Lange set to take on first year as head coach
For St. Joe’s new head coach, Billy Lange, the road to Hawk Hill can be traced back to his childhood in Haddon Heights, New Jersey. He remembers, after a day spent at kindergarten, joining his father, Billy Lange Sr. at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School to watch his dad coach the basketball team. It was love at first sight.
“From that moment I just loved basketball,” Lange said. “I never really considered doing anything else, outside of playing which I knew wasn’t going to happen once I got done with college. I’ve probably had head coaching on my radar since fourth or fifth grade.”
For Lange, there wasn’t a singular thing that caught his eye. It was the complete amalgamation of all the different aspects of the sport that drew him to make it his career.
“I love the speed of the game,” Lange said. “I love the locker room, the connections, the strategizing, the relationship building, watching players get better with a real sense of purpose. I’ve been blessed to pick that stuff up from a young age and carry it through until now.”
Energetic. Passionate. These are the first words out of the mouths of Lange’s players when asked to describe him.
“He loves what he does,” senior guard Greg Smith said. “He loves his players and he loves the position that he is in.”
Lange was picked for the position of head coach of St. Joe’s men’s basketball, last spring after former Head Coach Phil Martelli was let go. He would become the 15th head coach in school history and the first new head coach in 24 years. For Lange, the opportunity to coach St. Joe’s was, in his words, “the Lord’s handiwork.”
“The chance to be the head coach at Saint Joseph’s, to me is a top job.” Lange said. “I come to work everyday with the history of our university. There is real meaning and purpose here.”
Lange has previously spent time as an assistant coach at two other Big 5 schools: LaSalle University and Villanova University.
Lange has always had a connection to St. Joe’s. His parents met on Hawk Hill; his wife, Alicia, once worked in the athletic department; and his brother, Mark, served as a basketball manager for four years. For Lange, being able to be around the aura of the St. Joe’s basketball program made the job appealing to him.
“I always thought there was an edge here,” Lange said. “I thought the players had an edge and the fan base had an edge. A real fight. If you think about the spirit of The Hawk Will Never Die, it is clear it is an embedded mindset.”
This edge has been personified in Lange’s personal motto: “Iron sharpens iron.”
“We are going to play harder than every team we come up against,” junior forward Taylor Funk said. “Maybe it won’t result in a win, but [Lange] isn’t going to settle for anything less. If you aren’t giving your all, you are going to be sitting on the bench because that is how he runs it.”
Junior forward Lorenzo Edwards described Lange as “real.” He said he thinks having a coach who is as honest as Lange will be important on a roster full of young talent.
“You don’t want a head coach who coddles you and is afraid to say something to you,” Edwards said. “You want a coach who tells it as it is. I feel like Billy Lange is doing a great job getting them prepared both mentally and physically.”
As Lange exits the tunnel for his first career regular season game Tuesday night, he will look back on the path that brought him to this position.
“There have been a ton of little moments,” Lange said. “When I get dressed in the morning and I am standing in the mirror and I am wearing Saint Joseph’s gear; I’m this now. This is what I do. It’s exciting. It will be really cool on Tuesday, but it is not about me. It is about this team and about this program.”
