Pecora begins challenge of getting Fordham to top
This photo taken March 8, 2008 shows then Providence coach Tim Welsh watching his team in action during college basketball game against Villanova in Providence, R.I. Welsh, the new head coach at Hofstra, resigned Monday May 3, 2010, three days after he was charged with drunken driving and only a month after he was hired. Welsh, a former coach at Iona and Providence, never worked a game at Hofstra after signing a five-year contract for $3 million to replace Tom Pecora, who left to coach Fordham in March. (AP Photo/Stew Milne) Credit: AP Photo/STEW MILNE
After 16 years at Hofstra, the last nine as head men's basketball coach, Tom Pecora could see the sand in the hourglass of his career slipping away.
Pecora believes he was robbed of an NCAA Tournament berth in 2006, as George Mason got an at-large berth despite losing to Hofstra twice late in the season, including in the CAA Tournament (Mason then went all the way to the Final Four and Hofstra went to the NIT). "I'll go to my grave knowing we got snubbed," Pecora said. "I'm not going to lie. I want to coach in that tournament . . . This was a good time in my life for a change. I'm 52. You can't play scared. You can't say, 'I'm in a comfort zone here.' "
So Pecora pulled the rip cord on his Hofstra career to coach in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which had three NCAA bids last season. The catch? He's starting at the bottom with a Fordham program that went 2-26, including 0-16 in conference. Not surprisingly, the Rams were picked to finish last in the preseason coaches poll released Thursday at a luncheon at Chelsea Piers.
Asked to name the biggest challenge he faces, Pecora didn't hesitate. "We have to become relevant again, not only locally, but nationally," he said.
Pecora recalled the successful years old coaching buddies Tom Penders and Nick Macarchuk had at Rose Hill and said, "If I didn't think we could get it done, there would be no reason to make the move."
Speaking of antiquated Rose Hill Gym, Pecora showed he hasn't lost his sense of humor. Recalling how the mother of a prospect said the gym looked awfully old, Pecora told her, "So is Carnegie Hall, and people are dying to play there."
St. John's will make the trip from Queens to the Bronx Dec. 11 for a game Pecora would like to see become a fixture on the local schedule, preferably at the Garden. He noted the Rams will play four games at the Izod Center and said he expects a Garden date next season.
Fordham returns A-10 rookie of the year Chris Gaston, a 6-7 forward who averaged 18.0 points and a conference-leading 11.4 rebounds, and senior guard Brenton Butler (16.5 points). The Rams added Brooklyn point guard Brandon Frazier plus two Haitian forwards from Florida, 6-7 freshman Marvin Dominique and 6-10 junior college transfer Kervin Bristol.
"It's going to be a process,'' Pecora said, "but we'll get better every day."
