SISTER ACT
Academic adviser a heavenly assist for Xavier players
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The voice on the other end of the telephone Friday afternoon was that of an 84-year-old nun who sounds 30 years younger and has had as much a hand in Xavier’s remarkable run toward a possible Final Four berth as the man who coaches the team himself.
Sister Rose Ann Fleming, in fact, might wield more power than Xavier coach Chris Mack.
Without her guidance as the school’s academic adviser, maybe Mack would not have every key player on his 11thseeded roster, which will take on No. 1 seed Gonzaga in Saturday’s West Region final at the SAP Center with a Final Four the carrot at the end of the stick.
Fleming has not helped Musketeers’ leading scorer Trevon Bluiett refine his scoring skills.
She hasn’t worked with freshman point guard Quentin Goodin on keeping his turnover numbers down.
She hasn’t worked with J.P. Macura on his 3-point shooting stroke.
Nor has she worked with Sean O’Mara on maintaining his position in the paint.
What Fleming has done since she arrived at Xavier in 1983 is allow its basketball players to maintain their scholarships and stay in uniform. Xavier is in the midst of an incredible run during Fleming’s 34 years, with more than 100 consecutive basketball players graduating.
“We haven’t lost a basketball player yet,’’ Fleming told The Post. “And we don’t plan on losing one in the future.’’
Fleming’s duties as an academic adviser began under thencoach Pete Gillen, who gave her the all-encompassing power to overrule the coaches when she believed a player was in need of academic assistance. It was not — and is not — unusual for Fleming to overrule the coaches if she sees the need to do so.
And they all comply. Gillen did. Skip Prosser did. Thad Matta did. Sean Miller did. And now so does Chris Mack, who goes back with Fleming since his days as a player with Xavier.
“She always had veto power and benching power,’’ Mack told The Post on Friday. “She wants to open guys’ eyes to what’s ahead of them after basketball. She’s meant the true definition of the student-athlete. Books come before basketball.’’
Fleming, who belongs to a religious order named “The Sisters of Notre Dame’’ based in France, has never been married nor had children.
“So in many ways,’’ she said, “these are all my children.’’
In 1991, Gillen named Fleming