THE REYES REVIEW: Historic M. Hoops Victory Inspires Harvard

Harvard hoops fans, welcome to the new era of Harvard men’s basketball.

For those of you who didn’t make it to Lavietes Saturday night—and that wasn’t many—you missed perhaps the greatest win in Harvard men’s basketball history.

It all came together for the young Crimson—the fans, the players, the coach, and, of course, the victory.

Under the wing of coach Tommy Amaker, the youthful, energetic Crimson knocked off a Big Ten power in its own house in front of a capacity crowd of 2,050 and a national television audience on ESPNU.

The pressure was on for Harvard. Win one for Amaker. Win one for the program. Win one for the team against a big-name school. And win it did, stepping up to every challenge and looking adversity in the face in a 62-51 victory.

Amaker, fired from the Michigan head coaching gig in April after six seasons in Ann Arbor, got sweet revenge against his old squad by handing the Wolverines their fifth loss of the season.

When Amaker was hired at Harvard, people undoubtedly considered it a step down for him in the basketball world. Coming from Michigan, a program with a successful history and considerable cachet in recruiting, to Harvard, a program with no Ivy League titles and no NCAA Tournament appearances, is not a route many coaches take.

But the new coach has embraced the situation from day one, and, despite being just eight games into his first young season, he has already made big things happen for his new squad—none more important than this huge victory.

“This is a win for our program, not a win for Tommy Amaker,” Amaker said. “I don’t want to get into personal things or anything like that.”

Just a year removed from an 82-50 loss at Michigan with Amaker on the opposing sideline, Harvard knew it would have its hands full. And while the coach was a big influence, the players didn’t want to be embarrassed on their home floor either.

“It’s great to win one for Coach, but it’s also great to get it done for ourselves,” junior Evan Harris said. “Before the game, it was just, ‘Let’s go out there and win this one for us.’ We’ve been taking everything one game at a time.”

The hype surrounding the game on campus was unmatched by anything other than a certain football game in New Haven. Harvard students had to enter a lottery for tickets on Thursday afternoon—and not only were the tickets all given out, but everyone showed up. Lavietes was the loudest, most packed I’ve seen, and the fans were treated to—and played a significant part in—the big upset.

Through chants to Michigan fans of “We got Tommy!”, showing their support for the new coach, or of “Appalachian State!”, taunting the Wolverines for their then-fifth-ranked football team’s loss to a I-AA squad earlier in the year, the Crimson Crazies lived up to their name, pushing the decibel level in Lavietes higher than it has maybe ever been.

“I’m proud of our student body who showed up here in full force,” Amaker said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to build on that...and we can continue to have our home-court environment be something intimidating for our opponents.”

When Harvard was down, 45-42, with 8:40 to play, the fans got rowdier. When the score was tied with 3:38 left, the Crazies got crazier. When the final buzzer sounded following an 11-0 run that sealed the victory, the place nearly erupted, as fans ran onto the court and celebrated with the players.

“It’s amazing,” Harris said. “We were joking in the locker room that this win will increase our fan base threefold.”

While Lavietes is still no lion’s den for opponents, the Crimson improved to 3-0 on its home floor this season. A big win over Mercer in the home opener was followed by a five-point victory over New Hampshire on Tuesday night.

But the Michigan win takes the cake—perhaps in Harvard history.

At the very least, it’s the biggest win in the current Crimson players’ careers, right?

“Yes,” junior Andrew Pusar said, with a chuckle that suggested that I was crazy to even ask the question. “And I think that seeing everyone storm the court, beating a Big Ten team—for us, it’s certainly something that we’re going to really enjoy.”

If the Crimson can ride the momentum from this victory for another few months, the Ivy League race could get a lot more interesting.

—Staff writer Kevin C. Reyes can be reached at kreyes@fas.harvard.edu.