Fear the Turtleneck

Since arriving at Harvard in 2007, Crimson coach Tommy Amaker has transformed the men’s basketball team from an Ivy League cellar-dweller into the winningest squad in the program’s history.

After posting an 8-22 record in his first season, Amaker and his teams have improved each year of his tenure, the last two of which were the most successful in the Crimson’s history.

But Amaker is no stranger to winning.

As a player and coach at Duke University, Amaker went to the NCAA Tournament a combined 12 times, winning the national championship twice as an assistant coach.

After his time in Durham, N.C., Amaker moved from the ACC to the Big East where he was hired as head coach at Seton Hall. In four years with the Pirates, Amaker brought Seton Hall to three NITs and one NCAA Tournament in 2000.

That year, the Pirates, led by former NBA player Eddie Griffin, reached the Sweet 16 before eventually falling to Oklahoma State.

In 2001, Amaker took over a Michigan basketball program still reeling from scandals from the previous decade. The team improved under Amaker, going from 11-18 in his first season to 22-13 in his final year, but its failure to qualify for an NCAA Tournament resulted in his firing.

In 2007, Amaker joined the Crimson, taking over for former head coach Frank Sullivan.

Since arriving in Cambridge, Amaker has posted a 66-50 overall record and 31-25 conference record.

Last season was his most succesfull with the Crimson, as he guided Harvard to a share of its first-ever Ivy League title. But once again, his squad was unable to earn a March Madness bid after giving up a heartbreaking buzzer-beater in the Crimson’s one-game playoff against Princeton. Harvard was forced to settle for its first NIT berth in program history.

Amaker’s recent success caught the eyes of some outside programs. Last spring, the University of Miami made a special trip to recruit Amaker to fill its coaching vacancy, but Amaker declined the offer.

With Amaker still in Cambridge, the Harvard coach is currently the second longest continuously tenured coach in the Ivy League. And now entering his fifth season, Amaker seems poised to make a return to March Madness.

—Staff writer Taryn I. Kurcz can be reached at tkurcz13@college.harvard.edu.