Harvard Club of Washington, DC

Coach Tommy Amaker on the Growth of Harvard Basketball: Dinner, Drinks and Discussion.

Dinner/Drinks and Discussion.Cost $35 for HCW Members/$45. for Nonmembers. As this is a catered event, please no walk-ins.

Nichols Family Director of Athletics Bob Scalise formally introduced Tommy Amaker as the head coach of men’s basketball at Harvard April 13, 2007. He begins his sixth season at the helm in 2012-13.

Amaker, who holds a 268-195 career head coaching record, posted a 108-84 ledger at Michigan and a 68-55 record at Seton Hall. Amaker, who has guided the Crimson to the postseason in each of the last two seasons, is 92-56 at the helm of Harvard.

Amaker, who won two NCAA championships and advanced to five Final Fours as an assistant at Duke before embarking on a successful head coaching career at Seton Hall and Michigan, has been quick to adapt to his new surroundings as a member of the nation’s most prestigious university.

In 2011-12, Amaker and the Crimson continued the national ascent, earning the program’s first ever rankings in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. The Crimson also qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1946, as the team reached the second round. Harvard advanced as high as No. 21 in the coaches poll twice and was rated No. 22 in the AP poll in early January, as the Crimson began the year 24-3, a program record. Harvard’s 7-0 start in Ivy League games also marked a program-best, and the Crimson upped its program record home win streak to 28 games, finishing the year 11-1 at Lavietes Pavilion. For his effort, Amaker was named the USBWA and NABC District Coach of the Year, as well as the College Insider Ivy League Coach of the Year. Amaker was also tabbed a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award and the Hugh Durham Award for coaching and was selected as a candidate for the Associated Press National Coach of the Year.

The Crimson won its second straight Ivy League title and finished 26-5 and 12-2 in the Ivy League. Harvard’s 26 wins marked the most in program history for a single season. Harvard defeated Utah, No. 20 Florida State and Central Florida to win the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in November, and later defeated Boston College for the fourth consecutive season. Following the regular season, Amaker was honored as the USBWA District I Coach of the Year.

In 2010-11, Harvard has established several program records, including wins (23), conference victories (12) and home wins (14). The Crimson defeated an opponent from the Big XII for the first time (Colorado) and bested Boston College for the third straight season. Harvard also earned a share of its first Ivy title, doing so in front of its home crowd at Lavietes Pavilion by topping Princeton, 79-67. The Crimson also participated in the NIT for the first time in program history, facing Oklahoma State in the first round. Following the season, Amaker was honored as an NABC All-District Coach of the Year, as well as the CollegeInsider.com Ivy Coach of the Year. He was also named a finalst for the Ben Jobe and Hugh Durham coaching awards.

During the 2009-10 campaign, Amaker guided the Crimson to one of the finest years in program history, as Harvard posted a 21-8 record, reaching a new high in victories in a season.  In addition, the Crimson went 10-4 in Ancient Eight contests and earned a non-conference victory at Boston College for the second straight season.  Following the regular season, the Crimson garnered a spot at the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, marking the first postseason appearance for Harvard since the 1945-46 season when the team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Amaker’s 2008-09 recruiting class was quickly tabbed as one of the nation’s 25 best by ESPN - an accolade never before bestowed upon an Ivy League institution. Amaker’s seven-person recruiting class features numerous premier high school names from seven different states.

Harvard had several milestone victories in 2008-09. Chief among them was a convincing 82-70 victory over 17th-ranked Boston College - fresh off a victory against the nation’s top-ranked team. The Crimson also earned its first win at Penn since the 1989-90 season while topping eventual league-champion Cornell at home. He also led Harvard to a road victory at Yale - its first victory at Lee Amphitheater since the 1998-99 campaign. In all, Amaker’s club won seven road games to lead the Ivy League in that category.

Amaker’s Crimson pulled off some of the more notable performances around the Ancient Eight during the 2007-08 season as well. Despite having just one senior on its roster, Amaker and the Crimson pulled off a 62-51 victory over Michigan on national television.

Amaker came to Harvard after six years as Michigan’s head coach. Inheriting a program that was reeling from institutional and NCAA sanctions, he led the Wolverines to the postseason three times, winning the 2004 NIT title, reaching the championship game of the 2006 NIT, and advancing to the second round of the 2007 tournament. The 2006-07 season was Michigan’s second straight 20-win campaign and its third in four years. The Wolverines were ranked at high as No. 20 in the nation during the 2005-06 season.

In his sixth and final season at the helm of the Maize and Blue squad, Amaker not only led the Wolverines to their second consecutive 20-win season, but their third in four years. Amaker’s first head coaching position was at Seton Hall, where his teams reached the postseason every year during his tenure. He led the Pirates to the NCAA round of 16 in 2000 and to three appearances in the NIT. He was credited with bringing in the top recruiting class in the country for the 2000-01 season, including the national high school player of the year.

Amaker was named head coach at Seton Hall following nine years as a graduate assistant, assistant coach, and associate head coach at Duke, working with legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski. He was an assistant on two NCAA championship teams with the Blue Devils (1991, 1992) and helped Duke to three other Final Fours in eight NCAA tournament appearances. Duke was a combined 230-80 in Amaker’s nine years on the Blue Devil coaching staff.

Amaker has been the head coach of six players who were either drafted, or signed as free agents, by NBA clubs, including two first-round draft picks.

Amaker’s coaching career followed a highly successful playing career at Duke. He was a four-year starting point guard, helping the Blue Devils reach the NCAA tournament four times. He led Duke to the 1986 NCAA championship game as part of a 37-3 season, and he earned All-America accolades in 1987 while serving as team captain. Amaker was the 1987 winner of the Henry Iba Corinthian Award as the nation’s top defensive player, and he was enshrined in the Duke Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.

Amaker’s playing career also includes a gold medal as part of the U.S. national team at the 1986 World Championships.

A 1987 graduate of Duke with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Amaker was selected by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1987 NBA draft. He is a former member of the board of directors for USA Basketball and was a member of the Men’s Collegiate and Men’s Senior National Committees with USA Basketball, where he helped select members of the 1996 U.S. Olympic gold medal team.