Fordham SportsNet

Jared Grasso talks things over with captain Brenton Butler. (fordhamsports.com)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Jared Grasso picked up his first win as a college head coach back on December 8th when Fordham beat Stony Brook, 93-77, at the Rose Hill Gym. Since then, the Rams have dropped 14 in a row, and Grasso’s record as a head coach stands at 1-15 heading into tomorrow night’s contest at St. Bonaventure.

But since December 3rd, when Grasso was named interim head coach, replacing Dereck Whittenburg who had been fired that day, a renewed sense of energy and optimism has been evident. Despite some lopsided losses – Xavier immediately comes to mind – and putting aside the Rams’ struggles in the second half of many of this season’s games, Fordham has been competitive under Grasso, nearly pulling off upsets at Massachusetts, and in recent games versus La Salle and Charlotte. In fact, any win by the Rams would be an upset when you consider the team’s 2-19 record (0-9 in the Atlantic 10), and when you consider the fact that Fordham’s freshmen log more minutes than freshmen from any other team in college basketball. Fordham fans have heard it before, but it may never have been more true. This is a rebuilding program, the definition of a work in progress. 

“This team is growing,” Grasso said about his young squad. “I’ve said it from day one: This group, when we add some pieces, is going to end up being very good. I know how hard these guys work and I know how good this freshman class is. We’re going to end up getting a couple wins here, and we’re going to surprise a lot of people in two or three years when this is a 20-win team.”

Of course, the other storyline is whether the interim tag will be lifted from Grasso’s title. If you ask his players, the media, and a lot of other people familiar with the program, Grasso would be their pick. Having said that, the university has made it clear that it plans on completing an extensive search for a permanent head coach before a decision is made. While he obviously hopes to get the job on a permanent basis, Grasso only allows himself to focus on the present.

“I don’t think about it too much,” he said about what direction the university may decide to go in. “I can’t control it. What I can control is getting our kids to play hard. I can control our effort and our attitude and our energy every day. I can control what I do going recruiting, being on the phone at night with recruits and going to games every night. I do those to the best of my ability. Obviously, I want to be here.”

Who wouldn’t? After all, it’s the desire of most assistant coaches at the college level to one day head their own program. At 29, Grasso is the youngest head coach in Division I college basketball. He’s presiding over a young team, a group of players he believes in.

“This group is going to grow together,” Grasso said. “If they stay together, this group is going to be very good. I hope I’m a part of it. I really like these kids because of the way they bounce back every day. We got hammered at Xavier. We did not play well. They easily could have shown up and packed it in. When you’re losing it’s easy to pack it in. It would be easy for me, too. [But] I’ll never be that way. I’m going to try to outwork people. That’s what I try to instill in our guys. Hopefully, as we move forward, if this is my program, that’s what this program will be built on.”