By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — In today’s current era of college basketball, everything is new.
Recruiting, coaching, name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, the transfer portal, redshirting — the landscape is constantly changing, but is it for the better?
The most recent NCAA men’s basketball tournament drew a hefty amount of criticism for failing to have a Cinderella team for neutral fans to fall in love with. No Saint Peter’s, no Oral Roberts, no Loyola-Chicago.
And in the time college hoops finds itself in, with money making all the difference, will the lack of Cinderellas become a norm?
Or is there a methodology from the past, with a proven track record of working, that can give smaller programs an opportunity to flourish and disrupt the system entirely?
Well, if you ask St. Bonaventure women’s basketball coach Jim Crowley, there is.
While the men’s NCAA tournament attracting criticism does not necessarily concern his job, the prospect of smaller-market teams being eliminated from ever being in contention for success does.
In the mid 2000’s Crowley was looking for a needle in a haystack. Searching for something that would give his Bonnies a leg up after falling short a number of years in a row. And after five consecutive losing seasons, from 2000 through 2005, he told Time magazine that he would not have blamed the university if it showed him the door.
It was then when he decided to seek out new wisdom. Book after book of coaching success stories piled up until he eventually found himself digging into a copy of Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball.”
And it was in reading the story of his beloved Oakland Athletics, things started to click for Crowley.
“Ever since I read that book, my mind has thought to that, because I see parallels,” Crowley said. “I say to people all the time, ‘we got to be the Oakland A’s, we’re not the New York Yankees.’”
And the knowledge he garnered paid dividends as the Bonnies exponentially improved after that fateful read. The 2005-06 season, in which Bona finished with an 8-19 record wound up as the last losing record the program saw until 2012-13, when they finished 10-19.
From 2006-07, through the conclusion of the 2015-16 campaign, after which Crowley took the head coaching position at Providence College, his Bonnies had eight seasons in which they finished with winning records. The 2011-12 season was his masterpiece as he was named the ESPN.com National Coach of the Year and Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (the latter award he also received in 2009 and 2014) as he led Bona to a 31-4 record, an Atlantic 10 regular-season title and the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 while holding a stable presence in the AP Top 25.
But 2005 was 20 years ago. The realm of college basketball has completely changed and along with it, the way people do business. And Crowley even admitted that in his time away from St. Bonaventure, he got away from his “Moneyball” mindset.
“(We said) we can get involved in this kid and this kid,” Crowley said. “They were outstanding players, but maybe they didn’t mesh with some of the things that were really important to me. … At times, I would look past things because of someone’s athletic ability. And it just didn’t fit. I didn’t change how I was looking at the game. And it was unfair to take players and ask them to make that kind of drastic change.
“I feel like (my eyes are) getting trained back to see things differently and appreciate things differently. Whether it’s how a guy gets on base, draws pitches, or how a person doesn’t turn it over.”
Still, in this modern era, Crowley continues to see the parallels he drew two decades ago. Granted, the way he and his staff now have to operate the system has had to be altered.
“When I was here before, … we could develop those recruits (that we did get),” Crowley said. “We may not be able to develop them as much now, because they may not be here as long, but maybe there’s some other traits that we can identify that can help with how we play compared to how others play. … We’ve just got to accelerate it a little quicker, we’ve got to be better communicators to have them understand that in a faster sense.”
Members of the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team rejoice after completing a comeback against Atlantic 10 opponent Saint Louis on Jan. 8. (Spencer Bates)
In his, now, two full years since returning to the helm of the St. Bonaventure program, the team has an overall record of 10-50, tallies reminiscent of his early 2000s days in the RC. And it is in the wake of those two seasons, and after his acknowledgement of needing to retrain his mindset back to what it was, that Crowley is fully diving back into playing “Moneyball.”
“In my mind, if we’re not thinking that way, we’re going to die,” Crowley said. “We’ve always thought that way. But even more so now, especially if you’re looking at pay scale.”
And to keep from dying and yearning for more at the bottom of the A10 table, as he noted, he and his staff have to move fast with their “Moneyball” ways.
In this day and age, Crowley has to keep one eye on the transfer portal if he is to keep up with the Joneses. Because, unlike how it was in the 2000s, players come and go.
Part of what made his avant-garde style of recruiting so effective all those years ago was that when Crowley eventually found that diamond in the rough, he was able to keep it for at least a number of years. Now, with how quickly players move on, especially after a year where they saw little success, “Moneyball” is made much more difficult.
“With the current landscape, if you’re not preparing for (the portal), you’re not doing your job,” Crowley said. “No matter how things are going, if you’re not ready for what could potentially be a big shift, then you’re not doing your work. … If people stay, you’re ready, if they go, you have to be ready, that’s the new world.”
So, if in this era of hoops you cannot completely rely on players sticking around to help develop a culture and establish a style of play, how does Crowley’s system stand a chance? The key is efficiency — coaching those you have and preaching the right things at the right time, but also understanding what each player brings to the table, so if they do leave come year’s end, you know what you need to fill that gap.
“You try to be efficient with your time,” Crowley said. “You’re always teaching the people you have and you’re preparing that if they’re going to be around, this is what we have to do. We also have to be (ready if) they’re not around, (and thinking about) what could we quickly improve on, what would we have to change. You get kind of ready like that, and you have to move quickly.”
Now, say those conversations don’t wind up with an incredibly positive outcome, a team may have a significant loss in numbers after a season as players look for greener pastures. For the Bonnies, seven players wound up leaving the program through the portal after this past season including Zoe Shaw, Caitlin Frost and Hannah Richardson, all of whom were pivotal to the structure of the team.
Obviously, Crowley and his staff must try and replace those that have left, but the way coaches and programs converse with potential recruits has changed. And in order for “Moneyball” to work nowadays, a large portion of those talks must be about honesty. There needs to be an increased level of understanding and trust between coach and player that the latter is buying into the plan.
“It’s having those conversations with them early about how, obviously, we need your skills, but we also need you to be part of what we’re building here and to buy into what we’re doing,” Crowley said. “I can believe it as hard as I want, I can sell it really good, but we have to have people that are invested in it as well. And we’ve tried to work that really hard. We’ve tried to find those people and bring them in as well.”
Former St. Bonaventure’s guard Dani Haskell (22) looks to drive through the defense of Duquesne. (Spencer Bates)
And as Crowley mentioned, it is hard to convince a younger player to stick with a system that has not shown signs of immediate success. So now, instead of looking for a diamond in the rough that you will have for the next four or five years, the trick will be to identify players that have experience, that have an understanding of the college basketball landscape, and are looking for a new opportunity.
But under that umbrella, there are obviously more specific aspects that Crowley has been in search of. For one, he’s looking for leadership, something Dani Haskell provided him over the last two years. And, once again, in looking to continue recreating players in the aggregate, he is looking for the specific type of leadership Haskell offered, one spurred on by her admiration for the university.
“Dani had a connection here, and Dani knew what she was getting into here,” Crowley said. “That was always in our mind as we started to fill spots (this year): What connection do people have to here, what do they know about here. Dani wanted to be here. She had other opportunities, she chose here. We know what we want to do basketball wise, we know areas we want to get better at, but let’s make sure we’re doing that while thinking about people who want to be here … and I think my staff knocked it out of the park with that.”
And that dedication to finding players that have ties to the area has been shown in the recruiting class Crowley has brought in thus far, with all having ties to either Western New York, St. Bonaventure, or a member of the coaching staff.
Aaliyah Parker, Brianna Barr-Buday and Kaylee Krysztof, three new additions set to take to the RC court next season, all hail from WNY. Parker — a transfer from Niagara — is from Cheektowaga, Barr-Buday is from Grand Island and Krysztof — a Binghamton transfer — is from Buffalo.
Laycee Drake, a UAlbany transfer, knows Crowley incredibly well, having grown up next to his hometown. Brillana Boyd, coming from Long Beach City College, finds her connection to Bona through her brother’s best friend, Dion Wright, a former four-year player for the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball program. Olivia DiFranco was a former recruiting prospect for Crowley who eventually chose to attend Eastern Michigan, but after a knee injury derailed her time there, she and Crowley will officially connect at Bona next season. And even Ivona Djikanovic, a native of Belgrade, Serbia is connected to the Bonnies through the coach at her prep school, James Singleton, another former four-year player for the Bona men’s team.
“(Bringing in local talent) was a big factor,” Crowley said. “Ideally, we would love to build this as much as we can with people who understand what we’re about, and there’s a natural understanding of that with people that are local. … We weren’t going to not recruit someone because of that, but when it’s a shortened time frame, like the portal is, it pays to know as much as you can ahead of time.
“Dani ended up having the weight of (the leadership last year) because of her connection here. … So, how can we get a few people like that, that have more of an investment in our school and our program.”
That all being said, not all of Crowley’s Bonnies ended up departing after the conclusion of their previous campaign. Coming back next year will be Mackenzie Pettinelli, Gabby Robinson-Forde, Macy Smith and Mya Davidson, the latter of whom did not play this past season. And in the wake of the numerous departures, this upcoming year is poised to be an important one for them in terms of how they will carry over the culture from last season.
“They know me, they know what matters … and they’re invested,” Crowley said. “We brought all of them in and told them ‘we’re going to build this together. You’re going to have a chance to build this culture.’ And they believe in that.”
St. Bonaventure guard Mackenzie Pettinelli (1) puts up a 3-pointer in front of her team’s bench. (Spencer Bates)
Besides leadership and a connection to the program, which were the top two priorities in Crowley’s search to replace what he had lost, he was also keeping his eyes set on bringing in players that made up for deficiencies in the team last year when he jumped into the portal.
One such area that he and his staff identified was physicality.
“Honestly, in our two years back here, I just feel like we’ve got pushed around a lot, and that is very opposite of how (I like to play),” Crowley said. “I kind of like fist-fight basketball, and we haven’t been able to do that. We’ve got better at it and people worked at it, but it wasn’t their niche as much. We have identified (players that fit that mold), and I think our kids that returned have got more physical and stronger, without question.”
However, there is a balance that he knows he must be sure to maintain. As he acknowledged, they can’t be too picky or else they will find themselves right back in those uphill recruiting battles, but they also can’t just take anyone.
This conundrum is one that Crowley is well aware of and that is precisely where his leadership comes into play with the “Moneyball” system.
“That’s the discipline of leadership,” Crowley said. “You have to rank things and you have to stay true to what matters more in those rankings. … You can always talk yourself into or talk yourself out of someone, and you got to stay simple.”
And that is exactly how Crowley found his way into bringing in the players he has. Granted, he can’t be absolutely positive that his offseason business is done considering how unruly and unforgiving the portal can be.
“I’ve seen things in the last few years I didn’t ever think I’d see in the business, and I’ve seen, for over 30 years in the business, that things change rapidly,” Crowley said.
But even if a wrench were to be thrown into the mix at this point, there is a groundwork in place with the methodology that the Bonnies have committed themselves to using. There will be no panic, no confusion, so long as Crowley and his staff continue to believe in the process, echoing the philosophy laid out in “Moneyball.”
“‘It’s not, will it work, but how much do you believe in it,’” Crowley said as he quoted “Moneyball.” How much do you believe in what we’re doing, and do you get the right people who will believe it? … A student asked me, ‘what’s more important: buy-in, or talent?’ And with “Moneyball,” it’s buy-in. It’s talent, but it’s maybe talent that people don’t see, but you believe in that talent.”
His system will once again be put to the test this upcoming season and while there is no saying how well this team will stack up in the A10, so long as there is belief in the system, and belief in themselves, Crowley knows — because he’s seen it before — they have a chance.
