The 2009–10 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team represented Harvard University in the Ivy League athletic conference during the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Lavietes Pavilion, which has a capacity of 2,195. The team was led by third-year head coach Tommy Amaker and starred highly touted prospect Jeremy Lin.
Building on the success of the prior season when the 2008–09 team beat then ranked Boston College (#17 AP Poll/#24 Coaches' Poll) for the program's first win over a ranked team in the school's history, The 2009–10 team broke many all-time program records including the following: most wins (21) most non-conference wins (11) most home wins (11) most road/neutral wins (10)
The team received a vote in the AP Poll four times: (November 23, January 11, January 18 and 25). Amaker was a nominee for the inaugural Ben Jobe Award as the top minority Division I college basketball coach. Amaker was recognized by Fox Sports as the 2010 Ivy League Coach of the Year.
As a result of its 21–7 overall record and a 10–4 Ivy League conference record, the team was invited to play in the 16-team single-elimination 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Over the course of the season, the team was highly publicized, with Lin being featured in Sports Illustrated and ESPN, while the team's early match against defending conference champion Cornell was written up in Time.
Preseason The Ivy League held its pre-season media day on October 28, 2009, in Princeton, New Jersey. The league's media unanimously voted Cornell the preseason #1 for the second straight season. Harvard was ranked fourth.Cornell Unanimously Picked by Media to Three-peat, Ivy League, retrieved October 31, 2009
Honors Over the course of the season, the Ivy League office recognized several members of the team regularly for excellent play:
Week Player of the week Rookie of the week November 16Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 2 – 11/16, Ivy League, retrieved November 17, 2009 Jeremy Lin, G, Harvard Dee Giger, G, Harvard December 7Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 5 – 12/07 , Ivy League, retrieved December 7, 2009 Jeremy Lin, G, Harvard December 14Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 6 – 12/14 , Ivy League, retrieved December 22, 2009 Jeremy Lin, G, Harvard January 4Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 9 – 1/4, Ivy League, retrieved January 11, 2010 Kyle Casey, F, Harvard January 25Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 12 – 1/25, Ivy League, retrieved March 14, 2010 Kyle Casey, F, Harvard February 8Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 14 – 2/8, Ivy League, retrieved March 14, 2010 Kyle Casey, F, Harvard February 15Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 15 – 2/15, Ivy League, retrieved March 14, 2010 Kyle Casey, F, Harvard Kyle Casey, F, Harvard March 1Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 17 – 3/1, Ivy League, retrieved March 14, 2010 Jeremy Lin, G, Harvard Brandyn Curry, G, Harvard March 8Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report 18 – 3/8, Ivy League, retrieved March 14, 2010 Brandyn Curry, G, Harvard
During the season, Lin was recognized as one of eleven finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. He was one of 31 midseason watchlist candidates for the Wooden Award. At the conclusion of the 2009–10 Ivy League men's basketball season, Lin was selected as a repeat first team All-Ivy selection after becoming the first player in Ivy League history to record 1,450 points (1,471), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (401) and 200 steals (224). He was also selected to the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District team.
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