Division II Coaching Report
Jan. 10, 2003
By Gary Rubin
Division II Bulletin
Humboldt State is riding high these days and head coach Tom Wood is looking forward to making a run late into March. The Lumberjacks, 10-0, are currently ranked No. 1 in the NABC/Division II Bulletin Top 25.
"(The ranking) is the result of a lot of hard work by everyone associated with the program," Wood said. "That includes the local community that has been so giving and helpful. I hope they share in this and can derive some enjoyment from it."
The Lumberjacks were ranked No. 5 in the preaseason poll, equalling the highest previous ranking achieved in the program's 79-year history. The No. 1 ranking sets a standard that includes the challenge of defending their lofty reputation.
"Instead of green and gold, our uniforms will probably appear neon with flashing lights and a big bullseye on our backs," Wood said. "The top programs live with that, and that's what we want to be considered a top program. We'll embrace these challenges and go with it."
Humboldt has already dodged one bullet this season to maintain its perfect record. On Dec. 12, junior forward Austin Nichols drained a long three-pointer with two seconds remaining to lift Humboldt State to a 78-77 win over Charlie Thomas' San Francisco State Gators. Key to the Jacks success is the funding of its scholarship program, which has only been in place for four years. Financial aid for student-athletes is provided entirely through fund-raising efforts.
Galeazzi Reaches Another Milestone
C.W. Post head coach Tom Galeazzi picked up his 700th career victory on Dec. 10 with an 87-48 win over John Dwinell's Concordia Clippers. Having coached at three different schools during his 37 seasons as a head coach, Galeazzi has made a deep impression in the fabric of Long Island college basketball.
His first stint came at Suffolk Community College, where he compiled a 63-35 mark during a four-season stretch from 1966-70. From there, he moved on to SUNY-Farmingdale, where during an 11-year stint, he was 245-72 for a winning percentage of better than 77 percent. That tenure was equally successful, with postseason appearances in each of his final 10 years. In 1981, he was hired as head coach for the C.W. Post men's basketball team. Following a 16-10 first season, Galeazzi's teams ran off five consecutive 20-win campaigns, while coaching the Pioneers to a NCAA tournament bid during four of those seasons.
Galeazzi¹s next milestone isn't far off, needing only seven more wins to give him 400 during his 22 years at the helm of the Pioneers.
Boots Joins 300-win Club
South Dakota gave head coach Dave Boots his 300th win last month with a 99-76 victory over Jamestown. The win pushed Boots' record to 300-114 since he took over the Coyotes in 1988. The win was also USD's 68th straight home non-conference win. Overall, Boots has an 84-1 home, non-conference record. Despite an early conference loss to Kevin Schlagel's St. Cloud State squad, South Dakota is 12-1 and ranked in the Top 10 in the country. Schlagel, meanwhile collected his 100th career victory in December when his Huskies downed Northern Michigan 84-52.
Back in the Top 10
For the first time since the 1984 season and the second time in Herbert Greene's 21-year career, the Columbus State University men's basketball team has earned a top-10 ranking. And the victories have been anything but cakewalks, coming against some of the top teams in the country. The latest jump from No. 23 to No. 10 came after the Cougars defeated Michael Bernard's nationally-ranked Shaw team and Dale Clayton's No. 11 Carson-Newman squad in the CSU Holiday Classic.
"This is really nice for our program," said Greene. "It is a credit to the hard work of our players and coaches and it is nice to see a Peach Belt team get recognition. We are proud of the way we have started the season, but we also realize that there is a long, very tough road ahead of us and we have to continue to perform at a high level. At this point in the season, the ranking is nice but we cannot afford to put too much emphasis on it and lose our focus on the job at hand - trying to win in the Peach Belt."
CSU's only loss this season came in the second game of the year to North Dakota State at the Disney Division II Tipoff Classic. Since then, the Cougars have reeled off nine straight wins to stand at 10-1.
100 Wins for Peponakis
When the final buzzer sounded on Dec. 19 at Aquinas Hall, Queens College (NY) had won more than just a basketball game. Its 64-59 win over St. Thomas Aquinas enabled head coach Kyrk Peponakis to become only the second coach in the 65-year history of the school's men's basketball to win 100 games. Robert Doc Salmons was the only other coach to do it at Queens, posting a 192-219 record in his 20 seasons at the helm of the Knights.
With the victory, Peponakis also became the only Knights coach to win 100 games since the school began play in Division II in the 1983-84 season. In the 12 years previous to his arrival, Queens posted a Division II record of 102-223 and in the four season immediately preceding his ascension to the head coaching position, the school was 24-84.
A 1987 graduate of St. John's University, Peponakis was promoted to the position of head coach in September of 1995, after serving as an assistant to Norman Roberts for the previous four seasons.
Tip-ins
University of Alaska Fairbanks head coach Al Sokaitis guided his team to the Top of the World Classic at the start of the season, marking the first time a Division II team has ever won an eight-team Division I tournament. The Nanooks defeated Wisonsin Green Bay and Nebraska to reach the title game, where they knocked off Weber State to claim the crown. On the season, UAF is 9-2, ranked in the Top 10 in the Western region and looking for a berth in the NCAA tournament come March. East Central head coach Wayne Cobb became the school's all-time winningest basketball coach with 413 victories. Florida Southern head coach Tony Longa has his Mocs at a perfect 14-0 through Jan. 10, one of just four unbeaten Division II teams. The former assistant to current Clayton State coach Gordon Gibbons, Longa's team has won with defense; FSC ranks No. 1 in the country in field goal percentage defense. The other unbeatens through Jan. 10 are Humboldt State, Ken Barer's UMass Lowell River Hawks and Nebraska Kearney, coached by Tom Kropp.
