ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — He’s not as visible as the head coach or even the players he recruits. He hasn’t been the subject of stories by CBS, ESPN or the New York Post, the single source of a crowd’s adulation or described as the savior of St. Bonaventure basketball.
His validation, rather, often comes from a glance up at the Reilly Center rafters.
Above Bob Lanier Court hangs the NCAA Tournament banner from the 2017-18 season. Steve Curran was the lead recruiter for the five most important players on that team. Nearby is the NCAA banner from 2012 and across the way is the Atlantic 10 championship signage from that same season. Curran recruited Youssou Ndoye to that team and helped develop the likes of Charlon Kloof and Matthew Wright.
Perhaps in the next two years, another banner will be raised commemorating the accomplishments of the Bonnies’ current roster. If so, he’ll again have played a major role, landing star guards Kyle Lofton and Dominick Welch.
A Bona aide for the last 10 years, Curran has been an integral part of one of the most prosperous eras in program history. He’s essentially only known success, arriving at Bona in its first postseason year under Mark Schmidt (2010-11), guiding it to the Big Dance a year later and helping to build it to what it is today.
The triumphs of his players, then, are his triumphs.
“As an assistant — there’s other ways, obviously — but that’s how you leave your footprint on a program: getting the best players,” Curran said. “Jaylen Adams will always be one of the top 10 players; I was a big part of his recruiting. And the same with those banners hanging in the RC. Myself, Coach (Dave) Moore, Coach (Jeff) Massey, all the assistants that have been here, that’s part of our legacy, too.
“Our names aren’t up there, but people close to the program know that.”
AS A high-level D-I assistant, Curran’s responsibilities are numerous … and his contributions critical.
In addition to recruiting, the 50-year-old former Merrimack star handles “the scout” for every third-or-so opponent, helps with Xs and Os, is tasked with overseeing a segment of players off the court and has his positional duties.
But it’s his ability to lure top-flight talent that has set him apart over the last decade.
While acknowledging that recruiting is “an inexact science,” Curran’s hope is to hit the mark on three out of every four or five recruits, which he’s essentially done to this point. He’s especially proud of the number of quality junior college transfers he’s landed, the Courtney Stockards, Andell Cumberbatches and other “misfits who have worked out well.”
To Curran, it’s simple:
As Schmidt continues to construct a perennial Atlantic 10 contender, it’s his job to give him the tools to work with.
“The NCAA allows us 130 days to recruit once the school year starts; I’m probably gone all the time,” said Curran, who last month was acknowledged for his efforts by being named one of the nation’s top 50 “most impactful assistant coaches” by Silver Waves Media. “It wears on you; the older I get, the traveling takes a toll.
“But that’s what we do. Coach (Sean) Neal’s gone all the time; Tray (Woodall is) gone all the time. We’re out there beating the bushes, turning over rocks and just trying to find the next Jay or Courtney or Andrew Nicholson or Youssou. The list goes on and on.”
IN THE last 10 years, Curran has vaulted from new assistant, to lead recruiter to associate head coach (since 2018). But it’s that role as a main recruiter, and the run that he’s been on, especially of late, that truly drives him.
As an aide, that’s how you go about proving yourself to your boss, and with Schmidt, the relationship runs deep (Curran was also an assistant on the latter’s Robert Morris staff from 2001-04).
It’s how you set yourself up for future individual success and how you continue to scratch the competitive itch.
“As an assistant coach, and the most successful ones think this way: that’s my job,” Curran said flatly. “I know what (Mark) wants and I know the kinds of players that he likes; we kind of have the same philosophy in terms of what we’re looking for.
“One of my biggest fears when I started coaching — I knew recruiting was so important if you’re working as an assistant — that you never want to see a drop-off in talent. I take so much pride to a point probably where it’s unhealthy in terms of, ‘I’ve got to get the best.’ It’s like a competition, you want to get the best players, you want to be the guy on the staff that gets the good players.”
He added: “We all recruit them, but you want to be the guy out getting it done.”
FOR CURRAN, it was rewarding — and humbling — to be recognized as one of the top assistants in the country.
“I’m just a small contributor to what’s been happening here,” he said. “Obviously, they were getting good when I got here, and fortunately we’ve been able to sustain it.”
Even more rewarding is watching the players he’s helped recruit become key figures on good teams, from Adams and Matt Mobley to Idris Taqqee and Ndoye, for whom Bona was “laughed at” for signing in 2011, but is now “making half a million dollars overseas.”
“I feel terrible when I bring in a player and it doesn’t work out,” Curran admitted, “because that’s what we do, that’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s funny, there’s been guys that I recruited that I was almost 100 percent sure were going to be the next best thing and they’re not, and they’re not here anymore. And there’s other guys where it’s like, ‘I don’t know.’
“Even Idris, he wasn’t unbelievable, but we don’t go to the tournament and beat UCLA without him. He committed in August before his senior year; he just jumped on it because we were the only school that offered him. There’s so many guys that we’ve had where we were their only Division I offer.
“And then these are the guys that end up winning championships.”
