By Max Sass
Hofstra men’s basketball coach Tom Pecora considers himself the luckiest guy in the world. His team just finished their season with 21 wins against only 11 losses, the Pride’s fourth 20-win season in the past five years. The success he has achieved is nice, but has little to do with why he considers himself so lucky. The self-described “regular New York guy” loves where he works. “I was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens,” said Pecora, who also graduated from Adelphi University, “I am the luckiest guy in the world to get a job that is rare and get it where I grew up.”
Being at Hofstra is a dream come true for Pecora who recently signed a contract extension to remain at the school through the 2013 – 2014 season. Pecora explained the extension was easy to get done, saying, “I know that myself and Jack Hayes and President Rabinowitz have a good relationship.” Pecora later added, “I want to coach here for the rest of my coaching career.” Pecora addressed the importance of the extension to the program, by explaining its importance in recruiting. “Other coaches will use it against you,” he said, “and tell recruits that you only have one or two years left on your contract.”
Hofstra basketball fans must find it relieving to know that Pecora will be around for a while especially after being courted a few years back by other schools including certain members of the Big East Conference. While Pecora was “honored to be considered for those jobs” in what he describes as “the most prestigious conference in the Northeast” there was little doubt Pecora was staying. He explained, “You don’t take a job at a conference, you take a job at a school” and that “they called and I said no.”
It is not unprecedented to think the Hofstra men’s basketball job might leave for a position in the Big East though. Jay Wright, the team’s head coach through the 2001 season and a close friend of Pecora, left for Villanova. As Associate Head Coach under Wright, Pecora was chosen as the tenth head men’s basketball coach at Hofstra University. “Jay and I were best friends,” Pecora explained. The sense of pride in Pecora was evident when talking about his close friend and the success they achieved both separately and together. “Jay and myself had built something,” Pecora explained, and describes their trips to the NCAA Tournament together in 2000 and 2001 as “an awesome experience.” Over 20 years since Hofstra’s last tournament appearance, Pecora found the experience to be
very “rewarding” and getting back is a goal he sets for himself and the team each year.
Pecora reversed his March plans last minute when Wright’s Wildcats made the Final Four and Pecora traveled to Detroit. “It was awesome,” Pecora said, “We all went out and it was great to sit behind the bench.î Wright is not the only successful Villanova coach whom Pecora has worked with though. In his time as an assistant coach at University of Nevada – Las Vegas in the early 1990ís, Pecora worked under Rollie Massimino. The legendary coach, who led his eighth seeded Wildcats to one of the greatest upsets of all time over Georgetown in 1985, only had good things to say about Pecora. Massamino described Pecora as, “a terrific young man who has the ability to communicate with different styles of people: youngsters, people overseas, everyone.” Massimino, who is known for the family atmosphere amongst his basketball teams, says that he and Pecora talk at least once a week and Pecora is like a son to him. “We talk basketball, talk life, talk family” Massimino said, “It is great to be around him.”
Pecora was honored with the MBWA Peter A. Carleisimo Coach of the Year Award and “it’s huge” to the coach. “It is one of the few plaques I put up,” said Pecora who has over twenty in office, but very few on the walls. “I’ve known PJ, his son for a long time,” said Pecora, “and being voted by the writers is huge for me.” The award is certainly not Pecora’s first and many expect it not to be close to the last.
Pecora was, “blown away by the organization, commitment and selflessness of the military” when he went to Kuwait and Iraq just one year ago as part of Operation Hardwood. Operation Hardwood brought seven other coaches as well as Pecora over to Kuwait and into Baghdad to raise the morale of troops and offer basketball instruction. “I was honored to be asked,” said Pecora, “It was a life changing experience for me.”
One of the coaches who joined Pecora on the trip was DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright. Wainwright was hesitant about being the first group of civilians to go into Baghdad after what the city had gone through. He figured he would enlist Pecora to come with him if he was going to go. “I knew he was a great family guy,” said Wainwright, “He runs a golf tournament and does charity work and is one of the top five funniest people I have ever met.” The eight coaches were always travelling under security, endured 130-degree temperatures in Kuwait and wore flight jackets and helmets when travelling from Kuwait to Iraq. Wainwright even said the group needed flashlights to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night (which was hard for Pecora after misplacing his and having to wake his bunkmate Wainwright to borrow his). Wainright said that, “Tom did a great, great job with the troops” and that it was, “one of the top experiences in all our lives.”
In between all his charity work and trip to the Middle East, Pecora still manages to coach a basketball team and does so quite effectively. Pecora described the 2008 – 2009 season as successful, but in regards to the team’s second round exit in the CAA tournament, he was, “very much so disappointed.” Pecora seems optimistic for the future though, saying that the “core of the team is sophomores” and each year the goal is “to put a team on the floor that can win the CAA Tournament and make the NCAA Tournament.”
Pecora makes it very clear that he is “very approachable.” He loves to hear input from fans and said there was “great student support and wants to thank students for that.” His excitement when talking about the crowd’s support for the team and the expansion of the student section in the second half of the season was genuine. Hofstra University is very lucky to have a man who Wainwright describes as, “a great young coach, but an even better person.”