for
the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts
Mar.
30, 2001
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Lappas lands Minuteman coaching job by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff
 he
men's Final Four may be getting ready to happen in Minneapolis, but
in Amherst this week it was the final one who had the sports media's
attention. At a March 26 press conference, athletic director Robert
Marcum introduced Steve Lappas as the 19th head coach of the men's
basketball team.After head coach James "Bruiser" Flint resigned March 12, there had been extensive speculation as to who would replace him. University of North Carolina-Greensboro coach Fran McCaffrey, St. Bonaventure coach Jim Baron, and George Mason coach Jim Larranaga were interviewed, according to the Boston Globe. And additional coaches were approached, the Globe reported. "We had no set timeline," Marcum said. "The University was very good at letting us work at our own pace, but something changed all that, and that something was Steve Lappas. "When Steve Lappas was available ... it just changed our timeline tremendously. We looked at the field and said, 'How can we improve on a Steve Lappas?' We just didn't think that existed, and we immediately moved into high gear in order to acquire [him]." On March 24, Lappas resigned from Villanova University, where he had been head coach for nine seasons. During that tenure, he racked up six seasons with at least 20 victories, four that ended in NCAA tournament appearances, and three that finished with National Invitation Tournament (NIT) play. Prior to his most recent stint at Villanova, Lappas was head coach of Manhattan College for four years, leading the team to 25 victories, a conference title and the third round of the NIT his final year. In 1992, he was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, New York Metropolitan Coach of the Year and District II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Writers.
Lappas' five-year contract will include a base salary of $175,000 per year, according to Marcum. A host of incentives, including attendance and post-season clauses, and other opportunities to supplement his salary, such as radio and television shows, apparel contracts, speaking engagements, and sports camps, could lead to earnings approaching $500,000, according to senior associate Athletic director Al Rufe. "I'm very excited about this opportunity that lays before me," Lappas said. "Bobby Knight always said that it is great to coach at a place that is a University of Something. I have the opportunity now to coach at a state university school that has things going for it both academically and athletically. "We've been fortunate to have had everyone who's been a senior in my programs graduate. It is very important to me, and it is what I'm about. I'm an educator." Lappas said he left Villanova because the time was right for he and his family to make a change. His wife Harriet, who has coordinated his summer camps for several years, his daughter Kristen, 13, and son Peter, 10, attended the press conference. Harriet Lappas said that, although she and Steve are both from New York City, the family is looking forward to living in a small college town after a number of years in major urban areas. Organizing the Steve Lappas basketball camp, which had 2,000 participants each summer, has been a full-time job for six months of the year, she said. "I'm thinking about retiring," she laughed, adding that details about a possible Lappas basketball camp in this area haven't yet been worked out. When asked about his approach in the upcoming season, Lappas said he will continue to emphasize the strengths that have brought him success so far: his philosophy of maintaining good communication and his coaching style. He said he likes his players to be unselfish; play hard; practice good half-court defense, including solid man-to-man coverage; and to focus on taking good shots in order to maintain a high field-goal percentage. Lappas also said he anticipates that at least two of the three coaches on his staff will accompany him to Amherst. |
