Red Flash reflections as Curve honor NEC champions

When the Saint Francis Red Flash men’s basketball team celebrated its 2025 Northeast Conference Championship at PNG Field Tuesday night, it marked the end of an era.

And the beginning of a new one, too.

Former Red Flash head coach Rob Krimmel and the team are going their separate ways with Krimmel heading into retirement and the majority of the team off to new universities save for a few.

It will be Luke McConnell’s turn to take the reins for a Saint Francis program entering its final season at the Division I level and leading the program is something very much in his DNA.

McConnell assumes the same position his dad, Tom held at SFU from 1992-99.

“The reason why I’m coaching is because I was a young kid and I saw the impact my dad had through coaching at Saint Francis and through his life and what he was able to do through the game of basketball,” said McConnell, who was with the team as they were honored by the Curve.

The euphoria of being named head coach at his alma mater was preceded by a sense of sadness with the retirement of Krimmel, his boss, friend and mentor.

Now, it’s McConnell’s turn to play the role of mentor and step into some big shoes to fill off an NCAA tournament berth, which will become a Division III berth starting in the fall of 2026.

“I think the great thing is that I’ve been lucky enough to work for him for 12 years,” McConnell said. “All I know is Saint Francis and all I know Saint Francis basketball and what he’s taught me, what I’ve learned from him over the years so to years so to continue what he’s built, what we’ve been able to build together being in this program.”

McConnell was hand-picked to be his successor by Krimmel who had begun to ponder his future in Loretto with each passing season.

“It was just natural to recommend Luke,” Krimmel said. “I thought he’s the person to pour his heart into into the program and help the transition from where we are now and where we are going in the future and there’s nobody that is better suited to do that and I told the powers that be that he’s better to do that than I am.”

Krimmel has had a front row seat for McConnell’s tenure at Saint Francis and saw how McConnell continued to thrive in his plethora of roles with the program which makes him the perfect fit in this moment.

“I believe that with all of my heart and one of the big reasons for that is, he’s been every level of coaching here at Saint Francis and has seen it seated from so many different angles,” Krimmel said. “I think that’s a big part of the reason why I hope he successful moving forward is because he understands what it’s like to run camp. He understands what it’s like to do all the compliance. He understands what it’s like to do all of the travel, understands what it’s like to monitor academics and I think so much of that moving forward is going to be important for him.”

When the season rolls around for McConnell and his Red Flash basketball program, it’ll be a new look squad like many of the past few years for Krimmel. It’ll also return McConnell back to normalcy where he can finally get on the court and coach.

“I’m just so excited and I’m still trying to grasp it in a way,” McConnell said. “I’ve had people like my dad in my life as a role model and people like Rob Krimmel. I just I’m so excited to to follow in their footsteps and be able to do that and to make this community that helped raise me as well proud and represent them all with our program the best way possible.”