Courtesy photo Head coach Rob Krimmel (second from left) and the Saint Francis men’s basketball team celebrate their NEC championship on Tuesday night in New Britain, Conn.

Since the Red Flash punched their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament in 34 years, Rob Krimmel’s phone has been blowing up.

“It’s been pretty busy — in a good way,” Krimmel said over sips of coffee Friday morning. “Alumni, basketball alums, people in the community, people who followed Saint Francis from the ’50s, people I graduated (State College Area) high school with.”

The well-wishes on the way back from Central Connecticut State on Wednesday afternoon included a buzz from the last coach to guide the Flash to the promised land — Jim Baron.

“I got a call from Coach Baron,” Krimmel said, adding Baron offered congratulations, encouragement and advice. “He was coaching me up, and that was special.”

Krimmel’s 13-year tenure at Saint Francis has brought outstanding representation and 171 wins — second only to the great Skip Hughes — but not a shining moment in the coveted Big Dance.

Until now.

“We had done everything up to that point — regular season, every major award, graduation rate — but the championship is the one thing that escaped us,” Krimmel said, not shying away from the topic.

Though he has prided himself on the program’s stability, and how it’s navigated the uncertain world of college sports despite not having NIL resources, he knows: “Wins and losses and championships are what I’m judged on. People always end up coming back to that.”

And for all the boxes Krimmel has checked, the Flash were 0-4 with a berth in the tournament on the line.

That’s why he admitted, “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t special” to remove the only blotch on his resume.

Ironically, this year’s team cleared its final hurdle despite lower expectations.

“The groups we had before from a talent standpoint may have been more talented, but this group has embraced the journey more than any group I’ve had,” he said.

Krimmel also embraced a subtle emphasis on the process more than the result.

“The last couple years, with all the changes in college basketball, made me reflect on how can I make a mark on these guys, and I tried to re-center what my priorities were,” he said. “What’s my purpose? Why am I coaching? If all I do is worry about a win, I’m missing a chance to help a young man grow or through a tough time.

“This is probably the first year that I wasn’t hanging on every game, and I wasn’t going to let myself be defined by one game or one moment.”

Combined with Krimmel’s teams showing usual improvement through the season, the mindset paid off, and the reward will be seeing Saint Francis’ name called, culminating a lifelong dream.

“I’ve probably watched the (selection) show since I was 8 or 9 years old,” Krimmel, who has been in Loretto as a player or coach since 1996, said.

Just as it took the 1991 team — led by Baron, Mike Iuzzolino and Joe Anderson — to create a present for a program that to that point only had a past, this team has done the same thing.

It’s energized a younger audience and brightened the SFU of today.

“It’s an opportunity for me to shed light on Saint Francis,” Krimmel said. “We’ve had a lot of people from a recruiting standpoint reach out to us. The winning and the way we won and the way our guys handled themselves — that all helps because it opens up maybe another door. Winning attracts. Now with the success we’ve had, if the portal is a reality, we’re more prepared to put a roster together — and not just sell our soul for the quick fix. I still believe in four-year athletes. I’m not saying we’re not going to recruit the portal. Three of our players are from the portal. The rest are high school and junior-college players.”

ESPN analyst Tim Welsh, a basketball lifer and successful 13-year head coach at Iona and Providence, said during the Northeast Conference final that he had never seen Krimmel coach but was impressed with his preparation, demeanor and overall calm that his team displayed.

After Central Connecticut tied the game with 17 seconds left, Krimmel didn’t use one of his three timeouts still available and “let the players make the play.”

Using that strategy, three different players made late-game plays in the playoffs.

Now, rather than watching who else would represent the NEC and thinking “we either beat the team that made it, or we were in the championship game, or we were so close or ‘man, what if’ … or coulda, shoulda, woulda,” Krimmel gets his moment to bask in the spotlight.

I can’t think of anybody more deserving.

Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.