The Joyce Center was quiet for a moment Tuesday. Long enough, at least, for Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman to hear a comment from a Notre Dame fan.

Hey! You’ve got six people on the floor!

But the spectator wasn’t referring to an Orange player, he was talking about Hillsman.

‘I heard the fan say it and I thought it was kind of funny,’ Hillsman said. ‘I laughed, he laughed and it was sort of a ‘Hey I caught his attention’ sort of deal.’

Although Hillsman joked about the comment, his sideline demeanor is something the coach rarely takes lightly. It’s the feeling that overwhelms him – a gripping inclination that leads him to step over the sideline to coach, cheer or rip on an official.

In a current campaign, where Syracuse (15-12, 4-10 Big East) has failed to meet its lofty expectations, Hillsman hasn’t calmed down. The Orange will get a chance to reverse its recent skid Saturday when the team heads to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers at 2 p.m.

Wearing his heart on his sleeve, it’s a spirit rarely seen among the Big East coaching ranks, making Hillsman stick out like a sore thumb. But for a coach decked in Versace, whose omnipresence is unmistakable on game day, it seems he wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘I always go into games like I’m playing,’ Hillsman said. ‘I mean that’s how I feel, that it’s always competition – were all competing.’

When he’s lost himself in the game, it’s hard to find a call Hillsman doesn’t argue, it’s part of the game plan. Ragging the officials is an art form, ranging from light quips to his trademark shout.

‘I’m into every play you know and as most coaches do I want every call, Hillsman said. ‘But I do try to, when they make a good call I crack a few jokes now and then to make them lighten up, make them smile after I’ve been on them for four or five possessions.’

When things are going well, he’s hard to ignore. After Orange guard Lynnae Lampkins hit a 3-pointer early in Sunday’s 73-72 loss to Georgetown, the coach surged off the bench and onto half court to give Lampkins a hug.

The Hoyas had called a timeout, but after seeing his game plan come to fruition, it would have been hard to keep the coach on the sidelines either way.

‘He’s so into it, he’s so passionate,’ Morrow said. ‘You don’t find that many coaches that are that into it at the Division I level. It’s more about business, but he keeps it fun for us.’

It’s the same way when the Orange isn’t living up to Hillsman’s high expectations, too. In the same game against Georgetown, Hillsman pulled his entire starting rotation just 30 seconds into the game because of a lack of production on the boards.

As his five starters shuffled toward the bench, the coach stomped and screamed, bellowing the word ‘rebound!’ in each of their faces.

Unintentionally, his boisterous nature sometimes garners the attention of opposing coaches during games. Georgetown head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy has her own strategy for dealing with it.

‘I don’t pay any attention to him,’ Williams-Flournoy said. ‘I know coach Hillsman, he just does what he does.’

Hillsman’s gusto doesn’t die with bad fortune either. The head coach scolds his players when things are good, like the 2007-2008 campaign where the Orange finished 22-9 and earned an NCAA tournament bid – its best performance since 1988.

Similarly, he’s stuck with them through the bad times.

‘We’ve been losing and not been having as good of a year but he’s still the same person, he’s with us,’ Morrow said. ‘One thing he always says is, we’re family and in good times we’ll stick together and bad times we’ll stick together and I think other people should be jealous, we have a great coach on and off the court.’

Because his players aren’t complaining, and because he feels ‘lost in the moment’ during games, Hillsman’s antics often go unnoticed – to him. The coach said normally he’s unaware of things he says or does during games. But for Hillsman, that’s all part of building a winning program.

‘Sometimes I’ll look back at the tape and say ‘Wow, I was at half court during that play,” Hillsman said. ‘Yeah I don’t realize it until the game is over or until a ref grabs me and is like ‘Get back,’ yeah I really, really want to win and want our kids to be successful.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on February 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm