Division III Coaching Report
Feb. 17, 2003
By Gary Rubin D-III News
New Jersey City University head men's basketball coach Charles Brown won his 400th career game on Feb. 1 when his Gothic Knights rallied for a last-second, 66-64 victory over Rutgers University-Camden.
The 400th victory for Brown, a 1965 graduate of NJCU, came in his 21st year as head coach of his alma mater. The win pushed his career record to 400-178.
The milestone win makes Brown the 41st coach in Division III history, and the 24th active coach, to reach the 400-win plateau. He is the fourth coach in Division III to reach that mark this season and is the second coach in the history of the New Jersey Athletic Conference to win 400 games in a career.
Only Ollie Gelston, who won 429 games with NJCU from 1960-67 and Montclair State from 1968-1991, has won more. Gelston was Brown's collegiate coach at NJCU.
On a Roll
Rockford head coach Bill Lavery has one of the hottest Division III teams in the country right now and finds his program in the NABC Division III Top 10 rankings. His Regents are 22-2 and have won 13 straight, including all Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference games to date. Rockford claims victories this year over regional foe Augustana and Rose-Hulman.
After a coaching stint in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), Lavery arrived at Rockford College in 1999 to help create a consistently competitive program.
"I want players who work hard and have the desire to compete every day," Lavery said. "A winning tradition begins with strong student-athletes. On the basketball level, I want to compete for the NIIC championship and an NCAA tournament berth. At the individual level, I want my players to gain personal and professional tools necessary to be successful in life after basketball. I believe Rockford College provides a perfect environment for the development of student-athletes."
Prior to joining the Regent program, Lavery was the head basketball coach of the Rockford Lightning (CBA), where he helped develop some of today's NBA stars such as Howard Eisley, Sam Mack and Chris Childs.
"Coaching at the professional level has allowed me to develop a well-rounded philosophy that is based upon the execution of fundamentals at both the offensive and defensive ends of the court," Lavery explained.
Perfect Grad Rate for Oxy's Newhall
Occidental College head coach Brian Newhall also is piloting a team on a roll. The Tigers, ranked in the NABC Top 25, are riding a 10-game win streak, including an unbelievable 97-96 road win on Feb. 8 at Redlands that pushed their record to 18-2, 9-0 in SCIAC. Redlands led by as many as 30 points in the first half before Oxy picked up its defensive intensity and fought back to take their only lead of the game with 3.6 seconds left on the clock. Redlands missed a three at the buzzer.
Newhall, now in his 15th season as Occidental's head coach, recently eclipsed 200 career wins. He also has another impressive record -- a 100 percent graduation rate among his senior players since 1988.
"I hold my players to high academic and athletic standards," said Newhall, who played at Occidental and was the SCIAC Player of the Year in 1983. "With so many demands placed on the varsity athlete at Occidental, I've continually stressed the importance of utilizing proper time management as a way to achieve success in both areas."
While Newhall is finding success on the court this season, he also has his hands full at home. He and his wife, Amy, welcomed twins last fall.
New Beginnings
Several new coaches are succeeding in new positions this season.
Michael Schauer is getting the job done in his first year at the helm of Gordon College. The former head coach at Eastern College, Schauer has his Fighting Scots within one win of setting a single-season victory mark at the school. Gordon, 16-4, still has a tough road to travel for a tournament bid and is battling with Bill Foti's Colby Sawyer for first place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference North division.
In each of the past two seasons, Foti has led Colby-Sawyer to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title and an automatic bid to the Division III tournament. This year, he topped 200 career wins and is chasing his fifth CCC Coach of the Year award in the past six seasons.
Kalamazoo rookie head coach Rob Passage is keeping his team in the hunt for the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title. Passage, who played at the school from 1989-93 and was an assistant for six seasons for the Hornets, has his team at 16-4 overall and 5-3 in the tough MIAA.
It took a while, but Penn State Altoona head coach Armon Gilliam picked up his first win at the school when his Lions knocked off Mt. Aloysius 90-82 on Feb. 3 in overtime. Gilliam, who spent one year coaching at Penn State McKeesport, a two year college, before coming to Penn State Altoona, took over the program last summer.
