According to a source close the situation, Harvard has hired Tommy Amaker as its men’s basketball coach. Amaker will be introduced as the 17th head coach in program history at a press conference on Friday. He takes over for Frank Sullivan, whose contract was not renewed last month following a 12-16 season and sixth-place finish in the league at 5-9.

Slant: It’s an impressive hire for Harvard, as Amaker is someone with national name recognition. He’ll take over a team with some talented guards in Drew Housman and Jeremy Lin and a big man in Evan Harris who has shown promise, but the overall talent level needs to be raised. Amaker won’t have much time to rest, as recruiting is picking up for 2008 and there may be a late recruit or two to be had for this year, so he’ll need to hit the recruiting trail right away.

Hopefully Amaker’s hiring is a sign of a bigger priority placed on men’s basketball at Harvard. Sullivan’s program didn’t fall on hard times because of his coaching. A large part of this was admissions, so Amaker will need get greater cooperation from the admissions department to turn things around.

There’s no word as of yet about assistants, though Amaker would do well to bring on at least one assistant familiar with the Ivy League.