Young men enroll in school with different ideas as to their future. Some aspire to be doctors; others want practice law or seek a position in the business world. Often that plays a major role in his or hers? determination as to choice of school.

When I made my decision -- as to where to attend school -- it was also based on where I could get the best education for the profession that I wanted to pursue. I knew that I wanted to -- one day -- be a college basketball coach. And the best place for me to get an education as a coach was at Fairleigh Dickinson University, under the tutelage of Al LoBalbo.

When I first met coach LoBalbo I was very impressed with his approach to the game and his great ability, to not only teaching the game, but also conveying it in such a way that one could teach it to others.

At that time he had already put together quite a resume, having coached since 1947. He was an assistant under Bob Knight at Army and they had a point guard at that time named Mike Krzyzewski.

He spent a little time in the NBA with the Buffalo Braves and would later coach with Lou Carnesecca at St. John?s. But from 1969 to 1980 he was the head coach at FDU.

According to the transcripts I was a communications major at FDU. But in fact the best classes that I attended were with professor LoBalbo on the basketball court. And just like in the typical classroom setting, I brought a notebook to every practice and wrote down all the lessons taught in that lecture hall.

Coach LoBalbo was a very emotional guy, which is a characteristic that I display at times myself. From time to time, he would really get after us and I can remember it like it happened yesterday. He would be ranting and raving and he looked to me and said, ?one day you are going to be dealing with the same issues and the same problems that I am dealing with now. And you will handle them in the same manner. You just don?t know it yet.?

He was exactly right.

Everything that I am doing today at the University of South Florida all goes back to the education that I received from professor-coach LoBalbo at Fairleigh Dickinson.

As coaches we are sponges to some degree, picking up little things from others and incorporating them into our particular styles of play. While virtually everything that I do now comes directly from coach LoBalbo, I was in the unique position to absorb things from so many other coaching greats because of him.

Back then, the Fairleigh Dickinson coaching clinic was a ?who?s-who? in coaching. Coach LoBalbo was one of the few coaches in America that could get the likes of Bob Knight, Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello, Mike Krzyzewski and others to speak at the camp.

The only draw back to that was that I was always the demonstrator for the different drills so I took a lot of abuse. But, in all seriousness, it was a great classroom setting for me. And it was not only just another part of my plan to do what I wanted to do one day, but it was also part of coach LoBalbo?s plan for what he wanted me to do as well.

Coach LoBalbo was an old-school type of coach. He was cut out of the same mold of Vince Lombardi. Everything that he did as a coach had a well-served purpose. As young players, it was sometimes difficult for us to understand his methods. And that is still true today.

Something he said to me I still convey to my players today. And that is, ?if I am not on your butt, it means that I don?t care about you anymore.?

Sometimes young people misinterpret the words of others to be disrespectful or condescending. But the fact is that you often give the most hell to those you care for the most. That is something I learned early on from coach LoBalbo.

He had is own style, driving into practice in his Lincoln Continental, chewing on those big cigars before it was fashionable and taking the team to that steak-dinner before every game. And he was a true character who possessed great character. That was evident in the very first practice I ever attended at FDU.

I walked into the gym and there were 13 chairs lined up on the court. No basketballs, just chairs. We all sat down and waited for five minutes and then ten minutes. It seemed like an eternity as fifteen minutes passed and finally twenty minutes later he came strolling down from his office.

He walked back and forth a few times, chewing on a cigar and staring at us. Then he said, with a little twang in his voice, ?hey? and there was a long pause. That was a coach LoBalbo staple, ?hey.? You never knew if you were supposed to respond or just keep quiet. It was his way of getting your attention.

So after what seemed like forever, he follows up with a little speech that I will never forget. He said, ?I?m your coach Al Lo. I want you to like me, not to love me because loving leads to screwing and nobody screws with Al LoBalbo.?

We are all going to miss you coach Lo.
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