With tenacious coach Andy Toole leading the way, Robert Morris surges in Horizon League

When Andy Toole took the men’s basketball reins at Robert Morris in 2010, he was going by his given name, Andrew. As time passed, it, naturally, morphed into Andy.

A decade later, the Colonials, for years among the top contenders in the lightly regarded Northeast Conference, made their way to the more reputable Horizon League.

Whichever name recognition or conference affiliation he prefers, Toole typically doesn’t say. He’s got bigger issues.

Like returning Robert Morris to prominence.

“Some of our best teams in the NEC would have some challenges in the Horizon League,” Toole said. “It’s just the difference in size, talent and physicality.”

For Toole, it’s Year 5 in the Horizon with nothing much to celebrate.

Perhaps until now?

While the Colonials (19-8, 11-5) have yet to return to the postseason since winning the NEC Tournament championship in their final season in the conference, they’re bidding for their first Horizon title with just two weeks left in the regular season.

The quest continues Saturday afternoon against Purdue Fort Wayne (18-9, 11-5) at UPMC Events Center.

“It’s hard enough to change leagues. It’s even harder to deal with a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic,” Toole said.

The years-long pestilence of covid-19 shut down just about everything, including the NCAA Tournament in 2020, which resulted in the cancellation of Robert Morris’ automatic bid.

“It affected a lot of things, including the opportunity to see people live (when recruiting),” Toole said.

With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, it gave way to the rise of the NCAA transfer portal and the phenomenon known as name, image and likeness.

“When we went 10-10 in the (Horizon in 2022-23), we thought we kind of established ourselves and were moving in the right direction,” Toole said. “Last year (6-14 Horizon) was a disappointment. We weren’t able to sustain any momentum, and that’s been the challenge in this day and age. I don’t know if anyone has it figured out.”

There were many high moments during Toole’s first 10 seasons while Robert Morris was a NEC heavyweight — an improbable two-point victory over Kentucky in the 2013 NIT comes to mind — but it’s been a battle to become relevant since joining the Horizon.

“We had a tremendous run at Robert Morris, and Andy was a huge part of it,” said former coach Mike Rice Jr. , whose teams won 73 games and made two NCAA Tournament appearances in three seasons from 2007-10 with Toole as an assistant.

Rice left Robert Morris for an ill-fated, three-year run at Rutgers — he was fired in 2013 following allegations and a leaked video of abusive behavior toward his players — and Toole stepped in.

He has been there ever since and entered Saturday’s game with an overall record of 245-240 (.505), one NCAA Tournament appearance that included a victory over North Florida in the First Four and two trips to the NIT, where the Colonials own two first-round victories against Kentucky and a year later against St. John’s.

“Andy is one of my best friends,” said Rice, a Pittsburgh native who currently is a high school coach at Linden (N.J.), “but I can’t take credit for how relentless he’s been his whole life. I haven’t seen this fight in a Robert Morris team in a while, maybe since the NEC days. He was going to win there again. He just needed to find the right pieces. They’re a gritty team with purpose. They have a chip on their shoulder.

“They remind me of Andy Toole.”

Andrew? Andy?

NEC? Horizon?

“It’s hard to win in any conference,” Toole said. “I certainly see the world through a prism of competition. That’s always been a driver of mine. Obviously, there’s an expectation here to be a good program. I’m just trying to enjoy coaching these guys. They have some personalities similar to mine.”

Following a 68-59 victory at league-leading Cleveland State on Wednesday, Robert Morris was in a three-way tie with Purdue Fort Wayne and Youngstown State for second place, 1 1/2 games behind the Vikings.

“Before I committed, coach Toole let me know he’s not going to be one of these types of coaches that’s going to pat your back all the time,” junior swingman Amarion Dickerson said. “He said there’d be times when he’d get on my back and that I wasn’t going to like it. I’m a realist myself. Whether it’s coaches, whether it’s friends, whether it’s family, I just try to surround myself with people who want the best for me. I believe coach Toole and the staff all want the best for me.”

The feeling is mutual, said the 6-foot-7 forward who was ranked second in Division I in total blocks (70) and ninth in blocks per game (2.59) before Friday’s games.

Dickerson recently set a Robert Morris single-game record with eight against Detroit Mercy. Since transferring in before the start of the season from Mineral Area (Mo.) College, he has cherished every moment with his new team.

“The locker room we have right now is a tight group,” Dickerson said.

And Toole is back to leading the charge.