Ex-'Nova coach Massimino to face Wildcats in first game back

And one day, someone left a message for him at Jupiter Hills Golf Club, Massimino's course of choice.

"We knew we were starting a basketball program and I thought maybe he'd know somebody who would want to coach," said Northwood athletic director Rick Smoliak, who was friends with Massimino 35 years earlier when both coached at Stony Brook in New York. "He immediately got back to me and it went from there."

Smoliak said Massimino was intrigued by the notion of starting a program from scratch. After a few talks, the golf clubs got put away and the coach started working 12-hour days again, seven days a week.

Massimino is part coach, part CEO of the program. He oversees everything, from tickets to travel to equipment to recruiting, all with a limited budget to draw from and no secretary at his disposal.

"Rollie gives 100 percent to everything he does," said close friend Mitch Buonaguro, now an assistant at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. "He's had to do everything there. Get the players, get the arena done, do a schedule, get it going, put a team together. And this thing Saturday, it's going to be a big event."

Northwood's first three games are all against Division I schools. The Seahawks, who are in the exploratory phases of joining the NCAA Division II level, lost to Florida and Miami and will need a herculean effort to stay close with Villanova.

"This whole thing is surreal," said Northwood forward Cory McJimson, who transferred from Maryland-Baltimore County and was the first player to sign with the Seahawks in May 2005. "I never expected it to be like this. There's a lot of good vibes running around."

Massimino doesn't know how long this return to coaching will last. He has five assistants, only two of whom get paid. The rest are volunteer, yet still log long hours in the basketball offices.

Once the hubbub of Saturday goes away, he will likely have a competitive team in the Florida Sun Conference. And his name still draws great respect; Northwood, without ever having played a game, was picked to finish second in that league's preseason poll.

"I really missed the kids. That was the big thing," Massimino said. "Whatever happens, it's going to be exciting."