John Gallagher is man enough to admit to crying. He cried when he left Hartford last month, along with nine members of the basketball team he was leaving behind.
But that was quickly tempered by the knowledge that he would be returning to his Philadelphia roots, not to mention taking a small step up the college basketball ladder.
Now a week and a half into his newest gig - an assistant to Penn coach Glen Miller - Gallagher's biggest task is to learn the names and faces he will be responsible for mentoring.
"Any place that you go to or come from, it's all about relationships," Gallagher said yesterday. "Obviously I'm not going to become best friends with the guys in a day . but it's a great opportunity."
Gallagher played at Saint Joseph's and went into coaching right after graduation. He spent five years as an assistant at La Salle, then two at Lafayette and two as an associate coach at Hartford. Last season, Hartford won 18 games, a program record.
Miller said he liked the fact that Gallagher had spent time in a non-scholarship program; Lafayette only adopted a limited scholarship system in 2006.
A spot opened up on the Penn staff when Chris Sparks left to coach and teach at his high school alma mater, Wilbraham & Monson School in Massachusetts.
Replacing the affable coach who earned the nickname "Bubba" shortly after arriving at the Palestra is no easy task, but Miller said he had a favorable impression of Gallagher's work ethic before looking at him as a possible colleague.
"And I like the fact that we're a motion offense team and he's coached in a motion offense system," he added.
After the two broached the subject of a job, Gallagher called his former coach and employer, St. Joe's Phil Martelli, for another perspective.
"He said, John, [coach Miller] is one of the best coaches you'll see," Gallagher recalled. "He said, nobody runs better stuff."
Much of Gallagher's large family lives in the greater Philadelphia region, including nine nieces and nephews, and his parents have been Eagles season ticket holders for decades. One of his sisters graduated from Penn's School of Medicine; his father graduated from Penn Law. Gallagher attended nearby Cardinal O'Hara before heading to St. Joe's.
"It doesn't hurt to have somebody who's connected in the city," Miller said.
All that meant it was worth it for Gallagher to leave Hartford, even though he would be moving for a third job in five years.
"Lucky enough, I'm single," he said.
