Amaker gets Harvard offer

Tommy Amaker has been offered the head basketball coaching job at Harvard, and the former Seton Hall and Michigan coach is expected to accept.

Amaker, 41, emerged as the school's choice, according to several sources, after he dazzled the search committee in an interview Friday. His appointment could come as early as tomorrow.

If there is a snag, the search committee could perhaps go back to former Boston University and St. John's coach Mike Jarvis, but those close to the search say Harvard will do what it must to get Amaker to come to Cambridge.

Amaker, who was fired after six seasons at Michigan, comes in with a fairly impressive pedigree. He was a four-year starter as a player at Duke, an All-American in 1987. After graduating with a degree in economics, Amaker spent nine years as an assistant on Mike Krzyzewski's staff at Duke before taking over as coach at Seton Hall in 1998.

In four years at Seton Hall, Amaker's teams compiled a 68-55 record, which included one NCAA appearance, in which the Pirates reached the Sweet 16.

In 2001, Amaker moved to Michigan, where he won the NIT title in 2004 but failed to get the Wolverines into the NCAA Tournament. That was one of the primary reasons he was fired last month, having compiled a 109-83 record.

When Harvard athletic director Bob Scalise went on his search -- not only to replace Frank Sullivan, who was fired after 16 seasons, but perhaps to find a coach who would add a touch of diversity to an athletic program that has no African-Americans among its 32 head coaches -- Amaker's interest was minimal at first.

Scalise conducted an intense three-week search, interviewing several candidates -- black and white -- but in the last several days, the choice came down to Amaker or Jarvis.

Amaker, who made it clear that he did not want to be part of the process unless he was a prime candidate, came in for an interview last Friday and impressed everyone he met with his credentials and demeanor.

Another important consideration for Amaker was the role his wife, Dr. Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, would have. Pinder-Amaker is a clinical psychologist who worked at Seton Hall and Michigan. She was associate dean of students at Michigan and is expected to be part of the Harvard faculty, as well.

Amaker, who is expected to get a multiyear contract that could be worth $225,000 a year, will have a clear mission at Harvard: Get the Crimson an Ivy league title, something they have never won.

And one of his first challenges next season would be a home game against Michigan.