New NIU basketball coach Brian Hammel, a dedicated runner who once completed the Boston marathon, is confident he’s on the right track in DeKalb.

The 38-year-old Hammel served as George Raveling’s top aid at USC during the last five seasons before taking over the Huskies’ helm in May.

One and a half months into his new job, which opened after Jim Molinari took the head coaching job at Bradley, the New York native has his focus squarely set on the future.

“The one thing I learned a long time ago is that you have to do your homework on jobs … and then you never look back,” Hammel said. “Once I make a decision I put everything I have into it and this is, no question, the right move for Brian Hammel.”

But when Hammel first took the job, much of the focus surrounding the NIU program had a decidedly less rosy tint. Several prominent Chicago Public League coaches publicly chided NIU for what they viewed as a snub of DePaul assistant Robert Collins, once a candidate for the job.

When the names of the three leading candidates was made public, and Collins, a former public league coach, was not one of them, the Chicago coaches vowed that NIU would have trouble recruiting in the city.

“The (public league coaches) I’ve talked to have been terrific,” Hammel responded. “I’m sure some will be more difficult than others, but I’m not so sure that if I was some of these coaches I wouldn’t react and feel the same way … all I’d ask from the coaches was that, although I understand the problem, I didn’t create the problem.”

Another “problem” Hammel faces is the task of rebuilding a team that lost five seniors from a 25-6 squad that went to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in NIU history.

So far, the Huskies have landed 6-8 Hubert Register and 6-6 Marlin Simms from the high school ranks and two JUCO players: highly touted Waubonsee guard David Bacon and 6-6 swingman Theo Stafford from community college in Kansas.

Hiring assistant coaches, to go along with the recently signed former New Mexico aid Scott Duncan, recruiting and scheduling are now the main time-consumers for Hammel.

After becoming the third coach at NIU in four years, the question of how long Hammel, who signed a multi-year pact, will be at NIU comes up frequently. “I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said, “but I’ve never taken a job with the intent that it’s a stepping stone. Life doesn’t work that way.”

The (public league coaches) I’ve talked to have been terrific … all I’d ask from the coaches was that, although I understand the problem, I didn’t create the problem.”