Harvard Crimson men's basketball

Harvard Crimson
2024–25 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team
University	Harvard University
Head coach	Tommy Amaker (17th season)
Conference	Ivy League
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Arena	Lavietes Pavilion (capacity: 1,636)
Nickname	Crimson
Colors	Crimson, white, and black [1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1946
NCAA tournament round of 32
2013, 2014
NCAA tournament appearances
1946, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Conference regular season champions
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019

The Harvard Crimson men's basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Harvard University. The team currently competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and plays home games at the Lavietes Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts. The Crimson are currently coached by Tommy Amaker.

History

Tommy Amaker era

On April 11, 2007, Tommy Amaker was named men's basketball coach at Harvard University. ^[2] On January 7, 2009, Amaker's Harvard squad defeated then-ranked Boston College (#17 AP Poll/#24 Coaches' Poll) for the first win over a ranked team in the program's history. ^[3] The following season, after Amaker coached Harvard to its most successful season ever behind the play of Jeremy Lin, the 2009–10 team was invited to participate in the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The team was defeated in the first round by Appalachian State. ^[4]

2023-24 team members: Justice Ajogbor, Chisom Okpara, Louis Lesmond, Chandler Piggé

Amaker led the 2010-11 team to a share of the 2010–11 Ivy League men's basketball season championship, which was school's first men's basketball Ivy League Championship since the league was formed during the 1956–57 season. ^[5] Harvard finished the season a perfect 14–0 at home, ^[5] which surpassed the prior season's school record of eleven home wins. ^[6] The team's 12 conference game wins established a school record. ^[7] The team's victory over Colorado was the team's first ever against a Big 12 Conference opponent since that conference commenced play in 1996. ^[8] His fourth season also marked the fourth straight season that the team defeated at least one power conference opponent. ^[9] By finishing as Ivy League Co-champion, they faced Princeton in a one-game playoff and lost by a score of 63–62. ^[10] Harvard earned an automatic bid to the 2011 National Invitation Tournament, but was defeated by Oklahoma State by a 71–54 margin in the first round. ^[11] The final record of 23–7 surpassed the prior season's total of 21 wins for the most in the history of the program.

The team appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2014, where Harvard upset 5-seed Cincinnati 61–57 before being eliminated in the round of 32 by 4-seed Michigan State by a score of 80–73. ^[12] In 2015, Harvard tied with Yale for the Ivy title with an 11–3 league record. Despite having lost to Yale 62–52 at Lavietes Pavilion on March 6, 2015, just eight days later Harvard won a playoff between the two at the Palestra in Philadelphia to determine the Ivy League's NCAA automatic bid by a score of 53–51. Harvard thereby achieved its fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance while extending Yale's 53-year NCAA tournament appearance drought. ^[13] Harvard was eliminated from the 2015 NCAA tournament by UNC by a score of 67–65 after leading with under one minute to play in the game. ^[14]

Harvard stood at 10-4 in the Ivy league during the 2019-2020 season when the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. ^[15] The entire 2020-2021 Ivy League men's basketball season was cancelled due to the continuing COVID-19 crisis. ^[16]

At the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season, Amaker's record at Harvard stood at 264-152. ^[17]

Financial aid and recruiting

Another key to Harvard's recent success in basketball has been a 2006 change in the school's financial aid policy. Although the Ivy League strictly prohibits athletic scholarships, Harvard has adopted an aid scheme that makes the school far more accessible to low- and middle-income students. Under current policy, all students (not just athletes) from families with annual incomes less than $180,000 pay at most 10% of family income, and those with family incomes under $60,000 receive full scholarships. According to Jay Hart of Yahoo! Sports,

With the financial barrier to entry lifted, an offer to play basketball at Harvard became instantly competitive with the rest of the world of collegiate athletics, where full-ride scholarships are (purportedly) the only currency. ^[18]

Postseason results

NCAA tournament results

The Crimson have appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament five times. Their combined record is 2–6. Until their appearance in the Tournament in 2012, they had gone 66 years without making an appearance, the longest drought in NCAA history.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1946		Elite Eight	Ohio State	L 38–46
		Regional 3rd Place	NYU	L 61–67
2012	12	Second round	Vanderbilt	L 70–79
2013	14	Second round	New Mexico	W 68–62
		Third round	Arizona	L 51–74
2014	12	Second round	Cincinnati	W 61–57
		Third round	Michigan State	L 73–80
2015	13	Second round	North Carolina	L 65–67

NIT results

The Crimson have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament three times. Their combined record is 1–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	First round	Oklahoma State	L 54–71
2018	First round	Marquette	L 60–67
2019	First round Second round	Georgetown NC State	W 71–68 L 77–78

CIT results

The Crimson have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament once. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2010	First round	Appalachian State	L 71–93

Notable players

Crimson in the National Basketball Association

Bold denotes active player. ^{[lower-alpha 1]}

• Wyndol Gray
• Jeremy Lin
• Saul Mariaschin
• Ed Smith

Crimson in international leagues

• Lou Silver

Notes

1. A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.

References

1. "Color Scheme" (PDF). Harvard Athletics Brand Identity Guide. July 27, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
2. Picker, David (2007-04-14). "Amaker Brings Baggage to Harvard". The New York Times . Retrieved 2010-04-02.
3. "Lin powers Harvard to rare upset over No. 24 BC". ESPN.com . 2009-01-07. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
4. "Harvard 71 (21–8, 10–4 Ivy), Appalachian St 93 (23–12, 13–5 Southern)". ESPN.com . 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
5. "Harvard tops Princeton 79-67 to share Ivy title". ESPN. 2011-03-05. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
6. "Amaker Named Finalist For Jobe Award". Harvard University. 2010-03-10. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
7. "2010-11 Highlights" (PDF). Ivyleaguesports.com. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
8. Kessler, Martin (2010-11-29). "Harvard Men's Basketball Notches First Win Over Big 12 School: Crimson easily handles Colorado, 82-66, at Lavietes Pavilion". Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 2011-03-06.
9. Walsh, Timothy J. (2010-11-29). "NOTEBOOK: Crimson Tops BCS Foe For Fourth Straight Year". Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 2011-03-06.
10. "Princeton KO's Harvard on last-second jumper to earn NCAA bid". ESPN. 2011-03-12. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
11. "Oklahoma State routs Harvard in NIT opener". ESPN. 2011-03-15. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
12. Lee, Tariq (23 March 2014). "NCAA tournament 2014: No. 4 Michigan State ends Harvard's run". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
13. Longman, Jere (14 March 2015). "Late Shot Extends Harvard's Run and Yale's Drought in Ivy League". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
14. Spies-Gans, Juliet (20 March 2015). "Right On Their Heels: Men's Basketball Falls to North Carolina, 67-65, in Final Minute". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
15. "2019-20 Harvard Crimson Men 's Gamelogs".
16. "Ivy League cancels basketball season for 2020-21 as part of ban on winter sports due to COVID-19".
17. "Tommy Amaker Coaching Record".
18. Hart, Jay (March 14, 2012). "Coach Tommy Amaker and a generous financial-aid policy turn Harvard into a hoops haven". Yahoo! Sports . Retrieved March 17, 2012.

External links

• Official website