When Jerry Hernandez resigned from his 13-year stand as Loyola’s athletic director and men’s basketball head coach, Michael Giorlando stepped in to fill his shoes. He left his position as a LSU assistant basketball coach to turn around a basketball program that had not had a winning season in five years.
Although Giorlando would have an advantage that Hernandez never had (three players on full rides thanks to the reinstitution of athletic scholarships) the odds were stacked against him. The team, however young, was inexperienced. The scholar-athletes were freshmen, the Wolfpack had lost last season’s top scorer, Jonathan Hernandez, and only six players returned from the previous year.
Giorlando did not let a dismal 6-26 overall record in the 2003-04 season and a 32-130 record from 1999-2004 discourage him or his new team.
“I told them that what happened last year and what has happened in the past has nothing to do with this team,” Giorlando said. “We just started fresh, working through the process of getting better. When we do that, wining and losing will take care of itself.”
Before the winter break, Giorlando led the Wolfpack to more wins than the team had achieved in the previous season.
With a 5-2 record at the start of conference play in January, things seemed to finally be going Giorlando’s way. Then injuries plagued the Wolfpack and the team suffered a 10-game losing steak.
After more than a month of losing, Giorlando and the Wolfpack snapped the rut with a slim 64-62 win over Belhaven on Feb. 12.
“Even when we were on a losing skid, I kept reminding them that we were closer than they think,” Giorlando said. “We never lost faith.”
A week later, the ‘Pack surprised all when they upset the 10th ranked LSU-Shreveport Pilots 73-72 in a game that featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties.
“We always knew we could win, and they proved to themselves that we could play with these guys,” Giorlando said. “The thing about this team that I stress is they never gave up.”
Despite an early winning record, Loyola ended the season 11-20. However, the wins reached double digits for the first time since going 15-14 in the 1998-99 season.
Giorlando credited the upperclassmen on the team for helping the players adjust to a new coach.
“There is a question of loyalty when a new coach comes in,” Giorlando said. “I leaned on [the upperclassmen] to show the young guys the right and wrong way to do things on and off the court.”
The program is in a phase of building right now. In November, the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, announced his decision to continue the athletic scholarships program in both men’s and women’s basketball through the 2007-08 academic year. This is the first class of scholar-athletes since 1972.
According to Giorlando, the scholarships will allow for student athletes to come to Loyola that otherwise would not be able to attend.
“It’s going to afford people an opportunity to come to Loyola and receive an education that they couldn’t afford otherwise,” Giorlando said. “It’s going to help get higher quality players to complement Loyola academically. I think it’s going to be a positive and [ultimately] the school will win.”
Although the season is over, Giorlando’s job is far from it. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, his duties as athletic director are to oversee all aspects of Loyola’s Intercollegiate Athletic Program, including scheduling, managing the facilities, financial affairs, public relations and fund-raising.
Giorlando’s first action as athletic director was to replace head baseball coach Gregg Mucerino, who resigned the same day as Hernandez. On July 16, Giorlando hired Michael Beeman, who had been the pitching coach at Georgetown University for the last two years.
Michael Nissman can be reached at [email protected].
