Matt Brady leaves Marist College for struggling dukes
Posted on March 27, 2008
One of the reasons 42-year-old Matt Brady is interested in JMU men’s basketball is because of its recent history.
This may sound peculiar considering the Dukes just completed their eighth straight losing season, but the former Marist College head coach explained his interest after being introduced Wednesday as the eighth coach in JMU history.
“One of the reasons that I was so excited to be at Marist College and certainly the same reason that I’m excited to be at James Madison… [is that there’s] not a lot of recent history of success,” Brady said. “To me that really gets me excited.”
What he means is clear once you know the success the first-time head coach had in his four years at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Brady inherited a 6-22 team, but quickly led the Red Foxes to three winning seasons after they improved to 11-17 in his first season.
“To leave behind players it’s really the one part of college basketball that I was really not prepared for quite frankly,” Brady said.
Taking on JMU is something that he feels is prepared to do despite the emotional free fall the program has taken.
Brady preached defense as one of his biggest goals in turning around a team that went 31-85 under previous coach Dean Keener – who resigned at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season.
But before breaking down X’s and O’s, the new coach will have to build a rapport with at least 10 of 11 players recruited by Keener and his staff.
He touched on his experience taking over at Marist and having skeptical players. One was Jared Jordan, who stayed with Brady and flourished for three years before being drafted in the second round to the NBA in 2007.
“You owe people the opportunity to hear what they have to say,” said rising junior guard Pierre Curtis. “I’m not gonna judge the man after one day.”
One connection that could go a long way in building continuity between the current players and the incoming staff – Brady is certain that at least two of his three Marist assistants will join him – is with rising senior guard Abdulai Jalloh.
Just before accepting the job with Marist, Brady recruited Jalloh to St. Joseph’s, as a member of coach Phil Martelli’s staff. Jalloh never got to play under Brady and transferred to JMU after two seasons in Philadelphia.
“Everybody’s been asking me questions about him,” Jalloh said. “I think everybody’s gonna get a feel for him themselves instead of going by what I say.”
The 6-foot-2 guard remembered being initially receptive to Brady because of his reputation of being able to develop players.
Brady played his collegiate ball at Siena College in Albany, N.Y. He finished his career as the school’s all-time assists leader and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1993.
He began his coaching career in 1987, spending two years as an assistant at Rhode Island before moving on to Wagner for four years and St. Joseph’s for 11 years.
