No Reason To Complain by Maple Street Press

No Reason To Complain Pikiell is building a contender at Stony Brook by Jon Pessah

teve Pikiell is sitting at his desk in his Stony Brook University office, he looks your way, and apologetically holds up his hand. He’ll be right with you, just as soon as he finishes this phone call. So you take a seat at the conference table in the basketball coach’s office and wait for him to end his call with ESPN. It’s a sunny morning on the second Friday in June, which is usually the time of year when Pikiell’s shaking off another tough season, telling his staff things will get better, and preparing to go out and sell his vision when recruiting begins the first week of July. That’s what happens when you take over the team ranked dead last in Division I, have your hands tied by the NCAA, and your program is all but unknown—even on your own campus. But things are different this June. Five years after winning a mere four games, Pikiell has a team favored to win the America East Conference and take its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. He has four starters returning from a team that went 22–10, the best recruit in school history, and the security of a new five-year contract. And, he hopes, an early season date to play on ESPN. “Good, let’s see if we can make that work,” Pikiell says as he hangs up the phone and turns his attention to you. “Things used to be depressing around here this time of year with all the losing. It was slow, dead. This year, we’ve never been busier.” It was only two years ago that Pikiell was coming off a seven-win season, bringing his three-year record to 20–67. The only calls then were from teams looking to schedule an automatic win. Now he’s getting calls from NBA teams interested in his best player, speaking at fundraising dinners for players going on an all-star tour, and doing a bunch of media interviews. He’s been working with ESPN for a few weeks, trying to find a team for a TV date—a bit tougher now that the Seawolves are no longer an easy mark.

Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell learned how to build a program from scratch under Jim Calhoun. And there’s the increased volume of emails, like the one he’s reading on his BlackBerry right now. It’s from a fan who’s still relishing Stony Brook’s game against Illinois in the NIT, the first postseason appearance in school history. Pikiell scrolls down, stops, and smiles. The email ends the way most of his emails end these days—with expectations. “He writes, ‘Good luck next season. I see the Big Dance in your future,’ ” Pikiell says. “I probably hear that 15 times a day.” Not that he’s complaining.

No, Steve Pikiell doesn’t complain. Never has. He didn’t complain when his father told him if he wanted those new basketball sneakers he’d have to pay for them himself. He just went out a got a paper route. And he didn’t complain when his father said he’d have to pay his own way to St. Paul’s, a top private school in Bristol. He just bussed tables and worked at the A&P when he wasn’t hitting the books or setting St. Paul scoring records. He didn’t complain when the critics said he couldn’t jump or was too slow to play in the Big East. He just worked harder, became the state’s player of the year, and earned a scholarship to the University of Connecticut. And he didn’t complain when his right shoulder kept popping out—“At least 50 times,” says UConn coach Jim Calhoun—making him a

role player instead of a star. He just popped the shoulder back into place, sometimes in the locker room at the half, became a game changer off the bench, and in 1990 captained the first UConn team to win a Big East championship. “Steve learned a lot sitting on the bench playing 20 minutes instead of 30 because of his injuries,” says Calhoun. “And he never complained. He worked hard every day, became a great role player, and took over a game with his mind instead of his physical abilities.” No, Steve Pikiell doesn’t complain, though no one would have blamed him if he did soon after signing with Stony Brook on April 13, 2005. Six years after joining Division I, the Seawolves weren’t just losing—they were lost. Most opposing coaches were still asking if Stony Brook was Division II or Division III. Recruits were wondering where they could find Stony Brook on a map. Sometimes, Pikiell didn’t know if he was a basketball coach or a tour guide. He was used to challenges. He helped Howie Dickenman take a downtrodden Central Connecticut program and make it the best in its league. He was Karl Hobbs’s chief recruiter for a George Washington team that went from last in the Atlantic 10 to a top-20 ranking and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. But this was different. When Pikiell’s first team lost its opening round game in the America East Tournament in March of 2006, a longtime league official told him the Seawolves weren’t just bad. “He said we were probably the worst team in conference history,” Pikiell says. “I’ll never forget that.” Things were little better on his own campus. There were professors who didn’t understand why Division I players were on the road instead of in their classrooms. There were housing officials who didn’t get why basketball players needed dorms that remained open during spring break. And if there were Stony Brook students who knew about the basketball team, Pikiell couldn’t tell from the sparse turnout at the school’s rundown arena. But complaining wasn’t going to change any of that. So Pikiell sat down with the professors and explained how his players would make up the work they’d missed. He made sure housing officials understood why his players shouldn’t keep changing rooms for the six-week semester break. He met with every student group and pleaded for their support. Pikiell even made a deal with incoming students. He’d help them unload the family car, push the hand truck to their dorm, and help them unpack their bags and boxes if they made him one promise: come to just one of his team’s games. “Most of them did,” Pikiell says. But not all. And one day, Pikiell was walking across campus when he spied a young woman he remembered moving in a few years back.

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Photo on previous page: J. Rogash/WireImage Photo this page: Al Bello/Getty Images

History and Tradition

No Reason To Complain

Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images

Jim Calhoun’s Coaching Tree “I stopped her and asked The basketball program was Coach School Years Record why she never came to one of our Howie Dickenman Central Connecticut State 1996-2010 hit particularly hard. Pikiell was 217-196 Karl Hobbs George Washington 2001-2010 149-115 games,” he says. “She just smiled.” down two scholarships before he Dave Leitao Northeastern 1994-1996 22-35 Not that Pikiell’s complaineven started. And the program he DePaul 2002-2005 58-34 ing. There are a lot of students inherited had so many classroom Virgnia 2005-2009 63-60 at Stony Brook smiling about problems that any player Pikiell Glen Miller Connecticut College 1993-1999 95-48 Brown 1999-2006 93-99 their basketball team now. recruited had to make grades or Penn 2006-2010 45-52 It’s almost 11 a.m. when more scholarships could be lost. Tom Moore Quinnipiac 2007-2010 53-41 assistant athletic director But much has changed in five Steve Pikiell Stony Brook 2005-2010 58-91 Courtney Sanfelippo walks into years. Sanfelippo was the second Ted Woodward Maine 2004-2010 73-104 Pikiell’s office and takes a seat at of two academic counselors when the conference table. “So,” Pikiell says, “how’d we do?” she started. Today, she has three assistants, a graduate assistant, and Sanfelippo, a young, blonde bundle of energy, is in two interns. She has a fully equipped academic center, upwards charge of academic counseling for Stony Brook’s 435 studentof 30 tutors, and the unquestioned support of the university’s athletes. When she arrived in September 2003, the athletic basketball coach. “When Courtney talks,” says athletic director Jim department was in the middle of an internal audit and still Fiori, who came to Stony Brook the same year as Sanfelippo, “the struggling with its move to Division I. Two years later, Stony players know it’s the same as if Steve was talking.” Brook self-reported violations involving 53 athletes. And now, Steve is waiting for Courtney to start speaking. “The university was initially ill equipped for the “Steve,” she says, opening the folder that sits in front of her, “I reclassification to Division I,” wrote the NCAA, indicating have great news.” Sanfelippo pulls the pages out of the folder the school’s academic compliance department had been and begins reading off the numbers. The news, as she said, is overwhelmed and unfamiliar with its workload. It put the very good. Every senior is graduating. Every returning player school on probation for three years and cut 12.5 scholarships is eligible. Every player in the program is on schedule to over the next two years. graduate within a four-year time frame.

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History and Tradition They want to talk to him.” El-Amin smiles. “What position did you tell them I play?” he says. Pikiell shakes his head. “What position? How about I tell them you play center,” he says. “Hey, I just want to get you in front of them.” Player and coach both laugh. When Pikiell recruited El-Amin out of Lansing (MI) Community College three years ago, the thought of a Stony Brook player working out for an NBA team was little more than a dream. They both understand how far they’ve come. But as El-Amin turns to leave, Pikiell has one more question. “Mo, you’re doing well in your classes, right?” he asks, and El-Amin quickly shakes his head up and down. “Okay, just make sure you take care of business.”

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Assistant coach Jay Young is next on Pikiell’s schedule. Young has been with Pikiell every step of the way, leaving the University of New Haven after back-to-back 21-win seasons to sign on with Stony Brook in June of 2005. He lived through the 4–22 first season, enjoyed the 16–14 breakthrough two years ago, and celebrated the 22–10 title team last season. Now he’s Pikiell’s associate head coach, the program’s top recruiter, and on this day he’s about to leave for JFK Airport to greet a 6'11" high school senior from Germany. “What’s our approach?” Pikiell asks Young. “Well, he doesn’t have much a clue about Division I,” Young says, “so we’ll need to bring him up to speed.” “Will he be 6'11" when he gets off the plane?” “They insist there’s no way he’s under 6'10".” “He looks big on film,” Pikiell says as Young gets up to leave. “Let’s hope he is.” Recruiting foreign players is always a risk. The NCAA approves the transcripts for every recruit, something that’s usually done by May for US players but often goes deep into

Photo: University of Connecticut

“You can’t do better than this,” she says. Pikiell leans back in his chair, relieved and pleased. He thought the news would be good, especially once he got word in April that senior Andrew Goba, his first recruit, was named America East Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year. But this was better than expected. “Courtney is as important as any coach we have,” he says. “She may be the most important person we have.” There’s a strong bond between Pikiell and Sanfelippo, and the two begin to talk about next season when Muhammad El-Amin walks in. The 6'5" senior was the conference player of year, the school’s first, and is on campus for summer school classes to complete his degree in sociology. He’s also been in the gym preparing for a tryout with the New Jersey Nets. “Are you ready?” Pikiell asks. Mo nods. “I’ve also talked to the Oklahoma City, the Wizards, and the Knicks,” Pikiell says. “Give me the number for your agent.

No Reason To Complain

Pikiell has injected new life into a Stony Brook program that was at the bottom of the America East.

Photo: Bob O’Rourk/Stony Brook

the summer for athletes outside the country. America East coaches can’t stack recruits the way they do in the Big East or the ACC, so if Pikiell holds a scholarship for a foreign player whose grades don’t project, he’s likely to play the season with an open spot on his roster. But you can usually count the 6'11" players in the America East on one hand. Pikiell’s tallest starter is 6'7", his tallest player is 6'9". When his contacts at UConn tipped him off to Seiforth, Pikiell figured the kid was worth the risk. “Size is so tough to get in our league,” he says as Young walks out his office. “Sometimes, success is built on taking a chance.”

Success is also built on chemistry, something that was tough to find during Pikiell’s first three years at Stony Brook. He’s explaining why as we walk down a flight of stairs, turn down a hallway, and step into what used to pass for the basketball team’s locker room. “This,” says Pikiell with a wave of his right arm, “would have been a bad locker room for a high school team.” He’s not exaggerating. The room is L-shaped and tiny, with a low ceiling full of cracked tiles and a floor covered by a stained, worn out rug. A 19-inch TV connected to a VCR sits on a shelf near the door. Eight feet away is an open shower room with one toilet, one urinal, and four showerheads.

“Only one of the showers worked,” Pikiell says. “And the water would spill out into this room, which was also our film room and our lounge. There was no air conditioning and the room just smelled. When practice ended, the players couldn’t wait to leave. “Who could blame them?” Pikiell looks around the corner, points to one of the small stools in front of a cramped locker, and talks about the day three years ago he found one of his players sitting there alone and crying. It was Desmond Adedeji, a 6'10", 300-pound center who had transferred from Dayton. Adedeji played high school ball at DeMatha in Maryland, one of the top programs in the nation. He spent two years at Dayton, a mid-major program where everything from its 13,455-seat arena to the charter plane flights is first class. Now he was sitting in a pit of a place, wondering how it had all gone so wrong. “I walked over and put my arm around him,” Pikiell says. “And I said, ‘Des, I promise things are going to get better here.’” We walk out of the room and stroll another 100 feet to see just how much better things got. Pikiell opens the door to a large, bright room where three leather sofas surround a big screen TV. Around the corner is a large locker room on one side, a shower room with 14 showers on the other—all of them in working order. Next door, there’s a film room with stadium seating.

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History and Tradition

Pikiell closes the door to his locker room, walks past the sign that asks “Did Stony Brook Get Better Today?” and enters the 4,500-seat Stony Brook arena. It’s a space better suited for the crafts shows held every holiday season than a Division I basketball program. The foldout bleachers are far removed from the court, the lighting is dim, and there’s a pail off to the side to catch the water when it rains and the roof leaks. “It’s no one fault,” Pikiell says. “This wasn’t built with a Division I basketball team in mind.” It’s been two years since the Seawolves played a regular season game in this arena, which was scheduled to be renovated in time for last season. That all changed when

the recession hit, the state cut the school’s budget, and the makeover was put on hold, where it remains today. But Stony Brook got a glimpse of what the future may look like when the lights were turned back on for one night last March. The Seawolves made the NIT by winning the America East regular season title, and pulled top-seed Illinois in the first round. But the Illini, expecting to play in the NCAA Tournament, had rented out their arena to a circus. Suddenly, a bit of March Madness was coming to the Stony Brook campus. It was, simply, the biggest athletic event in school history. A campus that barely knew its team existed three seasons ago was now caught up in a week-long pep rally. Pikiell would look out his office window and glimpse students lined up for tickets as far as he could see. All 4,423 tickets sold out a day in advance. Pikiell was disappointed when his team lost in the second round of the America East Tournament, missing out on the chance for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAAs. But this, he soon realized, was turning out better. The home game was a gift. And it was televised on ESPNU, which amounted to a two-hour infomercial for his program and university. He spent the morning of the game talking to the production folks from ESPN. The afternoon shoot around was a blur. The walk over to the arena was just short of amazing. “I saw people scalping tickets and I couldn’t believe it,” Pikiell

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Photo: Bob O’Rourk/Stony Brook

This is his team’s new home, and none of Pikiell’s players are in hurry to leave after practice now. “All of our players hang out here together, watching NBA games, playing video games, just winding down after a tough practice,” says Pikiell, whose team moved into their new space two years ago. “Team chemistry starts here before it happens on the court. Now we have real team chemistry.” And back-to-back winning seasons.

No Reason To Complain

Pikiell and Jim Calhoun shared a handshake before Stony Brook and UConn played in Hartford in 2008.

Photo: UConn Athletic Communications

says. “Then I walked into the arena and looked up and saw the packed stands. All I could think about was how far we’d come.” Pikiell’s team put on a good show, pressuring the ball, hitting three-pointers, and outhustling an Illinois team that started three players 6'9" or bigger. The Seawolves jumped out to a quick lead, trailed by two at the half, fell behind by 11 with eight minutes left, and then had the crowd on its feet when El-Amin scored to pull within six at 3:39. The Seawolves missed a pair of threes that would have cut the lead in half, went cold, and lost, 76–66. But it hardly mattered to the crowd, who stood cheering right down the final seconds. “We gave the fans a little dose of basketball in March,” Pikiell says as we walk out of the arena. “Now they’re going to want more.” Not that he’s complaining. No one at Stony Brook wants to be playing deep into March more than Steve Pikiell.

“Hey coach,” says the man behind the counter, “what can I get for you today?” We’re in a sandwich shop in Stony Brook’s quaint town center. It’s only about a mile from campus, but before Pikiell arrived, few of the shop owners knew anything about Stony Brook

basketball. Even fewer had ever attended a game. So Pikiell went door to door, introducing himself, making sure people would be familiar with Seawolves basketball when he brought a recruit through town. Now, everyone knows his name. We take a seat at a quiet table and talk about Pikiell’s past, present, and future. He was 36 years old when the Stony Brook job opened up. He loved his job at GW, which had most of its players returning from an NCAA Tournament team. He’d also heard from Dave Leito, who’d just been named head coach at Virginia, and wanted Pikiell to be his associate head coach. He talked to his wife, Kate, who said she’d support whatever he decided. He checked in with Calhoun, who told him Stony Brook would be challenging but a good opportunity. He thought it over, weighed his options, and decided it was time to run his own show. “I thought I was ready to be a head coach,” he says. He concedes he may have been a bit naïve about what he was facing. And if he had to do it all over again, he probably wouldn’t have played six money games—where the top-rated teams pay you in hopes of an easy win on their home court. “My phone was ringing off the hook back then,” he says, laughing. “Everyone wanted to play us.” He never lost confidence, and he’s excited about the team that will face UConn in the first game this season. He has

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History and Tradition a solid core in point guard Bryan Dougher, the school’s top three-point shooter, forward Tommy Brenton, the America East’s top rebounder, and Dallis Joyner, at 6'7" his biggest and most physical starter. He has enough depth to go big or go quick, likes that players will be fighting for minutes, and believes freshman guard Dave Coley may be the best player to ever wear a Seawolves uniform by the time he’s done. “He’s the best player we’ve ever recruited,” Pikiell says. “Everyone told him not to come here, but we were recruiting him early and he stuck with us. He’s a great kid, and a scoring machine.” Lunch is just about over when talk turns to Pikiell’s future. His name was floated for openings at Hofstra and Holy Cross in the spring, and Stony Brook quickly signed him to a five-year contract extension. He loves what he’s built at Stony Brook, loves the school and the community, and is thrilled to live five minutes from campus so he can keep up with his wife and four young kids. But he’s also a competitor. Pikiell thinks he can win on the big stage and has buyout clauses in case he wants to leave. “I really don’t know what the future will bring,” he says. “I’m just focused on the coming season.” None of this surprises the man he’ll coach against in the season opener. “Lots of coaches talk about their next step, but I’ve never heard Steve talk about another job,” says Calhoun, who was one year older than Pikiell when he left Northeastern after 14 seasons for the job at UConn. “Steve’s going to make sure Stony Brook will be as good as it can be and the rest will take care of itself. “He’s one of my favorite kids—he’s still Blue and White. And Steve is still incredibly popular here. I’m sure his name will come up to replace me whenever I finally leave.”

We’re back in Pikiell’s office after lunch as a steady stream of players parade through. Dougher and Brenton check in first. The two juniors are finishing up summer school classes before leaving to play with a college all-star team touring Europe in August. Pikiell reminds them to sign thank-you notes to the alums who helped fund the trip, then asks if they’ve been over to the university’s hospital this week. Each of Pikiell’s players spend two hours a week reading to children in the hospital’s cancer ward. “Gives them perspective,” Pikiell says. Danny Graves is next. Graves is a 6'9", sharp shooting junior from England who’s battled injuries his first two years but appears fit and ready for the season. UConn also gave Pikiell a heads up on Graves, who scored 20 points against the Huskies in his freshman year. Pikiell has asked Graves to take

care of the visiting recruit on the German’s two-day visit, and he’s here to check their schedule. Pikiell looks out the window as Preye Preboye walks by on his way to the basketball office. Preboye is a 6'6" sophomore from Nigeria by way of Winchendon Prep in Massachusetts. Pikiell wants to make sure Preboye, whose father is a prince in Nigeria, is hitting the books and the weight room. “He’s very talented,” Pikiell says, “but he needs to learn to work hard.” Jay Young ducks in soon after Preboye leaves. It’s just past 5 p.m., and he’s beaten the traffic back from JFK with recruit in tow. The recruit may not be quite 6'11", but he’s close. He’s thin, has a quick smile, and it’s clear he speaks English well as he says hello to Pikiell, shakes his hand, and takes a seat. Pikiell will hit the player with the hard questions the next morning over breakfast. This is just a warm-up, and they spend the next few minutes chatting about the trip to the States (his first), the other sports he plays (he’s a swimmer, not a soccer player), and what he knows about basketball in America (not much). “I hear your older brother plays for a club team and is very good,” Pikiell says as he wraps up the conversation. “Yes, he is,” the recruit says. “What about you?” Pikiell asks. “I’m good, too,” the player answers quickly. Pikiell is clearly pleased with the answer as the player walks out with Young. He checks his watch. Pikiell has promised his wife he’ll meet her and the kids at a local restaurant later this night after his oldest daughter’s dance recital, the one he’ll miss because of the basketball camp that’s about to start in his gym. It’s time to meet the coaches and their players.

Dozens of teenage players and their coaches are already bouncing basketballs when Pikiell walks into the lobby outside the gym. He shakes hands with a few coaches, and it’s not long before a father of one of the campers has him deep in conversation. The man tells Pikiell what a great job he’s done at Stony Brook and how much he enjoyed last season. The conversation last a few minutes before Pikiell politely brings it to an end. “Good luck,” the man tells him. “Let’s make it to the NCAA Tournament this year.” Pikiell smiles as he heads towards the gym. “Like I said, I probably hear that 15 times a day,” he says. Not that he’s complaining. MSP

Jon Pessah is the former sports editor at Newsday and the Hartford Courant. One of the founding editors of ESPN The Magazine, where he was a deputy editor and senior writer, Pessah is currently working on a narrative history of the last two decades of major league baseball.

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