Brett MacConnell reflects on the road less traveled to Princeton basketball

MONTGOMERY – Brett MacConnell returned to his roots this past week, working a youth basketball camp at Montgomery High School.

Though a Montgomery High alum, he actually never played the game for his high school. By choice, his basketball days concluded after middle school. His game was soccer, a game he played throughout high school and one he thought might continue into college.

It did not.

While he loved both sports, when he enrolled at Rutgers University he returned to basketball. As a student manager. All four years.

At the time, in the fall of 2004, few if any projected his future in the game. But MacConnell, in full disclosure, wanted to coach basketball since he was 10.

Just four years out of college he reached the Division I level when he was hired by Princeton coach Mitch Henderson as director of operations.

One year later he was elevated to assistant coach, and five years ago he was named associate head coach.

Not exactly the blueprint to being a college basketball coach, though not without precedence.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew was a student manager at Butler. Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May was a student manager at Indiana and Lawrence Frank, former NBA coach with the Nets, was also a student manager at IU.

So while not a path without footprints, the 37-year-old has obviously worked his way one step from being in charge. He almost took that step this year when he had offers from programs in the America East Conference and Patriot League.

He turned down both.

“I went back and forth and finally trusted my gut,” he said. “They just weren’t the right one. I know there’s no guarantees, but I’m hopeful, confident, that I’ll get another shot.”

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Having taken the road less traveled, MacConnell began taking notes observing Rutgers coach Gary Walters for two years, and then two more with Fred Hill. He watched, he listened, he learned.

Kris Grundy, freshmen basketball coach at Montgomery when MacConnell was a student there, received a call from him while he was still at Rutgers. He asked if he could return to Montgomery and observe practices.

Head coach the past 18 years, Grundy gladly welcomed him back. They’ve been good friends ever since.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to know that he’s not like your normal basketball coach,” Grundy said before his camp workouts commenced in the spacious and well-lit gym. “He really cares about the kids, and the way he’s been able to build relationships with the high school kids and college players is amazing.

“When he started his whole trek through college, he wasn’t getting paid anything, so I was like, ‘Come work my camps and I’ll put some dollars in your pocket so that you can survive. That’s how it started.”

MacConnell’s first job out of college was on the Division III level at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pa. His salary was $2,000. For the year.

“I thought I was a millionaire,” he said, laughing. From there he was hired at Holy Family in Philadelphia. One hour north would be the golden ticket.

Division I. Lead recruiter. Multiple Ivy League championships. A Sweet Sixteen. Not bad for a guy who never played high school basketball.  

“It speaks to his work ethic, his personality, the type of guy he is,” Grundy said. “And he works his tail off.”

MacConnell has had a typical summer. Recruiting trips have taken him to the likes of Nevada, Arizona, South Carolina, Chicago and from Philadelphia to D.C.

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Oh, and he is the father of 1-year-old Cooper. That’s a whole new ball game.

“It’s awesome,” he said with a big smile. “And it’s challenging. And exhausting. I had figured out the work-life balance very well I thought. Then I had a son and that went out the window. Now I’m trying to figure that all over again.

“You know the lifestyle of a basketball coach, the travel; the demands on us. But my wife (Sarah), she’s carrying the team as I like to say. I’m so lucky in that way, too.”

Luck is generally not involved in bringing in talented players. At Princeton, being talented isn’t the primary criteria. Intangibles trump tangibles. It’s about being unselfish, putting the team first above individual accolades. High character off the court and on the court. Being self-motivated.

Said McConnell, “We’ve said no to some very talented people. Names you would know. But they didn’t fit the culture.”

As a recruiter he knows it well. And he makes sure recruits do.

“We’re really clear and direct and honest with that. We recruit nationally, and a lot of times I start out a conversation by saying, ‘I’m from Jersey, so I only know one way. I shoot it straight and direct, and I hope that doesn’t rub you the wrong way.’ In an era where transfers are very popular,” he pointed out, “we retain guys because I think they know what they’re getting into.

“I would like to think that they could trust me,” he added. “They know they can count on me, and the family knows that their son is in good hands with me and is going to be well taken care of.”

Whether they’re headed to being All-Ivy or headed into fourth grade.

Paul Franklin is a freelance reporter for MyCentralJersey.com.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Princeton basketball assistant coach Brett MacConnell profiled