The Patrick Callahan Story: Starting from Zero

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The first few weeks after Patrick lost his grandmother, he went to daily Mass on campus and showed up a few times a week to a rosary group for coaches in the staff lounge. They were profound experiences. His grandmother felt close. God felt real. His life felt centered.

But as basketball season peaked and Patrick’s team surged in the standings in late January and February, his Mass and rosary group attendance became much more sporadic. It bothered him at first. Then it became easier and easier to do something other than head to the chapel or thumb his rosary beads.

As long as he went to Sunday Mass – an obligation for all Catholics – he would be OK, right? That’s what he told himself. He didn’t have to go every day after all. He was a busy man, with important things to do.

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Stonehill ran with St. Francis for a half, trailing 49-45 and feeling good heading into the locker room. But the dream of spoiling senior day for the Red Flash ended once play resumed. St. Francis cruised home 96-77.

Despite the improved play of interior players during the back half of the season, Stonehill was no match for the Red Flash in the paint. St. Francis certainly cemented itself as the class of the NEC.

But Stonehill, with a surprising 19-10 overall record, had made its presence known over the course of the winter too, claiming the No. 3 seed for the upcoming conference tournament. NXT Hoops magazine couldn’t claim this was a zero-prestige school any more, could they?

On the bus trip home from St. Francis, Patrick Callahan kept pumping up his players with this one thought: they had proved they could play with anyone in the league. They could win the conference tournament the next week and steal an NCAA berth.

“The Big Dance, fellas. The Big-Freaking-Dance!”

He really believed it. And fell asleep that night with visions of hearing the name “Stonehill Skyhawks!” called on Selection Sunday while TV cameras showed his players celebrating wildly at the campus watch party.

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No movement on the recruiting front. Patrick was hamstrung by the lack of a recruiting budget. He hadn’t spent his resources well earlier in the cycle. Imagine trying to fill 3-4 more spots at this point. Yikes.

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They don’t call it March Madness for nothing. The quarterfinal round of the Northeast Conference tournament was pure mayhem. Only fourth-seeded Central Connecticut survived the gauntlet among the higher seeds with home-court advantage.

Eighth-place Wagner stunned regular season champ St. Francis, jumping to a 52-35 first-half lead and then holding off a furious rally for an 83-79 triumph. A shame. The shocking result likely knocked St. Francis out of the NCAAs altogether. They could have made noise as the 13th, 14th or 15th seed.

Second-seeded Long Island also went down, losing 83-65 to No. 7 Fairleigh Dickinson. Long Island’s early 13-point lead evaporated, and the Sharks became minnows.

Alas, add Stonehill to the upset mix. The Skyhawks scored 86 points but the lack of defensive acumen resulted in a nine-point defeat to Sacred Heart. You just can’t fall behind by 22 points in the first 15 minutes and hope to have a chance.

Now, Patrick had to wonder if any of the lesser postseason tournaments would be interested in an upstart program from Easton, Mass. Probably not. They were zero prestige, remember?

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Patrick and a handful of his players watched the NCAA selection show together on campus. They saw Sacred Heart as the very first team announced, at 16-16 and tournament champions of the Northeast Conference.

The Pioneers were slated for the First Four in Dayton, facing Southern Indiana, another conference tourney upset winner. Whoever won that matchup would draw top-ranked and top-seeded North Carolina (32-2) in the round of 64.

“That should have been us,” Callahan kept muttering under his breath. “That could have been and should have been us.”

St. Francis didn’t make the field of 68. Being a one-bid league can be cruel.

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Patrick Callahan had mentally moved into off-season mode after the Selection Show. But his athletic director was waiting in his office for him early Monday morning.

“I pulled some strings. Called in some favors. I got us into the CollegeInsider Tournament! You’ve got a game to prepare for. And a championship to go win.”

The CIT was the fourth out of four postseason events. It featured 32 teams, grouped into four regions of eight. Stonehill garnered the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. The Skyhawks’ first opponent would be seventh-seeded Tennessee State – at HOME!

The winner would get either Memphis or Robert Morris.

OK, so it wasn’t the Big Dance. More like a middle school prom. But it was a dance! And Patrick Callahan was pumped, especially to play in Merkert Gymnasium in front of the home fans at least one more time.