Harvard’s basketball recruiting reigns supreme in the Ivy League

After a season in which Harvard secured its first-ever Ivy League basketball title—albeit shared with Princeton— coach Tommy Amaker seems intent on ensuring it will be the first of many.
Many developments have benefited the Crimson this offseason—from Sydney Johnson leaving Princeton to Amaker’s own return to Cambridge—but it all began on the recruiting trail, where Amaker has lined up yet another star-studded class.

The two names that jump off the page are Kenyatta Smith and Wesley Saunders, a duo of talented big men from Southern California. Though recruiting websites often differ on their rankings, these two are universally seen as the highest-rated prospects entering the league in 2011-2012. Smith is considered one of the top twenty centers nationally, while Saunders just led Windward High School to a California State Division IV title.

In addition to Smith and Saunders, Amaker locked up four more quality recruits, adding a great deal of depth to a team that has plenty already. While every other team in the league will lose at least one key player to graduation, the Crimson return everyone, from reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Keith Wright to little-used reserves like Dee Giger and Ugo Okam.

“He’s done a great job recruiting kids not just from Los Angeles, but all over,” Manuel Villegas, the coach at Windward High, said. “It only takes one or two players to saw ‘Wow they went to Harvard and they are great players. If they are going, I’ll go too.’”

Recruiting is something of a taboo subject in the Ivy League because the schools do not reward athletic scholarships, but it remains a key factor in a program’s success. Nowhere has that been more evident recently than at Harvard, where Amaker and his staff have lured deep, athletic classes since day one.

“He has a good product to sell, and I think he is in a lot of ways overqualified for the job,” said Columbia coach Kyle Smith.

When Smith refers to ‘product,’ he means Harvard itself.

“The Ivy League has a brand of its own,” Smith said. “But it’d be a little inane to say Harvard isn’t its own brand. They all are, Columbia has it too, but Harvard is the one.”
Smith recounted former Princeton coach Joe Scott once referring to Harvard as the league’s sleeping giant.

“I don’t think that’s any secret,” Smith said. “I’m a parent and if the Harvard coach says I’d like to sit down and talk with you about your son I’m going to listen for sure.”

Some around the league have questioned Amaker’s tactics and the school’s integrity. Back in 2008, there were reports of assistant coaches having illegal contact with recruits. There was also a New York Times story in which Yale coach James Jones, among others, said that Harvard had lowered its academic standards. Similar complaints were voiced in a Daily Princetonian article earlier this year.

While Harvard has received a secondary recruiting violation, the question of standards is only part of the equation. Penn coach Jerome Allen disagrees with any concept of a Harvard advantage. When asked about the talent Amaker has assembled, Allen shrugged it off, imploring others to look at the talent on his own team.

Among the other coaches, Allen has come closest to equaling Amaker in terms of recruits. A year ago he brought in Miles Cartwright, who turned into one of the league’s best freshman. This year he adds four players ranked in the top 100 at their respective positions, three of them frontcourt players.

That gives the Quakers a strong core for next year as Cartwright, Zack Rosen, and Tyler Bernardini all return to the backcourt. Rosen will enter his senior season coming off back-to-back all-Ivy first team selections, while Bernardini, a talented scorer, earned an extra year of eligibility.

Princeton, which defeated Harvard in a playoff to advance to the NCAA Tournament, has not been as fortunate. The Tigers face the departure of not just Johnson but two all-Ivy players in Kareem Maddox and Dan Mavraides as well. As a result of Johnson’s move, Clay Wilson de-committed, leaving the Tigers with just two incoming freshmen.

Penn and Princeton have long been the league’s titans, and they will be loath to give up that mantle. Earlier this year, the president of Princeton basketball’s booster club, James Lane, said that the other Ivy schools, such as Harvard, are just flashes in the pan.

Villegas begged to differ. A few years ago, the question was whether Harvard even had a basketball team. Now?

“Harvard has Penn and Princeton looking over their shoulders,” he said.

Robin Harris, executive director of the Ivy League, diplomatically refused to recognize any kind of hierarchy.

“I’m just excited that for several years we’ve had different teams competing for the Ivy title,” Harris said. “We’d like to see all eight teams be able to compete for the title.”

When asked about a distinct Harvard brand, she said that every school has a brand of its own, none better than any other.

Most coaches and players do believe the league is improving top to bottom, and most schools have added a potential impact player this off-season. However, Harvard’s transformation stands out.

Evan Daniels, Scout.com’s national recruiting analyst, said as much in not consenting to an interview. Upon being contacted, he said that he felt comfortable talking about a few of Harvard’s incoming recruits, but for the rest of the league he’d need to follow up on some of his research.

This consistent stream of talent is one of many reasons Amaker chose to stick around despite a lucrative offer from the University of Miami. Among the others are Amaker’s oft-stated enjoyment of Cambridge, his wife’s job at the university, and rumors that Amaker leveraged the offer into promises of pay increases for assistants and renovation of Lavietes Pavilion.

What could Amaker do with those increased resources? For one thing, continue to stockpile talent. Now that Harvard is looking to compete for titles instead of build a program, Villegas said he thinks Amaker’s job will only get easier.

While fellow coaches are pleased with the increased attention the league has gotten, for some Amaker’s departure cannot come soon enough.

When Smith discussed Harvard in February, he whispered his real feelings on this last subject, hoping to avoid a recording.

“Go, Tommy, go.”

For now, Amaker and Harvard only seem headed in one direction—up.