Obviously, scheduling guaranteed losses doesn't benefit St. Joe's. Particularly, when it wouldn't get a return game at Hawk Hill or the Palestra, where the odds would be more even. Coaches such as Martelli understand that they're going to get that kind of reaction from the power brokers. What bugs them is when a program at the same level tries to run one by them. For instance, a couple of weeks ago an assistant coach from Gonzaga University, a midmajor school from the West Coast Conference that is always on the NCAA bubble, called Martelli looking for a road game.
Nobody does that.
We'll take it right now. About an hour later, the assistant called back and said Gonzaga decided to change the direction of its schedule and didn't want to play St. Joe's after all. I knew exactly what happened. I said, 'Look, pal, here's the deal. I start four juniors and a freshman.