After Hofstra’s heartbreak on Selection Sunday – few times in history has a team with an RPI as good as theirs been denied the NCAA tournament – coach Tom Pecora gave his players just one night to mope and stew and seethe. The next day it was back to work, preparing for proving their doubters wrong in the NIT.
Talk about Hofstra Pride.
A week-and-a-half later, Hofstra found themselves just 40 good minutes away from the winningest season in school history last night, when they hosted Old Dominion with a trip to the Garden for the NIT semis on the line.
“Initially they were down. I told them treat this same way we do games: Celebrate or mope until midnight,” Pecora said. “We came in Monday and our president [Stuart Rabinowitz] came in and spoke with them about how unjust it was, and how it’s like life: All you can do is deal with it. We’re not talking about the NCAAs; from that point we’ve practiced well and played well.
“What are you gonna do? That’s life.”
What are they going to do? Apparently just win. They haven’t had to talk about not making the Big Dance despite a 24-6 record and 31 RPI; their play has spoken volumes, drilling Big 12 foe Nebraska by 11 on Thursday and beating A-10 foe St. Joe’s 77-75 in overtime on Monday.
It set up last night’s tilt against ODU – a team they’d already beaten twice this season – and a shot at playing in the Garden on Tuesday vs. Michigan or Miami.
“It’d be big,” Pecora said. “We talked to them, we’re making history. We beat Nebraska and I made a big deal about it. I thought it was important for the guys to celebrate it. If Hofstra beat a Big 12 team in marbles, it’s a big deal.”
Such is life in a mid-major conference like the Colonial Athletic Association. Billy Packer questioned giving the Missouri Valley Conference four NCAA bids, but two reached the Sweet 16. Only the Big East has more. The Big Ten has none.
And if this is the year of the mid-major, Hofstra – which beat Sweet 16 participant George Mason twice – should have been a part of it.
“We’re thrilled for Mason’s success,” Pecora said. “It’s good for mid-major basketball, and our conference. Maybe they should’ve put three [CAA schools] in. But that’s water under the bridge. This has been a special ride, 26 wins. I said to my guys, enjoy this.”
A 27th win last night would’ve broken the school record, set in 1952 and matched in 2001, Jay Wright’s final season before Pecora succeeded him. And while the Queens Village native is on Seton Hall’s short list should the Pirates replace Louis Orr, he’s quite happy in Hempstead.
