There are rumblings that he’s going to step down, either this year or the next, with Christian Webster replacing him.
This quote from Amaker a few weeks ago sounds like a guy who’s ready to hang up his spurs:
“I’m a big proponent of student-athletes being compensated but don’t like the path this has evolved into,” says Harvard’s coach of 17 seasons. “It’s now strictly pay-for-play and there’s been an incredible disruption of the system. This era has gone from being transformational to strictly transactional . . . as for fans, I don’t know how you get connected to individual players like before. There is no stability, no continuity.”
I have no idea if the rumblings are true,
but it does seem the uncertainty is
hurting the program’s recruiting efforts.
I would think Amaker needs to deny
the rumors or bring in Webster as
the anointed heir. If neither happens,
recruits can’t have confidence in
their long term prospects at Harvard.
Never been a big Amaker fan but I have to agree with this 100%. I said on more than one occasion in the past week or two when talking to friends that all these transfers make for a different team every year. How do you get into and root for schools like this? There’s no need to get excited about recruiting or how incoming players may develop. It’s become worse than free agency in the pros. I thought the transfers were supposed to be a onetime thing to help with time lost because of Covid.
That is undeniably true. Three decommits in a four person class speaks for itself.
I’m not sure what the holdup is if Amaker is either going to step down now, or bring in Webster to be the head-coach-in-waiting for a year instead. If neither of those things is happening, though, he should say so.
Amidst all the rumors about Amaker potentially leaving, The Crimson ran a big story about the challenges he (and every other Ivy coach) faces in the age of NIL and the transfer portal. It sure sounds like he’s going to stay. Here’s the link:
A couple of things stood out.
Hinton was quoted about his recruitment, and said “If a kid is curious about what money they’re going to get to come here, then I don’t know if their mind is in the right place”. Things can always change, but for now he seems happy at Harvard.
Also seems noteworthy that the story quoted Christian Webster saying that Amaker had been the best teacher he’d had at Harvard. I’d still bet he’s our next head coach; the only question is when.
You get the sense that, as much as Amaker doesn’t like the way things are in college basketball today, he doesn’t want to leave on a sour note. If he thinks that Hinton and Hunt are both going to stick around, that gives him a pretty good nucleus to try to make the NCAA Tournament one last time. If he does, I wouldn’t be surprised if he steps down after that.