c. 2006 Religion News Service

EAST ORANGE, N.J. _ The morning sun bathes the red-brick building in an amber glow as the folks inside New Hope Baptist Church prepare to dedicate their new sanctuary.

Little girls in pretty dresses and little boys in polished shoes pose for pictures. Old friends embrace. The pastor, the Rev. Dwight Gill, greets everyone with a smile.

As the choir belts out songs of praise, Louis Orr slides into a pew near the back of the church beside his wife, son and goddaughter.

Orr is in the midst of Seton Hall University’s roller-coaster season, a basketball coach who critics suggest is too passive, too religious and simply too nice to be the face of the program.

“Some people think he is weak because he is quiet and humble,” Yvette Orr says of her husband. “But they’re mistaken. He’s very passionate about his family, his belief in the Lord and his job. I wish more people could see that.”

On this day, though, Orr simply wants to give praise and seek inspiration.

The pastor takes the stage and begins preaching over the music. Orr is on his feet, clapping and brushing away tears. Soon he is singing, his eyes shut, moving in sync with the gospel music and raising his hands to the ceiling.

“The power of the Lord is here!”

“I feel it in the atmosphere!”

When the music winds down, Orr takes his seat and rests his Bible on his lap. The organ players and the choir step aside for the pastor, who begins the service with some humor.

“The good news is we got more people in here,” Gill says, staring at the packed balcony of worshippers. “The bad news is that we ran out of seats already!”

Then he talks about the coach.

“I read in the paper the other day that they asked Louis, `Are you worried about your job?”’ Gill says, pausing for a moment. “Do you know what he said?

“He said, `I trust God with my soul! … Surely I can trust him with my job! …’

“Have I got a witness?”

The crowd erupts, filling the air with amens and hallelujahs.

A smile passes over Orr’s face.

The preacher preaches for almost three hours before it’s over. Orr files out with the rest of the crowd. A woman sitting in a parked car calls him over.

“When I read what you said in the paper,” she says, “I knew you were going to be all right.”

Orr hugs her.

“Thank you,” he says softly. “I appreciate it. I really do.”

The visitor walks into Louis Orr’s office on the fourth floor of Walsh Gym overlooking the basketball court at Seton Hall in South Orange, and almost immediately the coach senses something is wrong.

“You look hungry,” Orr says. “I got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You want it?”

At 47, Orr barely resembles the man with the smiling face standing between former Knicks teammates Trent Tucker and Patrick Ewing in the framed picture on the wall from his wedding day 15 years ago.

“My hair wasn’t so gray,” Orr says, rubbing his head, almost embarrassed. “My face was a little fuller. I was a little heavier. Since I’ve been coaching, I don’t eat as much during the season. Plus, I don’t eat red meat now.”

Orr steps back from the photo and folds his 6-foot-8 body into a chair, a man working his way through whispers and innuendo. Rumors of a contract buyout grabbed the summer headlines. Seton Hall, coming off a disappointing 12-16 season, needed to go in a new direction, detractors said.

“He hasn’t let the pressure affect how he coaches the players or interacts with anybody,” says John Dunne, assistant coach of the Seton Hall Pirates. “He didn’t react any differently after receiving the (2003) Big East Coach of the Year award than he did the day over the summer when (a media report) said we were going to be fired over the weekend.”

Now Orr finds Seton Hall living on the NCAA Tournament bubble, his future in limbo with a few games remaining. The Pirates, picked to finish 15th out of 16 teams in the Big East preseason coaches poll, are currently tied for seventh place in the powerhouse conference. Orr _ believed to have two years remaining on his contract after this season _ is 78-67 (36-38 in the Big East), including an NCAA Tournament win and NIT berth in five seasons at Seton Hall.

A 67-64 road loss Saturday (Feb. 25) against lowly DePaul lowered the team’s record to 16-10. It certainly won’t help Orr’s job security or standing among many of the Pirates’ fans.

“Nobody can say that they like negative stuff said and written about them,” Orr explains. “I’ve been booed as a player. I’ve been booed as a coach _ but you can’t let it dictate who you are. You just realize that not everybody is going to like you. You learn not to let it affect your joy.”

Despite the questions about his future, Orr talks about finding the joy inside the storm.

“There’s a difference between joy and happiness,” he says. “I’m trying to master joy. Because joy is not circumstantial. You always have a choice whether you want to be happy or not. But joy _ joy is something internal.”

He reaches for his Bible, the one in the weathered black leather case on his desk, the one he reads from every morning. He speaks about feeding his spirit, praising the Almighty and giving God the glory because he is merely a steward.

A radio sits on the floor of the office. Sometimes when Orr’s studying game film, he listens to Christian teachings on an AM station.

“His faith is a big part of who he is,” says his brother, Ed. “He doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about losing his job because he doesn’t count on any job to make him feel secure about himself. He doesn’t rely on it to give him peace of mind.”

Orr’s quiet demeanor, however, has fed criticism from those who feel he lacks the passion and fire to lead an elite program. Orr responds to his critics: “Should I try to dress and talk and act like Rick Pitino? Should I try to dress and act and talk like Jim Boeheim? You can’t do that. You have to be who you are. And you know what? I like who I am.”

So do his players.

“He definitely gets misunderstood by people on the outside looking in,” senior Kelly Whitney says. “We get yelled at, but it’s done behind a lot of doors or in the locker room. His character flows through our veins. It doesn’t make him or us soft. It just makes us motivated in a different type of way.”

MO/PH END RNS

(M.A. Mehta writes for the Star-Ledger Staff in Newark, N.J.)

Editors: To obtain photos of coach Louis Orr, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.