Bucknell University Athletics
Flannery enjoys reliving dream
10/14/2005 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 14, 2005
By PAT HUGGINS
Daily News Sportswriter
Lebanon Daily News
ANNVILLE -- Homecoming is a time to renew old acquaintances, reminisce about the good old days and reflect on the course one's life has taken. And so it was for Pat Flannery this weekend at Lebanon Valley College.
Much has changed for Flannery in the 11-plus years since he coached LVC's men's basketball team to a national championship.
But that special 1993-94 season and the people who helped make it that way are never far from Flannery's heart and mind.
This weekend, they were even closer, as Flannery returned to the Annville campus for his induction into LVC's Athletic Hall of Fame.
"I've been a little numb," said Flannery at halftime of yesterday's Lebanon Valley-FDU-Florham Homecoming football game. "I know the tradition at Lebanon Valley, and to have been a little part of that and to be honored with it, it feels like it's your school and it always will.
"And then all my players came back. To see all of them and the way they've matured and their kids and everything... I know we're all supposed to grow and get older, but (Friday) night we sat around until 3 in the morning and talked about (the old) days. It just doesn't get any better than that."
Following that magical 1993-94 season, Flannery departed Lebanon Valley for Division I Bucknell, where he's spent the last decade building the Bison into a nationally relevant hoops program.
The ex-Flying Dutchmen coach's tenure in Lewisburg reached its peak last season, when the Bison pulled off one of the greatest NCAA Tournament upsets of all time, stunning highly-regarded Kansas in the first round.
The win increased Bucknell's -- and Flannery's -- national profile exponentially, which has been both a blessing and a curse.
"It's just incredible the amount of attention that we've gotten," said Flannery. "The hardest thing is to keep our kids' feet on the ground. But at the same time, our chests ought to be out, and we ought to be proud of what we did. I'm excited about getting started (on this season)."
Flannery was equally excited about going into LVC's Hall of Fame along with Mike Rhoades, the star player and floor leader of the '94 national championship team.
"No disrespect to anyone, but Michael was the best player who ever played here," said Flannery. "He could have played anywhere."
But it is not only Rhoades who holds a special place in Flannery's heart. Rather, all his LVC players left an impression on him, and as he noted, he often draws on his experiences at Lebanon Valley when seeking to motivate his current players.
"I'll remember a look on the face of a Scott Stephenson or a Mark Hofsass and think about them going all out for a loose ball," said Flannery, invoking the names of two members of the national title team. "And that's the way you want your teams to play. It's trying to get your present kids to play the way you remember your (former) kids playing. That was really my first head coaching job, and anytime you do something for the first time, it's really special."
And, if the current vocations of his former players are any indication, Flannery left the same indelible mark on those who were under his tutelage.
Among many others, Flannery has been followed into the coaching ranks by Rhoades, who's running the show at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, and Hofsass, the head boys' basketball coach at Palmyra High School.
"It makes you feel like they had fun with what they were doing," said Flannery. "You knew they were getting something out of it or they wouldn't be teaching other people. From a professional point of view, I don't think you can take greater pride than having those guys go into the coaching profession."
