The rest of the NCAA Tournament field might want to spend a little time cursing Big East coaches. They announced the first-team all-conference selections last week in New York, and John Linehan's name wasn't on it.
The Providence College junior was on the second team and the league's defensive player of the year, but the all-conference slight hurt anyway. Not that he'd admit it.
"There are a lot of good players in the league," said Linehan, who averaged 11.1 points and 3.3 steals per game. "I'm not worried about it."
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| John Linehan takes strength from slights and criticism. (AP) | |
Yes and no. When you are 5-feet-9, when you were originally supposed to attend Howard, when no one, anywhere, ever seemed to think you were capable of playing high-major basketball, especially in the rugged Big East, you spend your life using slights and doubts as motivation.
And so here's another.
The Big East, of course, was full of guards. There was Troy Bell up at Boston College. And Kevin Braswell at Georgetown. And the three big-name freshmen -- Seton Hall's Andre Barrett, Connecticut's Taliek Brown and St. John's Omar Cook. And so on.
Linehan was no one's preseason pick for anything. He was coming back from a serious groin injury that limited him to just six games last season. There were obvious concerns about his speed and quickness, which is about all a scat-guard like Linehan has going for him. Providence was supposed to be average at best, rebuilding after an ugly off-campus fight that resulted in the dismissal of four players.
But here is what Linehan did defensively to some of the best guards in the Northeast. Cook, St. John super point, went 2-for-10 one game, 5-for-18 in another. Villanova had 27 turnovers against the Friars. Massachusetts' Monty Mack shot 6-for-19. Braswell was just 4-for-14. Connecticut's Brown committed eight turnovers under Linehan's harassment.
"He's just a great player," said UConn coach Jim Calhoun. "He killed us in the first game. Killed us so bad we had to get him away from the ball in the second game. For a 5-foot-9 kid to change the way teams run offense is amazing. He's a great, great player."
Those are the kind of ringing testimonials that make Linehan feel good. Coming up in Chester, Pa., the idea of starring in a league such as the Big East seemed like a pipe dream. He helped lead Chester High School to a state championship in 1994 and a district title in 1995, but there was only moderate interest from college programs.
Howard wanted him, his best Division I offer, and Linehan was ready to go to Washington D.C. to play. But then he decided he just needed a little more exposure, another year of seasoning and experience. He enrolled at the Winchendon School in Massachusetts, where he averaged 11.0 points, 8.0 assists and 3.0 steals a night for a team that won the ultra-competitive New England Prep League.
That year he caught the eye of Pete Gillen, then the Providence coach, and his staff. He got the offer. He signed. The dream was on. He just needed to prove it.
A little like today.
Linehan is fun to watch, a small player who dominates in a big way. Defensively, he is the ultimate pest, hands quick like a boxer's, feet always putting him in position. He forms what can be a one-man press that will wear out point guards, even New York kids with legendary handle.
Offensively, he is fast to the lane, a heady passer and has enough of an outside shot that you have to play him honestly. If the two best-known point guards in recent Providence history are Billy Donovan and God Shamgod, then Linehan is a combination of the two. Super quick like Shamgod, a gutsy overachiever like Donovan.
"He the kind of player you just put out there and let him go," said Providence coach Tim Welsh. "He can control games defensively and that is because of his effort. He's been our leader all season. To me, he's the best player in our league."
Now the league stuff is over. Now the goals move to a bigger stage. If it weren't for the historic rise of Boston College this season, then Providence, Welsh and Linehan would have been the toast of the East Coast media. This is a squad that climbed nearly as far, nearly as high.
But BC did what it did and so the Friars, and Linehan, are a little overlooked again. Just another motivating factor.
