BUILDING MUTUAL TRUST
 
When Joe Lombardi was named Head Men's Coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2006, the school had just been hit with NCAA sanctions for violations committed prior to his hiring. The program was in rough shape, but Lombardi and his assistants quickly rebuilt it. By the 2008-09 season, IUP was back in the NCAA Division II tournament and has returned every year since. Last season, the team advanced to the title game for the second time in the last five years. Lombardi came to IUP after more than 20 years as a Division I assistant, working at St. Francis University, St. Bonaventure University, LaSalle University, and the University of Pittsburgh. In nine seasons at IUP, he has won 197 games, and Basketball Times named him Division II Coach of the Year in 2010. Lombardi is known for building a mutual trust with his players and describes them as being like family. He's coached his real family, too — his son Dominic played on the team three seasons at IUP and served as student coach during his senior year, and his younger son, Dante, will join the Crimson Hawks this season for his freshman campaign. In this interview, Lombardi discusses the benefits of coaching in Division II, how he develops relationships with players, and what he says after tough losses. 
 
CM: You coached in Division I for more than 20 years before taking the IUP job. What's different about the D-II experience?
Lombardi: The biggest difference is the time you put into recruiting. Here, we don't spend a lot of time recruiting rising seniors.  Often, the players we want still have Division I aspirations and don't start considering Division II schools until mid-way through their senior season. We start targeting those players in January, which means our recruiting season lasts only four months instead of the 12 that D-I coaches typically put in. Not having to recruit year round provides more free time and a better quality of life.
 
Our program is also unique in terms of fan support. In 2013-14, we averaged over 2,000 fans a game — that's more than the average at 150 Division I programs. So in a lot of ways, I feel this job is much better than many Division I jobs, and we have a better opportunity to be successful instead of just survive.
 
What's your approach to striking a healthy life-work balance?
It  helps  that  I'm  not  required  to  be obsessed  with  basketball  to  have  success  at this  level.  Everybody is built a little differently and has different priorities at different stages of their lives, but I prioritize relation-ships, which are hard to build without put-ting in the time. Being in Division II affords me the time to do that. I  know  a  lot  of  coaches  at  higher  levels  who  would  be  willing  to  make  a  little less  money  if  they  could  trade  it  for  more time.  In Division II, we're not allowed to work with anyone in the summertime, and we don't recruit underclassmen. Those two things alone provide much more time for the people in my life.
 
Your players say that they love playing for you. How do you develop those relationships?
They just know the right things to say! I've always believed that, in coaching, a big responsibility  is  helping  young  men  grow, much  like  you  do  with  your  own  family. Being  a  father  has  helped  me  to  become  a better coach, in terms of having understanding and compassion, and being a coach has helped me be a better father. A big part of the relationship is trust. Building  trust  with  players  means  showing them  that  you  care  about  them.  If you do that on a consistent basis, and they sense your genuineness, most young men will respond very positively. Many of the players who come here have been deprived of male role models growing up and are sometimes searching for a mentor.  Even if they already have a father figure—you can never have too many.
 
How do you establish trust with your players on and off the court?
I think you build trust through communication. It's the time I spend with them one-on-one,  watching  film,  taking  them  to lunch  or  the  gym,  and  working  with  them that creates trust. I try to connect with their lives outside of basketball.
 
What's the key to getting players to play loose yet disciplined?
Coaches  often  confuse  being  demanding  with  being  negative,  and  there's  a  big difference  between  the  two.  We have to understand that failure is part of the game, so we can't overreact to it, we simply have to move forward. I never take a player out for making a mistake. Turnover, missed shot, no matter how big a mistake is, it doesn't need to be compounded by my disappointment.
 
What is your approach to bringing young players along?
Player development has  been  a  corner-stone  of  our  program  since  I've  been  here. We've stolen a parable from the San Antonio Spurs — a stonecutter  has  to  keep  at  it, he  can't  get  discouraged.  Because  when  the stone  finally  cracks  on  the  hundredth  chop, it wasn't only that chop that did it, it was the other  99  that  led  to  the  breakthrough.  We preach that from day one. Our guys live that. We've seen guys who aren't making progress initially,  but  they  have  the  perseverance  to stay  with  it  and  that  perseverance  allows them to blossom. Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) was a great example of that.  After  being  recruited  very  lightly,  he began his career here as a bench player and evolved  into  the  best  point  guard  in  all  of Division II last year.
 
What are you most proud of during your tenure at IUP?
The consistency we've had over the last seven years. There may be only a couple of other teams that have gone to more NCAA Division II tournaments in a row.  A  lot  of our  success  comes  down  to  getting  players to  understand  that  while  this  year's  team is  important,  the  culture  of  the  program supersedes  everything.  Everybody  knows that the new guys have to adjust and adapt and  complement  the  guys  who  have  been here. In my eyes, that's how you show respect for the program. Putting the best interests of the overall program over those of that year's team as well as their own personal pursuits has been the fabric of what we're all about.
 
What do you say to the team after a difficult defeat?
What you tell the team after a tough loss during  the  season  and  what  you  say  when it  ends  the  season  is  often  worlds  apart. In-season, it's always about absorbing the disappointment while planning ahead. As a result, you don't always say exactly what you feel.  Instead, you tell them what you think they need to hear. If the loss was due to a lack of effort or focus  or  preparation,  there  may  be  times when  they  need  to  hear  that.  But  if  those things were in place and you still lost, it's up to  the  coach  to  find  the  positives  and  keep every  player  believing  in  the  program  and in each other. When you lose a national championship or any season-ending game, you have to take a breath. Now you're addressing the last seven  months,  you're  addressing  that  journey  more  than  you  are  the  loss  itself.  The Division II title game is televised on CBS in front of two to three million people—I call it the mountaintop.  Both teams start on it, only one finishes there.  But  for  the  institution,  for  the  supporters  of  your  program, it's a great thrill and a great accomplishment just  to  get  there  and  play  on  that  stage.  So you  want  to  make  sure  your  team  knows how  proud  you  are  of  the  sacrifices  they made  for  the  team  and  the  commitment that  they  made  to  the  process  and  to  each other as the year went on.
 
Your son, Dominic, played for you for three years, then coached with you when he was a senior. What's it like to have your child on your team?
There's  no  handbook  for  coaching  your son — I think when you have a family member in your program, the lows are a little bit lower  and  the  highs  are  a  little  bit  higher. We had some very talented guards when Dominic was here so he didn't get to play a lot. Still, he was a great teammate and played a key support role. This  season,  my  son  Dante  will  be  a freshman  here,  and  I  expect  him  to  play contributing  minutes  right  away.  Because of  those  expectations,  I  think  there  will be  some  different  challenges  coaching  him than with his brother. 
 
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