Yanni Hufnagel will return to Harvard for his fifth season as an
assistant coach with the Crimson in 2013-14.
At Harvard, Hufnagel serves as the recruiting coordinator for
the Crimson. Hufnagel is also responsible for the team’s
perimeter player development program and is directly involved with
opponent scouting. In each of his four seasons at Harvard, the
Crimson has won at least 20 games and has won the Ivy League title
in each of the last three years with NCAA Tournament appearances in
both 2011-12 and 2012-13.
In his first season with the program, Hufnagel helped the
Crimson to a 21-8 overall record, establishing a program record for
victories. Harvard went 10-4 in the Ivy League and earned a
postseason berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Jeremy Lin
was named a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection after averaging
16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game
during his senior season. Lin was also named to the Academic
All-Ivy League team. Now a member of the Houston Rockets, Lin
started all 82 games in 2012-13 averaging 13.4 points and 6.1
assists per game. In 2011-12, Lin appeared in 35 games for the New
York Knicks averaging 14.6 points and 6.2 assists per game during a
memorable stretch that became a global phenomenon known as
"Linsanity."
In his second season with the program, Harvard eclipsed its
previous win record by going 23-7 in 2010-11. The Crimson went 12-2
in Ivy games, earning a share of the program's first Ancient Eight
title. Following the regular season, Harvard participated in the
NIT, facing Oklahoma State in the first round. Four Crimson players
earned All-Ivy selections, including Ivy League Player of the Year,
Keith Wright. Additionally, Brandyn Curry was named to the Academic
All-Ivy League team.
Hufnagel and the Crimson continued its ascent nationally in
2011-12, as Harvard won the Ivy League title for the second
straight season, culminating in the team's first NCAA tournament
berth since 1946. Harvard went 26-5 overall and 12-2 in conference
play, while winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in November.
The Crimson also garnered its first-ever national ranking in
program history, reaching as high as No. 21 in the ESPN/USA
Today Coaches poll and No. 22 in the AP poll. Three
Crimson players earned All-Ivy selections and Brandyn Curry was
again named to the Academic All-Ivy team.
Harvard posted its fourth straight 20-win season in 2012-13,
going 20-10 overall. The Crimson claimed its third consecutive Ivy
League crown, going 11-3 in conference play. Harvard reached the
NCAA tournament for the second straight season and made history by
upsetting third-seeded New Mexico in the second round, the
program's first-ever postseason victory. Siyani Chambers was
honored as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and joined Wesley
Saunders (unanimous selection) on the all-conference first team. In
Hufnagel’s four years with the Crimson, Harvard has gone a
combined 90-30.
Harvard’s 2011, 2012, and 2013 recruiting classes have
garnered national attention from the likes of CBS Sports, ESPN,
Rivals, and Scout.com. In each of the last three years Harvard has
inked a commitment from a prospect in the Rivals Top 150. CBS
Sports ranked Harvard’s 2012 group among the Top 10 non-BCS
recruiting classes in the country after ESPN, Rivals, and Scout.com
all did so in 2011. CBS Sports recognized Hufnagel as “one of
the most relentless and energetic recruiters in the game,” in
their 2012-13 College Basketball Preview, while naming him one of
their nine “Dream Team” assistant coaches in college
basketball.
Hufnagel came to Harvard from the University of Oklahoma where
he served as a graduate assistant for the men's basketball team. As
a graduate assistant, Hufnagel organized the program's recruiting
database, helped conduct individual workouts, and assisted the
coaching staff during practice. In his two years at Oklahoma, the
Sooners won 53 games, and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA
Tournament in 2008-09 after reaching the second round in
2007-08.
With the Sooners, Hufnagel assisted in the development of Blake
Griffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft by the
Los Angeles Clippers. Blake was named the 2010-11 T-Mobile NBA
Rookie of the Year and appeared in his third consecutive All-Star
game in 2012-13 after averaging 18.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per
game.
A 2006 graduate of Cornell with a Bachelor of Science degree
in Industrial and Labor Relations, Hufnagel earned his Master's of
Education with an emphasis in Intercollegiate Athletic
Administration at Oklahoma in 2010. While at Cornell, Hufnagel
served as a student manager with the Big Red for current Boston
College Head Coach Steve Donahue.
Hufnagel started his collegiate studies at Penn State and was
a defenseman on the Nittany Lions' lacrosse team before
transferring to Cornell after his freshman season.
Prior to his time at Oklahoma, Hufnagel spent a summer as a
basketball operations intern with the New Jersey Nets, where he
assisted the front office in preparation for the NBA draft and with
other administrative functions. Hufnagel also served as a special
assistant to then head coach Lawrence Frank.
This July, Hufnagel will serve as the head coach of the
Maccabi USA Youth team in The 2013 Maccabiah Games, an
international Jewish athletic event, held in Israel every four
years.
In addition to his work with the Crimson basketball program,
Hufnagel is actively involved with Boston-based Partners for Youth
with Disabilities, serving as a mentor in their Mentor Match
program.
