Catching up with Tom Pecora

Now back on sidelines as an assistant at Quinnipiac, Tom Pecora returns to Long Island Saturday as Bobcats take on Fairfield in first game of MAAC tripleheader. (Photo by Vincent Simone/NYC Buckets)

When Baker Dunleavy was officially named head coach at Quinnipiac last March, it did not take long for the former Jay Wright disciple to find a top assistant.

The 35-year-old immediately tapped Tom Pecora to be his associate head coach, instantly adding a layer of credibility and experience to a rookie coaching staff in Hamden. Prior to returning to the bench, Pecora had spent the past two seasons doing television work as an analyst on regional broadcasts following his dismissal from Fordham in 2015, but had always stayed in tune with the evolution of the game in the hope that he would get to return to the coaching ranks.

Dunleavy, Pecora, and the rest of the Bobcats invade Long Island this weekend to face Fairfield in the opening game of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tripleheader this Saturday at Nassau Coliseum, directly across the street from Pecora's first head coaching stop, Hofstra, where he led the Pride for nine seasons before taking over at Fordham. We were able to catch up with Pecora, whom we covered extensively during his time at Rose Hill, as he prepares to return to his home base:

Jaden Daly: Three months into the season now, working with a coach on the rise like Baker, how has it gone for you personally, getting to know this team and just getting back out there?

Tom Pecora: It's been wonderful. There's nothing I'd rather do. We were talking earlier, you know, today we'd run in and practice, jump in the car, go watch a high school doubleheader in Manhattan, drive out to the hotel and get there at about 11 p.m., get up early, more game prep for tomorrow, and back into the routine that I love. 

It's been a great experience working with Baker. He's been great, he and I have a longstanding relationship, so it was an easy transition. I knew him as a player, obviously, at Villanova when he was playing for Jay (Wright), and when we sat down and talked about me coming here with him, you know, he's always been such an impressive young guy, he's so bright, humble, hungry, really understands the business having grown up in it. His dad, Mike, a legend who I remember watching in high school about four years ahead of me, and obviously his success on the court, and his brother Michael and his other brother as well, so basketball family, blueblood basketball family, and I, you know, after being around him for almost a year, I have no doubt that he's a star in the making.

JD: Is there any adjustment to getting back in after doing TV for the last two years?

TP: A little bit, you know? What I love is I'm really -- it's a great learning experience. I mean, I'm in the room with everybody who's 35 years old or younger, so, you know, it's in a whole different view of the game in certain aspects, but they defer to me on certain concepts of the game, so in that sense, it's learning. But one of the things I did in my two years out is I stayed in. I didn't have a huge schedule with TV, I might have been doing 25-30 games a year, so if I had a Saturday game, say, at Duquesne, I would leave New York Wednesday and I'd stop at Penn State and spend a day with the guys there, then go to West Virginia and spend a day with them there, stop by Pitt on Friday, watch everyone practice, watch the way they went about their business, and if I wasn't there, I was at high school games, you know, keeping an eye on guys, you know, doing what I love. So it's been a pretty smooth transition in that sense.

JD: Has the recruiting game changed a little bit for you now as an assistant again after being a head coach for so long?

TP: Yeah, I mean, look: As you get older, some of the guys who were power players when I got in this business are long gone. They're not in the business any longer, so you move forward. But I have good relationships with the younger guys, the most influential people, I think they respect my experience and my honesty, and that's really where recruiting comes down to. You've got to be straight up with people, make sure it's a good fit for both parties, and I think if you're straight up and honest and work hard, all of that stuff comes together.

JD: Coming back to Long Island tomorrow for the first time as a coach, even though you were there for a Hofstra-St. Bonaventure game for TV a couple of years ago, is it going to be any more special, any more emotional for you?

TP: No, you know, I had a chance to get down when Villanova played Hofstra this year as well in the new Coliseum because I wanted to check the building out. You know, my family, you know, look: We still have a special place in our heart for both Hofstra and then obviously Villanova with Jay there, and the Coliseum; I mean, not only as a basketball venue. I went to my first professional game there with my CYO basketball team, probably in the -- I don't know -- early seventies, Julius Erving was playing in the game, and I can't tell you how many concerts as a high school and college student, going to the old Coliseum. And then from an athletic standpoint, our first really signature win when we were at Hofstra -- when I was working with Jay -- we beat St. John's there, and that kind of put that group of guys on the map, and then the rest is history, so to speak.

JD: Looking back, is there anything at Fordham you wish you may have done differently?

TP: I wish I was given one more year. I think we were a year away from turning that program around long-term, and you know, the frustrating thing for me was, you know, that myself and my staff; especially, you know, did so much of the heavy lifting, you know, taking over a two-win program and getting it to the precipice of being good for a long time, you know? You have Eric (Paschall) playing at Villanova and starting, you've got Christian Sengfelder starting and playing well at Boise (State), you've got Antwoine Anderson starting at UConn, Jon Severe had a solid year when he left and went to Iona, so I really felt we had finally gotten a talent base there. But hey, look: Those are the decisions that the universities make, and life goes on. It's been a great ride, it's been a great experience, and it's a long way from over for me, so I'm enjoying every day of coaching.

JD: And as a result, do you feel maybe a little more reinvigorated this season with everything you have up there?

TP: Yeah, I do, and I think the future's bright, I mean, I think guys that we have here are really playing hard. The interesting dynamic we have is we start two freshmen who are both playing well -- Rich Kelly and Jacob Rigoni from Australia -- but our veterans, our leading scorer, Cam Young, he played six minutes last year. Not six minutes a game, six minutes the entire season, you know? Alain Chigha, another senior, Chaise Daniels. They didn't play a ton of minutes over the course of their careers, but we have some veterans, and their experience level, they've gotten a lot of experience and a lot of minutes this year, so they're growing each game. We've got a group of guys, you know, they were well-coached prior to us getting here. Tommy Moore and his staff did a real good job with them, they're gentlemen and they get on the floor and play hard for you, and they do great in the classroom. You can't ask for more out of a group.

JD: Overall, what are you looking for over the rest of the season with this group?

TP: Yeah, look: We go out and do the same thing every game. We want to be as prepared as we can be, be the best Quinnipiac we can be, and you know, it's fun to try and devise a game plan, you know? Just about every game this year, we've gone into it as underdogs, I'd imagine. So, you know, you go in and you try to devise a game plan, and that was part of the process I missed so much: The game prep, being at practice, watching film with your staff and a group of guys sitting down and saying, "hey, this is what we do well, this is what we think we can explore when we play against this opponent," so all of those things have energized me. You know, I've been blessed, man, you know? I've been doing something I love for 30 years. There's a lot of people who don't have the opportunity to do that in their life, so I love coaching, I love being around the guys. I think, you know, when I was out and missing it, what I missed the most was the tribal atmosphere of it, you know? Being with a group of men with a common goal and preparing to do something, whether it was getting on the bus to go try to win a game at Marist like we did last night, or, you know, being up late at night watching film and just trying to come up with something that's going to give you the best opportunity to succeed, but talking to a young man and his family about coming to a great school and a great place and playing for great people, so I enjoy every bit of it.