Yanni Hufnagel will return to Harvard for his fifth season as anassistant coach with the Crimson in 2013-14.
At Harvard, Hufnagel serves as the recruiting coordinator forthe Crimson. Hufnagel is also responsible for the team’sperimeter player development program and is directly involved withopponent scouting. In each of his four seasons at Harvard, theCrimson has won at least 20 games and has won the Ivy League titlein each of the last three years with NCAA Tournament appearances inboth 2011-12 and 2012-13.
In his first season with the program, Hufnagel helped theCrimson to a 21-8 overall record, establishing a program record forvictories. Harvard went 10-4 in the Ivy League and earned apostseason berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Jeremy Linwas named a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection after averaging16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per gameduring his senior season. Lin was also named to the AcademicAll-Ivy League team. Now a member of the Houston Rockets, Linstarted all 82 games in 2012-13 averaging 13.4 points and 6.1assists per game. In 2011-12, Lin appeared in 35 games for the NewYork Knicks averaging 14.6 points and 6.2 assists per game during amemorable stretch that became a global phenomenon known as"Linsanity."
In his second season with the program, Harvard eclipsed itsprevious win record by going 23-7 in 2010-11. The Crimson went 12-2in Ivy games, earning a share of the program's first Ancient Eighttitle. Following the regular season, Harvard participated in theNIT, facing Oklahoma State in the first round. Four Crimson playersearned All-Ivy selections, including Ivy League Player of the Year,Keith Wright. Additionally, Brandyn Curry was named to the AcademicAll-Ivy League team.
Hufnagel and the Crimson continued its ascent nationally in2011-12, as Harvard won the Ivy League title for the secondstraight season, culminating in the team's first NCAA tournamentberth since 1946. Harvard went 26-5 overall and 12-2 in conferenceplay, while winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in November.The Crimson also garnered its first-ever national ranking inprogram history, reaching as high as No. 21 in the ESPN/USAToday Coaches poll and No. 22 in the AP poll. ThreeCrimson players earned All-Ivy selections and Brandyn Curry wasagain 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 IvyLeague crown, going 11-3 in conference play. Harvard reached theNCAA tournament for the second straight season and made history byupsetting third-seeded New Mexico in the second round, theprogram's first-ever postseason victory. Siyani Chambers washonored as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and joined WesleySaunders (unanimous selection) on the all-conference first team. InHufnagel’s four years with the Crimson, Harvard has gone acombined 90-30.
Harvard’s 2011, 2012, and 2013 recruiting classes havegarnered national attention from the likes of CBS Sports, ESPN,Rivals, and Scout.com. In each of the last three years Harvard hasinked a commitment from a prospect in the Rivals Top 150. CBSSports ranked Harvard’s 2012 group among the Top 10 non-BCSrecruiting classes in the country after ESPN, Rivals, and Scout.comall did so in 2011. CBS Sports recognized Hufnagel as “one ofthe most relentless and energetic recruiters in the game,” intheir 2012-13 College Basketball Preview, while naming him one oftheir nine “Dream Team” assistant coaches in collegebasketball.
Hufnagel came to Harvard from the University of Oklahoma wherehe served as a graduate assistant for the men's basketball team. Asa graduate assistant, Hufnagel organized the program's recruitingdatabase, helped conduct individual workouts, and assisted thecoaching staff during practice. In his two years at Oklahoma, theSooners won 53 games, and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAATournament in 2008-09 after reaching the second round in2007-08.
With the Sooners, Hufnagel assisted in the development of BlakeGriffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft by theLos Angeles Clippers. Blake was named the 2010-11 T-Mobile NBARookie of the Year and appeared in his third consecutive All-Stargame in 2012-13 after averaging 18.0 points and 8.3 rebounds pergame.
A 2006 graduate of Cornell with a Bachelor of Science degreein Industrial and Labor Relations, Hufnagel earned his Master's ofEducation with an emphasis in Intercollegiate AthleticAdministration at Oklahoma in 2010. While at Cornell, Hufnagelserved as a student manager with the Big Red for current BostonCollege Head Coach Steve Donahue.
Hufnagel started his collegiate studies at Penn State and wasa defenseman on the Nittany Lions' lacrosse team beforetransferring to Cornell after his freshman season.
Prior to his time at Oklahoma, Hufnagel spent a summer as abasketball operations intern with the New Jersey Nets, where heassisted the front office in preparation for the NBA draft and withother administrative functions. Hufnagel also served as a specialassistant to then head coach Lawrence Frank.
This July, Hufnagel will serve as the head coach of theMaccabi USA Youth team in The 2013 Maccabiah Games, aninternational Jewish athletic event, held in Israel every fouryears.
In addition to his work with the Crimson basketball program,Hufnagel is actively involved with Boston-based Partners for Youthwith Disabilities, serving as a mentor in their Mentor Matchprogram.
