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STAR IN WAITING IN HARTFORD


John Chaney’s tenure at Temple didn’t end with nearly the fanfare that was deserved. No one could have blamed the members of Chaney’s coaching staff for exiting prematurely, in search of another position. After all, good jobs are more easily found when you are enjoying success. Controversy doesn’t lend itself to great opportunities, but that fact didn’t bother one Chaney understudy. Through it all, Dan Leibovitz remained.

It’s that type of loyalty and dedication that had to make an impression on the University of Hartford, which hired Leibovitz on April 14, 2006. After eleven seasons with Chaney, the 33-year old was finally taking over his own program.

However, few paid much attention to the hire. It was a program without much recent success worth talking about. It was a program that has never been to the NCAA tournament. And it was a program picked to finish at the bottom of the America East Conference this season.

But after spending the past decade-plus getting up at 5:30 in the morning for practice, no challenge should seem unreasonable to accomplish for Leibovitz.

While the University of Hartford hasn’t yet realized it’s full potential in basketball, the institution does have many pieces in place to ensure success. From its’ beautiful campus and academic offerings to the committed administration and the beautiful Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. It was just a matter of getting the right coach to make it happen.

Still the consensus was that it would take time and perhaps a lot of time. But from the outset it was clear that there was something different about this group of Hawks. There was belief.

“In our opening game at Georgetown, we took the floor believing that we had every right to win the game,” says Leibovitz. “We played one of our better games and lost in the end, but it showed me that our team was moving toward developing the right mentality.”

Believing in one’s abilities was one of the first things that Leibovitz wanted to instill in his players. But he also wanted to remind them that playing with passion and intelligence was a requirement and not an option. He made that clear by telling his players that they were not talented enough to beat a division I team unless they played with those qualities for a full forty-minutes.

After starting the season 0-3, Hartford would win three straight and 6-of-7. The lone loss came at Penn State, where the Hawks trailed by one and had the ball with 12.3 seconds remaining. That last shot did not go down, but a lot of have found the bottom of the net for Leibovitz’ team.

Offensively, the new-look Hawks haven’t borrowed much from John Chaney’s offensive philosophy, but Leibovitz does emphasize what he Coach Chaney taught in terms of spacing, valuing the basketball and getting the ball to the right person where he has the best chance to succeed when the game is on the line.

But it’s the other aspect of the game that has made the Hawks competitive, night in and night out. And that is all about John Chaney basketball.

“Coach Chaney is proud of the way that we have started off here at the University of Hartford, but he is most proud that we lead the America East in turnover margin,” said Leibovitz (as of Jan. 15). “He also loves the fact that we are among the leaders in points allowed.”

It’s all about the zone defenses made famous by the hall of fame coach.

But philosophy and approach still need another key ingredient and that’s the reason this team exceeded expectations through November and December. It’s actually something the team lacks that makes them successful -- Ego. They have none.

“My first impression was that it was a group with no egos that was willing to learn a new way of playing the game,” says Leibovitz. “There was never a period of time when I felt as though any of them were fighting the teaching or the change.”

Certainly some will say that the returning players hadn’t enjoyed success and thus were more apt to adopting a new way of doing things, but lets credit the efforts of Leibovitz. Kids today are very perceptive and it wouldn’t take long for them to see the humble manner and sincerity that will define Leibovitz for years to come.

During his time at Temple, win or lose, Leibovitz he has never changed. Even when Temple was dominating the Atlantic 10, it would have been easy for a then young Leibovitz to get a little brash, but that was never the case. Through the years opposing coaches will note that he has remained as down to earth as any in the profession.

And his team has embraced him.

Senior Bo Taylor has provided a lot of leadership, on and off the court. He’s also contributed in the box score, providing scoring punch on a nightly basis. But the key to their success has been the play of junior point guard Rich Baker. He plays like he practices and that’s a full 100% every day. He’s a prototypical John Chaney player.

With the emergence of freshmen Joe Zeglinski, a product of Philadelphia, the Hawks have a solid team this season and a nice foundation to build on. But the program’s best asset is its’ head coach.

It’s hard to say how the Hawks will fair down the stretch in the very competitive America East Conference, but two things are certain. The University of Hartford will be among the better teams in the league very soon and Dan Leibovitz will be someday be considered among the top coaches in America.

Yes, in America.

But given his loyal nature, don’t be surprised if he stays in Hartford for a while. While he wouldn’t admit it, he did have some very nice offers to coach other, more notable programs, but opted instead to remain with Coach Chaney at Temple.

Perhaps ‘opted’ isn’t the right word. That would suggest that he considered and one thing he never considered was leaving Coach Chaney.

“I want to thank Coach Chaney publicly for spending so much time developing me as a coach,” says Leibovitz. “And for sharing with me his greatest gifts; his friendship and his wisdom.”

Dan Leibovitz is the real deal. You are lucky to have him Hartford.