When you watch the product unfold on the court over the last six or so games for the St. Joseph’s Hawks, it’s hard to ignore the developing fruits of Billy Lange’s labor.
His recruiting prowess, backed by a relatively well-oiled ATM for mid-major standards, can sometimes seem about as good as good gets for this level.
The recent play of St. John’s transfer Jaiden Glover-Toscano, for example, is a particularly pronounced testament to Lange. He looks every bit the part of a high-major, high-ceiling guard-one that through an unfortunate blend of injury, program politics, or being a part of top 25 team never got the right opportunity to showcase it.
From our sample size, he seems clearly on the elite end of the skill and athleticism scale for the Atlantic 10. No surprise to those in the know, Glover was a top rated 4-star recruit out of New Jersey’s famed Patrick School. His pedigree is rarely seen on Hawk Hill. Lange was on him early before he ultimately committed to maybe the best coach in college hoops history, Rick Pitino. In the portal however, when Lange got his second shot as recruitment, he had the juice to seal the deal.
Glover is one example of many high-end players that found their way to West Philadelphia through a relationship with Lange. Phoenix Suns draftee Rasheer Fleming would certainly attest to both Lange’s recruiting ability, and perhaps more pertinently, his player development capabilities. As would a guy like Jordan Hall, who signed a one-year, S1.8 million two-way contract with the Spurs in 2023 and now continues in the G-League. Or Erik Reynolds, a player also in the G-League that broke Jameer Nelson’s all-time points record at St. Joe’s.
Lange’s retention resume, in this NCAA climate, was perhaps more impressive than his recruiting acumen. His background in player development and his longstanding relationships with three letter-league constituents may have been his critical edge at the mid major level.
While players thrived and developed under Lange, the results schematically and as a team simply didn’t follow. His teams with low expectations played the part, the teams with high ones didn’t. One week, the talent shined through to the surface, beating an eventual Final Four Texas Tech team in a Brookyln MTE. The next week, the free-flowing, player-led offense stalled to the point where Central Connecticut State left Hagan Arena with a W.
When you watch the product unfold on the court over the last 6 or so games for the St. Joseph’s Hawks, it’s hard to ignore the developing fruits of Steve Donahue’s labor.
Steve Donahue has said in press conferences that he’s always admired St. Joe’s and held plenty of reverence for the program. Somehow, after Lange’s sudden departure months away from the season kicking off, Donahue found himself as the head man for the Hawks.
A rudderless ship started out on an unsurprisingly rocky trajectory with plenty of disharmony, none more vital or sensationalized than the departure of leading scorer and La Salle transfer Deuce Jones II.
Since then, St. Joe’s has been rolling-playing some of the most fun and entertaining hoops fans on Hawk Hill have seen in some time. The style of play is contagious throughout the team and can be easily seen on court and on television screens. After it took a while to potentially grow (and maybe helped by a reported players-coaches meeting), the Hawks are playing the exact type of basketball Donahue enticed fans with via podcasts and pressers in the beginning of the season. Intense full court presses are leading to steals and easy buckets, there are more cuts in the paint than an episode of The Bear, and the unselfish brand is leading to incredible individual plays.
Glover, along with veterans Dasaer Haskins and Derek Simpson, are having career years. While we’re still early in the season, St. Joe’s seems every bit a competitor for one of the coveted top four spots in the A10, which for many, did not seem even remotely reasonable.
Such a positive stretch like this makes you wonder about Donahue – who sometimes carries a potentially unfair knock as a good X’s and O’s man that lacks the slick salesmen persona that gets the guys on his current roster through the door in the first place.
It’s probably fair to say that this team, built by Lange, is one of his most talented to work with. While I’m not familiar with Donahue’s BC or Cornell tenures, I think the recruiting challenges at Penn (and Cornell) speak for themselves. Stringent guidelines and scholarship limitations make the Ivies prickly places for attracting your areas best.
Perhaps we’ll get to see next year, or the year after, what a Donahue-recruited, Donahue-lead team is made of.
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