After a story this weekend suggested that new Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker has convinced the school to lower academic standards for basketball players, the school and the Ivy League say they are investigating. "We're going to do what needs to be done, and it's going to be done in a timely way," said Jeff Orleans, the Ivy League executive director.
Pete Thamel of the New York Times has reported that former Harvard assistant coaches, as well as current coaches at other Ivy League schools, believe Harvard has lowered its academic standards for basketball players in an effort to improve the program since Amaker, the former Michigan head coach, took over.
Harvard says the incoming recruiting class -- which is slated to be perhaps the best assemblage of basketball talent ever to commit to an Ivy League school -- can't be judged yet because the school's admissions office has not yet determined whether all of the players will get in. Harvard denies that its standards have been compromised, but if Amaker gets that class in its entirety, not many people will believe that denial.
ADVERTISEMENT
_thumbnail.jpg "NASCAR Cowboy Hats")
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Prop. 48 strikes again! Goes to show you even the academic elites will bow down to the almighty dollar and sacrifice academic integrity for tv revenue and athletic success. See, this way they get the additional revenue and satisfy their "cultural diversity" yearnings since most b-ball players are black.
Posted at 10:40AM on Mar 6th 2008 by tom stovall III
2. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't need to investigate to see if their own academic standards had been lowered. The investigation will probably center on the assistant coach who contacted recruits as a representative of Harvard during a non-contact period. Technically he had not started his Harvard job.
Whether or not Harvard wants to lower their standards for baskteball players is entirely their own business. They have had a lower standard for hockey players for years (hence, they compete at a competitive level, having won a championship as recently as 1989).
Let's be a bit less cavalier about what you're accusing them of.
Posted at 9:13PM on Mar 7th 2008 by DJ Murphy