Fordham’s basketball past shows what’s possible with right person in charge
There are some devout devotees of Rose Hill who’ve at last grown weary of constantly looking back to the magical winter of 1971. Pining for the past is the surest sign of a bleak present, and when it comes to Fordham basketball, those truths have never been starker.
Fifty years ago, February of ’71, Fordham enjoyed the most glorious month of its basketball history. On consecutive Thursday nights, it beat Notre Dame and lost an OT thriller to unbeaten Marquette, arguably Al McGuire’s best team. Both games sold out Madison Square Garden.
“That,” McGuire said in the quiet of his exhausted locker room, “is the best-coached team I’ve ever seen.”
“We were the princes of the city,” is how the coach in question, Digger Phelps, termed it to me a few months ago, “at a time when being princes of this city was a better thing than being the King of England.”
Now, Rose Hill Gym lies silent, stilled by an extended pause due to COVID-19 and by the 2-11 season that preceded the shutdown, a campaign that already cost embattled coach Jeff Neubauer his job and guaranteed that for the 27th time in 29 years the Rams will finish without a winning record.
Fifty years ago this week, Fordham cracked the Top 10 for the second and last time in school history. March would bring its lone NCAA Tournament win; by April, Phelps was gone to South Bend.....
“I want the basketball program to be a source of pride and school spirit,” says Ed Kull, the athletic director who last week had the “interim” removed from his title and who’s first duty in the AD chair is a critical one: make what may well be the most important hire in the history of a program that dates to 1902.
“I want it to be an engagement tool to get alumni back to The Bronx and back on campus. We know how much frustration there’s been, we know how important it is to get this right. It’s more than important. It’s essential.”
There have been so many missteps along the way across these last 50 years. The Rams never should have abandoned the MAAC for the Patriot League as they did in 1990. That mistake was compounded when Fordham grew weary of that non-scholarship conference after five years and took a blind leap into the Atlantic 10, a jump that would’ve made a lot more sense coming from the MAAC.....
“All you have to do is hire the right person,”said Phelps, who was the right person once upon a time, who 50 years ago left behind a blueprint of precisely what is possible if that right person is identified. And hired.
“ hire the right person as the coach “ . Easier said then done. The previous unsuccessful coaches at the time they were hired at rose hill were “ the right person” . Does the above sound like FF? Sure does to me.
Post by dannynoonan on Feb 26, 2021 9:18:27 GMT -5
Of course it's possible. Especially in basketball.
Northwestern football had, I think, 23 straight losing seasons from the 1970s to 1990s, including a 6-year stretch of 3-62. Gary Barnett came in, they ended the losing season streak by going 8-0 in the Big 10 and going to the Rose Bowl in '95, and Northwestern has been a formidable program since. If Northwestern could do that in football, Fordham can certainly become successful again in basketball. But, yeah, it will take the right person and commitment from the school to get things turned around.
Fordham’s basketball past shows what’s possible with right person in charge
There are some devout devotees of Rose Hill who’ve at last grown weary of constantly looking back to the magical winter of 1971. Pining for the past is the surest sign of a bleak present, and when it comes to Fordham basketball, those truths have never been starker.
Fifty years ago, February of ’71, Fordham enjoyed the most glorious month of its basketball history. On consecutive Thursday nights, it beat Notre Dame and lost an OT thriller to unbeaten Marquette, arguably Al McGuire’s best team. Both games sold out Madison Square Garden.
“That,” McGuire said in the quiet of his exhausted locker room, “is the best-coached team I’ve ever seen.”
“We were the princes of the city,” is how the coach in question, Digger Phelps, termed it to me a few months ago, “at a time when being princes of this city was a better thing than being the King of England.”
Now, Rose Hill Gym lies silent, stilled by an extended pause due to COVID-19 and by the 2-11 season that preceded the shutdown, a campaign that already cost embattled coach Jeff Neubauer his job and guaranteed that for the 27th time in 29 years the Rams will finish without a winning record.
Fifty years ago this week, Fordham cracked the Top 10 for the second and last time in school history. March would bring its lone NCAA Tournament win; by April, Phelps was gone to South Bend.....
“I want the basketball program to be a source of pride and school spirit,” says Ed Kull, the athletic director who last week had the “interim” removed from his title and who’s first duty in the AD chair is a critical one: make what may well be the most important hire in the history of a program that dates to 1902.
“I want it to be an engagement tool to get alumni back to The Bronx and back on campus. We know how much frustration there’s been, we know how important it is to get this right. It’s more than important. It’s essential.”
There have been so many missteps along the way across these last 50 years. The Rams never should have abandoned the MAAC for the Patriot League as they did in 1990. That mistake was compounded when Fordham grew weary of that non-scholarship conference after five years and took a blind leap into the Atlantic 10, a jump that would’ve made a lot more sense coming from the MAAC.....
“All you have to do is hire the right person,”said Phelps, who was the right person once upon a time, who 50 years ago left behind a blueprint of precisely what is possible if that right person is identified. And hired.
"Pining for the past is the purest sign of a bleak present, and when it comes to (substitute Fairfield) basketball, those truths have never been starker." Sound familiar?
Of course it's possible. Especially in basketball.
Northwestern football had, I think, 23 straight losing seasons from the 1970s to 1990s, including a 6-year stretch of 3-62. Gary Barnett came in, they ended the losing season streak by going 8-0 in the Big 10 and going to the Rose Bowl in '95, and Northwestern has been a formidable program since. If Northwestern could do that in football, Fordham can certainly become successful again in basketball. But, yeah, it will take the right person and commitment from the school to get things turned around.
What Gary Barnett did was remarkable, and clearly it can be done. There are numerous similar exampoles. It is actually that much easier to do in Basketball as 1) there is a fair bit of parity in most leagues, 2) One right player can have a huge impact on a program.
In my view Sydney Johnson was gone year 5 had he not signed Tyler Nelson. One guy changed his trajectory. And PS he only gets Curtis Cobb because he had Nelson. So in basketball one right coach can change a program and one right player can change a program.
I think there is no better example of raising a program from the ashes than Loyola. As much as everyone (myself included) loves to hate "Legendary" MAAC coach Jimmy Patsos. Patsos took a program that had not a winning season in more than 10 years and in fact hadn't had double digits wins in 4 years from the basement to above 500 in one season. He had double digits wins for the next 10 seasons, winning records 6 times and 20+ win seasons his final two years with the program. He also won the MAAC championship. I would never think of Patsos as the "right" guy for my program but he was the right guy for loyola. And Fordham may need to make a bold choice to return to relavence. Point is though it can be done with the right coach.
Jimmy Patsos Loyola (2004-2013): 145–135 (.518) 85–77 (.525)MAAC Ed Cooley Fairfield (2006-2011): 92–69 (.571) 58–32 (.644)MAAC Sydney Johnson Fairfield (2011-2019): 116–147 (.441) 68–84 (.447)MAAC
Stag Men's Basketball - only 4 head coaches with winning records in the 72 years since 1948 1948–1949 Joe Dunn 9–14 - 1949–1950 Bob Noonan 5–16 - 1950–1958 James Hanrahan 82–79 (1951 NAIB) 1958–1968 George Bisacca 151–85 (1960 NCAA, 1961 NCAA, 1962 NCAA) 1968–1970 Jim Lynam 23–29 - 1970–1981 Fred Barakat 160–128 (1973 NIT, 1974 NIT, 1978 NIT) 1981–1985 Terry O'Conner 45–68 - 1985–1991 Mitch Buonaguro 72–103 (1986 NCAA, 1987 NCAA) 1991–1998 Paul Cormier 86–111 (1996 NIT, 1997 NCAA) 1998–2006 Tim O'Toole 112–120 (2003 NIT) 2006–2011 Ed Cooley 92–69 (2010 CIT, 2011 NIT) 2011–2019 Sydney Johnson 116–147 (2012 CIT, 2013 CIT, 2016 CIT, 2017 CIT) 2020–present Jay Young 18-35
In the 10 years since Ed Cooley (.571) left the program, Stag Men's Basketball is 134-182 (.424). The last NCAA Tournament appearance was 24 years ago in 1997.
Fordham will NEVER win in the A-10 and Fairfield will never win in the MAAC. Both programs are mismatched and for different reasons, but both belong in the Patriot League. The A-10 is a mismosh of large public Universities and small to midsize private institutions that don't even have solid geographic connections. Fairfield is trying to compete in a MAAC that, as currently constituted, has some very poor academic institutions. Both schools should join the Patriot League as they fit academically and geographically and would have far better rivalries to restart local interest. Unfortunately, I don't think it will ever happen and its a damn shame.
Of course it's possible. Especially in basketball.
Northwestern football had, I think, 23 straight losing seasons from the 1970s to 1990s, including a 6-year stretch of 3-62. Gary Barnett came in, they ended the losing season streak by going 8-0 in the Big 10 and going to the Rose Bowl in '95, and Northwestern has been a formidable program since. If Northwestern could do that in football, Fordham can certainly become successful again in basketball. But, yeah, it will take the right person and commitment from the school to get things turned around.
What Gary Barnett did was remarkable, and clearly it can be done. There are numerous similar exampoles. It is actually that much easier to do in Basketball as 1) there is a fair bit of parity in most leagues, 2) One right player can have a huge impact on a program.
In my view Sydney Johnson was gone year 5 had he not signed Tyler Nelson. One guy changed his trajectory. And PS he only gets Curtis Cobb because he had Nelson. So in basketball one right coach can change a program and one right player can change a program.
I think there is no better example of raising a program from the ashes than Loyola. As much as everyone (myself included) loves to hate "Legendary" MAAC coach Jimmy Patsos. Patsos took a program that had not a winning season in more than 10 years and in fact hadn't had double digits wins in 4 years from the basement to above 500 in one season. He had double digits wins for the next 10 seasons, winning records 6 times and 20+ win seasons his final two years with the program. He also won the MAAC championship. I would never think of Patsos as the "right" guy for my program but he was the right guy for loyola. And Fordham may need to make a bold choice to return to relavence. Point is though it can be done with the right coach.
Absolutely agree, it can be done a lot easier in basketball than football because of the reasons you listed. Patsos certainly is a good example at Loyola (though it didn't work out so well for him at Siena). And don't forget, Cooley was doing the same thing for the Stags at about the same time.
I also agree BTW about the connection of Nelson to Johnson. Tyler definitely helped Sydney survive a couple of more years, no question.
Fordham will NEVER win in the A-10 and Fairfield will never win in the MAAC. Both programs are mismatched and for different reasons, but both belong in the Patriot League. The A-10 is a mismosh of large public Universities and small to midsize private institutions that don't even have solid geographic connections. Fairfield is trying to compete in a MAAC that, as currently constituted, has some very poor academic institutions. Both schools should join the Patriot League as they fit academically and geographically and would have far better rivalries to restart local interest. Unfortunately, I don't think it will ever happen and its a damn shame.
I'm not trying to make it sound like it's acceptable especially considering our investment in MBB, but it's only 11, 10 and 9 years ago, respectively, that we went 2nd, 1st and T3 in the MAAC regular season. So you can't say "Fairfield will never win in the MAAC" because we have fairly recently. If you say we can't win consistently in the MAAC, I think you can make a good argument.
And while I agree with you in thinking the PL would be a better fit, let's not think that moving to the PL will mean we automatically start hanging regular season and tourney championship banners. There's good ball being played in the PL, and some good programs. If you believe the ratings pages, these days, the MAAC is at best about the same as the PL. So regardless of what conference we play in, we have to recruit and play better than we have since Cooley left.
Last Edit: Feb 26, 2021 15:15:22 GMT -5 by dannynoonan
Agree fully with sobro, and noonan makes a great point about the good ball in the Patriot and not immediately hanging banners. The big POD I see though, is that in the Patriot you're competing against predominantly "like" teams without the renegade factor that can tilt balance in the MAAC.
Fordham will NEVER win in the A-10 and Fairfield will never win in the MAAC. Both programs are mismatched and for different reasons, but both belong in the Patriot League. The A-10 is a mismosh of large public Universities and small to midsize private institutions that don't even have solid geographic connections. Fairfield is trying to compete in a MAAC that, as currently constituted, has some very poor academic institutions. Both schools should join the Patriot League as they fit academically and geographically and would have far better rivalries to restart local interest. Unfortunately, I don't think it will ever happen and its a damn shame.
But St. Bonaventure, a school of 1900, in the middle of no place seems to have a pretty good program in the A-10 as does Davidson, a very small and very good academic school. I agree I'd like to see the Patriots League in terms of academics and competition. We are probably the most difficult school to get a recruit in the MAAC.
According to Zagoria, St. Peter's Holloway is likely one of the three leading candidates for the Fordham coaching job. And, to me, the fact that St. Peter's is also a Jesuit school would probably make him the favorite of the three mentioned.