Basketball: In the service of Princeton hoops

Such groups have been in Ivy League news recently, as Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker noted the support of the Friends of Harvard Basketball alumni organization as a factor in turning down a lucrative offer from the University of Miami. The Harvard Crimson reported last week that Harvard’s boosters felt Amaker’s “continued presence” would “come with additional perks” to the basketball program and that the Friends “are stepping up their efforts” to support Amaker’s assistant coaches and the program.

James Lane ’92, president of Princeton’s corresponding group, the Friends of Princeton Basketball, was unfazed by reports that boosters were helping any team ascend to the top of the Ivy League and was confident in his group’s ability to help the squad stay competitive.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the other schools are more aggressive in that area [regarding personnel] because everyone is always trying to catch Princeton,” he said. “Year after year there are flashes in the pan, but there’s this one consistent force in the national news in Ivy League basketball, and that’s Princeton.”

“Right now, it’s Harvard having that flash, and when they’re done with their little run, who knows who it’s going to be next,” he added.

The Friends of Princeton Basketball consists of volunteering alumni helmed by Lane and nine vice presidents. The group provides financial support for the men’s and women’s programs, maintains mentoring and networking services and hosts alumni functions designed to build support for the Friends and the athletic programs.

On the financial side, the Friends are responsible for $125,000 to $150,000 in operating expenses for both the men’s and women’s programs. These funds are used to cover all recruiting expenses, out-of-region travel to holiday tournaments, pre-season games and appropriate equipment for players and assistant coaches.

“Friends of Princeton is this organization out there that you can give to, and you know the dollars you are giving go directly to the two programs,” Lane explained.

He highlighted the covering of recruiting costs as one of the most essential functions of the Friends.

“All that [funding for recruiting expenses] is important because that does directly affect the competitiveness of the program,” Lane said. “The more they’re out there, the more they can find the right players, and that’s not an easy job to do in the Ivy League.”

The Friends do not actually dispense, or even really handle, the funds that they raise, and all of their operations are overseen by the athletic department.

“If someone mailed [a check to the Friends] in to the basketball office, or the development office, it’s the development office that handles all the administration for the Friends groups,” Lane said. “It keeps it very, very clean, auditable and traceable, and no monies are spent out of that unless they’re approved by the athletic department.”

Lane made clear that the Friends had nothing to do with the recent departure of former head coach Sydney Johnson ’97. The men’s basketball head coach is an endowed position, but the endowment is operated separately from the Friends themselves, although the Friends do encourage donors to establish such endowed positions.

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“The ability to impact personnel retention or attracting personnel is not something within the scope of the Friends of Princeton Basketball,” he said.

Currently, the Friends of Princeton Basketball is not within the top three Friends groups in terms of donations, according to a recent friends groups fiscal report; that distinction belongs to football, lacrosse and track and field. Nonetheless, the group is a crucial part of Princeton basketball, and the Friends’ support will be necessary for the success of the newest head coach, Mitch Henderson ’98, whose hiring was announced on Wednesday afternoon.

“At the Friends of Princeton Basketball, we just do our thing,” Lane said. “What we do is about the players and the University, making sure the programs and the leaders of the programs have the resources within our scope of funding.”