Leave it to those West Genny guys.

Eight months after he resigned as head coach of Hobart, B.J. O’Hara got an offer from an old buddy and fellow West Genesee High School alum John Desko — the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team’s vacant volunteer assistant coach position.

“When Coach Desko called and made the offer, I took it in a second,” O’Hara said. “This is what I love, and this is a pretty good group of kids. I thought I’d be sitting up in the stands this year eating Dome dogs and watching the games.”

Instead, he’ll stand on the sideline, joining Desko and another West Genny grad, SU assistant coach Kevin Donahue. O’Hara’s former team will take the other sideline tonight when Syracuse (5-1) hosts Hobart (3-2, 2-1 Patriot) in the Carrier Dome at 7:30.

O’Hara won’t harbor any ill will toward the school he left last May. When he watches a team loaded with freshmen he recruited, he won’t feel the disappointment of not developing those players himself. That job belongs to Matt Kerwick, who brought an entirely new staff to lead the young Statesmen.

Officially, O’Hara resigned from his position at Hobart. Although O’Hara refused to characterize the season as difficult or trying, the Statesmen failed to make the postseason after posting a 5-7 record.

“We just had a tough year last year, and I guess they wanted to make a change,” said Hobart assistant coach Jamie Breslin, who played under O’Hara from 1998-2001. “Lacrosse here is the No. 1 sport, and the whole community surrounds it. When we didn’t do so well last year, I guess they were looking for the change.”

So even though O’Hara recorded a 97-63 mark in his 12-year tenure, guided the team to Division III championships in 1990, 1991 and 1993 and oversaw the transition to Division I, his Hobart career ended in May.

O’Hara keeps that in the back of his mind. With the corner of his eye, he checks to see if the program he built will qualify for its third NCAA Tournament.

“We were real proud of the work we did,” O’Hara said. “We left the program in good shape, and we’re excited to see how they do.”

In the meantime, he flashes a broad grin when surveying the Carrier Dome at practice and seeing the talent he works with at Syracuse.

At SU, O’Hara dips his hand into all aspects of the Syracuse game. Donahue orchestrates the offense, Roy Simmons III watches the defense and Desko oversees everything. Senior tri-captain John Glatzel said O’Hara “fills in at spots” while bringing 26 years of coaching experience.

“It just helps having another set of eyes that can see different things,” Glatzel said. “It’s a little different for him. He went from being a head coach to being a fourth man. But I don’t think anyone looks at it in that light.”

Said Desko: “He’s coached at a lot of different levels and had to adjust his coaching depending on the players he’s had and the level he’s had to coach at. It’s just nice to have his concept of things.”

And O’Hara has embraced the role of fourth man.

“It’s a totally different mindset,” O’Hara said. “I show up at 3:30 and do what I’m told. Then I go home without a headache.”

The rest of his staff hopes to do the same tonight. Hobart may be young, but the Statesmen do boast a few weapons at key positions.

Junior midfielder Tim Booth will be the second challenging faceoff man Chris Bickel has faced this week, after matching Princeton’s Drew Casino on Saturday. John Bogosian leads Hobart’s attack with nine goals and five assists, and goaltender Mike Borsz (9.01 goals-against average), always plays well against SU, Desko said.

Meanwhile, Hobart has taken notice of the Orangemen’s usual cast of weapons.

“They’re always big, they’re always good,” Breslin said. “They’re fast. They’ve got some of the best players in the country. They’re just a typical Syracuse team.”

And O’Hara feels lucky to be a part of it.

“I don’t think it’s any secret what the measure of success is here for these guys,” O’Hara said. “I hope I can in some small way contribute to that. These guys have accomplished miracles.”

Published on March 26, 2002 at 12:00 pm