NY Times Rips Harvard Recruiting Under Amaker

[Atlanta Duke]

I doubt Harvard was looking for this sort of pub when it hired Coach Amaker

In a New Era at Harvard, New Questions of Standards

The group of six recruits expected to join the team next season is rated among the nation’s 25 best. This is partly because Harvard Coach Tommy Amaker, who starred at Duke and coached in the Big East and Big Ten conferences, has set his sights on top-flight recruits. It is also because Harvard is willing to consider players with a lower academic standing than previous staff members said they were allowed to. Harvard has also adopted aggressive recruiting tactics that skirt or, in some cases, may even violate National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/sp...02harvard.html

[arnie]

Typical NY Times hatchet job.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Typical NY Times hatchet job.

As usual, their investigative reports are long on accusations and short on facts. I’m only surprised that they didn’t accuse him of having an affair.

To be sure, programs at larger universities would be delighted to have players with the academic standing of Amaker’s new recruits. Scalise said that other Ivy League programs also considered Harvard’s recruits.

Then what’s the problem?

Two former Harvard assistant coaches, Bill Holden and Lamar Reddicks, said they adhered to even tougher standards under Coach Frank Sullivan. Last season’s team, they said, had an average of 206, the highest in the league by a significant margin. Sullivan, who in his 16 seasons won and lost more games than any other Harvard basketball coach, was fired after the season. Amaker did not rehire Holden and Reddicks.

It sounds like sour grapes to me.

The 6-foot-10 center Frank Ben-Eze from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va., embodies the change in Harvard’s basketball recruiting. He orally committed to Harvard over traditional powers like Marquette, West Virginia, Virginia and Penn.

In what league does Penn play? In fact, Penn used to be accused of bending the rules all of the time when they were winning the Ivy League title.

[Devilsfan]

It's the New York Times, what do you expect? This was once a great newspaper, so I am told. Its moto was "only the news that's fit to print". Too bad it has fallen to such a low image as it has today.

[Classof06]

“Sounds like there’s a lot of jealousy and also sounds like people are trying to protect the status quo for their programs,” Scalise said.

Yup.

[Devilsfan]

Sounds like there are too many Columbia grads working there.

[prefan21]

What on earth has happened to the New York Times

[Indoor66]

As usual, their investigative reports are long on accusations and short on facts. I’m only surprised that they didn’t accuse him of having an affair.

To be sure, programs at larger universities would be delighted to have players with the academic standing of Amaker’s new recruits. Scalise said that other Ivy League programs also considered Harvard’s recruits.

Then what’s the problem?

Two former Harvard assistant coaches, Bill Holden and Lamar Reddicks, said they adhered to even tougher standards under Coach Frank Sullivan. Last season’s team, they said, had an average of 206, the highest in the league by a significant margin. Sullivan, who in his 16 seasons won and lost more games than any other Harvard basketball coach, was fired after the season. Amaker did not rehire Holden and Reddicks.

It sounds like sour grapes to me.

The 6-foot-10 center Frank Ben-Eze from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va., embodies the change in Harvard’s basketball recruiting. He orally committed to Harvard over traditional powers like Marquette, West Virginia, Virginia and Penn.

In what league does Penn play? In fact, Penn used to be accused of bending the rules all of the time when they were winning the Ivy League title.

Penn plays in the Ivy League and, along with Princeton, has dominated the league.

[FireOgilvie]

I honestly don't see a problem with this article. They are showing both sides of the story and I don't think the article is biased.

[oldnavy]

Thank goodness it wasn't printed in the National Enquirer, someone might have believed it!

[Richard Berg]

What on earth are you people complaining about? The NYT is one of the nation's finest papers, and the recruiting violations they list are quite specific.

[duke74]

What on earth are you people complaining about? The NYT is one of the nation's finest papers, and the recruiting violations they list are quite specific.

"All the news that fits the tint"

[mgtr]

What on earth are you people complaining about? The NYT is one of the nation's finest papers, and the recruiting violations they list are quite specific.

All the news that fits, we print.

[dukie8]

As usual, their investigative reports are long on accusations and short on facts. I’m only surprised that they didn’t accuse him of having an affair.

To be sure, programs at larger universities would be delighted to have players with the academic standing of Amaker’s new recruits. Scalise said that other Ivy League programs also considered Harvard’s recruits.

Then what’s the problem?

you are kidding, right? you don't think that harvard has slightly higher academic standards than, say, arkansas, memphis or georgia?

It sounds like sour grapes to me.

it certainly sounds like the ex coaches are the source of the story but that doesn't change the fact that it appears that harvard has been recruiting players woefully light on the academic front.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

What on earth are you people complaining about? The NYT is one of the nation's finest papers, and the recruiting violations they list are quite specific.

You're being sarcastic, right?

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Penn plays in the Ivy League and, along with Princeton, has dominated the league.

I knew that. I was making fun of the fact that the NY Times reporter lists an Ivy League school, Penn, as a traditional power. If that is the case, then what is the problem with Harvard beating out another Ivy League school for a recruit.

[dukie8]

I knew that. I was making fun of the fact that the NY Times reporter lists an Ivy League school, Penn, as a traditional power. If that is the case, then what is the problem with Harvard beating out another Ivy League school for a recruit.

because upenn has much lower standards than harvard has until this year. i don't understand why you find it offensive that the nyt (a paper that i usually find to be a complete rag) ran an article today about how the standards that harvard usually follows have more or less been tossed out the window in the name of winning.

it would be like duke football dropping its standards and snatching a recruit from [pick another acc school] that it would not have been able to recruit but for the standards lowering. that would be newsworthy to me.

[roywhite]

Did pick up a piece of information in the NYT article that I was not aware of---former Blue Devil player Kenny Blakeney is Amaker's "top assistant". Sounds also that they are concentrating on the Washington DC metro area, which would be familiar ground for both Tommy and Kenny.

It's up to Harvard to determine how they want to run their program, but I don't see much wrong with this direction, and wish Amaker well.

[mgtr]

Seems to me that if you are never competitive in a conference, then you need to change your coach, change your recruiting, or change your conference.

[Jarhead]

I guess this ends their status as "Duke of the North."