For a little less than $30, you can learn a new approach to basketball in a 59-minute instructional video. Or in a little less time, you can become the shooter you’ve always desired to become by watching ‘Shooting to Score.’

No matter which video you decide to buy, though, in both cases your instructors will be two Big East women’s basketball coaches.

In the early 1990s, current Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki and Boston College head coach Cathy Inglese went to the University of Wisconsin together to film a four-part instructional video series for Reebok. At the time, Cieplicki was an assistant for Inglese, who had just taken over the reigns of a struggling BC program.

Ten years later, it’s Cieplicki who’s in his first year at the helm of a besieged Big East program while Inglese is enjoying another winning season at BC. Cieplicki’s Orangewomen (6-18, 3-11 Big East) take on Inglese’s Eagles (19-6, 9-5) Saturday at noon at Manley Field House. It’s just the latest twist in a relationship between the two coaches that began in the mid-1980s in Vermont.

‘She was the one that broke me into the women’s side of the game,’ Cieplicki said. ‘She has been one of the biggest influences, and I’ve learned a tremendous amount from her.’

Vermont hired Inglese as head coach of its women’s basketball team in 1986, and after a mediocre first four years, in which she guided the Catamounts to a 41-65 record, Inglese turned things around in 1990.

The Catamounts went 22-7 that year, and over the next two seasons, Inglese led Vermont to consecutive undefeated regular seasons and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. It was a startling 79-9 run over those three years that helped Inglese land the head coaching job at BC the following season.

Cieplicki was a member of Inglese’s coaching staff for her final two years at Vermont. At UVM, Cieplicki decided to pursue a master’s degree in counseling and was hired as a graduate assistant. For little money, he handled many tasks, including opponent scouting, analyzing film and travel arrangements.

‘I was your first-string gopher,’ said Cieplicki.

Said Inglese: ‘He knew the game well. You want to take somebody you’re comfortable with both professionally and as a person.’

But when Inglese was offered the job at BC, she presented Cieplicki an opportunity to move to Boston and become her assistant. He took the job and was on her staff at BC for the next two years. But the lure of family and friends in Vermont was too strong. Cieplicki left Boston College and eventually took a high school coaching job at his alma mater, Rice Memorial High School. From there, Cieplicki was hired as Vermont’s head coach.

But it was during those four years as an assistant to Inglese when Cieplicki learned the most about coaching basketball. Together, they spent countless hours discussing basketball and analyzing game film.

‘Besides my father, nobody has influenced me more in the game of basketball than Cathy,’ Cieplicki said. ‘She’ll go down as one of the greatest coaches.’

Much like Inglese at BC, Cieplicki was hired to turn around a struggling program. This year he’s had some problems accomplishing that goal, with Syracuse sitting in 12th place in the 14-team Big East. But Inglese experienced the same troubles in her first two seasons as BC head coach, with the Eagles only managing a 19-35 record.

‘You can’t get too caught up with what’s going on now. It takes some time and you have to be patient,’ Inglese said. ‘He’s going to do a nice job. He’s got them playing hard and he’s going after the right players.’

Inglese helped Cieplicki look past the initial losses. She taught him to try to succeed until you can incorporate more of your own aspects into the program, such as recruiting and player development.

‘The fact that we had to rebuild at BC really helped me maintain the right vision,’ said Cieplicki, who has seen his Orangewomen drop 10 straight games. ‘That’s a huge help.’

When BC arrives in Syracuse on Friday, Cieplicki’s house will surely be one of the first destinations for Inglese. Cieplicki said they already have plans for her to come over to his house for dinner, which brings up another interesting connection.

Not only do Cieplicki and Inglese have a history, but Cieplicki’s wife, Kristin, played for Inglese at Vermont for a year. That was how Cieplicki first met Inglese in the mid-1980s, when he was an assistant for Vermont’s men’s basketball team. His office was right across the hall from hers.

Perhaps a topic for discussion at dinner could be the old videos – made at the end of their first year at BC – which are still available in limited quantities for $29.95.

‘It was a great experience,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I was fortunate enough to just tag along with Cathy.’

Published on February 26, 2004 at 12:00 pm