Date Posted:12:22:33 04/09/04 Fri Author: Dave65 Subject: Tom Gilmore; basketball recruits
First time poster reporting live from Springfield, Mass. Coach Gilmore was in town last week (he said it was his first public appearance as hc coach) to speak at Pioneer Valley Alumni lunch. I got to sit next to him at lunch and was immediately taken with the depth of his commitment to bring HC back to the level of respectability it once enjoyed. He was totally up to speed on all the HC lore, former greatness, etc. and was not too proud to admit that when he started college (1982) he wasn't good enough to play for HC (even though he went on to be an All-American, Ivy Player of the Year at Penn). I was also taken with his sincerity and lack of manufactured smoothness so typical of many coaches. He was pleased with his recruiting crop, even though he got a late start, and was enthused about HC's willingness to get into some "booster club" type organization for the football team. He urged everyone to go to the intrasquad game as the spring football finale on Sat. April 24. I am once again ready to become a true believer.
Turning to basketball (and I apologize if this is old news on the site), last Sunday's Boston Globe featured its all-Scholastic teams. On the elite "Super Team" (i.e. the best five) was Tim Clifford, the 6'10" center from Walpole who's headed to HC and on the same team for the girls was Ashley McLaughlin, a 6'2" forward from Andover who will also be on scholarship.
Let me add my thanks to my classmate for his report re: Tom Gilmore and the committment, enthusiasm and intelligence he brings to the task at hand. There is no doubt in my mind that returning Crusader football to a position of prominence in I-AA or even the Patriot League is as singificant a challenge as The College's athletic program has ever faced, if only because we have been without success for so long. The new coach will have to bring all his skills to bear but if he impressed Dave65, I too am ready to join the ranks of the true believers.
