Massimino Is Still in the Game Because It's Still in Him

Seven years after winning that championship, Massimino bolted from Villanova to Nevada-Las Vegas. Four years later, he landed at Cleveland State. In neither place did he win as much as he or anyone else expected. He retired after the 2003 season with a career record of 515-391 and moved to Florida to play golf with all his old buddies -- Chuck Daly, Billy Cunningham, Bill Raftery and John Havlicek among them.

"We all live a few minutes from one another," he said. "We played golf every day, hung out and enjoyed life."

Well, sort of. Three years ago Massimino got a phone call from another old friend, Rick Smoliak. Years ago, Massimino was the basketball coach at Stony Brook, and Smoliak was the baseball coach. Smoliak was now the athletic director at Northwood, and he wanted Massimino to help him start a basketball program.

"I thought he wanted me to help set things up for them," Massimino said. "The school's only 25 minutes from where I live, so I said I'd help out, get them started, maybe help them find a coach."

Smoliak had other ideas. He wanted Massimino to be the coach.

"At first I said no," Massimino said. "My buddies told me I was crazy. But then I decided why not? I still like being around kids."

Or, to quote his ever-patient wife, Mary Jane, "He's a lifer."

Northwood is located just off Military Trail, a few miles from the heart of Palm Beach. It was started 24 years ago as a branch of the original Northwood, which is in Detroit and mostly trains students to go into the automobile management business. The conference consists mostly of specialty schools. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the conference's dominant basketball school until Massimino showed up, is better known as the flight school where several of the Sept. 11 pilots got their training.

Massimino's two-year record is 48-16, and he has been voted conference coach of the year both seasons. Massimino's golfing buddies frequently show up at the games. So do many of his former players.

"I'd say seven or eight guys from the championship team have been down this year," he said. "It's been fun."

With six scholarships to work with, Massimino has cast as wide a net to find players as he can with a limited budget. His best player, DeSean White, transferred from Providence after Villanova Coach Jay Wright called Massimino to say he was a kid in need of another chance at a level somewhere below the Big East. White, the conference player of the year, had an awful game Friday (2-of-11 shooting, five turnovers) and was distraught afterward.

As Massimino sat in his office making postgame dinner plans, White walked in with a forlorn look on his face. "Coach, how late will you be up?" he asked.