His cherished piece of Patriot League championship net is tied to a commemorative hat that sits on the bedroom dresser in his home in Dorchester, Mass.

It's one of the first things that Mike Quinn sees in the morning.

"Not a bad memory to have right now," said Quinn, who just completed his second season as assistant basketball coach at Boston University. "When going to work in the morning, it brings a smile to my face."

It means even more now considering what's transpired since that March night when Quinn, a Montville High School graduate, celebrated Boston University's first Patriot League championship title that earned the program its first NCAA tournament automatic berth in nine years.

The next day, March 12, the college basketball world shut down.

No one can ever take that magical night away from third-seeded BU, who upset top-seeded Colgate, 64-61, on its home court in Hamilton, N.Y. They dropped the two regular season meetings by a combined 25 points.

Fond memories of the postgame celebration and net-cutting ceremony will live on for a long time.

"We played pretty well and we were able to win and we were moving on to the NCAA," Quinn said. "I remember getting on the bus that night and getting text (messages) like crazy and just enjoying the celebration.

"It was so much fun just getting to see the players and the pure joy and excitement that they had celebrating with each other and the same thing with the coaching staff. ... It had been a long journey for us. We lost in the quarters last year at Colgate."

The Terriers, who went 21-13, were one of only about a dozen college basketball programs that earned an automatic bid before the conference tournament postseason came to an abrupt end.

Quinn's parents, Jere and Judy, watched the title game from their home in Connecticut.

"They maybe had the last ESPN game on TV," said Jere Quinn, the veteran St. Thomas More coach. "They won the Patriot League that Wednesday night. And Thursday everything got shut down. I told him at that time there were maybe only a dozen teams in the NCAA tournament. I told him he was in the Sweet Sixteen already."

Boston University will never know if it could have pulled off a first round upset.

The fact the Terriers earned a Patriot League championship ring softened the blow of the bad news.

"Our guys took it great," Quinn said. "Obviously, they were disappointed not to get the opportunity to continue to play in the NCAA. But, looking back at it, most people didn't get the opportunity to compete in their conference tournament and play in their championship game.

"For us, to at least get that, we felt pretty fortunate. ... For the teams that didn't get it, I felt awful for them because I know how hard that would have been for our players and for our program not to get that opportunity."

During his basketball career, Quinn has been a fairly regular participant in March Madness. Playing for Bentley College, he helped lead the Falcons to two Division II Final Four trips. As an assistant at Stonehill College, he went to the Division II Final Four.

Prior to taking a job at Boston University, he spent two seasons as an assistant at Dartmouth and prior to that served as director of basketball operations at Fordham and then George Mason.

He's earned a basketball education along the way.

"The learning experiences from all of those have been unbelievable because I can see where programs have begun and are trying to build toward this pinnacle and then been fortunate to have been in programs where they've reached the championship.

"I've seen it from start to finish and to learn what it takes to really have that type of success will certainly stick with me and hopefully help me moving forward."

Quinn, 32, is enjoying working with head coach Joe Jones.

While at Stonehill, he attended a BU practice and came away impressed with the passion and energy that Jones displayed. He walked away hoping to join Jones' staff one day.

Jones has reinforced something that Quinn always believed in, and that's relationships are the foundation of any program.

"We have our core values as a program and one of them is brotherhood," Quinn said. "I think that's something I had as a player. I'm still best friends with a lot of my college teammates. To have that relationship with our coaching staff and with our players is something that I think is really special."

Quinn wakes up every day ready to take on the challenge of helping the BU players and program improve. He feels grateful and lucky to be in the coaching profession.

He's also grateful that he has a reminder of BU's special Patriot League championship on his bedroom dresser.

"Whenever I can get back in the office, it will be in the office," said Quinn of the future home of his championship display. "For now, it's a nice reminder at home."

g.keefe@theday.com