Gary Lambrecht, The Examiner
2007-11-10 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

It has taken nearly four years to reach this point, and the hair of the head coach has gotten quite gray in the process. But the rebuilding project that has been in full swing since Jimmy Patsos took over the men’s basketball team at Loyola College in the spring of 2004 has reached critical mass.

It’s time for the Greyhounds to take the next step in their progression. It’s time for Loyola to become an NCAA Tournament team again.

You watch the Greyhounds practice, and you see a team with plenty of quickness, athleticism, depth, interchangeable parts and a stable of guards designed to get Loyola through another tough year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

You watch the Greyhounds, and you see a team Patsos has built judiciously, combining incoming freshmen with transfers who originally left Baltimore for more prestigious schools in power conferences, only to come home again. You sense a team riding momentum, a team expecting to do some great things.

How did Patsos erase the low expectations at Evergreen so dramatically, in such a short period of time? How did he turn Reitz Arena into a place to be, a place that was nearly empty most nights while Loyola was stumbling its way to a 1-27 finish in early 2004 and winning no more than six games in a season this century?

Patsos, the longtime former assistant to Maryland coach Gary Williams, turned the campus on instantly with his passion and energy, most illustrated by a run of technical fouls, a problem Patsos vows to get under control. But whether you’re coaching at Maryland, Duke, or Loyola, winning starts with recruiting and developing talent. Always will. And this roster, starting with 6-4 senior guard Gerald Brown, who averaged 22.2 points per game last year — eighth-most in Division I — should have the goods to keep Loyola in contention for a MAAC Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The supporting cast gives the Greyhounds their best look under Patsos.

Last year, Brett Harvey did an admirable job running the offense as a 6-foot-1 freshman by taking care of the ball. This year, he’s taking a back seat to 6-foot junior Joe Miles, a transfer from Marshall who has seized a starting job with a great preseason.

Watch how often solid junior shooting guard Marques Sullivan (Spalding) gets wide open to make a three-pointer. And watch freshman point guard Brian Rudolph, coming off a fine preseason, force Patsos to find him playing time.

Down low, this is easily the deepest frontcourt on Charles Street since Patsos arrived.

Fifth-year seniors Michael Tuck and Hassan Fofana, the Maryland transfer, will take turns anchoring the post, although Tuck isn’t shy about stepping out to shoot and get dirty on the boards.

Then there’s 6-8 senior Omari Isreal, a Rockville native who transferred from Notre Dame. He played in 23 games last year and averaged 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds. Freshman 6-5 forward Isaac Reid, the reigning, Texas 4A player of the Year, is too talented as a shooter and a rebounder not to earn significant minutes in the rotation.

Players like this weren’t around when Patsos was hired and began digging Loyola out of its hole with a 6-22 finish in 2005. They were starting to trickle in when the Greyhounds went 15-13 the next year. A year ago, when Loyola went 18-13 — its most wins since the 1970-71 season — and finished 12-6 in the MAAC, the Greyhounds hit another gear.

Now, it’s all coming together. The Greyhounds will keep playing the up-tempo style Patsos learned at Maryland, and if they go nine deep as it appears they will, they should approach 80 points on an average night. They should be poised to go to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time ever, and the first since the late, great Skip Prosser guided them there in 1994.

For Loyola, it’s time.

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com.