Investigation a rarity in Ivy League

T. AMAKER First season

When Harvard men's basketball coach Frank Sullivan was fired last spring and replaced by Tommy Amaker, who came to the Crimson with experience as a head coach at Seton Hall and Michigan, the administration made it clear that one of the goals was a spot in the NCAA Tournament, which would be a first for Harvard.

"His experience as a player and assistant at Duke, where athletic and academic success is paramount, makes him a terrific fit," athletic director Bob Scalise said when Amaker was hired. "We're looking forward to the support of the Harvard community as we pursue our first Ivy League championship in men's basketball."

Nearing the end of a season that has thus far produced an 8-20 record, Harvard could find itself reaching a far different milestone.

After a story in The New York Times this week said Amaker and his staff "adopted aggressive recruiting tactics that skirt, or in some cases, may even violate NCAA rules," Harvard and the Ivy League are investigating to see if NCAA violations occurred.

If rules were broken, it would only be the fourth time an Ivy League school has dealt with NCAA sanctions since investigations began in 1953.

While the Times story broached the subject of Harvard adopting a more lenient admission policy for some of its basketball recruits, the Ivy League's primary involvement will be to determine if NCAA recruiting rules were violated.

The story cited assistant coach Kenny Blakeney meeting with two players Amaker recruited for next season - Keith Wright, a 6-foot-7-inch power forward from Norfolk, Va., and Max Kenyi, a 6-5 swingman from Washington, D.C.

According to the Times story, Blakeney played pickup games with both players a few weeks before he was hired by Amaker last July. The games took place in what is called a "dead period," when no recruiting is permitted and no representatives of schools are allowed contact with prospects. Blakeney's contention is that he had not yet been hired and therefore did not commit a violation.

The Times story also included an incident from last August - during another period when contact between coaches and players and their parents is limited - involving Zack Rosen, a recruit who eventually committed to Penn. Rosen's father, Les, told the Times he "bumped into" Amaker in a supermarket in New Jersey when Zack Rosen, a 6-1 point guard, was participating in a summer league tournament.

Harvard discussed both incidents with Ivy League officials this week.

When contacted yesterday, Ivy League spokesman Jeff Orleans said in an e-mail the league's procedure would be as follows: "The institution [Harvard in this case] does an inquiry under close supervision from the Ivy League Office, which also is reviewed by a committee with members from the eight schools, and that if NCAA rules are involved we report to the NCAA when that becomes appropriate."

NCAA infractions are indeed rare in the Ivy League. According to NCAA records, only Cornell for men's basketball and men's hockey and Yale (men's basketball) have been found to commit what the NCAA labeled "major infractions."

Whether the Ivy League finds sufficient evidence to report the Harvard men's basketball program to the NCAA will be determined in the next several weeks.