1st-ROUND FAVORITES

Sporting News, The, Jan 31, 2000 by Michael Bradley

Up-and-coming coaches Mike Brey, Paul Hewitt and Bill Serf have themselves in position to advance to the next level when spring's second bout of madness begins

Anyone wanting to add some spice to the old office pool this March should focus on the NCAA coaching lottery. Picking the tourney winner may be fun, but trying to figure out which rising stars will move on to which vacant spots in the power conferences promises even more drama.

This spring's top coaching seeds--Delaware's Mike Brey, Siena's Paul Hewitt and Tulsa's Bill Self--have all distinguished themselves at the mid-major level and are ready for a step up. They may not be wearing new colors next spring, but they are bound to be mentioned when the coaching merry-go-round gets started.

The teacher

Mike Brey can remember his father asking him what he wanted to do with his life. It seemed like a simple question. The son of two high school teachers/coaches, education was the Brey family business. "Looking back on the situation, I really had no choice," Brey says, even though his father tried to dissuade him from joining the profession. "He wanted me to do something where I could make some money."

Brey isn't lighting stogies with $100 bills, but he's doing just fine. That's one reason he has been able to resist the entreaties of other programs to this point. Last offseason alone, Brey was a candidate--in some form or another--for jobs at Notre Dame, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh. Yet he began this season still at Delaware, chasing a third straight America East title. He may well move on this spring, but with a comfortable life off the court and a school president--David Roselle--who has made a strong commitment to basketball, Brey is in no hurry. And if Delaware moves into the Atlantic 10 as a replacement for Virginia Tech, as has been rumored, Brey will take a step up the coaching ladder without changing his address.

"Financially, it's not a concern," says Brey, 40. "They are extremely fair here, and you're talking to an old Catholic school guy who used to call bingo games. But I look at situations like Georgia and Notre Dame and ask myself if I need the challenge. Am I trained to compete at that stage? I wrestle with that weekly."

Brey has the credentials. In his fifth season at Delaware, he has an 89-48 record and those two league titles. Add eight years as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski at Duke (he joined the Blue Devils' staff in 1987 after five seasons with legendary prep mentor Morgan Wootten at DeMatha near D.C.) and there isn't much Brey hasn't seen on or off the court.

Brey admits he isn't the best tactician--"X's and O's are not something I spend an inordinate amount of time on," he says. But he is able to build his teams by convincing players to work hard, sacrifice for each other and focus on a common goal.

"He knows his weapons and where they should be and how to get them in place," Vermont coach Tom Brennan says. "... He needs to get a big-time job and get out of the league, so the rest of us can have a chance."

Mr. one-on-one

Earlier this month, after dropping a decision to Manhattan at the buzzer in Madison Square Garden, Marist coach Dave Magarity decided to catch the nightcap between fellow Metro Atlantic Athletic foes Fairfield and Siena. Fairfield was able to storm back from a big deficit, but it still fell short, as Siena's experience and calm execution prevailed.

"(Hewitt) put them in great sets, and they run the plays, made shots and won the game," Magarity said. "Their execution under pressure was excellent."

Although Hewitt has been known to lose his temper on occasion, he is better known for his even personality and quiet confidence--traits which he passes on to his players. "That's kind of funny, because two of the people he assisted (Fordham's Nick Macarchuk and Villanova's Steve Lappas) are very animated and emotional," Magarity says.

Because of Hewitt's cool, few knew about him when he took the job at Siena, which is in Albany, N.Y. In fact, his greatest renown came as the Wildcats' top recruiter, responsible for landing players such as Tim Thomas, Alvin Williams and Jason Lawson. He was regarded as a smooth salesman, a perfect complement to the frenetic Lappas. But because Hewitt is black, some thought he was a recruiter and little more. Hewitt's success at Siena has eradicated that stereotype. "He's a better coach than he is a recruiter, and he's an excellent recruiter," Lappas says.

Since Hewitt took charge at Siena in 1997 at age 34, the Saints have been transformed from a sagging program that lost a first-round MAAC tourney game to Canisius by 40 into an NCAA participant and one of the nation's most potent forces. Last year, Siena was third in the nation in scoring (86.6 ppg) on its way to winning 25 games. With Siena a strong favorite for another NCAA berth, his stock should continue to soar.

Despite that, Hewitt's style hasn't changed. Few coaches in America have an ability to relate so well to so many different types of people, Hewitt is just as at home with a professor as he is with a gym rat, thanks to his articulate manner and long memory. Perhaps that's why Hewitt and his staff devote so much time to individual instruction in addition to working on the team game.