D3hoops.com: Notables

Cabrini is telling its 476-game-winning head coach that his services are no longer needed.

John Dzik, the only men's basketball coach in the history of the college, was told he is not having his coaching contract renewed. “I received a letter from Dr. (Christine) Lysionek (vice president for student development) on the 4th of January that in fact said the school had decided to not renew my contract, but no reasons were given.

“The bottom line is, it doesn't look like I have a job as coach after this year.”

Dzik made the announcement on the season-opening edition of Hoopsville.

Dzik helped oversee Cabrini's transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division III, was the driving force in the creation of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference and got a state-of-the-art arena built for the college. His teams are 476-207, a .697 winning percentage, and he expected to be at Cabrini long enough to reach the 500-win milestone. He is currently ninth in wins among active Division III coaches, 19th all-time.

“I was director of athletics here for a long time,” Dzik said, “and at the request of the president (Antoinette Iadarola), I moved into this new position (Special Assistant to the President for Athletic Advancement) and one of the things that she and I both agreed upon was that I was certainly going to stay until I achieved 500 wins as a Cabrini College head coach.

“So if anyone else is surprised, guess what, I'm the most surprised by this decision, because I thought I had her commitment to do that.”

Dzik, 54, is not ready to hang it up. “I still do want to coach. I'm certainly not ready to retire, so if the school is trying to pass this off as I'm retiring from athletics, that is not the case.”

For more, check out a story in the Delaware County Times.