Now with BU, Greenberg makes return to Philly

For Kelly Greenberg, this past weekend was both an end and a beginning.

The former Penn women's basketball coach brought her new team, Boston University, to Philadelphia on Friday to take on Saint Joseph's in the Preseason NIT. It was Greenberg's first game at the Terriers' helm, and although the result was what mattered most, this was clearly not an average season opener.

A sizeable number of BU fans were scattered throughout the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse crowd of 1,512, many of whom could claim some kind of direct connection to Greenberg. Almost 40 people received so-called "comp" tickets through the BU Athletic Department, including members of Greenberg's family and the Penn basketball community.

"We just love having her," Greenberg's mother, Mary Greenberg, said. "It's just so wonderful to see her here."

Also present was former Penn guard Diana Caramanico, who was Greenberg's first star player and still maintains close ties to the Quakers.

"It takes a little getting used to, given that she's coaching in Philadelphia and not the Palestra," she said. "I'm just really excited to see what she's doing at BU."

Former Penn assistant coach Joe McGeever sat in the Greenberg cheering section as well. He was Greenberg's top deputy on the Palestra sidelines, and was a leading candidate to become the Quakers coach after Greenberg left this past summer. He is now assistant director of Admissions at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa.

"I certainly miss it," he said.

McGeever could not help but draw some comparisons between Greenberg's old and new jobs, noting that "you can tell the growing pains [with BU], like it was our first year at Penn."

He predicted, though, that the Terriers "would do well -- they're much bigger than we were."

After the game, which St. Joe's won, 51-49, Greenberg spoke candidly about her transition from Philadelphia to Boston.

"Philadelphia is a basketball city, and it is obviously a big part of my life," she said. "I'm coaching at Boston University now, but I still have a lot of roots here and always will."

This was also proven on Thursday night, when Greenberg took her team to dinner and was paid a surprise visit by former La Salle coaches Speedy Morris and John Miller.

Greenberg, a La Salle graduate and former Explorers star, said that it made her "realize how special it is -- two people that I highly admire and think the world of."

Late in the first half, the current Penn women's basketball team arrived, and sat behind the Terriers' bench.

"I didn't know they were there until almost the end of the game," Greenberg said, and admitted that she was "glad I didn't know they were there."

She also acknowledged the difficult circumstances in which she left Penn.

"That's a hard thing, obviously," she said. "I went through a time where I knew they were disappointed, angry. But they are great young women, the girls at Penn -- I know they've moved on and learned from it, and they are going to have an awesome year."

She then added, "Not that I bet, but I have bet that they'll win the Ivy" League.

Arguably the biggest thing that has changed for Greenberg since moving to Boston is that she now has athletic scholarships at her disposal for the first time. At both Penn and Holy Cross, where she started her coaching career, Greenberg did not have that resource.

"It's fun having them, but we really haven't been to that point yet recruiting-wise," she said. "Figuring out how to use them is a whole new ball game."

Perhaps that will be what allows Greenberg to do something about the one thing that has not yet changed for her -- she still has yet to beat St. Joseph's as a head coach.

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