Hey coach, thanks a million
St. Joseph's Prep alum Colin Curtin was head coach of Overseas Elite team that won $1 million prize in The Basketball Tournament.
IF COLIN CURTIN were still in grade school, he'd have a great what-I-did-this-summer essay.
The 2005 St. Joseph's Prep grad was the head coach of Overseas Elite, the team that walked away with the $1 million prize at The Basketball Tournament Sunday at Fordham University.
As is the often the case, he got the job because he knew someone.
"The general manager of Overseas Elite is Andrew Morrison, who lives full time in Sea Isle City [N.J]," said Curtin, who grew up in Fairmount. "My parents have a house in Sea Isle, and we met when we were young and have been best friends ever since."
Not that the 28-year-old Curtin wasn't qualified.
He was the basketball manager at the Prep under Speedy Morris and is now the director of men's basketball operations at Hofstra under Joe Mihalich, who played ball at La Salle High and La Salle College.
Curtin said he didn't have to do much coaching for Overseas Elite, a team that included a talented group of ex-college players including Travis Bader, of Oakland University, who holds the NCAA record for most career three-pointers (504), Myck Kabongo of Texas, Kyle Fogg of Arizona, Johndre Jefferson of South Carolina, D.J. Kennedy of St. John's, Errick McCollum of Goshen (brother of Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum) and Todd O'Brien of Saint Joseph's.
Overseas Elite's success came, in part, because Curtin and Morrison did their due diligence before the tournament even started.
"When we looked at where to play we stayed away from the Philly region because of all the good teams. We picked the Atlanta region because we thought that's where we'd have our best chance."
It's only been a few days since the team won the title and the cash, but Curtin said players are already pestering him with the million-dollar question.
"They're hitting me up," he said. "And asking, 'Hey, can you keep me in mind for next year?' "