September 10, 2022

Obama tells Harvard team basketball was about more than him

Former President Barack Obama told the Harvard men’s basketball team on Friday that the sport taught him “it wasn’t just about me” — a lesson he hoped they would carry with them to other, more consequential, endeavors.

January 5, 2022

Harvard, Ivy League make break from tradition

“It was part of the tradition of this league to play that way and you adjust to it and figure it out,” said Amaker. “But then we decided to look at it in a different format and see if it makes more sense.”

November 9, 2021

Harvard University is a trailblazer towards the HBCU movement

The Harvard Crimson will play its first game in 612 days after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020-21 athletic season for Ivy League institutions. Instead of its usual opener against rival MIT, Coach Tommy Amaker and his team will play Morehouse College, a Division II HBCU out of Atlanta.

June 8, 2021

2021 Social Innovation Summit – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award Winners

In recognition and celebration of all the impactful collaborations following a year of unprecedented challenges, Social Innovation Summit is thrilled to announce the first annual SIS AWARDS. These awards recognize collaborative initiatives between corporations, government, grantmakers, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations. Acceptance speech can be viewed here.

April 15, 2021

Dick’s Sporting Goods Joins Harvard’s Amaker to Boost Coaches’ Group

Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced a partnership with Black Coaches United (BCU), a group of minority basketball coaches advocating for increased opportunities in and outside the game. BCU will receive support from Dick’s to provide training, mentoring and advocacy programs for coaches.

March 19, 2021

NABC Announces 2020-21 Guardians of the Game Award Recipients

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the recipients of the 2020-21 NABC Guardians of the Game Pillar Awards, representing the association’s core values of advocacy, education, inclusion, leadership and service.

March 4, 2021

the new breakfast club

“The Breakfast Club” has been delivering that sense of community, and so much more for H. Tommy Amaker, the Thomas G. Stemberg ’71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men’s Basketball, and the other regulars who gather for a meal and some friendly conversation each month at the Charles Hotel.

February 13, 2021

Amaker to be recognized by NCAA as a Champion of Diversity and Inclusion

The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, in conjunction with the Office Of Inclusion, is set to recognize Tommy Amaker, along with four others, as Champions of Diversity and Inclusion for his work in supporting ethnic minorities and other underrepresented groups and individuals.

February 6, 2021

Tommy Amaker named Spring 2021 Fellow at the Hauser Center  
for Public Leadership

Tommy Amaker, head coach of the Harvard Men’s Basketball team, has been named a Spring 2021 Fellow at the Hauser Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. The Hauser Institute for Civil Society at Harvard University is a university-wide center for the study of civil society and nonprofit organizations.

February 4, 2021

Amaker Honored as Champion for Diversity and Inclusion

Harvard Men’s Basketball Coach Tommy Amaker was named today as a 2020 Champion for Diversity and Inclusion by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Amaker was selected for his longstanding leadership on social justice and for investing in the success of his players on and off the court. 

February 2, 2021

At Harvard, Tommy Amaker’s ‘Breakfast Club’ brings important work to the table

“It’s an amazing array of incredibly talented, brilliant individuals throughout the whole Harvard and Boston communities. It’s been one of the more meaningful things that I’ve been a part of in all of my coaching career — not just in my time here at Harvard.”

November 10, 2020

For Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, class is always in session

“He’s looking at the whole person, and he realizes that it doesn’t end with the box scores and how many points they got,” said sports sociologist Harry Edwards, one of the many guests Amaker has brought in to speak to his team. “It ends with what kind of a human being does he turn out.”

November 9, 2020

The Interview: Harvard Basketball Coach Tommy Amaker

Teach, lead, serve. These are the words Harvard basketball coach Tommy Amaker lives by. Now he’d like a few words with you.

November 1, 2020

Priceless

Harvard coach Tommy Amaker knows quality on and off the basketball court.

September 7, 2020

Colleges should offer a major in sports. It could solve some problems.

Amaker supports the case for allowing college athletes to transform their experience on the playing field into an academic and professional pathway.

September 6, 2020

Celtics great Bill Russell wants college sports to go further in commitment to diversity with a universal ‘Russell Rule’

Bob Hohler writes, “In 2007, Amaker became the first Black head coach in any sport at Harvard in 16 years, and he has since become a leading advocate for diversity on campus and throughout collegiate sports.”

August 31, 2020

John Thompson’s Success at Georgetown Made Him Ahead of His Time

Amaker remembers the late legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson as a force on and off the court and as a role model for how to drive the conversation forward as a Black coach and leader.

August 10, 2020

Harvard’s Amaker on Future of College Sports, Standardized Tests

Amaker talks with Bloomberg Equality’s Scarlet Fu about systemic racism in athletics and the future of college sports amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

July 21, 2020

Harvard’s Tommy Amaker, Kentucky’s John Calipari, and their plan to change leadership in sports

“This is creating a pathway for future leaders in so many potential areas.” Amaker uses his platform to open doors for young people of color with a passion for college athletics.

July 19, 2020

Dozens of college basketball coaches team up to create more opportunities for minorities

Amaker helps to lead dozens of his colleagues in collegiate athletics to increase diverse representation in all roles within athletic departments. 

July 16, 2020

College Basketball Coaches Call for End to ACT, SAT Requirement

“This is an important step toward combating educational inequality in our country.” As a Board member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Amaker advocates for the removal of standardized tests as an NCAA eligibility requirement.

July 13, 2020

John Calipari & Harvard coach Tommy Amaker announce McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative

Amaker and University of Kentucky Coach John Calipari join ESPN’s Get Up program to talk about the John McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, an effort to increase opportunities for young people of color in collegiate athletic programs.

September 18, 2017

At Harvard, education through athletics (and vice-versa)

“We’re teaching, we’re engaging, we’re exposing. We’re hopefully enlightening,” Amaker said. “I’m not sure how much they know about Dr. Harry Edwards. But we’re going to give them an education about that. I promise you that.”