Basketball coaches spend off time with troops

This summer's group included Pecora, Wainwright, Fraschilla, Dayton's Brian Gregory, Manhattan's Barry Rohrssen, American's Jeff Jones, Texas-Pan American's Tom Schuberth and former Air Force coach Reggie Minton.

When in Baghdad, the group stayed in one large room in a lodge near a manmade lake on one of the former hunting preserves of deposed leader Saddam Hussein.

"It was the world's oldest sleepaway camp," Pecora said, noting that as one of the youngest coaches he was on the top bunk.

The coaches were told to keep a flashlight handy for any middle-of-the-night bathroom excursions.

"Just give me one of the miner's hats," Wainwright said, "I'm good for three, four trips a night."

The teams held a draft for the coaches. And with shoes and uniforms provided by Nike, the games were on - far from a normal setting for hoops.

"These players have jobs and these aren't jobs you can call in sick to to go play some ball," Pecora said. "I had two of my players run in a few minutes before tip for one game. They put their rifles in the rack behind the bench, got changed and headed for the layup line."

"God help any of my kids this year who complain about practicing too long in an air-conditioned gym on a nice campus," he added. "There's no way you can ever forget those men and women over there. It was worth any vacation we had to give up."