An Interview with Cardinals Head Coach Joe Reilly and a Look at the First Game of the NCAA Tournament
“What makes Wesleyan great is exactly what makes our team great.”
Coach Joe Reilly – a New England native who has spent over 18 years coaching in the NESCAC, the first 11 as the head coach at Bates – upon hearing the headline from Tuesday morning’s what’s trending in Wesleyan University Alumni Association section of LinkedIn, also said, “we have guys who are computer science majors, we have guys who are pre-med, we have guys who are really into music. They respect other people on campus who are passionate about other things and they are a really great representation of Wesleyan.”
The headline was a nice change from the recent “trending” topics surrounding the school. It proudly read, “Renewed excellence in sports!”
But how did this Dark Horse break loose from the pack?
Of course this “renewed excellence in sports” comes in the wake of Wesleyan men’s basketball’s first ever NESCAC title. In taking home the title, Wesleyan became the first team in the 15-year history of the NESCAC tournament to come away with the championship after entering the final weekend as the lowest remaining seed. Not since 2002 had any team seeded as low as fourth taken home the hardware. Furthermore, the Cardinals earned the school’s first bid to the NCAA tournament for men’s basketball. But what’s been the key to Wesleyan’s surprising success this year?
Coach Reilly shared that “one of the biggest keys to our season was embracing the process,” and pointed out that “there were really only three games we lost that didn’t come down to just one or two possessions.”
Even with a season of ups and downs, Coach Reilly said that the process – that is, looking at the season from a big picture perspective – is what led them into the NESCAC tournament “really feeling like we belonged.”
Wesleyan entered the NESCAC tournament number 11 in the NCAA Regional rankings and a long shot to make the NCAA tournament, needing a surprise run to get into the field. Wesleyan will likely be underdogs once again in this Friday’s game against Skidmore, previously the number four team in the East and newly-crowned Liberty League champions, which might even inspire some Trinity fans to cheer on the Cardinals.
Coach Reilly is spending a lot of time this week watching footage of Skidmore in preparation for the game on Friday. Before he hits the reels, however, Coach Reilly said, “On paper Skidmore is a very good team – I know a lot of coaches in that league and it’s going to be a great match-up.”
The two teams’ records are not only nearly matched (Skidmore, 19-7; Wesleyan, 19-8), but both teams’ conference championship games came down to just four points (Skidmore, 68-64; Wesleyan, 74-70).
Although Skidmore’s mascot is the Thoroughbreds, it’s clear who’s really going to be, “coming atcha like a dark horse,” and here’s a hint: it’s not the left shark.
Coach Reilly explained that the players on his team are comfortable as underdogs, because they play that role even on their own campus.
“Football is the real driving force behind the athletic department – that’s just the landscape of college athletics.”
Much as the football team has recently achieved success and earned a shared-NESCAC championship in 2013, the Cardinals’ basketball squad has reached a new level under Coach Reilly, and with a victory over Skidmore would tie the program record of 20 wins in a season.
“A big part of why they’re here is that they’re the type of guys who like having a challenge,” Coach Reilly says as he grins – looking up and imagining the 2015 NCAA Division-III Basketball Champions banner hanging in Silloway Gymnasium.
“They want to be the guys who put that first banner in the gym.”
Congratulations Cardinals!
Great article – great writing!