the Informer

Two years ago, John Gallagher left Hartford and head coach Dan Leibovitz for a University of Pennsylvania assistant coaching position under Glen Miller. On Friday, Gallagher returned to the Hawks, becoming not only Hartford’s 10th men’s basketball coach, but also ironically Leibovitz’s successor and predecessor.

Gallagher had recently accepted an assistant job at Boston College under new coach Steve Donahue when Leibovitz unexpectedly resigned last Tuesday night to take Gallagher’s vacated position at UPenn. Just 48 hours later Gallagher left BC, becoming the new face of Hartford basketball while taking the reins from his former boss and close friend.

“Our program is going to be about building bridges, not building fences,” Gallagher said at a press conference Friday in Chase Arena. “We’re going to leave this better than we found it, every day. As far as the Hartford community, this is a dream…let the dream begin.”

“He’s a man of great intensity,” said Director of Athletics Patricia Meiser. “He’s as passionate about the game of basketball as I’ve seen.”

Gallagher, a Philadelphia native, adopts a program still looking for its first NCAA tournament appearance, although the Hawks competed in their only America East title game while Gallagher was an assistant in 2008. Hartford was 15-48 over the past two seasons under Leibovitz.

While this is Gallagher’s first head coaching job, having seven seniors next season should help ease the transition, especially considering he coached and recruited many current players, including all-conference guard Joe Zeglinski.

“They (the players) were very excited,” Gallagher said. “They understand what they’re getting is not an unknown factor. Even the guys I haven’t coached, they sort of heard from the other guys what I’m like. As far as that goes, it’s going to be a different role as a head coach too.”

“When I heard he [Gallagher] was in the running I was hoping he would get the job and when he did all the old guys were extremely excited because we knew what he brought to the table a couple years ago,” Zeglinski said. “We still had a good friendship even after he was gone.”

Gallagher arrives in Hartford after two seasons at UPenn, but his road to Chase Arena is filled with numerous other coaching stints. Upon graduating from Saint Joseph’s in 1999, he coached at La Salle University for five years before joining Fran O’Hanlon’s staff at Lafayette as the top assistant.

According to Gallagher, he obtained his own basketball philosophy while at Lafayette, a philosophy he says is to play “fast, fast and faster.” “Anytime anybody scores on us we want to see if we can score on them right back,” Gallagher said. “We want to take good, quick shots.”

Now, with Gallagher on board, the Hawks will continue through their offseason, already equipped with high expectations. Hartford’s starting lineup could potentially be five seniors, with even more upperclassmen rounding out the rotation.

“I’m really pleased at how this has all worked out,” said Hartford President Walter Harrison. “I’m really optimistic for the future of our men’s basketball team.”