Seton Hall's wacky leader a study in perpetual motion

Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez is often animated on and off the sidelines, giving him an edge he hopes will bring the Pirates back to the top. AP

By Kevin Armstrong, SI.com

Eugene Harvey, Seton Hall's 6-foot-2, do-everything sophomore point guard with the silky handle and Brooklyn bravado, was not quite sure what to make of the situation last December. Four-and-a-half games into his collegiate career, he had already endured an embarrassing loss to Fairleigh Dickinson, thinking afterward that things couldn't possibly get any worse.

Yet here he was, three games later, playing in front of a scant crowd at the cavernous Continental Airlines Arena, entrenched in a battle with visiting St. Mary's. An early deficit had been erased by a Pirates run, but back came St. Mary's, charging ahead to open up a seven-point lead late in the second half. "There was a turnover and coach [Bobby] Gonzalez called a time out," says Harvey, who led all Big East freshmen with 16.5 points per game last season. "He went for a stool, but it was messed up or something and he was mad so he just punched his hand right through it. You could see him bleeding but he refused [medical] attention and just drew up the play. I was like, 'Man, is he crazy?'"

Gonzalez, who is admittedly not proud of the passion-runneth-over moment, says, "There was blood and splinters all over the place, on my shirt and suit. But Jamar Nutter gets up, and he knows I wasn't mad at any individuals. We were lacking urgency. Jamar tells the others, 'Look, coach is bleeding for us. Let's go out and win the game.' We came back and won [93-82] in overtime. I still have a scar from that. My wife wasn't too happy."

It's that punchy attitude, though, that inspired Seton Hall to hire Gonzalez two years ago. When the Pirates were bleeding recruits, they fired nice-guy Louis Orr and recruited Gonzalez from Manhattan College to right the ship. In him, they landed a natural recruiter with a penchant for perturbing counterparts on the trail. While an assistant at Providence, Xavier and Virginia under Pete Gillen for six years, Gonzalez honed his reputation as a bulldog recruiter, literally bringing God to Providence when he signed God Shammgod. As Manhattan's head coach, he took the Jaspers to two NCAA tournaments, knocking off Florida in the first round and nearly taking down Wake Forest in 2004. "Only my wedding was a bigger upset than that game," says Gonzalez, now married a year with two shitzus. He and his wife are expecting their first child this month.

After the Florida game, Gonzalez was on the fast track and rumored to be next in line for the vacant Miami and St. John's coaching positions that spring. Some said he was too brash, too much too handle too soon. Alas, when the decisions were handed down, Gonzalez was humbled by rejection. Back to work in Draddy Gymnasium for another two years, he built the Jaspers back up again, earning an NIT bid and beating Maryland in College Park in 2006.

When the Big East called in the spring of 2006, Gonzalez, who is known appropriately as "Gonzo" to friends and foes alike, answered quickly. It was on to his next challenge, namely rebuilding a program that had not seen continued success since P.J. Carlesimo left for the NBA nearly 20 years earlier. "When I was at Manhattan I created waves. I wasn't afraid to ruffle feathers in recruiting, get into fistfights with some of the big timers," says Gonzalez, whose team did not make the Big East tournament last season after going 13-16 overall and 4-12 in the Big East. "The old smoke where there's fire thing is somewhat true. I think for me what happened was, like Lou Carnesecca used to say about being at St. John's, when you're in New York your ass is in Macy's window. I think I've evolved now."

1 of 3