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Remsen Street, in Brooklyn Heights, has plenty of passersby, but few would have any idea when they are passing the Pope Athletic Complex. When told of its location, they still might not believe it’s where a Division I team plays basketball.
St. Francis College hides in the middle of the neighborhood, with less than 3,000 undergraduate students, but the school’s ads have a certain charm: “The small college of big dreams.”
Glenn Braica knew about St. Francis, having grown up in Brooklyn. He knew people who went there, but he knew it slid under the radar.
“It’s hard to change perception and any little bit we can do to do that, we’re certainly happy to do it,” said Braica, in his third year as coach at St. Francis. “It’s a Brooklyn-type place you can identify with. Now, people are starting to take notice and have a little connection with the school and the program.”
Braica often wondered if he would ever get a shot at being a head coach. Following 15 years as an assistant at St. Francis, the 48-year-old spent six seasons as an assistant under friend Norm Roberts at St. John’s.
“You could be really good at something and never get a chance and there are plenty of guys that’s happened to,” Braica said. “It’s a business with 300-something jobs. If we were in the business world, you can open your own business, there are billions of businesses. You can open your own business, but you can’t open your own school.”
When the call came to take over the program in 2010, after St. Francis suffered through six straight losing seasons, Braica was thrilled to come home. Since then, he has helped the Terriers post back-to-back 15-win seasons, and last season he won the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year award after leading the team to a 12-6 conference record, earning the school its first conference tournament home game since 1997.
This season, the Terriers struggled through a tough non-conference schedule which saw them play only three of their first 14 games at home. St. Francis started 2-7, but has won six of its past nine games behind the strong play of 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Jalen Cannon, who is averaging 16.3 points and 9.2 rebounds after averaging eight points last season.
“You could see flashes of it last year and you could tell he had such a good feel for the game,” Braica said. “He’s a little undersized for his position, but I don’t care about that too much because he’s a player that’s got a confidence about him you can’t teach.”
Cannon credits Braica for pushing him to become more aggressive on offense, which he worked on with NJIT’s Daquan Holiday and Villanova’s Darrun Hilliard this summer in Pennsylvania. Cannon thinks the Terriers can contend for a conference title this season, a legitimate goal in a wide-open conference, but a goal that is bigger than it may appear.
Since 1948, St. Francis is one of five Div. I schools that has never made the NCAA Tournament, along with Northwestern, Army, William & Mary and The Citadel.
As an assistant, Braica saw two championship-game opportunities end in defeat. Since the coach has taken the helm, senior Akeem Johnson said there is a noticeable difference in the team’s attitude.
“There’s still a lot of proving that needs to be done and we’re just trying to show that we can compete for an NEC title,” Johnson said. “It would be a great feeling to get the first title with this core group, just to see the improvement from my freshman year. It would definitely mean a lot to leave with a title.”
They may be little, but they can dream big.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Seton Hall at St. John’s, Tomorrow, Noon
The Pirates snapped a four-game losing streak, but now face the Red Storm, winners of three straight. Seton Hall is getting healthier with the returns of Brian Oliver and Brandon Mobley, but St. John’s may finally be starting to mature. After tomorrow’s game, the Red Storm face DePaul and could rise into the Big East’s elite with two winnable games.
Stony Brook at Albany, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Following a six-hour-plus bus ride to Vermont, the Seawolves lost their first conference game of the year, against the perennial America East contender. But, Stony Brook is back in first place and this game could determine whether the Seawolves play the conference championship at home or after a long bus ride. Freshman Jameel Warney needs more touches.
Iona at Niagara, Thursday, 7 p.m.
This is the Gaels’ second of three straight road games, all against MAAC contenders and hundreds of miles away. Even with its six-game win streak snapped, Iona remains among the league’s elite, but its lack of defense may be the team’s eventual undoing. After a poor shooting effort against Rider, Iona needs to find other ways to win when shots aren’t falling.
howard.kussoy@nypost.com