WALLY'S WORLD: Harvard and the Amaker Effect

Tommy, take us to the Promised Land.

Blame it on my Jewish impulses—that the tribe is speaking through me—but when I think about Harvard basketball under Coach Amaker, I see it. That blessed land of milk, honey, and Southwest Regionals: the NCAA Tournament.

I’m not going to call it a buzz around campus—ask 10 Harvard students who Tommy Amaker is, and see if three could give you the right answer. But call it a faint murmur, echoing from a small desk looking out over Lavietes Pavilion.

I sat with new Harvard men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker last week to discuss his progress this summer—how the team is coming together, what the recruiting class looks like, what he expects as practices start this Friday.

And I came away from the interview with one thing on my mind: I can only hope that Harvard’s student body believes in Harvard as much as Tommy does.

In an e-mail to the H-Club, dated last Oct. 4th, Amaker let his conviction be heard—to the 200 or so students subscribed to the list.

“WE NEED YOU!!!” Amaker says, aptly utilizing the tri-exclamation point approach to bolster his point. “We believe that we can do some truly special things here at Harvard Basketball, but we need you.”

This is the same Tommy Amaker, who was National Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at Duke; who led Seton Hall, just seven years ago, to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament; who cleaned up a tarnished Michigan program, winning a NIT Championship in the process; who generated the second-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2000 while with the Pirates.

And he needs the fans, not recruits, not administrative help. He needs us.

To be fair, these glowing, totally unbiased praises of Coach Amaker must be tempered by the facts of his coaching career—a .559 winning percentage, one trip to the NCAAs in ten years, and a firing at Michigan that still looms large over this and the Wolverine program.

But these critiques don’t matter here at Harvard. At a Big Ten or ACC school, it’s the NCAAs or bust. And at a school like Duke or Michigan, with NCAA Championship banners hanging from its rafters, the pressures are even greater.

At Harvard, these faults don’t matter because our rafters are bare. At least on the men’s side—the women have accumulated enough Ivy Championships under Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith for both teams. Our pavilion can’t seat three thousand, let alone 13, 751—the capacity at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor.

And on top of this, the pressure is off Amaker because, to put it bluntly, nobody at Harvard really cares.

At least not yet.

Looking past the critiques, you will find a potential for success Harvard hasn’t seen in years.

What Amaker is going to do is bring in the best recruits in the Ivy League, hands down. He is already working on pursuing the top recruits in the nation. His name and talent precede him wherever he goes, from coast to coast. And as a result, by all accounts, he has so far been extremely successful—and he’s only in Year One.

He will also open doors to the basketball world outside of Harvard, which only experience at programs such as Duke, Seton Hall, and Michigan can bring.

Whether spurred by Amaker or not, players such as junior Evan Harris have been working with Boston Celtics’ personnel here over the summer, from former-USC guard and second-round draft pick Gabe Pruitt (one of Harris’ personal friends) to Glen “Big Baby” Davis from LSU.

Above all else, he brings the kind of big-time name and big-time status to this Harvard program that instantly makes the team a contender for the Ivy title.

The transformation is happening, but I’m still left to wonder: will anybody show up to see it?

That’s the question that clogs up my mind, as visions of sitting on press row at the NCAA Tournament go dancing through my head.

Is that dream a reality without the student body getting behind its team?

We had 1995 students attend last season’s biggest game of the year, when eventual Ivy League champion Penn came into Lavietes at the end of February.

I wonder if it’s possible to challenge the best in the Ivies without a “sixth man,” without that crowd presence that truly defines what is so special about college basketball.

As Amaker said, the team needs the student body support.

So let this be a call to arms, if you will. The Amaker Manifesto: with this coach, and with our help, a new era of Harvard basketball may truly be on the horizon.

I truly believe that I will one day see the Promised Land. I will one day lay eyes on the Harvard men’s basketball team playing in the NCAA Tournament.

I believe.

Do you?

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.