Tommy Amaker | |
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Sport(s) | Basketball |
Current position | |
Title | Head coach |
Team | Harvard |
Record | 66–50 |
Biographical details | |
Born | June 6, 1965 |
Place of birth | Falls Church, Virginia, U.S. |
Playing career | |
1983–1987 | Duke |
Position(s) | Point guard |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1988–1997 1997–2001 2001–2007 2007–present |
Duke (asst.) Seton Hall Michigan Harvard |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 242–189(.561) |
Tournaments | 2–1 NCAA 10–6 NIT 0–1 CIT |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
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Awards | |
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Records | |
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Medal record | ||
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Men’s basketball | ||
Competitor for United States | ||
FIBA World Championship | ||
Gold | 1986 Spain | USA |
Harold Tommy Amaker (born June 6, 1965) is the current head coach of the Harvard University men's basketball team. He has also served as head basketball coach for the University of Michigan men's basketball team and at Seton Hall University. He played point guard and later served as an assistant coach at Duke University under Mike Krzyzewski. As an All-American player, he set numerous records and earned many recognitions. As an NCAA Division I college basketball coach, he took Seton Hall to the post season in each of his four seasons as their coach, helped Michigan win the National Invitation Tournament the year after a probationary ban from postseason play, and had the winningest season in school history in the third season with Harvard.
As a player, he set most of the assists records and many steals records for Duke Blue Devils men's basketball. He also set the Atlantic Coast Conference single-season games played and games started records. His 40 games played and started for the 1985–86 team remained as tied but not broken conference records through the 2010–11 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season. His assists records were broken by subsequent Duke point guards Bobby Hurley and Steve Wojciechowski. He also held the Duke career steals record for fourteen years. In addition to single-season games records, he holds the record for career consecutive starts. Among his numerous accolades, he was the first winner of the NABC Defensive Player of the Year for his defense, and he was a third team All-American.[1]
As a coach, he took Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball to postseason tournaments (NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament – 2000 and National Invitation Tournament – 1998, 1999, and 2001) in each of his four seasons as their coach. He dealt with the turmoil and self-imposed sanctions of the University of Michigan basketball scandal in his first years with Michigan, where he eventually won the 2004 National Invitation Tournament with the 2003-04 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team and finished as the runner-up with Michigan in the 2006 National Invitation Tournament. Previously, he served 9 seasons as an assistant coach for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball under Krzyzewski. His first four season, were the part a 5-year streak of final four appearances by Duke (including back-to-back national championships).
In his tenure as Harvard men's basketball coach, he was the first coach to lead the Crimson to victory over a ranked opponent with the 2008–09 team. He also coached the 2009–10 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team into the postseason (2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament) in his third year there, which included the highest single-season victory total (21) in school history. The 2010–11 team became the first Harvard men's basketball team to clinch a share of the Ivy League championship and surpassed the prior season win total. The 2011–12 team became the first in school history to appear in the AP and Coaches Polls.
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Falls Church native Amaker's selection of Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia was controversial. Amaker's mother was a Fairfax County teacher, which at the time gave her the freedom to choose where her son went to high school. She felt Amaker would be able to play on the varsity team at Woodson as a freshman, because coach Red Jenkins had been impressed with Amaker's youth summer league game performances since the time Amaker was ten years old. Amaker's dominance at Woodson has been cited as the reason why teachers do not have the same freedom to choose that they formerly did.[2] Amaker did earn the starting job by December of his freshman year.[2]
His mother, a high school English teacher, was his first coach. While growing up without a father in the house, Amaker was treated to the finest that his mother could provide. His mother attended his practices and graded papers in the coaches' office.[3] His coach, Jenkins, referred to him as "T-bird".[3]
Amaker, who grew up in Fairfax, was the first freshman to make varsity in W.T. Woodson history. He played on the 1983 McDonald's All-American Team and was also named to the Parade All-American team.[4] Krzyzewski had been in town to evaluate Johnny Dawkins and got a chance to see Amaker play. Amaker had wanted to play for the Maryland Terrapins because his sister Tami went there and he idolized Maryland star guard John Lucas.[3] He was recruited to Duke by assistant coach Chuck Swenson, who would later serve as an Amaker assistant.[3]
Amaker was a star point guard at Duke, starting as a freshman for head coach Krzyzewski. He led the team in assists three years and in steals four seasons.[5] While at Duke his roommate for away games was Mike Brey.[3] The three-point shot became a permanent part of the game during his senior season and he led the team that year.[6] In his senior season, he was named the first winner of the Henry Iba Corinthian Award, given to the national defensive player of the year.[7] Amaker also won a gold medal as a member of the US national team in the 1986 FIBA World Championship and the 1986 Goodwill Games.[8][9] Amaker was selected as a 1987 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American third team member by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.[1] He was selected to the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament All-NCAA Final Four Team and the 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament All-Midwest Regional Team.[10] In the 1987 tournament he led Duke in scoring in its final two games.[11] He was a 1987 All-ACC 2nd-team selection and earned the team co-MVP award with Danny Ferry that year.[12] He served as team captain that season.[13]
As a freshman and sophomore he led Duke to the NCAA Tournament in 1984 and 1985, but neither team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.[14][15] As a junior in 1986, he was part of a team that finished as national runner-up in the NCAA Tournament to Louisville. That year he recorded 81 steals. At the time, that was second to Jim Spanarkel in Duke history.[16] He set the career steals record, which stood until Shane Battier broke it in 2001.[16] Amaker also holds the Duke single-year NCAA Tournament record with 16 steals in 1986.[16] During that tournament, he had seven steals in two different games—against Old Dominion in the second round on March 15 and Louisville in the final on March 31. This stood as the Duke single-game NCAA tournament record for seven years until Grant Hill had eight. His 36 steals in 12 career NCAA games for a 3.0 average continues to be a Duke NCAA tournament career record.[12] As a senior, he led Duke back to the NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to eventual champion Indiana.[17]
As a player, he set many Duke career and single-season assists records including single-season assists (241, 1986–90), single-season assists to turnover ratio (2.88, 1985–97), career assists to turnover ratio (2.11, 1987–98), career assists per game (5.1, 1987–93), and career assists (708, 1987–92). They were broken by Hurley (single-season assists, career assists, and career assists per game) and Wojciechowski (single-season assists to turnover and career assists to turnover ratio). Although his single-season assists records was surpassed by Hurley's freshman, sophomore and senior season totals, it still stands as a record for a Duke junior.[16] He also held Duke's career NCAA tournament assist average record with 57 in 12 games for a 4.7 average until Hurley surpassed it with 145 in 20 games for a 7.3 average.[12] His school single-game assists record of 14 tied on vs. Miami, 2/19/1986 was not broken until Hurley's senior 1993 season and is still a record for a junior.[18]
Amaker holds several Duke and ACC records for games played. Mark Alarie and Johnny Dawkins have also started 40 games for Duke and both Ferry and Billy King have played 40 games. Amakers 138 consecutive games started surpassed Alerie and Dawkins' totals of 133.[16] His 138 consecutive games played was a Duke record until Chris Duhon played 144 in a row ending in 2004.[19] Consecutive games started is not shown in the 2009–10 Atlantic Coast Conference Media Guide records section. However, no ACC player has ever played more than 40 games in a season.[20]
Following his career, he was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 3rd round of the 1987 NBA Draft with the 55th pick overall.[21] He was regarded to be too small to play in the NBA at 6 feet (1.8 m) and 155 pounds (70 kg).[2] He did not make the Sonics team and spent three days with the Wyoming Wildcatters of the Continental Basketball Association in Casper, Wyoming. He quickly decided he wanted to return to Duke to pursue a Master of Business Administration.[3]
In 1988, after graduating, Amaker took a position on Krzyzewski's staff as a graduate assistant at Duke and the team reached the Final Four of the 1989 NCAA Tournament. He would then serve as an assistant coach from 1989–97, during which time Duke won two NCAA Championships (1991 & 1992) and made two other Final Four appearances (1990 & 1994).[7] By 1992, Duke had been to five consecutive final fours. While an assistant, he declined numerous Division I head coaching opportunities.[22] During his tenure, Duke won four regular season Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball championships (1991, 1992, 1994 and 1997) and an the 1992 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament.
In 1997, Amaker took the head coaching position at Seton Hall,[22] who had missed the post season in the two prior years.[23] At 31, Amaker became the youngest head basketball coach in Big East Conference history.[22] As a head coach, Amaker took Seton Hall to the NCAA tournament once (2000) – when his team reached the "Sweet Sixteen" (third round) – and to the National Invitation Tournament three times (1998, 1999 and 2001).[24][25]
The 1997–98 Seton Hall team earned the sixth seed in the 1998 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament, but were ousted in the first round by eleventh-seeded Boston College in overtime in the first round.[26] They ended up in the 1998 National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to the Georgia Tech to fall to 15–15.[23] After returning Seton Hall to the post season, Amaker was considered for the Michigan job.[27] However, Michigan decided to make interim coach Brian Ellerbe a full-time head coach.[28]
The 1998–99 Seton Hall team earned the ninth seed in the 1999 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament and beat eighth-seeded Notre Dame in the first round before being beaten by one point by top-seeded Connecticut, who went on to win the national championship.[29][30] They were invited to the 1999 National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to the Old Dominion and again finished 15–15.[31]
While at Seton Hall, Amaker recruited the #2 recruiting class in the nation for the class of 2000, according to ESPN.[32][33] The class consisted of Eddie Griffin, (ranked by some as the top high school player in the nation),[34] Andre Barrett, and Marcus Toney-El. The Pirates were ranked high on many experts pre-season rankings.[32] The 1999–2000 Seton Hall team earned the fifth seed in the 2000 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament and beat twelfth-seeded Providence in the first round before being beaten by fourth-seeded Connecticut.[35][36][37] The first round win gave the team 20 victories and no Big East team had achieved that number of victories without getting invited to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the 21-year history of the conference.[35] They were invited to the 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where they were seeded tenth in the East Region. They knocked off seventh-seeded Oregon and second-seeded Temple.[38][39][40] In the Sweet Sixteen round they were ousted by third-seeded Oklahoma State and finished with a 22–10.
The 2000–01 Seton Hall team earned the west sixth seed in the 2001 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament and beat east three seed St. John's and west two seed Georgetown.[41][42][43] The team was eventually beaten in the semifinals by east top seed Boston College and ended the year at 16–15.[44][45] They were invited to the 2001 National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to the Alabama. The following season, Amaker resigned as the Seton Hall head coach and took the vacant Michigan head coaching job.[46] When Amaker met to discuss the potential job to replace the fired Ellerbe, Michigan athletic director Bill Martin decided to save money and meet in a hotel lobby instead of renting a room. Word of the meeting got back to ESPN and the New Jersey press was not kind to Amaker.[3]
He inherited a Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team that was emerging from the shadows of the University of Michigan basketball scandal. In his seventh game as head coach, he opposed his former mentor Krzyzewski and the 2001–02 Duke Blue Devils, which Amaker's team lost.[47] Although the 2001–02 Wolverines finished at 11–18, Amaker was able to lead the tenth-seeded team to a victory over seventh-seeded Northwestern in the 2002 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament before bowing out to two seed, Ohio State.[48][49]
Michigan finished the 2002–2003 season with a 17–13 record, but sat out both that year's NCAA and NIT tournaments due to the self-imposed postseason ban.[50] The team had banned itself from post season play before the season started.[51] Nonetheless, over the course of the season the team had earned a three seed and a first round bye in the 2003 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, but was upset in the second round by Indiana.[52] At the conclusion of the season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association added a second year of post season ineligibility as further punishment.[53]
At Michigan, his 2003–04 team earned a fifth seed and first round bye in the 2004 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament where it defeated fourth-seeded Iowa before losing to top-seeded Illinois.[54][55] The team rattled off successive wins in the 2004 National Invitation Tournament against Missouri, Oklahoma, Hawaii and Oregon.[56][57][58][59] The team eventually won the championship game against Rutgers, giving Amaker his highest victory total to date with a 23–11 record.[25] Amaker, who avoids the spotlight, was not on the court as his team partook in the ceremonial cutting of the nets at the 2004 NIT.[3]
The 2004–05 team team only achieved a nine seed in the 2005 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. It lost in the first round to eighth-seeded Northwestern.[60] The team posted a 13–18 record (4–12 in conference) and finished ninth in the conference.
His 2005–06 team was a high percentage shooting, disciplined and balanced team.[61] It was seeded seventh in the 2006 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament but lost to the tenth seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers. The team had been ranked 37th in the Ratings Percentage Index prior to the game, making them a solid contender for an 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament invitation.[62] The loss sent them to the 2006 National Invitation Tournament where they were a number one seed, and they finished as the runner-up to South Carolina.[25][63] Along the way, the team defeated ninth-seeded UTEP, fifth-seeded Notre Dame (2OT), third-seeded Miami and fifth-seeded Old Dominion.[64][65][66][67] The team ended with a 22–11 (8–8) record.
His 2006–07 team earned an eight seed in the 2007 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament where it defeated the ninth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers before succumbing to top-seeded Ohio State.[68][69] As a three seed, it advanced to the second round of the 2007 National Invitation Tournament by beating Utah State before falling to Florida State.[25][70][71] The team finished with a 22–13 record although it was just 8–8 in conference play.
Amaker had been credited for helping to restore the ethical reputation of a Michigan program which had been tarnished by scandal.[72][73] However, he had been unable to take the Wolverines to the NCAA tournament in six seasons, which had caused him to draw criticism.[74] Some fans and sportswriters argued that Amaker's teams tended to underachieve and fall apart in pressure situations, particularly at the end of the season.[75] On March 17, 2007, Amaker was fired by the University of Michigan.[74] Amaker received $900,000 to buy out the remaining years on his contract.[76]
On April 11, 2007, Amaker was named head men's basketball coach at Harvard University. Amaker became the only African American among Harvard's 32 head coaches.[72] Harvard's recruiting process included interviewing with the underclassmen on the team who felt Amaker was a preferred choice to the competition that included Mike Jarvis and Mike Gillian.[77] Amaker's Harvard team beat his former team, Michigan, in just his eighth game as coach at Harvard during the 2007–08 season.[78] Allegations of possible improper recruiting practices at Harvard arose after an article in The New York Times in March 2008,[79] but after an investigation the Ivy League concluded that no violations of NCAA or Ivy League rules occurred, clearing Amaker and his staff.[80][81] 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.[82] That year, his 2008–09 recruiting class was initially the first Ivy League class to be ranked in the top 25 by ESPN.[79][83]
The following season, after coaching Harvard to its winningest 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.[84] During the season, Harvard had won its rematch with Boston College.[85] They also played #14 ranked Connecticut very tough behind 30 points and 9 rebounds from Lin. Although they only held the lead once, they were within 4 points in the final seconds of the game.[86] That season, Amaker was a nominee for the inaugural Ben Jobe Award as the top minority Division I college basketball coach.[87] That season, he was recognized by Fox Sports as the 2010 Ivy League Coach of the Year.[88] Amaker was mentioned for the 2010 head coach opening at St. John's.[89]
Amaker led the 2010-11 team 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.[90] Harvard finished the season a perfect 14–0 at home,[90] which surpassed the prior season's school record of eleven home wins.[91] The team's 12 conference game wins established a school record.[92] 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.[93] His fourth season also marked the fourth straight season that the team defeated at least one power conference opponent.[94] Although Harvard never appeared in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings, for a few weeks during the season they received a vote in the AP Poll.[95][96][97] On March 7, Harvard received a vote in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.[98] By finishing as Ivy League Co-champion, they faced Princeton in a one-game playoff and lost by a 63–62 margin.[99] Princeton earned the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament automatic bid. Harvard earned an automatic bid to the 2011 National Invitation Tournament. On March 15, Harvard was defeated by Oklahoma State by a 71–54 margin in the first round.[100] It was the school's first appearance in the National Invitation Tournament.[101] The final record of 23–7 established a school record for number of wins, surpassing the prior season's total of 21.[91] Amaker was again a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, was a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award and was selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as the District 13 Coach of the Year.[102] He was named Ivy League coach of the year by College Insider.[103]
On November 25, 2011, Amaker's 2011-12 Harvard team defeated then-ranked Florida State (#22 AP Poll/#20 Coaches' Poll) for the school's second win over a ranked team in the program's history.[104] This was the highest ranked opponent in the Coaches Poll that Harvard has ever defeated. On December 5, 2011, Harvard made its first ever appearance in either the AP (25) or Coaches Poll (24).[105] It leaves Brown as the only remaining Ivy League school to have never been ranked in the AP Poll and leaves only seven schools that have played Division I basketball since the AP Poll began that have never been ranked in it.[106] Harvard is the first Ivy League team ranked in the Coaches Poll since the 2009–10 Cornell Big Red and the first Ivy League team ranked in the AP Poll since the 1997–98 Princeton Tigers, who finished 8th in the poll.[107]
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
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Seton Hall (Big East Conference) (1997–2001) | |||||||||
1997–1998 | Seton Hall | 15–15 | 9–9 | 3rd (Seven) | NIT 1st Round | ||||
1998–1999 | Seton Hall | 15–15 | 8–10 | T-8th | NIT 1st Round | ||||
1999–2000 | Seton Hall | 22–10 | 10–6 | T-4th | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
2000–2001 | Seton Hall | 16–15 | 5–11 | 6th (West) | NIT 1st Round | ||||
Seton Hall: | 68–55 | 32–36 | |||||||
Michigan (Big Ten Conference) (2001–2007) | |||||||||
2001–2002 | Michigan | 11–18 | 5–11 | T-8th | |||||
2002–2003 | Michigan | 17–13 | 10–6 | T-3rd | |||||
2003–2004 | Michigan | 23–11 | 8–8 | T-5th | NIT Champions | ||||
2004–2005 | Michigan | 13–18 | 4–12 | 9th | |||||
2005–2006 | Michigan | 22–11 | 8–8 | T-6th | NIT Runner-Up | ||||
2006–2007 | Michigan | 22–13 | 8–8 | T-7th | NIT 2nd Round | ||||
Michigan: | 108–84 | 43–53 | |||||||
Harvard (Ivy League) (2007–present) | |||||||||
2007–2008 | Harvard | 8–22 | 3–11 | T-6th | |||||
2008–2009 | Harvard | 14–14 | 6–8 | T-6th | |||||
2009–2010 | Harvard | 21–7 | 10–4 | 3rd | CIT First Round | ||||
2010–2011 | Harvard | 23–7 | 12–2 | T-1st | NIT First round | ||||
2011–2012 | Harvard | – | – | ||||||
Harvard: | 66–50 | 31–25 | |||||||
Total: | 242–189 | ||||||||
National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
Amaker is married to Dr. Stephanie Pinder-Amaker,[7] who is a licensed clinical psychologist.[3] The couple met at Duke.[3] Amaker's grandmother is Annie Deskins and his mother is Alma Amaker.[3] Amaker's mother continued to make him the sauce for his favorite meal of spaghetti and express mail it to him from her home in Falls Church, Virginia during his career at least until his days at Michigan. Because he is a finicky eater, she has to strain the green pepper and onion bits out of the sauce using cheesecloth.[3] According to friend, John Feinstein, Amaker was politically left-leaning and Krzyzewski was the opposite.[3]
Amaker earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1987 from Duke.[83] While serving as an assistant coach at Duke, he attended classes at the Fuqua School of Business.[108] At Michigan, his daily routine included breakfast at a local hotel where he read USA Today.[3] At Harvard, once a month, he convenes for breakfast at the Cambridge, Massachusetts restaurant Henrietta's Table with a group of noted African-American scholars and businessmen led by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree to discuss sociopolitical issues.[77] Amaker is known for his trademark mock turtleneck shirts, each of which has his initials monogrammed into the collar, and for wearing a sports coat at each news conference.[3] Unlike most of his peers, Amaker avoids the press and won't do a radio or television show.[3]
Amaker was enshrined in the Duke Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.[83] He was a member of the board of directors for USA Basketball. During his time on the board he served as a member of the Men's Collegiate and Men's Senior National Committees, where he helped select members of the United States' 1996 Olympic gold medal team.[83] Amaker owns two vintage Mercedes-Benz cars and is a Washington Redskins fan.[3]
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