Schadenfreude - Harvard hoops skirts the rules, says NYT

New York Times
... the group of six recruits expected to join the [Harvahd] team next season is rated among the nation’s 25 best. This is partly because Harvard Coach Tommy Amaker ... 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.


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.

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.

Harvard has never won an Ivy League title in men’s basketball and has not reached the N.C.A.A. tournament since 1946.

Nathan Chicowdy 92
One thing the article did not mention was the fact that (maybe it's not a fact - please correct me if I'm wrong), coupled with the recent tuition waiver for students of modest means, Harvard's decision to lower its academic standards for basketball players essentially is an end around the Ivy prohibition against athletic scholaships.

Josh '99

Nathan Chicowdy 92
One thing the article did not mention was the fact that (maybe it's not a fact - please correct me if I'm wrong), coupled with the recent tuition waiver for students of modest means, Harvard's decision to lower its academic standards for basketball players essentially is an end around the Ivy prohibition against athletic scholarships.

Seems to me that the tuition waiver can be viewed as an end run on the prohibition against athletic scholarships, independent of any fudging the Academic Index they might be doing.

Josh '99
(Now I like him because he destroyed Michigan's basketball program and now it's starting to look like he's going to destroy Harvard's too. )

Robb

Josh '99
(Now I like him because he destroyed Michigan's basketball program and now it's starting to look like he's going to destroy Harvard's too. )

Destroying HARVARD's basketball program.

DESTROYING Harvard's basketball program.

Destroying Harvard's BASKETBALL program.

Destroying Harvard's basketball PROGRAM.

Nope, no matter how I try, that thought just does not compute.

min
I almost did not get past the first sentence:

Harvard has never won an Ivy League title in men’s basketball and has not reached the N.C.A.A. tournament since 1946.

And I thought Cornell Hoop's two-decades-old dry spell was bad.

Nathan Chicowdy 92
One thing the article did not mention was the fact that (maybe it's not a fact - please correct me if I'm wrong), coupled with the recent tuition waiver for students of modest means, Harvard's decision to lower its academic standards for basketball players essentially is an end around the Ivy prohibition against athletic scholaships.

ithacat
Here's an interesting take on the NYT article.

[collegebasketball.rivals.com]

I like the part about Harvard being the UNLV of eastern Mass.

Yale grad
Not going to Harvard is a terrible choice. If you are a good player, but not one of 20 or so best in the country then wasting an opportunity to go to Harvard is absurd. I am an alum of Yale and the prestige of the degree opens doors unimaginable. People throw jobs at you and the alumni of sports teams at Ivies are very tight. I am an athletic alum and, trust me, it's tighter than any frat. If this kid is NBA material, that's one thing. If not, HUGE BLUNDER.

billhoward
A Yalie chimes in on the ESPN story about hoops recruit Ben-Eze going elsewhere than Cambridge.

Yale grad
Not going to Harvard is a terrible choice. If you are a good player, but not one of 20 or so best in the country then wasting an opportunity to go to Harvard is absurd. I am an alum of Yale and the prestige of the degree opens doors unimaginable. People throw jobs at you and the alumni of sports teams at Ivies are very tight. I am an athletic alum and, trust me, it's tighter than any frat. If this kid is NBA material, that's one thing. If not, HUGE BLUNDER.

... and they teach you phrasing not seen since William F Buckley departed these shores golden.