Another Philadelphia Success Story

Holy Family's program is right in step with the Philly hoops tradition

Dec. 20, 2007

By Steve Zerdelian

Special to CSTV.com

Mention Philadelphia to anyone who purports themselves to be a serious basketball fan, and they will expound on how accomplished the city has been over the decades. High School, college or professional, men or women, boys or girls, it doesn't seem to matter. There's just a serious hoop jones in the City of Brotherly Love and its reach extends a very long way. Things are no different at Holy Family University, an institution of 2,100 undergraduates located in the northeast part of the city, where the women's basketball team has been a power for quite some time and shows no signs of slowing down.

Head coach Mike McLaughlin's team currently sports a 7-0 record and sits at No. 13 in the latest national poll. No surprise there, as the Tigers have been collecting wins over the years like a kid with a great costume gathers candy at Halloween. Want numbers? Here are a few: entering this season, HFU under McLaughlin boasts a 349-54 record over the course of 12 seasons. They've won eight of the last nine Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season titles and have appeared in the last four NCAA Division II tournaments, all of which have come since becoming Division II eligible. Prior to the NCAA appearances, HFU was a regular in the NAIA national tournament with four Elite Eight showings. So on the strength of pure on-floor success, Holy Family is in fairly sweet company.

But for McLaughlin, a Holy Family alum, it's all about building and maintaining a family atmosphere in which former players can return and feel part of things.

"We take a lot of pride in having people being part of the program long-term, and try to get kids who can fit the mold we are looking for," said McLaughlin, who scored 1,710 points as a player at the school. "We think it's really important to bring former players back and let the current players see and feel how their predecessors did it in their day."

While there is never a made-to-order player to hold up as a measuring stick, one does stand out for McLaughlin.

"Jamie Battinieri is sort of the prototype player for our program," McLaughlin said. The 2005 Holy Family graduate from Eddystone, Pa. played in the backcourt for the Tigers in both NAIA and NCAA national tournaments. "Jamie was such an intelligent player, she knew when and how to take control of the team. I'm not sure we've had another player who was such a leader on and off the court, as well as representing herself and the team so well."

This season's edition of the Tigers should have alums like Battinieri purring, as it's a delicate blend of experience and youth, as well as size and skill. Point guard Kelly Killion, a senior, is the type of player McLaughlin says exemplifies the program, much like Battinieri.

"Kelly is a kid with a high skill level who just understands the game. She's battled through injuries over the years and has still managed to produce," McLauglin said. "She's one of those kids who understand the program from the start and how it got to where it is now. That's huge for us, and the younger players really look up to her."

Killion (11.4 ppg, 4.3 apg) a 5-foot-6 senior from Pennsauken, N.J., is one of three veterans in the Holy Family staring lineup. Juniors Lauren Boyer (5-foot-7, from Lebanon, Pa.) and Melissa Brooks (5-foot-10 from Levittown, Pa.) bring ability and leadership to the team. The athletic, electric Brooks has been the victim of a variety of injuries this season, so her impact on the floor may be curtailed for a spell. As a result, sophomore Christine McCollum (6-foot-1 sophomore from Abington, Pa.) and 6-foot freshman Catherine Carr (Bernardsville, N.J.) have stepped into prominent roles, averaging 13.4 ppg and 17.6 ppg, respectively, along with a combined 15 rebounds a game. Add in freshman Meghan Gibson (5-foot-10, from Philadelphia) and you have a team that can think ahead to the post-season. Well, that's if McLaughlin ever lets them.

"We [McLaughlin and assistant coaches Mike Moran, Bernadette Laukaitis and Kim Killion] don't even let them think about the NCAA tournament or anything that far down the road yet," said McLaughlin, who spent some three seasons playing with the Washington Generals / Harlem Globetrotters after graduating from Holy Family. "Maybe later in the year we might, but for now we're still trying to get this team to understand what it takes to win. With the kids who were here last year and before, there is a comfort level with knowing what the road looks like. But as a group, they need to have that success together now before looking down the road."

First off, the Tigers will tackle the bulk of their CACC league schedule before embarking on any post-season run. It's a task not getting any easier.

"The league has grown a lot during the last few years. The depth and quality is much greater than it was before. We've got a lot of solid Division II teams and the level of play reflects it," McLaughlin said. "Philadelphia, University of the Sciences and Bloomfield are all strong and improving. Wilmington is going to open some eyes and Caldwell and Dominican are becoming very good teams. We've got our work cut out for us."

For Holy Family, the NCAA Division II experience was one they were ready for when they made the leap from the NAIA ranks prior to the 2003-2004 campaign. After years of NAIA Division II play, the Tigers hopped into the NCAA tournament at the first invitation and have posted a 111-16 overall record in that span while putting their marker down as a Northeast regional power.

"The move from NAIA to NCAA Division II was one that excited us all and we were ready for it," McLaughlin said. "Most of the NAIA teams we were playing in national tournaments were from the mid-west and the travel and lack of familiarity with local fans made it tough to build a lot of excitement. Truth is, most of the folks that came to our games didn't really know what being an NAIA team entailed, since there was no track record around here. Making the move to the NCAA level has changed all that; it's a perfect fit for us both academically and athletically."

"The switch came at the right time for the institution as a whole," Holy Family director of athletics Sandra Michael said. "As far as athletics go, the NCAA and our women's basketball program complement each other well. We're very comfortable as an NCAA Division II member and it shows in all of our teams, not just in women's basketball."

Locally, the battle for the city is a part of the color and fun for the Tigers. Among the teams in the CACC are Philly-based schools such as the University of the Sciences, Philadelphia University and for the first time, Chestnut Hill College. That makes for plenty of rivalry-type games and raises the profile for everyone.

"Philadelphia University is close to us geographically as well as academically; we tend to recruit the same kids, and they are always very good. USP [Sciences] is different due to academics [it's a pharmaceutical, health care and science-based institution], but they have a great program, too. With Chestnut Hill joining us [up from the Division III level] this year, I think they'll get to the same point in a few years," McLaughlin said. "The great thing for all of us is that Philly basketball is very deep and even with six Division I schools in the area, we can all get good players who fit our respective programs."

As the season rolls along, Holy Family will, if history is any guide, be a prime contender for regional honors. They've been there four straight years and picked up an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 2006. Last year they duplicated that feat but the quiet hopes are for more this time around.

"Without a doubt, we'd like to reach the point of winning a regional championship, but we know it's difficult," said McLaughlin, whose team was beaten by national champion Southern Connecticut State in the round of 32 last March. "They [Southern Connecticut] were a tier above everyone else last year but we're excited about having another crack at it. As long as we put ourselves in the position to compete, you never know what can happen."