Vermont: healthy state

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Nearly two years later, there is still rarely a day someone doesn't mention it to Martin Klimes. Fellow students and total strangers love to tell the University of Vermont senior where they were and what they were doing when UVM slipped on its Cinderella sneakers and pulled off a 60-57 upset of Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

"I've come to realize how much it means to others," said Klimes (pronounced Klem-Mesh), who started that game at center and played all 45 minutes of the overtime triumph, scoring 7 points. "It meant so much to us as players, but it meant more to the true Vermonters. For them it was like, 'Hey, America, this is our team.' "

But after Vermont's shining moment on the national college basketball stage, America moved on and so did longtime coach Tom Brennan and stars Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine. The assumption was, they also took Vermont's winning ways. But after going 13-17 in his first season at the helm, Brennan's successor, former Maryland assistant Mike Lonergan, has the Catamounts back atop the America East Conference and angling for a return to the NCAA Tournament.

The America East regular-season champion, Vermont (23-6, 15-1) enters the conference tournament, which tips off tonight at Agganis Arena, as one of the hottest teams in the nation. The Catamounts come to town riding an 11-game winning streak and winners of 18 of their last 19. They set a school record for regular-season victories, including a 77-63 win over Boston College at Conte Forum, UVM's first victory over a ranked opponent during the regular season and only its second ever -- the Syracuse game being the first.

"My goal was to reload before people forgot about Syracuse," said Lonergan.

Only Klimes and guard Kyle Cieplicki, a junior cocaptain whom Lonergan said has emerged as Vermont's glue guy, remain of the players who faced Syracuse.

In his first season, Lonergan, who had been a head coach for 12 seasons at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., winning a Division 3 national title in 2001, inherited a team that had mostly "cheered and waved the towels."

The team was the least experienced in the country, bringing new meaning to the term Green Mountain Boys. Vermont went 11-16 during the regular season before making a surprise run to the America East final, where it lost to Albany.

Worse than the losing season for Lonergan, 41, was the criticism he endured for his coaching style, which is a stark departure from the folksy approach of the beloved Brennan. As Lonergan said, Vermont went from a coach who high-fived his players coming off the court to one who berated them.

"Vermont people don't like change," said Lonergan. "I've gotten a couple of nasty e-mails. That hurts a little. I thought last year was a tremendous year. There's always going to be haters, as our players call them, out there. They just had to adjust to my style, but you just work your butt off and ignore it and win games and the rest takes care of itself, and that's what we've done."

The fans weren't the only ones who struggled with Lonergan's in-your-face approach. Some of the players who had competed for Brennan, particularly the pensive Klimes, a Czech Republic native who twice has been honored by Vermont's School of Business Administration as an outstanding student, also were taken aback. Lonergan said it took a while for Klimes to see there was a "method to my madness."

"Every coach has his own style and every coach has a different philosophy on how things should be done," said Klimes. "We had a tough year his first year, but . . . everyone is now buying into the system and everyone knows what needs to be done, so I think things are a lot easier."

Lonergan's style has clearly gotten the best out of some players, namely sophomore point guard Mike Trimboli, last season's America East Rookie of the Year and a candidate this season for Player of the Year, and center Chris Holm. The 6-foot-11-inch senior transferred from Rhode Island and was a self-proclaimed "crash-test dummy" for Coppenrath as a redshirt during the 2004-05 season. After averaging 8.2 points and 6.5 rebounds last season, he has emerged as a reliable low-post presence, collecting 10.4 points and 12.2 rebounds per game in 2006-07. With Holm, who broke the school record for rebounds this season, hauling down 353, Vermont leads the nation in rebounding margin at 9.7.

"You'll sit there and be like, ' I can't believe he said that to me,' " said Holm. "Then all of a sudden at the end of the game it's like, 'Maybe that worked.' He'll get the best out of you whether you know it or not."

Trimboli, who leads Vermont in scoring (16 points per game) and assists (4.8 per game), said he's motivated by Lonergan's barbs. "There are times you're like, 'Coach, just let me play,' " said Trimboli, Vermont's baby-faced leader. "But that's his style and he's not going to change, and as you can tell, it's working for him."

What is working against Lonergan and the Catamounts is the America East's lack of cachet on the college basketball scene. Despite its stellar record, a victory over BC, and a tough nonconference schedule that featured Maryland, Michigan State, and Drexel, Vermont has no illusions about getting an at-large NCAA bid. It's all or nothing for the Catamounts in the America East tournament.

"We know that is the situation that we're in at this level -- that we have to win three games to go to NCAAs," said Lonergan. "If something happens and we get upset, we get to go to the NIT. That's tough, but that's the way it is and our guys know that."

Klimes said it's not fair to compare the current Catamounts with the team that knocked off Syracuse, but he said this team can use that as a rallying cry.

"If something that great has been created, why not feed off it? Why not make another run?" said Klimes. "I think this team definitely has the potential to do that."

Klimes said that with the talented freshmen Lonergan has brought in, such as guard Joe Trapani, Vermont's No. 2 scorer, and athletic wing player Marqus Blakely, there will be more opportunities for Syracuse-type moments in the future.

Lonergan has clearly put his imprimatur on the Vermont program while paying homage to Brennan. The affable coach, who spent 19 years on the Catamounts' bench, is still around the team. Lonergan, who didn't know Brennan prior to taking the job, said the former coach has become a mentor and friend.

"I think Coach Brennan is genuinely happy for us," said Lonergan. "I think he knows that we were smart enough to build on the name recognition they got. It's not about Mike Lonergan or Tom Brennan. It's about the University of Vermont and people taking pride in their state's team."

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.