He may not throw chairs like Indiana's Bobby Knight and at 5-foot-4, he may not intimidate referees like Georgetown's John Thompson.
But Dartmouth men's basketball coach Dave Faucher succeeds in his own way and with his own style. He has guided his young team right into the thick in the battle for second place in the league.
Faucher, who took over the team in June of 1991 after seven years as an assistant coach, has let the team to a steady improvement over the last four years.
Dartmouth posted 5-9 Ivy league records in Faucher's first two years, a 6-8 mark in 1993 and the team is currently 8-4 this year with two games remaining.
The team's success raises the inevitable question: What has Faucher done to elevate the team to this level?
One quality which distinguishes Coach Faucher is his technical skill, which comes naturally to him, and always has. His love of the "X's and O's" began inhis high school days.
Playing halfback in football games, he "just seemed to be the type to hear things once and know what everybody's responsibilities were," he said.
A top basketball strategist, Faucher is a featured speaker at basketball camps throughout the northeast, and directs the Big Green Basketball Camp at Dartmouth each summer.
His interest in coaching stemmed largely from this understanding of the mechanism of team play. These days, according to freshman guard P.J. Halas, Faucher's spends his time now "thinking about how to get open shots" for his players, rather than determining which tackle to follow.
In his four seasons as head coach, Faucher has built quite a rapport with his players, who respect his intelligence and dedication. Sea Lonergan '97 said Faucher's "passion for the game and love of the program is contagious. He has helped me tremendously ... always pushing me to the next level."
Faucher said he always tries to push his players to recognize their full potential. "I am very demanding," he said, "not accepting less than what [the players] need to be successful."
In challenging practices held six times a week, Faucher tries to teach his players discipline and, perhaps more importantly, the value of team play.
"Our system offensively is based on reads, ... so [players] get out of the I, I mode, [instead being] always conscious of teammates' responsibilities." In this way, he said, players who starred in high school learn unselfishness, playing their role as a member of a team.
Lonergan said Dartmouth's offense "seems very structured and limiting in the beginning, but once you get a feel for it, there is so much room to play and read the situations."
The coach's iron discipline is tempered by a very human side. Faucher tries to get to know each of his players off the court. "I feel very close to them," he said.
He realizes the effort the players put in both on the court and off it. "You lose an overtime game and you're sitting at the front of the bus feeling sorry for yourself. The players, who left their hearts out on the floor, ... now have the lights on and they're studying physics ... they learn to move on," he said. "To be around these kids, it's an incredible experience."
Acknowledged as one of the top recruiters in the East, Faucher is responsible for the quality of players Dartmouth now boasts. How specifically has he turned around Dartmouth's basketball program, one with little tradition to its name?
The difference is in the quality and the type of players Faucher has brought to Hanover. "I am partial to size," he admitted. Bigger players bring "the advantage of looking over the defense and seeing things when you get in trouble." He especially likes players in the 6' 6" mold who can shoot, players whose flexibility "greatly helps a team."
This is evident on the current squad, as two of the team's best players are the 6' 6" Lonergan and 6' 8" senior Jamie Halligan, both of whom can bang inside with the best of them but also display shooting touch from the outside.
Lonergan and Halligan are both shooting more than 40 percent from three-point range, phenomenal for players of their size.
With such quality players on his squad, what Holy Grail is Faucher searching for? Surely the elusive Ivy League title, a virtualmonopoly of the Penn-Princeton conglomerate. But, nay, he is looking more long term. "Success should be measured by how competitive you are within the league [each year]," he said.
To build a consistent program, he said, Dartmouth must "recruit consistently" and its teams must "play consistently well and play consistently hard," year after year. With assistant coaches Mike Maker, Rob Summers '90, and Mike Fulcher, Faucher "evaluates the program on a daily basis" and does some recruiting every day.
Faucher said he really enjoys coaching, and not just because of his success. "I am always doing something different," he said.
"Whether it's problems with players, trying to keep a team ... playing with enthusiasm and spirit, trying to defend another team's isolation play, or creating a game plan for [an] opponent, it's all exciting," he exulted.
Faucher's interests extend beyond basketball. Faucher holds the course record for the Burlingon City Marathon, and has competed in the Boston Marathon.
Reflecting once more on the quality of the institution and on the mutual affection between himself and the players, he added one last comment. "In a sense," he said, "if we ever really win, it's a little utopia."
With the Big Green a contender in the Ivy League these days, Dartmouth may be headed for quite a few of these "little utopias."
The Big Green wrap up their season this weekend, hosting Columbia and Cornell .
