O'Hanlon returns to Palestra

The former Quakers assistant is in hisThe former Quakers assistant is in hisfirst year at the helm of Lafayette You start with the intensity. You have to start with the intensity. That's the first thing everybody notices. The intensity is what makes this Lafayette team different from the other Lafayette teams that have, in the past, assembled a series of increasingly poor records, culminating in last season's 2-25 finish and the resulting resignation of coach John Leone. To replace Leone, the Lafayette administration turned to long-time Penn assistant Fran O'Hanlon. After six years as an aide to Fran Dunphy and coming close to head coaching jobs innumerable times, O'Hanlon finally had the chance to mold a team in his image -- an image cultivated in his days as a player at Villanova, and not surprisingly imbued with?intensity. · When you talk to the coaches of teams Lafayette has played this season, they talk about how Lafayette failed to roll over and play dead as it had in the past. And despite a 2-13 record, the Leopards have come dangerously close to making some waves. Thursday at Army, Lafayette was up by 18 points in the second half before point guard and senior leader Craig Kowadla picked up his fourth foul. And Saturday against Dartmouth, the Leopards lost on a three pointer by P.J. Halas with 6.1 seconds to play. It is close calls like these that have earned the respect of O'Hanlon's colleagues. "What Fran is doing right now is the same sort of situation we were in a few seasons ago," Army coach Dino Gaudio said. "They play incredibly hard and together. He has just installed a great work ethic. He's done a great job with them. They're up 18 on us and if Kowadla's not in foul trouble, who knows? "It's scary when we have to go up against them. We know they'll play really hard, and be very well coached." Lafayette grad Pete Carril, whose Princeton squad beat the Leopards 62-47, has known O'Hanlon for many years and expects success at his alma mater. "He's up to date on the changes and developments in the game," Carril said. "He's a hard worker, and he was a wonderful player. They don't give up. There's nothing more you can say, other than that he's going to be outstanding." And perhaps no one has watched more Lafayette basketball over the years than Dick Hammer. Hammer is in his 30th season as the voice of Leopard basketball on WEST-AM and sees hope for the future. "He's done a heck of a job with the material that was back. The cupboard was bare -- no doubt about that. He needs two good recruiting classes. There's no one who can be Kowadla next year. He's got to find a point guard." · The 47-year-old O'Hanlon's name had come up in connection with a number of head coaching vacancies: Loyola, Md., Boston University and Virginia Military among them. Each one ended in frustration. When he finally got the call from Lafayette Athletic Director Eve Atkinson, everyone involved was pleased. "I had been hoping it was a matter of time," Dunphy said. "His preparation is flawless. He's the whole package as a coach." "I was absolutely thrilled, and I'm still very excited," O'Hanlon said. "I was familiar with the program and they have a great tradition. Any time you take over a new program, hopes are very high." The road that led to Easton was long and winding. After graduating from Villanova in 1970, O'Hanlon played one season in the ABA before taking coaching jobs in such far-flung locales as Sweden, Venezuela and Israel, before returning home to become an assistant women's coach at Temple. The next stop was the head coaching job at Monsignor Bonner High School, where he compiled a 36-23 record and was named Catholic League Coach of the Year twice. But when old friend Fran Dunphy was named head coach at Penn, O'Hanlon jumped at the chance to join him at the helm. With the Quakers, O'Hanlon soon developed a reputation as an offensive guru, teaching his version of the motion offense and emphasizing movement without the ball. "Coach O knows everything about offense that the game has ever encountered," forward Shawn Trice said in 1993. "I am sure of that." More recently, he worked closely with the Quakers' young players, like Donald Moxley. "He is a great teacher of offense," Moxley said. "He's worked on my footing, on moving away from the ball. I knew it was important to cut hard, but he showed me how important it is to move with effort off the ball." Now O'Hanlon gets his chance to take on his former mentor, colleagues and players. "I have mixed feelings," O'Hanlon said. "I always love coming back to the Palestra. But these are my friends, guys I've recruited and worked with." · When he walked into the gym for his first practice as head coach, he saw a few bright spots on a 2-25 team. The first one was Kowadla, who had scored 915 points before leaving the team last January to deal with personal problems. Replacing him is the primary goal of O'Hanlon's recruiting this year. Kowadla said, not surprisingly, that O'Hanlon had helped him a great deal with his movement without the ball. "He's been on me about that since day one," Kowadla said. "I've always had the ball in my hands, but this year I've improved on off-the-ball movement a lot because of coach O'Hanlon, especially using screens." The other bright spot was 6-11 center Stefan Ciosici, a freshman from Romania. Gaudio predicted he would eventually be one of the best big men in the Patriot League. "He's young and not used to American basketball," O'Hanlon said. "He's not a project. He's got physical tools. He needs work on the mental part. The terminology is new, it's a new school and a new country." The first order of business for the new coach was changing the attitude that led to a 2-25 finish. That began the moment he was named coach. "I had a conversation with him on the phone right after he was named coach," Kowadla said. "He was all business, no nonsense." "My first impression was that he was a real nice guy," said senior Ralph Carter, Kowadla's partner in the backcourt. "But it's been very tough as far as conditioning." To Hammer, the changes were evident almost immediately. "They'd never run so much. Now they've adapted to his system, which is a motion offense. And they play both defenses -- zone and man." · Installing his system was just the first step on a long journey for O'Hanlon and the Lafayette program, which seems to be closer and closer to winning. "I guess the best you can say is that we're more competitive," O'Hanlon said. "You come in with the experience of making an immediate impact. They tell you it takes three years, but we're not giving up on this season. "I see the program doing a whole lot better. In three or four or five years, we should be vying for the league championship. We just have to instill a championship mentality and a championship attitude." Apparently, the championship intensity is already there.

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