Legend now roams City of Sin

Rollie Massimino When he left Villanova, his once-loving fans cheered him farewell. The fans were not applauding his 19-year career with the Wildcats. On the contrary, they were pleased to see the one-time builder of giant killers leave town after a few barren years without postseason play. The fans at his new home, Las Vegas, were also skeptical. They were accustomed to seeing Jerry Tarkanian stroll the sidelines and lead the Runnin' Rebels to national glory. But regardless of the what any fan thinks of Rollie Massimino, no one can ever claim he has had anything less than a stellar coaching career, even if his popularity has waned as time passes. Massimino's storied collegiate coaching career began on the sidelines at Stony Brook in the winter of 1969. In his two-year stint there, he turned the struggling program into champions. Stony Brook climbed to the top of its conference with a 19-6 record in his first season, and earned a birth in the NCAA Small College National Tournament. From New York, Massimino traveled to Philadelphia. His entrance into the City of Brotherly Love is proof positive having good friends can help one's career. "Chuck Daly and I had developed a tremendous friendship prior to coming to Penn," Massimino said of the the former Quaker and current New Jersey Nets coach. "I had called to congratulate Chuck on [being named the Penn basketball coach], and before I knew it I was in Newark Airport on my way." In his two years working under Daly, the Quakers compiled a 46-10 record on the road to a pair of Ivy League and Big 5 titles. After this first taste of Philadelphia, Massimino discovered he loved the city and local communities, so he was thrilled to take the head coaching job at Villanova. It finally appeared Massimino had found a rank that could quench his thirst for national respect. Massimino resurrected the Wildcat program during his 19-year tenure as he led 16 teams into postseason tournament play. "Those are pretty good highlights as far as I'm concerned," Massimino said of his Villanova days. "I think probably the biggest highlight was after we won the National Championship in 1985, the following year we won 24 games. It was a major highlight after losing all of those kids [to graduation]." But no matter how successful his teams were at Villanova, Massimino will always be remembered in Philadelphia as the man many blamed for ending City Series play in its traditional format. "Rollie's the reason the teams don't play each other," La Salle coach Speedy Morris said. "If Rollie wanted to play four Big 5 teams, we'd all be playing. Rollie wasn't honest about it and his decision." However, Massimino refuses to be the scapegoat for Philadelphia hoops fans who dearly miss the Big 5 classic doubleheader format at the Palestra. "I had nothing to do with it," Massimino said in defense of his tarnished image. "I'm not an Athletic Director. I'm just a basketball coach. Because I was there for so many years, maybe people perceived me as being more, but I don't make those kinds of decisions. "I think Speedy Morris ought to take care of his shop and I'll take care of my shop. [His statements] are very ludicrous in my eyes." Although Massimino is now at UNLV, and no longer decides the policies of the Big 5 schools, his words are still questioned by Philadelphia basketball fans. These fans point to the way Massimino remembers other events throughout his career as evidence for their claims of his inconsistencies. Take for example the day his move from Villanova to the Runnin' Rebels was announced. Although Philadelphians remember a packed Jake Nevin Fieldhouse full of over 3,200 joyous Wildcat fans chanting, "Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, hey, hey, hey goodbye," Massimino recalls 'Cat fans appreciating his 19 years of service and dedication. "I don't believe the fans at Villanova ever turned on me," Massimino recalled. "When a small handful of people do something, it doesn't represent the masses whatsoever." The questions surrounding Massimino's credibility continue today as he tries to return Las Vegas from the ashes to National Championship stature. Even though former UNLV star and current Minnesota Timberwolves rookie sensation Isaiah Rider was prohibited from playing in the first round of the NIT Tournament last year due to questions about who was actually the author of an academic paper he submitted, Massimino denies any academic problems have ever existed in the City of Sin. "No, I don't think so. Questionable academic policies -- I'm not sure that's true," he said. "When I was at Villanova, the academic policies were very stringent and very good. But quite frankly, it's a little bit more difficult to get into here than into most colleges in the country, believe it or not." The questions surrounding his playing philosophy still hang over Massimino's head to this day. Throughout his days in Philadelphia, his teams were known for their defensive pressure and slow-paced offense. However, in just his first year at Las Vegas, the Runnin' Rebels ranked third in the nation in offensive production. "West coast style basketball is a little different," Massimino said. "But we've done the exact same thing [at UNLV] as we did at Villanova. But we just did some things offensively in terms of running that had to be changed." It is these types of answers that lead Philadelphians to not trust Massimino. However, maybe he is telling the truth, and because he had been at Villanova so long, no one was able to separate the two. Whatever the reason, the Big 5 is now essentially gone, and one of its most historic coaches now tries to win another National Championship in the City of Sin rather than the City of Brotherly Love.