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Assistant Coach

Brian Eskildsen

Brian eskildsen

Brian Eskildsen completed his sixth season as a member of head coach Tommy Amaker's staff in 2019-20 after helping the Crimson to three Ivy League championships and a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2014-15.

A season ago, the Crimson reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2014-15, finishing with a 21-8 record. On the way to its fifth-highest win total in program history, Harvard defeated Power-5 conference foes Texas A&M and California, and enjoyed a pair of lengthy winning streaks (8 games and 6 games). The Crimson earned a berth to the Ivy League Tournament after a runner-up finish in the regular season, but the league and university canceled the event and eventually the rest of the spring schedule, effectively ending the campaign. Despite the abrupt finish, Harvard had a first-team all-Ivy selection in Noah Kirkwood, while Chris Lewis, who completed his career as the school's all-time leader in blocked shots and field goal percentage, garnered second-team accolades.

In 2018-19, Harvard earned the Ivy League championship, its second in a row and seventh in the last nine seasons. Bryce Aiken was a unanimous all-Ivy League first team selection, while Noah Kirkwood became Harvard’s fourth Ivy League Rookie of the Year under Amaker. The Crimson capped the 2018-19 season with its second-straight trip to the NIT, where it earned the first win in the event in program history, over Georgetown (71-68).

The Crimson captured its sixth Ivy League crown in program history in 2017-18, and earned its second-ever berth to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Seth Towns capped a tremendous season as the Ivy League Player of the Year and All-America selection, while Chris Lewis and Justin Bassey also garnered All-Ivy recognition. Harvard won 18 games for the second-straight season, doing so while playing one of the nation's toughest schedules.

Harvard capped the 2016-17 season with an apperance in the inaugural Ivy League tournament. The Crimson - the 10th-youngest team according to KenPom rankings - finished 18-10 overall, including a 10-4 mark in Ancient Eight play.

Harvard saw two student-athletes receive all-conference accolades in 2015-16 highlighted by Agunwa Okolie's selection as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Okolie was also named All-Ivy League honorable mention with Zena Edosomwan receiving All-Ivy League second team honors. Despite losing eight letterwinners from the previous year the Crimson competed well on the national stage, reaching the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic with wins over BYU (85-82, OT) and Auburn (69-51) before falling to then No. 3 Oklahoma, 83-71. Harvard also found itself tied with then No. 4 Kansas with under 8:00 to play in Allen Fieldhouse, but ultimately fell to the Jayhawks, 75-69.

In his first season on staff, Harvard continued its reign atop the Ancient Eight in 2014-15, finishing the regular season tied with Yale for the Ancient Eight crown. The Crimson defeated the Bulldogs in a one-game playoff for the right to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament, where it fell to fourth-seeded North Carolina, 67-65, despite taking a 65-63 lead with 1:15 to play. Harvard also completed its second straight season sweep of traditional Ivy powers Penn and Princeton during the regular season, becoming the first program in conference history to do in consecutive years. Three Crimson earned All-Ivy League recognition, including three-time All-Ivy honoree Steve Moundou-Missi who was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

Eskildsen arrived in Cambridge after spending the 2013-14 season with the Rice Owls as an assistant coach to head coach Ben Braun. While at Rice, Eskildsen served as the team’s recruiting coordinator and was in charge of opponent scouting. Eskildsen worked directly with the Owls’ post players on the court, and was also responsible for game scheduling.

Prior to his time in Houston, Eskildsen spent three seasons at Stanford working under head coach Johnny Dawkins, a former teammate of Amaker’s at Duke. As the Cardinal’s recruiting and video coordinator, Eskildsen was responsible for assisting in all facets of the recruiting process, including managing the program’s recruiting database. Additionally, Eskildsen assisted with scouting video and film exchange.

Stanford claimed the 2012 National Invitational Tournament title with Eskildsen on staff, capping off a 26-11 campaign. The Cardinal returned to the NIT in 2013. Stanford went 60-42 overall during Eskildsen’s time in Palo Alto, placed seven individuals on the All-Pac-12 teams and had 18 individuals earn recognition on the Pac-12 All-Academic teams.

Eskildsen began his coaching career in 2009-10 as the director of operations for the University of New Orleans. He attended Tennessee as an undergraduate and served as a program assistant and scout team player for the Lady Vols under Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Pat Summitt. While at Tennessee, he was a member of two national championship teams.

Eskildsen is a native of Fairfax, Virginia, and is an alum of WT Woodson High School, the same high school Amaker attended.

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