‘You just have to be prepared:’ Brett MacConnell steps in as acting head coach of Princeton – Trentonian men’s basketball

NEW YORK — The last time Brett MacConnell filled the position as acting head coach of Princeton, he found out about 30 seconds into the game.

So 24-hour notice before consecutive weekends feels like forever.

“That’s a lot of time to prepare this time,” MacConnell said.

MacConnell guided the Tigers to a weekend split after head coach Mitch Henderson broke into health and safety protocols and was unable to be on the touchline for games against Cornell and Columbia.

“Mitch has told me to be prepared because of this COVID thing,” MacConnell said after Princeton beat Columbia, 85-63, on Saturday night. “You just have to be ready.”

One of the biggest challenges of sliding on one chair is the big picture that you have to be aware of. MacConnell was in charge of the scouts against Cornell—a 88-83 loss that went down to the last minute—so he was very much wearing two hats at once.

“Skye (Ettin) had a scout (on Saturday) and he did an amazing job,” MacConnell said. “It’s much easier for me to be the head coach because I have the whole staff. We all add responsibility.”

MacConnell and Henderson were in touch throughout the weekend and discussed the in-game situations he might face and the different preparations involved for the head coach. Like when Princeton missed his first six shots and Columbia went 8-0 up on Saturday.

“When it’s only the third game of your career, it feels like you’re down 600 to nothing,” MacConnell said. “This is a great group to train with and they make it easy for you.”

The players took everything in stride.

“We’ve always had a forward mentality and B-Mac has coached the game before, so we have a lot of confidence in him and his abilities,” said senior guard Ethan Wright. “So we believe in him as much as we believe in Mitch.”

Ethan Wright scores 27, Princeton’s men’s basketball set a record high this season with 16 3 in the win over Columbia

MacConnell was student manager for four years at Rutgers before he entered training, with stops at Delaware Valley, Holy Family and Saint Peter’s before he joined Henderson’s staff in 2012 as director of basketball operations. He was appointed assistant coach in 2013 and appointed head coach of the association in 2018.

MacConnell also replaced Henderson on 1 March 2019 at Dartmouth and again this weekend.

“It’s been an amazing experience and I learned a lot,” he said. “You learn a million things from everything. I think Mitch is really good on the emotional and mental side, and as an assistant I’m really focused on a lot of coverage and the Xs and Os and Mitch have big picture thoughts about it. Thinking that’s really great.”