Harvard, cheating to win?

Harvard appears to have made up it’s mind to win the Ivy League. It also appears to not care how it’s done. Harvard even interviewed a coach whose last team ended up on probation.

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.

Harvard’s efforts in basketball underscore the increasingly important role that success in high-profile sports plays at even the most elite universities. In the race to become competitive in basketball, Harvard’s new approach could tarnish the university’s sterling reputation.

Tommy Amaker was hired by Harvard after being fired by Michigan where he was unsuccessful in getting the Wolverines to the NCAA tourney. He was successful at Seton Hall, his previous job. Many are questioning his tactics.

Something rotten in Harvard Yard

In his first recruiting season, Coach Amaker is raising eyebrows over his tactics. Some have outright said he is breaking the rules. Most say his behavior is unethical at best.

Two athletes who said they had received letters from Harvard’s admissions office saying they would most likely be accepted have described tactics that may violate N.C.A.A. rules, including visits from a man who worked out with them shortly before he was hired by Harvard to be an assistant coach.

An N.C.A.A. spokesman, Erik Christianson, said the organization’s rules state, “Should a coach recruit on behalf of a school but not be employed there, he or she is then considered a booster and that recruiting activity is not allowed.”

In another case, Amaker approached the parents of an athlete in a grocery store and urged that their son visit Harvard, even though N.C.A.A. rules limit contact with potential players to happenstance at certain times of the year. That athlete ended up not considering Harvard.

If this was a high-profile school, you would hear screaming from the rafters.

Even if Harvard did not break any N.C.A.A. rules, many in the coaching community said Amaker’s staff had behaved unethically.

Where is the NCAA? Sitting on their hands.

Harvard however is not taking the high road on this.

“There are guys that we couldn’t touch that other schools in our league could recruit,” said Reddicks, who is now an assistant at Boston University. “It makes a huge difference.”

Scalise said the comments of Reddicks and Holden reflected the bitterness of not having their contracts renewed. He added that the previous coaching staff could not lure such a talented class because it did not have the connections, charisma and work ethic of Amaker and his assistants.

“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.

The assistant coach is active as well.

Wright said that Blakeney had visited him when in-person contact between coaches and recruits was not allowed. Kenyi said Blakeney, a former Duke player, played basketball with him “a couple of times” at his high school last June or July, which is against N.C.A.A. contact rules. Harvard announced Blakeney’s hiring on July 2, 2007.

Kenyi said that at first he did not realize who Blakeney was. But the man soon turned into his lead Harvard recruiter.

Two weeks ago, Blakeney said his trips to Gonzaga were to visit the basketball coach, Steve Turner, whom he has known for 20 years, and to stay in shape by playing.

The visits made an impression on Kenyi.

“He was someone I could relate to,” Kenyi said, “someone I could talk to about anything.”

Meanwhile, coaches from other teams recruiting Wright and Kenyi were allowed to call only once a month.

“He actually got to play with us, because he wasn’t actually on Harvard’s staff,” Wright said, adding that Blakeney had gone to Norfolk for one of his summer basketball team’s practices. “He didn’t sign anything yet, so he got to play with us, and we talked and exchanged numbers.”

This practice is becoming more commonplace. Blakeney denies any wrongdoing.

Another issue arose with the recruiting of Zack Rosen, a 6-1 point guard bound for Penn and sought by universities like Rutgers and Virginia Tech. Amaker saw Rosen’s father, Les, in a grocery store in Trenton during the Eastern Invitational tournament last summer. At the time, coaches were restricted only to watching recruits and saying hello to them or their parents if they bumped into each other.

Les Rosen remembered Amaker saying, “We really have to get Zack up to Harvard.”

Les Rosen said he thought to himself: Who goes to ShopRite in the middle of a basketball tournament?

“It was suspicious,” he said, “but as much as it seemed obvious, he wouldn’t be found guilty in court.”

Harvard looked into the Rosen situation and determined that no violations occurred.

Not so sure the NCAA will concur. The coach released a statement that was a non-denial denial. Harvard Athletic Director says they will look into the allegations. Don’t hold your breath folks.

UPDATE: Yahoo! Sports has picked up the story

“We used to joke we were the Harvard of southern Nevada,” Tarkanian laughed of his legendary run at UNLV that featured a national title, four Final Fours and endless fights with NCAA investigators.

So maybe now Harvard is the UNLV of eastern Massachusetts.

That is funny.

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