The Rooney Way

Cal Maritime Coach Bryan Rooney is too modest to call it such but there is a Rooney Way, one certainly aided and abetted by his assistant coaches and players and it's proving to be highly successful up in Vallejo.

It doesn't involve any voodoo or secret chants -- just intelligence, understanding and hard-working effort by all involved with a visible dedication to a 'we-all-win-when-the-team-wins philosophy.

First some background.

Rooney owns a master's degree in Education from Dominican University. A Stockton native, his college athletics participation was multi-sport:

* a year of football at St. Mary's College.
* two years at San Joaquin Delta College - named team captain and all conference
* two years at Dominican University - named team captain and all conference

He began in the coaching ranks by assisting at Dominican University, San Francisco State and Claremont McKenna.

Now in his seventh year at Cal Maritime, Rooney entered the 2013-14 season with a 120-80 record, boosted by the Keelhaulers going a magnificent 25-7 last year. In 2011-12, Rooney's crew advanced all the way to the NAIA National Tournament, then repeated that feat in 2012-13.

So why such is this California Pacific Conference institution such a continued basketball success?

It's a multi-part answer.

"We want guys who are basketball players, not guys who play basketball. They need to truly love playing," Rooney explained. "They need to have mental and physical toughness, love to compete and won't back down. This is a culture of competition."

He means it in a well-rounded way.

"It's finals week here now, so that can mean getting to class on three hours sleep and still loving to practice and work out."

And how does he and his staff determine such individuals?

"We talk to a whole host of people, from teachers, to counselors, to coaches. That's important in order to get the whole picture. Seeing a player one time doesn't provide the entire package."

Rooney also has a different philosophy in that he views it as critical to educate prospects about what attending Cal Maritime will involve while also detailing the benefits. Some coaches employ smoke-and-mirrors in attempting to convince Recruit A to sign on but "we want them to know what committing to our school and program means."

Citing the need for mutually beneficial harmony, he said, "It can't be great for the program and just okay for the player or vice versa. That won't work. Both parties need to be ‘All In.’"

When recruiting prospects arrive, "we tell them this needs to be a very big information gathering process for you, that this isn't a four-year decision but a lifetime one."

Rooney continued, "we want our players interacting with recruits. They can talk with Jaquai Wiley about being an International Business major or Erik Hanson about mechanical engineering. They talk to our career center about the unbelievable employment opportunity a Cal Maritime degree affords them. If we have a guy [visiting] on campus for four hours, the first two and a half won't be about basketball. But we will also explain to them exactly where we see them on our basketball team, about the brotherhood that develops and the degree of [mutual] accountability. We go into '15 years down the line, will you be able to look back and see coming to Cal Maritime as one of the best decisions of your life?' The decision to be a Keelhauler is about so much more than basketball. The benefits are endless."

About taking chances with recruits, Rooney has a different take.

"We believe in the direction we're going and have a passion, an investment in a common goal. and I love what I do. I look forward to coming to work every day. How many people have a job they love and also love the people they work with? It makes it a whole lot of fun."

But he is quick to explain, "I have many limitations and one is that I am not a very good coach of ‘bad guys.’ So our solution is we do not recruit them. "

So how does he and his staff go about building team cohesiveness?

"Everyone in our program has a role, we define it and no role is less or more significant than anybody else's. When starting point guard Jaquai Wiley got banged up in practice, we called upon backup point guard Patrick Dungo and he responded in a very tough game against #2 ranked Southern Oregon. It was his turn and he was ready to go." Dungo scored 11 points (3-3 from long distance) and passed for two assists in the 93-92 road loss.

The Keelhaulers are also known for always producing a strong defensive effort.

"Defending is one of our core tenets, it's non-negotiable," Rooney offered. "An individual may not be a great defender but can be part of a unit that defends well, five guys doing the job."

There's that working together element again along with individual competitiveness.

Some will say that Rooney should move on to larger landscapes and the coach has a ready response to that: "We've had three championship teams and been to two national tournaments. Our goal is to make the big time where we are. Maximize where we are, the here and now."

Amen.