DEVELOPING A WINNING IDENTITY


There was only one way to go when Jimmy Patsos accepted the post at Loyola-Maryland. Up.

Patsos stock was pretty high, after spending thirteen seasons as an assistant to Gary Williams at Maryland, so it may have surprised a few people when he opted to take over a program that had struggled mightily in recent years. Not only had the program enjoyed just one winning season in the last twenty years, but it also had become the doormat of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference posting a 16-97 mark in the four years prior to the Patsos hiring.

And he entered his first season with the remnants of a team that was 1-27 the previous season.

But Patsos had spent enough time in the area to know that the resources and the commitment to win were there. More importantly, the administration, alumnus and fans were looking for anything to cheer about.

“Everyone here was so hungry for success,” says Patsos. “There is a lot of pride and tradition here, but we had to give them something to get excited about.”

Nobody jumped out of their seats after a 6-22 season in 2004-05, but Patsos’ rookie campaign had set a tone. The program had an appetite for losing. Change was long overdue.

But it wouldn’t be easy to change perception.

“You could count on two wins every year,” said one MAAC coach in regards to facing Loyola twice a year before Patsos was hired. “When they appeared on the schedule you knew you would either break your own losing streak or add to your win streak. They were not good.”

Changing the attitude was a start, but Patsos had been around long enough to know that good players make good coaches. He had to tap into the local talent pool.

“The Maryland area is rich in talent,” says Patsos. “When I got here we had no local products on the roster and we had no Catholic school players. Loyola is a Catholic institution so we needed to address both.”

And it started with a talent from the University of Maryland.

When Patsos left Maryland, Andre Collins decided to follow him. Once a highly touted high school player, Collins was the second highest scorer in Maryland high school history. But he was tagged as being to small to play big-time college basketball. The MAAC seemed a better fit then the ACC.

In addition to the 5-foot-11 scoring machine Collins, 6-foot-10 Hassan Fofana also left Maryland in favor of Loyola. Their arrival, along with some other additions, made the Greyhounds look a lot better on paper. But no success in recent history keeps you near the bottom of all the preseason projections.

“Until you win, nothing changes,” says Patsos. “We made some strides in our first season, but we won only six games. I liked the direction we were headed, but you still have to win and that hadn’t happened a lot here.”

The funny thing about not winning for a long time is that when you do win a little it gets a lot of attention.

Loyola opened the 2005-06 season with four straight wins, including road wins at Towson and Mount St. Mary’s and home victories over UMBC and American. Not exactly powerful programs, but four straight wins is still four straight wins, especially for a program had become synonymous with losing.

But changing perception is difficult. They needed that eye-opener and on Dec. 9 they got it.

After leading for much of the second half, Loyola found themselves behind in the closing moments at Fairfield. The Greyhounds cut the deficit to one with 4.5 seconds left, but free throws from Fairfield pushed the lead back to three. Enter Andre Collins.

Collins, who would score a career-best 39 points a few weeks later at Providence, buried a long three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

Loyola would prevail in extra time to earn its first season-opening win in the MAAC in ten years. The 90-85 win improved their record to 5-0, which was the school’s first 5-0 start since 1930.

That’s how you change perception.

A New Year’s Eve win at Delaware sent Loyola into 2006 with a 7-2 mark. In just nine games they had already matched the win total of the previous two seasons combined and people noticed.

“Last year we couldn’t get anyone to attend games,” says Patsos. "This year we had a full house for our game against Manhattan and we had 250 students travel to see us play at Mount St. Mary’s. A lot of New York and New England kids attend Loyola. They know their basketball and they are beginning to embrace this team.”

After opening the New Year with a loss at Providence, Loyola ran off three straight wins to improve to 10-3. The middle win over Marist gave Patsos’ club the distinction of earning nine wins in twelve games, which was second only to the 1941-42 team that needed ten games to reach nine wins.

Loyola’s continued improvement earned them some respect on a national level, as they continued to receive votes in the weekly Mid-Major Top 25 voting. They got as close as No. 27. But in spite of the early-season success, Patsos knows that they still have some mountains to climb.

“We have done some nice things, but we still have a ways to go,” says Patsos. “It is however great to see people enthused about the program again. It’s been a long time since that has been the case here.”

In fact there hasn’t been a lot to get excited up about, since Skip Prosser led the Greyhounds to a 17-13 record and NCAA tournament appearance in the 1993-94 season. But the Lacrosse first institution is starting to develop a winning identity on the basketball court.