• Enters his second season as an assistant for the Cardinal
and third overall on staff after having served as the Director of
Basketball Ops in 2009-10.
• Gilfillan is involved in all aspects of the program
including scouting, player development, and recruiting. He is
also assigned to work with the Ball State guard corps and, last
season, helped BSU's Randy Davis post the fifth highest single
season assist total in program history (160).
• The Lehigh graduate played under Billy Taylor as a member of
the Mountain Hawks, where he was a four-year letterwinner, part of
the winningest four year class in Lehigh history, and helped his
team qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2004. He then went on to
earn his law degree from Valparaiso in 2009.
The most wonderful time of the year
I love the month of March. Ask any of the other 1,400 or so D1 basketball coaches in the county what their favorite month of the year is. I would be shocked if the majority responded with something other than “the month of March.” In these magical 31 days, legends are created, memories are made & dreams come true for so many basketball programs across America.
In this profession, we have the privilege to work with student-athletes year-round. We watch them grow over the course of four years from “what were you thinking” freshmen to “vet-game” seniors. Every year, these student-athletes set goals for the season & the month of March. While the regular season accomplishments are important, everyone remembers March. Every college basketball junkie remembers Bryce Drew’s famous shot to beat Ole Miss, VCU’s Eric Maynor’s game winner over Duke in ’07 or Mateen Cleaves hobbling his way to a national title. And while everyone may not remember individual names, University’s remember champions & teams that went to “The Dance.” NCAA Tournament banners hang in the rafters forever.
The beauty of college basketball, at least for most conferences, is that everyone has a chance come March. Whether you have slipped to a 9-seed, held strong throughout the year for that 1-seed, or ended in the middle of the pack as a 4-seed, hope remains in every program come tournament time. From Tom Penders’ Houston team in 2010 that got hot & won the C-USA tournament to last year’s UCONN team that did the unthinkable – won 5 straight Big East tournament games to go on & win the National Championship – anything is possible in March.
I wish all programs the best of luck this March. From the BCS conference to the Patriot League. From the heavy favorites to the Cinderella teams, enjoy the moment. Whether you are a one-bid league or an at-large candidate, remember the hard work you put in all year. Capture the month of March!
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