It has been 33 games — more than two full conference seasons — and more than two calendar years since Fordham’s men’s basketball team won its last Atlantic 10 conference game.
But coach Tom Pecora, who will go for his first A-10 win tonight at Rhode Island, is working too hard to rebuild the program’s foundation to think about it.
“I don’t get caught up too much in it,” Pecora said. “When it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen.
“I don’t even discuss the streak with the guys,” he said. “I just keep telling them that the way you get through life is to just grind it out. Every day you go and think about what your job is to do that day, and that’s kind of how we’re looking at taking care of business.”
It was a massive rebuilding job that Pecora, who spent the past nine seasons at Hofstra, undertook when he took over at Fordham last spring. The program had just endured a brutal 2-26 season — including going 0-15 on the road and winless in conference play — under interim coach Jared Grasso, who took over the program once Dereck Whittenburg was fired after a 1-4 start.
Pecora got off to a 6-4 start in non-conference play, including a stunning 84-81 win over St. John’s at Rose Hill Dec. 11. But he knew all along that once his team hit the rugged Atlantic 10 conference schedule, the wins would be a lot tougher to come by.
And they have been. Fordham (6-13) has lost nine straight games, including its first seven in A-10 play, and have struggled to stay in games. The Rams had lost eight straight games by double-digits, before Saturday’s 69-60 home loss to St. Bonaventure.
“I knew that there was gonna be a drastic difference between our non-conference schedule and our conference schedule, in the sense of the physicality of it, and the level of talent of the teams we were playing,” he said. I’m not really blown away by it.
“Now, did I think we might have one under our belt by now? Yeah, I sure did,” he said. “But I go out thinking every night we’re going to win. That’s just how us coaches think.”
Even with Fordham’s struggles, Pecora can see the vision for future success in front of him. Chris Gaston, who leads the team with 14.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, is a sophomore, and the returning Atlantic 10 rookie of the year, and freshman guard Branden Frazier is third on the team in scoring a 11.9 points per game.
In addition, Pecora, highly regarded for his local recruiting ties, has already locked up three recruits for next season, and is hoping to add at least one more.
“The experience these guys are getting now is what’s going to allow us to win sooner, because they’re getting all of these minutes and taking beatings but, in turn, hopefully learning to give a few,” he said. “That’s how it goes. Next year we’re going to add four, if not five, bodies to it and our depth will increase, our talent level will rise, and that’s how you broaden your margin for error.
“Right now, our margin for error is minimal.”