Following the announcement of the Patriot League postseason awards, all eight Patriot League coaches answered questions in a media teleconference. Here are highlights and notes from that session.

Bucknell: The biggest news from the coach sessions was Pat Flannery’s noncommittal statement regarding Donald Brown’s health status. Contrary to rumors, Flannery said he has not made a decision as to whether Brown will return to action Wednesday night for the first round game against Navy. Flannery said Brown will practice with the team this week, and he will make a decision about Wednesday’s game after a practice session on Tuesday.

As for the matchup with Navy, Flannery said their offensive potential has him a bit concerned. “They shoot it, they drive it, so they really stretch your defense,” he said of the Midshipman offense. … Flannery was one of several coaches who gave compliments to the way Darren Mastropaolo stepped up after Brown went down to injury.

American: Jeff Jones was forthright about his team’s victory at Colgate a two weeks ago, when a Raider foul with 0.1 seconds remaining allowed the Eagles to force overtime. “We got some breaks along the way,” Jones said. “We got lucky; it certainly didn’t look good up at Colgate.” … Jones explained his rash of lineup changes in late January and early February, saying he was looking for a spark, before deciding on his current frontcourt lineup. Jones said he will continue to use Travis Lay as the first forward off the bench, with Brian Gilmore next on the depth chart after Lay.

Army: Jose Olivero scored 30 points in a Lehigh win over Army, and was held to 7 points when the Black Knights beat Lehigh, so it’s no surprise Olivero is foremost on Jim Crews’ mind heading into the Army/Lehigh first round game. Crews said Olivero’s 7-point game was “very uncharacteristic,” but added that he won’t be focusing exclusively on stopping Olivero. “It’s a team thing,” he said. “They certainly took advantage of us in a lot of different ways” when the Mountain Hawks beat Army last month.

Holy Cross: Ralph Willard spent a lot of time lauding his seniors Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas, who were named Patriot League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year respectively. “I can’t say I’ve ever coached two better people,” Willard said. … Willard said that his team’s 13-1 conference record may be a bit deceiving, given how many close games the Crusaders played in. “There were a lot of games that we could have lost very easily,” he said. “We were fortunate we were able to win all of our close games.”

Lehigh: Billy Taylor hinted that he will continue to use the frontcourt rotation that he’s been using since Jason Mgebroff first went down to injury. “Trying to get him into the feel of things has been a struggle,” Taylor said of Mgebroff’s return. Taylor praised the play of Bryan White and Phil Anderson in stepping up in Mgebroff’s absence. … Taylor also expressed admiration for graduating senior Jose Olivero, who reached fifth on Lehigh’s all-time scoring list on Sunday. “He’s meant so much to our program, not only as a player but as a person.”

Navy: Heading into Wednesday’s game at Bucknell, Billy Lange said he’s not too concerned with whether Donald Brown plays because of how good the rest of the Bucknell team is. “I don’t believe if they lost any one player, it would kill the team,” Lange said. “When you play Bucknell, you’re playing 15 guys who play Bucknell basketball.” … As he has all season, Lange refused to use his team’s youth as an excuse. “No one in the league is going to feel sorry for us,” Lange said of coaching a team with one senior and two juniors.

Colgate: Emmet Davis found it appropriate that his Raiders head to American for their first round game. “Our season has mirrored American’s in a lot of ways,” Davis said, noting that both teams struggled early in conference play before coming on strong toward the end and winning key road games. … Davis said the competitiveness of the Patriot League shows in the fact that heading into the final regular season game, his team could have finished anywhere from fifth to seventh.

Lafayette: Fran O’Hanlon knows how tough a matchup Holy Cross will be in the first round. “We have our work cut out for us,” he said. Regarding Patriot League Player of the Year Keith Simmons, O’Hanlon said, “there’s no weakness that I can see.”

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