McCaffery, Mihalich lead Siena, Niagara into key game with lots of history
Joe Mihalich, the Niagara men's basketball coach, once played point guard at Philadelphia's La Salle High. He described his game, as "Pass off, screen away and just stay out of the way."
When Mihalich graduated in 1974, he turned over the point to a much flashier player, a rising youngster called "White Magic" who drew comparisons to Pete Maravich.
The player's name was Fran McCaffery.
Long before Mihalich and McCaffery became two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's most successful coaches, they played together at elementary-school basketball camps and attended the same high school.
They meet Saturday at Times Union Center with their teams again atop the league standings. But even as Siena-Niagara is a burgeoning rivalry for fans and alumni, it also remains for the schools' respective coaches a chance to reconnect with an old friend.
"I would say we've always been friends," McCaffery said. "Of course, when we were in high school, he was a senior and I was a freshman, and it's not like you're going to each lunch together. But we've always been friends."
Because of their three-year difference in age, McCaffery and Mihalich never played on the same high school team. But McCaffery and Mihalich's younger brother, Matt, shared the backcourt.
McCaffery averaged 12 assists in high school, and Matt Mihalich scored more than 1,000 points.
"He could really shoot the ball," McCaffery said. "He did all the shooting, and I did all the handling. It was a good match, because we played well together."
When McCaffery was a junior and Matt Mihalich a senior, La Salle beat a West Philadelphia High team led by Gene Banks, a future Duke star and NBA player who lost only two games during his high school career.
McCaffery and Matt Mihalich were integral in the win, Banks recalled in a phone interview.
"They weren't scared," said Banks, who now lives in Greensboro, N.C. "Fran was Eli Manning or Peyton Manning, quarterbacking that ball club. They got a lead, and he went on his dribbling exhibition. Matt hit some good shots, some big shots on us."
After graduating La Salle High, McCaffery played at Wake Forest and then transferred to Pennsylvania. Joe Mihalich went on to play for La Salle University, where he twice went to the NCAA Tournament. "He's underestimated his ability, because he was pretty good," McCaffery said. "They had some good players, and he could get those guys the ball and make some shots."
McCaffery and Mihalich continued to meet often as coaches, because when McCaffery was an assistant for Notre Dame and Mihalich an assistant at La Salle, their teams played every year. Other times, they saw each other on the recruiting trail.
Now the MAAC's longest-tenured coach, Mihalich has a 183-128 record in his 11 years at Niagara. McCaffery, in his fourth year at Siena, is 72-41.
"We've known each other since grade school," Mihalich said. "So yeah, we've known each other a long time, and I'd say we're good friends."
Joe Mihalich, the Niagara men's basketball coach, once played point guard at Philadelphia's La Salle High. He described his game, as "Pass off, screen away and just stay out of the way."
When Mihalich graduated in 1974, he turned over the point to a much flashier player, a rising youngster called "White Magic" who drew comparisons to Pete Maravich.
The player's name was Fran McCaffery.
Long before Mihalich and McCaffery became two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's most successful coaches, they played together at elementary-school basketball camps and attended the same high school.
They meet Saturday at Times Union Center with their teams again atop the league standings. But even as Siena-Niagara is a burgeoning rivalry for fans and alumni, it also remains for the schools' respective coaches a chance to reconnect with an old friend.
"I would say we've always been friends," McCaffery said. "Of course, when we were in high school, he was a senior and I was a freshman, and it's not like you're going to each lunch together. But we've always been friends."
Because of their three-year difference in age, McCaffery and Mihalich never played on the same high school team. But McCaffery and Mihalich's younger brother, Matt, shared the backcourt.
McCaffery averaged 12 assists in high school, and Matt Mihalich scored more than 1,000 points.
"He could really shoot the ball," McCaffery said. "He did all the shooting, and I did all the handling. It was a good match, because we played well together."
When McCaffery was a junior and Matt Mihalich a senior, La Salle beat a West Philadelphia High team led by Gene Banks, a future Duke star and NBA player who lost only two games during his high school career.
McCaffery and Matt Mihalich were integral in the win, Banks recalled in a phone interview.
"They weren't scared," said Banks, who now lives in Greensboro, N.C. "Fran was Eli Manning or Peyton Manning, quarterbacking that ball club. They got a lead, and he went on his dribbling exhibition. Matt hit some good shots, some big shots on us."
After graduating La Salle High, McCaffery played at Wake Forest and then transferred to Pennsylvania. Joe Mihalich went on to play for La Salle University, where he twice went to the NCAA Tournament. "He's underestimated his ability, because he was pretty good," McCaffery said. "They had some good players, and he could get those guys the ball and make some shots."
McCaffery and Mihalich continued to meet often as coaches, because when McCaffery was an assistant for Notre Dame and Mihalich an assistant at La Salle, their teams played every year. Other times, they saw each other on the recruiting trail.
Now the MAAC's longest-tenured coach, Mihalich has a 183-128 record in his 11 years at Niagara. McCaffery, in his fourth year at Siena, is 72-41.
"We've known each other since grade school," Mihalich said. "So yeah, we've known each other a long time, and I'd say we're good friends."
