were going to do it aggressively. If we lost, we lost, but we were going to go down swinging.”
When the team came together on October 15, Massimino gave them not one, but two mottoes. One was “Find a way.” The other was “The Wildcats are back.” The latter was a throwback to 1973, Massimino’s first year on the job. It made sense because this team was starting all over again.
The perception, though, was that Villanova was in trouble. That was why the ’Neers stayed away in New York. Villanova was a nonstory.They were picked sixth or seventh in the league, depending on which poll you looked at. Some people thought they might finish ninth.
The season would begin in Hawaii, in a tough tournament that included teams like Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Baylor, Stanford, and Nebraska. The opener was against a decent Nebraska team and, if that game produced a victory, the next opponent would probably be Illinois. The third game in three days would in all likelihood be against Kansas or Iowa.
Massimino would know quickly whether his team was as good as he thought or as bad as the world thought. For now, though, he sat in the solitude of the crowded room, puffing on a cigar, looking every minute of his fifty-three years, watching the ’Neers do their work.
Across the room from Massimino sat Paul Evans. He was as much in demand as Massimino was not. Along with Syracuse, which had been picked No. 1 nationally in many polls, Evans’s Pittsburgh team was seen as a dominant factor in the Big East.
This was a new role for Evans—playing the favorite. He had always coached underdog teams in the past, first at St. Lawrence, then at Navy. But one of the reasons he had left Navy for Pittsburgh was that he wanted to be at a school where the Final Four—and the national championship—were not unreasonable goals.
For this Pitt team, even with the loss of point guard Goodson, those did not seem to be unreasonable goals. Lane, the leading rebounder in the country, was back, along with silky-smooth center Charles Smith, standout sophomore Rod Brookin and three-year starter Demetrius Gore. What’s more, Evans had recruited four excellent freshmen to go with the veterans returning from a team that had won twenty-four games the preceding season.
One of those freshmen was 6–10 Bobby Martin. It was Martin’s decision to go to Pitt, after initially committing verbally to Villanova, that had put Evans and Massimino at odds.
But the story wasn’t that simple. Evans and Massimino were bound to be at odds because of their personalities. Both were competitive men and good coaches. The similarities ended there. Massimino never made a move without his wife. Where he went, she went. They had been married for thirty years. Their five children were as much a part of the Villanova team as the Villanova team was part of the family.
Evans was completely different. It wasn’t so much that he had been married and divorced three times, because he was as devoted in his own way to his two children (one by each of his first two marriages) as Massimino was devoted to his children. It was more of an approach problem. Evans was a maverick, an ask-no-quarter, give-no-quarter guy. He had come into a league with a very definite pecking order—Commissioner Dave (Mr. Television) Gavitt was at the top along with Massimino, Thompson, and St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca—and said screw the pecking order. He had spoken his mind in a league where speaking your mind was frowned upon.
The older coaches didn’t think he had paid his dues. Evans thought dues-paying was for unions. And so, when Massimino accused Pittsburgh of cheating to get Bobby Martin, Evans told the press what Massimino had said. When Gavitt told Evans to be quiet, Evans told the press that Gavitt had told him to be quiet.
His bluntness was not going to win him any popularity contests. But Evans didn’t really care. The only contests he cared about were the ones on the basketball
When the team came together on October 15, Massimino gave them not one, but two mottoes. One was “Find a way.” The other was “The Wildcats are back.” The latter was a throwback to 1973, Massimino’s first year on the job. It made sense because this team was starting all over again.
The perception, though, was that Villanova was in trouble. That was why the ’Neers stayed away in New York. Villanova was a nonstory.They were picked sixth or seventh in the league, depending on which poll you looked at. Some people thought they might finish ninth.
The season would begin in Hawaii, in a tough tournament that included teams like Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Baylor, Stanford, and Nebraska. The opener was against a decent Nebraska team and, if that game produced a victory, the next opponent would probably be Illinois. The third game in three days would in all likelihood be against Kansas or Iowa.
Massimino would know quickly whether his team was as good as he thought or as bad as the world thought. For now, though, he sat in the solitude of the crowded room, puffing on a cigar, looking every minute of his fifty-three years, watching the ’Neers do their work.
Across the room from Massimino sat Paul Evans. He was as much in demand as Massimino was not. Along with Syracuse, which had been picked No. 1 nationally in many polls, Evans’s Pittsburgh team was seen as a dominant factor in the Big East.
This was a new role for Evans—playing the favorite. He had always coached underdog teams in the past, first at St. Lawrence, then at Navy. But one of the reasons he had left Navy for Pittsburgh was that he wanted to be at a school where the Final Four—and the national championship—were not unreasonable goals.
For this Pitt team, even with the loss of point guard Goodson, those did not seem to be unreasonable goals. Lane, the leading rebounder in the country, was back, along with silky-smooth center Charles Smith, standout sophomore Rod Brookin and three-year starter Demetrius Gore. What’s more, Evans had recruited four excellent freshmen to go with the veterans returning from a team that had won twenty-four games the preceding season.
One of those freshmen was 6–10 Bobby Martin. It was Martin’s decision to go to Pitt, after initially committing verbally to Villanova, that had put Evans and Massimino at odds.
But the story wasn’t that simple. Evans and Massimino were bound to be at odds because of their personalities. Both were competitive men and good coaches. The similarities ended there. Massimino never made a move without his wife. Where he went, she went. They had been married for thirty years. Their five children were as much a part of the Villanova team as the Villanova team was part of the family.
Evans was completely different. It wasn’t so much that he had been married and divorced three times, because he was as devoted in his own way to his two children (one by each of his first two marriages) as Massimino was devoted to his children. It was more of an approach problem. Evans was a maverick, an ask-no-quarter, give-no-quarter guy. He had come into a league with a very definite pecking order—Commissioner Dave (Mr. Television) Gavitt was at the top along with Massimino, Thompson, and St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca—and said screw the pecking order. He had spoken his mind in a league where speaking your mind was frowned upon.
The older coaches didn’t think he had paid his dues. Evans thought dues-paying was for unions. And so, when Massimino accused Pittsburgh of cheating to get Bobby Martin, Evans told the press what Massimino had said. When Gavitt told Evans to be quiet, Evans told the press that Gavitt had told him to be quiet.
His bluntness was not going to win him any popularity contests. But Evans didn’t really care. The only contests he cared about were the ones on the basketball
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