For all these successes off the court, the Crimson’s play on the court during Amaker’s first two seasons was far from impressive.

Halfway into Amaker’s third year as head coach, things have started to change for Harvard.

The Crimson is currently riding a six-game winning streak and finished non-conference play with the most victories in school history.

But as dramatically as the culture and atmosphere surrounding Harvard basketball off the court has changed in recent years, this is not the first time expectations have been high for the ballers from Cambridge on the court entering the heart of conference play.

In fact, the last time expectations were this high for the Crimson going into Ivy League play was four seasons ago—the same season Kathy Orton followed Harvard.

Despite lacking the corporate swagger the Crimson now possess, that mom-and-pop Harvard team managed to win its first six non-conference games and many expected the Crimson to challenge the league favorite—Penn, back in the day—for the league title. Just like this year’s team, expectations continued to mount as the Crimson captured its first two conference matchups against Dartmouth.

What remains to be seen is whether Harvard will continue to follow in the footsteps of its ancestor from a recently passed era or blaze its own path.

While the 05’-06’ Crimson crippled under the pressure—dropping nine of its final twelve league games—Tommy Amaker and his revamped Harvard squad will look to translate its big program attitude into some big program wins.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin16@fas.harvard.edu.