DID YOU KNOW FACT? - HARVARD HEAD COACH - TOMMY AMAKER - ALL - MET ELITE

DID YOU KNOW FACT ?

HARVARD HEAD COACH

 TOMMY AMAKER 

 ALL-MET ELITE

W.T. WOODSON HS.

FAIRFAX VA. 

 

 How the brilliant point guard who lived in Falls Church ended up at Woodson was a bit controversial in and of itself. Amaker's mother was a Fairfax County teacher, and as such she could choose which school her son would attend. She chose Woodson, knowing that her son would play on the varsity team as a freshman, because Jenkins had been impressed with Amaker's performances in summer league games since the time Amaker was ten-years-old. The County changed the rules about where teachers can send their children to school partly because of Amaker's dominance at Woodson.

 

Before Amaker became the dominant point guard that he was, he had to find a way to get around certain basketball disadvantages. Not only was his shooting a mess, as Jenkins said, but Amaker came into Woodson at 5-foot-7, 108 pounds. In 1987, Jenkins told the Connection that when Amaker first came to practices at Woodson, the bottom of his uniform would hang out of the bottom of his shorts, and one could barely see the top of the 1 and the 0 on his back. However, Amaker was a natural, recalled Jenkins.

 

Amaker shined the first chance he got to be the team's point guard. It was his freshman year, and Woodson was playing in a Christmas tournament in Pennsylvania, against national powerhouse basketball schools. Woodson's senior point guard, Steve Hass, got injured, and Amaker had to step into the role from the bench. "He ran the show like he'd been doing it for years," recalled Jenkins.
 

Jenkins said that perhaps the most memorable moment he has from Amaker's career at Woodson is a summer league game the Cavaliers played against perennial national powerhouse, DeMatha. He said Amaker single-handedly beat the favorites with 36 points and 12 assists. The following day, Red Auerbach, the legendary Boston Celtics president, said in the newspapers that Amaker was the best high school guard he had seen in at least ten years.

 

During his time at Woodson, Amaker led the Cavaliers to four straight Northern District titles. A McDonald's All-American, Amaker also earned the Wooden Defensive Player of the Year award in 1983, awarded to the nation's best high school defensive player. He averaged almost 18 points, and contributed 7.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game while at Woodson