At one point in the offseason, first-year Vermont basketball coach Mike Lonegran was starting to believe he was the most popular coach in America.

He quickly discovered that his sudden popularity -- and all the phone calls -- was the result of being the coach of a team whose reputation is far better than its product on the court.

Vermont was America's darlings last season during an NCAA run that included a first-round upset of Syracuse. It was the school's first NCAA tournament victory, its first victory against a Big East team and its first against a ranked team. It also gave the Catamounts a school-record 25 wins and it marked the third consecutive year the Catamounts earned a trip to the NCAA.

But the key components to that team -- coach Tom Brennan and four of five starters -- have moved on and what's left is a mid-major team with major name recognition that is in the midst of a rebuilding program.

And that's a major reason Lonegran was on the speed dial of several coaches.

"The phone rang nonstop," Lonegran said. "Everybody wanted to play us this year because they all know what we have. But no matter we go, people know us, they know about what we've accomplished the past three seasons and they know about our story, so this is an easy game for major programs to sell. They can say 'Vermont' was a tournament team last year, but, in reality, that was a completely different team.

"But we've just been eating it up and enjoying this ride."

Last year, Vermont couldn't find many teams that wanted to schedule it for a non-conference game. Heading into this year, teams couldn't get the Catamounts scheduled quick enough.

The Catamounts (3-5) visited Pitt Saturday and they gave the Panthers all they could handle before running out of gas and dropping a 63-52 decision. Pitt was one of two Big East schools who won the "sweepstakes" to get a game with the Catamounts, but the Panthers had help. Gabe Rodriguez, the Catamounts' director of basketball operations, is the cousin of Orlando Antigua, Pitt's director of basketball operations.

Lonegran, who took over when Brennan retired after last season, came to the school after 12 successful seasons as the head coach at Division III power Catholic University. What he has found is that expectations for Vermont are very high and the fan base is energized, but the pieces aren't quite in place to duplicate the school's recent run of success.

The Catamounts are one of the youngest teams in Division I. They have 14 players on their roster and 12 are sophomores or freshmen. They have no seniors and only two players -- junior forward Martin Klimes and sophomore forward Josh Duell -- averaged more than 15 minutes per game. Lonegran is aware of the challenge he faces to keep the Catamounts atop of the American East Conference.

"I understand the expectations here, I understand what's been built and I consider it a privilege, an honor to be able to step in here and make sure we keep this thing going," Lonegran said. "It has been a really great experience, just all the support we received from all around the state and people in the university. This is a great job to have. At the same time, we have a lot of work to do. We have to do some recruiting to fill some holes."

Klimes, the lone returning starter, has been impressed that Lonegran has embraced the winning tradition and demanded the same kind of work ethic as his predecessor. He said the freshman class has a similar work ethic as last year's senior class, which won 89 games in four years

"We won 20 games and went to the NCAA tournament three years in a row here," Klimes said. "That's a lot to live up to, but I can tell you what's really impressed me the most is that the young guys understand what they have to live up to and are all working extremely hard. I like how hard this team works and how they go about doing things the right way. It has the same feel as last year's team and I really like that."

Lonegran was hired before the season was over so he was able to join the program early and take in much of the late-season run. It left an impression.

"What our guys did, it galvanized and captivated the entire state, and, to some degree, the entire country," longtime Vermont sports information director Bruce Bosley said. "When coach Lonegran arrived, he got to see some of coach Brennan's victory tour and it really gave him a good chance to understand how big our story really is. The impressive thing is, he's embraced it, he hasn't run from the expectations and his attitude has been let's take it to the next level."

Just before the Catamounts took the court against the Panthers, Brennan called Lonegran to wish him luck and give him some encouragement.

"Everywhere you go there are reminders and there should be," Lonegran said. "What has been accomplished here has been nothing short of incredible. But the opportunity for us is enormous and the bar has been set high, but we know what we're capable of if we do things the right way. That's what we're shooting for, but there will be some growing pains along the way."