Apparently Wagner College could be one of those smaller mid-major schools that all of us should start to pay attention to when it comes to potentially dangerous teams come March Madness like Bucknell, Murray State, and George Mason in years past.
After an impressive 10-3 start, behind key wins over Pittsburgh, Princeton, and Santa Clara, and two close losses to UConn and Patriot League front-runners Lehigh, the Wagner Seahawks are proving to be a formidable opponent for anyone on their schedule.
While the tiny Staten Island based school (3rd smallest enrollment in Div I) previously had been known for soccer, it’s hoops program had little exposure nationally prior to this season.
That has all changed after hiring highly successful New Jersey HS coach Danny Hurley in the Summer of 2010. In just his 2nd season, Hurley has helped put the Seahawks near the top of the Northeast Conference’s standings as the school has reached double digit wins prior to January for the first time in program history.
Dan is the son of Bob Hurley, legendary Hall of Fame coach at St Anthony’s in Jersey City and brother of former Duke standout Bobby Hurley, who coincidentally currently serves as a Wagner assistant coach. After playing collegiately at Seton Hall, Dan had several assistant coaching gigs, first under his father at St Anthony’s, then at Rutgers, before taking over head coaching duties at the famed St Benedict’s Prep HS in 2001.
In 10 seasons, he helped turn the St Benedict’s Prep program into a national HS powerhouse, amassing an amazing 215-17 record, and is credited with helping guide the careers of elite level NCAA and NBA players like JR Smith, Samuardo Samuels, Tristan Thompson, and current University of Texas freshman Myck Kabongo.
While playing out West in the Cable Car Classic, and after an impressive win over Air Force in the semi-finals, Wagner faced off against Santa Clara and all worldly guard Kevin Foster in the finals of the Tourney.
With the score tied at 62-62 with 44 seconds remaining, the Seahawks corralled 3 offensive boards before calling time-out with only 3 seconds on the clock. After senior Tyler Murray, who passed the 1,000 points scored mark earlier in the game, missed a potential game winner from the corner, sophomore guard Kenneth Ortiz somehow came up with the rebound and heaved a last second shot over the backboard to sink an improbable game winning shot, giving the Seahawks a 64-62 victory.
Wagner College’s Behind the Backboard Buzzer Beater:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
