We have seen many DIII Coaches/players make names for themselves at the DI level. Most recently I noticed that Zach Spiker (Ithaca alum & former assistant at Cornell University) was named Head Men's Basketball Coach at Army.
Dave Paulsen made the jump from Williams to Bucknell. Jay Wright once worked at the U of R and is the man at Villanova. I guess even going further, Greg Popovich was long ago the head coach at Ponoma.
What other connections are out there?
Perhaps the most prominent link currently would be Wisconsin. Former coach Dick Bennett coached UW-SP (though they were then NAIA; he was NAIA COY in 1984). Bennett was succeeded in Madison by Bo Ryan, who won FOUR d3 national titles at UW-Platteville.
Augustana's Grey Giovanine left D1 Lamar to come to Augie.
http://www.qctimes.com/sports/college/article_2e7703c7-17f0-59c3-a542-29bc01412491.html (http://www.qctimes.com/sports/college/article_2e7703c7-17f0-59c3-a542-29bc01412491.html)
Virginia Commonwealth's new head coach is Shaka Smart, Kenyon College class of '99. One of his assistant coaches is Mike Rhoades, Lebanon Valley class of '94 and for ten years the head coach at Randolph-Macon. VCU's director of basketball operations is Kyle Getter, who has worked at both Wabash and Hanover. Go Rams!
I just thought of Josh Loeffler as well. He moved from Stevens IT to be an assistant at Lafayette
Also from Wisconsin...
From UWSP class of 05:
Jason Kalsow is an assistant at UW Green Bay
Nick Bennett is the head assistant at Florida Gulf Coast University.
From UW Platteville class of 91:
Rob Jeter is the head coach at UW Milwaukee
John Giannini, the head coach at LaSalle, coached Rowan to the '96 D3 national championship. He also spent his playing days in the D3 ranks, at North Central.
Gregory,
Thanks for the info on John Giannini. I am a NCC Grad and no idea that we had such a good coach as a Alum.
I know in the CCIW there was a wave of coaches that came down from D1 to D3. Benjy Taylor at NCC (He is no longer there), obviously Augie. Was this just a short lived trend or does that happen more than one thinks?
Quote from: HCACBBALL on October 12, 2009, 08:35:54 PM
Gregory,
Thanks for the info on John Giannini. I am a NCC Grad and no idea that we had such a good coach as a Alum.
I know in the CCIW there was a wave of coaches that came down from D1 to D3. Benjy Taylor at NCC (He is no longer there), obviously Augie. Was this just a short lived trend or does that happen more than one thinks?
I think Coach Giovanine's situation is almost unheard of. He left a D1 head coaching job to move to D3. Someone might know of a similar move, but I can't think of any. I don't think it's
terribly unusual for a D1 assistant to take a HC job in D3, but I think that schools are usually looking to fill a HC vacancy with someone with previous head coaching experience. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.
Quote from: dansand on October 14, 2009, 03:38:11 PM
Quote from: HCACBBALL on October 12, 2009, 08:35:54 PM
Gregory,
Thanks for the info on John Giannini. I am a NCC Grad and no idea that we had such a good coach as a Alum.
I know in the CCIW there was a wave of coaches that came down from D1 to D3. Benjy Taylor at NCC (He is no longer there), obviously Augie. Was this just a short lived trend or does that happen more than one thinks?
I think Coach Giovanine's situation is almost unheard of. He left a D1 head coaching job to move to D3. Someone might know of a similar move, but I can't think of any. I don't think it's terribly unusual for a D1 assistant to take a HC job in D3, but I think that schools are usually looking to fill a HC vacancy with someone with previous head coaching experience. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.
Rees Johnson came to North Park after being a fairly successful head coach at D1 Northeastern Illinois, but the circumstances were unique. In the spring of '98 NEIU disbanded its athletic department and dropped all sports without any prior warning, leaving Johnson high and dry. Fortunately for him, North Park fired its head coach at about the same time, and NPU is just a couple of blocks east of NEIU.
HCACBBALL, Giannini was my contemporary when I was at North Park. He was an All-CCIW third-teamer as a sophomore and again as a senior for NCC. He was a pretty big part of Bill Warden's total turnaround of what had been the perennial doormat of the CCIW. By Giannini's senior year the Cardinals were able to finish in a tie for second place at 11-5, after going 0-16 in CCIW play his freshman year.
Glen Miller at the U. of Penn and former head coach at Brown U. was the head coach at Conn. C in the NESCAC where he lead the Camels to the Div 3 final four in 1999.
Quote from: dansand on October 14, 2009, 03:38:11 PM
I think Coach Giovanine's situation is almost unheard of. He left a D1 head coaching job to move to D3. Someone might know of a similar move, but I can't think of any. I don't think it's terribly unusual for a D1 assistant to take a HC job in D3, but I think that schools are usually looking to fill a HC vacancy with someone with previous head coaching experience. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.
How about Brad Soderberg? It's a different situation many times over... he played at UWSP and coached at Loras before moving to D-II South Dakota State, and then on to Wisconsin... where he was placed as the interim coach to replace the (temporarily) retiring Dick Bennett. He got Wisconsin to the NCAA tournament... but he wasn't retained in favor of Bo Ryan... but then Brad got the Saint Louis U job. After 5 years and 2 NIT trips, he was fired and now is the head coach at NAIA Lindenwood U in Saint Charles, MO.
... Rather than starting another thread (NAIA coaches with D-III ties who have coached in D-I) I thought I would just note this here.
I don't know Brad personally... but I think he's kind of gotten the shaft in the coaching realm a little bit. I found an interesting story about Soderberg's return to coaching. (http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/billiken-beat/billiken-beat/2009/05/the-return-of-brad-soderberg/)
I guess, technically, the D-III ties come in with UWSP's current afiliation (Point was NAIA when Soderberg was there) but that would hold true for Dick Bennett too. We're going to claim them for D-III. :)
Coach Soderberg is a class act. I have met him several times and he was nothing but kind and generous to me.
Gregory did Giannini play for Coach Warden? Coach Warden was another class act.
Mike Deane, Small College All American from Potsdam State in 1973 and 1974, was an assistant coach at Potsdam St. in 1974-75. an assistant coach at Plattsburgh St in 1975-76, where he also was the head baseball coach and became the head coach at Oswego State from 1980-82. His DI coaching career began as an assistant coach at Michigan St. from 1982-86. He became the head coach at Siena College in 1986 and has won 432 DI games, the biggest probably being 14th seeded Siena's upset of 3rd seeded Stanford in the 1st round of the 1989 NCAA tournament. He is starting his 7th year as the head coach at Wagner College of the North East Conference. Mike is 1 of only 13 active coaches to have led 3 different teams to the big dance( Siena, Marquette, and Lamar). The following link from Wagner Athletics has his career highlights.
http://www.wagnerathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=52
Another DI coach with ties to DIII is Paul Evans who coached at St. Lawrence University from 1973 to 1980. Paul went on to coach at Navy from 1980 to 1986 and then at Pittsburgh from 1986 to 1994
Quote from: HCACBBALL on October 15, 2009, 10:38:34 PM
Coach Soderberg is a class act. I have met him several times and he was nothing but kind and generous to me.
Gregory did Giannini play for Coach Warden? Coach Warden was another class act.
Yes, he did, as I said here:
Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 14, 2009, 07:06:54 PMHe was a pretty big part of Bill Warden's total turnaround of what had been the perennial doormat of the CCIW.
Kent State head coach Geno Ford came to that school after heading the Muskingum College program for two seasons.
Chad Walthall, Assistant Coach at Iowa was Head Coach at Loras in Dubuque from 2000-2007. In his last season at Loras, he won the conference championship, and his team advanced to the national DIII tourney.
Quote from: David Collinge on October 04, 2009, 03:42:27 PM
Virginia Commonwealth's new head coach is Shaka Smart, Kenyon College class of '99. One of his assistant coaches is Mike Rhoades, Lebanon Valley class of '94 and for ten years the head coach at Randolph-Macon. VCU's director of basketball operations is Kyle Getter, who has worked at both Wabash and Hanover. Go Rams!
Now that's a staff!
#10 Butler is coached by DePauw '99 grad Brad Stevens. USF coach Stan Heath spent 2 years on the bench at Albion prior to stints at Michigan St., Kent St. and Arkansas.
Former Chapman University player Brady Bergeson is an assistant at D1 Sacramento State. Also, another former CU player Dave Joeger is an assistant in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Gregg Popovich coached at Pomona
QuoteDuring his time with the coaching staff of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Popovich attended the University of Denver and earned his Masters Degree in Physical Education and Sports Sciences. In 1979, he was named the head basketball coach of Pomona-Pitzer's men's team.
During his time as head coach at Pomona-Pitzer, Popovich became a disciple and eventually a close friend of the University of Kansas head coach Larry Brown. Popovich would eventually decide to take off the 1985-1986 season at Pomona-Pitzer to become a volunteer assistant at the University of Kansas, where he could study directly under Brown. Popovich returned to Pomona-Pitzer and resumed his duties as head coach the next season.
Also, one of his assistants at the Spurs, Mike Budenholzer, went to Pomona.
Mike Dunlap, associate head coach at Oregon, was once head coach at California Lutheran. He also has been an assistant with the Nuggets.
Mike Lonergan... coached Catholic to a national title in 2001... now is the head coach of Vermont (followed a legend!).
Former Sul Ross State Head Coach Doug Davalos (who led his team to the 2004 Sweet 16) is now head coach at Texas State-San Marcos.
Quote from: K-Mack on November 10, 2009, 11:18:57 PM
Quote from: David Collinge on October 04, 2009, 03:42:27 PM
Virginia Commonwealth's new head coach is Shaka Smart, Kenyon College class of '99. One of his assistant coaches is Mike Rhoades, Lebanon Valley class of '94 and for ten years the head coach at Randolph-Macon. VCU's director of basketball operations is Kyle Getter, who has worked at both Wabash and Hanover. Go Rams!
Mike Rhoades' coach at Lebanon Valley, including the national championship team of 1994, was Pat Flannery who moved to his
alma mater, D1 Bucknell, beginning with the 1994-95 season. *
[BTW Mike graduated LVC in 1995.]-----------------------------------------------------------
* Flannery's coach at Bucknell was Jim Valvano. Valvano himself earlier had coached at D3 Johns Hopkins.
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 07, 2010, 08:00:09 PM
Mike Lonergan... coached Catholic to a national title in 2001... now is the head coach of Vermont (followed a legend!).
Lonergan is now HC at GW.
And I didn't see any mention of Gregg Marshall, first of Winthrop and then Wichita State fame ... Randy-Mac 85. *B-boy stance*
Quote from: K-Mack on September 18, 2012, 01:56:38 AM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 07, 2010, 08:00:09 PM
Mike Lonergan... coached Catholic to a national title in 2001... now is the head coach of Vermont (followed a legend!).
Lonergan is now HC at GW.
And I didn't see any mention of Gregg Marshall, first of Winthrop and then Wichita State fame ... Randy-Mac 85. *B-boy stance*
Well, it hadn't been posted in for more than 2-1/2 years, either. :)
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on October 04, 2009, 01:09:51 PM
Perhaps the most prominent link currently would be Wisconsin. Former coach Dick Bennett coached UW-SP (though they were then NAIA; he was NAIA COY in 1984). Bennett was succeeded in Madison by Bo Ryan, who won FOUR d3 national titles at UW-Platteville.
Bo Ryan played at Wilkes.
Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey attended Misericordia and graduated from Susquehanna.
The Head Coach of William and Mary is Tony Shaver, former head man at Hampden-Sydney.
First post here in 7 years. ;D
Just wanted to comment that the head coach of Sacred Heart men's basketball (NEC) is Anthony Latina, who played at Brandeis as the starting point guard for 4 seasons (first season was the ECAC New England championship season of 1991-92). He served as team captain for two seasons, and graduated from Brandeis in 1995. Anthony Latina is now in his seventh season as head coach of the Pioneers after serving as assistant coach for the same team.
Bucknell women's head coach Trevor Woodruff played and coached at Misericordia.
I went through every men's coach in D1 a few years back - there were like 80 of them who were grads of D3 schools. I'm sure it's changed a lot since then, but I bet the overall number is still pretty high.