Loyola Seems to Fit Patsos to a 'T'

"Of course, that's Gary. A lot of me will always be Gary. Everything we do on offense and defense is Gary. A lot of my bench demeanor is Gary. A lot of my intensity is Gary."

So too, is some of his paranoia. Just as Williams often ranted about Maryland being in "Siberia" as the northernmost school in the ACC until the arrival of Boston College, Patsos can get on a roll about Loyola being the MAAC's southernmost outpost.

"The league office is in" New Jersey, he said. "Most of the refs are Northern guys. I got teed up against Siena because I said to one of the refs: 'Hey, you're from Albany, right? What a coincidence, Siena's right outside Albany.' "

But most of what he learned from Williams, he has applied to rebuilding at Loyola: recruit hard, coach hard, take nothing for granted and never accept losing.

"We talk at least once a week," Patsos said. "He's been like a father figure to me for a while, but a teacher, too. Now there are times when he's down and I try to pick him up. But a lot of the time it's the other way around. When we blew a 10-point lead Saturday at Fairfield, he called me from the plane on the way back from Wake Forest and just said, 'You all right?'

"I still bleed Maryland red every day. Sunday, after we play Fairfield, the whole team is coming to my house to watch the Duke game. We'll have it TiVoed so we can watch the whole thing even though we'll be an hour late getting there. I wouldn't be where I am in coaching if not for Gary. I miss working for him, I really do."

Some coaches find it emotionally draining to be submerged in the intensity Williams regularly brings. Patsos thrived on it -- and still does. He has pieced together his team through transfers -- leading scorer Gerald Brown from Providence, starting forward Omari Isreal from Notre Dame and injured starting center Hassan Fofana from Maryland -- along with players such as freshman point guard Brett Harvey and second-leading scorer Marquis Sullivan, who were recruited out of high school.

"It's a different road, that's for sure," he said. "When I was at Maryland, there were times when we just swooped down on players late because of who we were and the league we were in. It's different here. Now my nest gets robbed sometimes.

"Last spring, we were recruiting a kid named Pierre Curtis. He really could have helped us. In April, he calls me and tells me he's going to James Madison. I say: 'James Madison? Why?' He says, 'Because they're in the CAA and their coaches told me they can do what George Mason just did.' Look, if I'm [Dukes Coach] Dean Keener, I would do the exact same thing. But losing a kid that way hurts."

He dug into an oyster. "It's all part of the learning process. I'm getting better. We're getting better. We're going to get there. I just hope it's sooner rather than later."

The Education of Jimmy continues. Stay tuned.