Bill Finney was announced as the interim athletic director at Maine Maritime Academy. Finney, who retired in June after 27 years as the women’s basketball coach and 20 years as the athletic director at Marymount, will serve in that position till the beginning of October and is charged with finding a permanent director as well as overseeing the day-to-day operations of the athletic department.

“I said going into this position, that we would only take it if we could help the coaches and student-athletes at Maine Maritime,” said Finney. “Jim Dyer, the former AD at MMA, did an outstanding job at MMA and put together an extremely hard-working and productive staff.”

Finney left an impressive record behind at Marymount, where he and his teams amassed 553 wins over 27 seasons, 11 conference championships and 16 trips to the NCAA postseason tournament including a Final Four appearance in 2002, one other Elite 8 finish and seven other Sweet 16s. He also oversaw the Saints’ addition of men’s golf, men and women’s cross country and women’s lacrosse as varsity sports. He was one of the founders of the Capital Athletic Conference and served as its first president.

Finney is being assisted in the position by his wife Judy, who was the Sports Information Director, Senior Women’s Administrator at Marymount for the past 13 years.

A national search is underway for the Director of Athletics at Maine Maritime Academy.

Lynchburg athletic director Jack Toms announced Monday that former LC standout Abby Pyzik will return to the school as the head women’s basketball coach. She replaces Stephanie Tobey, who took an assistant job at Division I Fordham after compiling a 49-80 record in five seasons.

Pyzik, a 2004 graduate, has been an assistant at neighboring Washington & Lee the last two seasons. The Generals captured the conference title last year and made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Pyzik also served as an assistant coach for Division I Davidson for three years, helping the Wildcats to a program-best 23-9 record in the 2006-07 campaign. She started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oakland City University, a Division II program in Indiana.

Pyzik, a two-time first-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference performer at Lynchburg, was a team captain for three seasons. The Hornets had three winning seasons in her four years, and she is fourth in school history with 1,122 career points. The former point guard ranks in the top five in eight different career statistical categories, including holding the program record for assists (373) and three-point shooting percentage (38.7%). She was a second-team all-state selection in 2003 and 2004 and was voted the Lynchburg College Senior Female Athlete of the Year in 2004. She graduated from LC with a bachelor's degree in athletic training and is on track to earn a master's in sports leadership from Virginia Commonwealth this winter.

“Words cannot describe the unbelievable honor it is to return home to one’s alma mater,” said Pyzik. “As an alum, I understand what it takes to be a successful student-athlete both on and off the court. I am excited to re-energize the atmosphere of enthusiasm and establish a winning tradition within the women’s basketball program. I would like to extend my thanks to President Garren, Dr. Toms, and the entire Lynchburg community for the incredible opportunity to lead this program to a new level. There is no doubt that with a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication Lynchburg will grow to be a top competitor in the ODAC year in and year out.”

“We are very happy to turn the women’s basketball program over to Abby,” said Toms. “She has great experience and has proven she is ready to run her own team. Abby knows what it takes to win at this level and is very familiar with the school and conference.”

Plymouth State has filled the vacancy in its men's basketball office with the announcement of a new head coach to take over the Panther program.

Damien Strahorn, an assistant coach at Columbia the past four years, has been named the 12th head coach in the 64-year history of the Panther men's basketball program. Strahorn is a former all-star player at Colby, where he also served four years as an assistant coach before joining the staff at Columbia. Strahorn takes over from John Scheinman, who stepped down in May to take a position in PSU's Advancement office. Scheinman had a record of 164-110 at Plymouth State, 229-149 overall. The Panthers were 16-11 this past season.

"I am honored to be selected as the next head men's basketball coach at Plymouth State University," said Strahorn. "I am excited to tackle the challenges of building a championship-level program. Coach Scheinman has done an excellent job during his 10-year tenure, and I am excited to begin working with our players and the campus community to build on the past successes of the program. I'm confident we can work together to elevate the program to new heights."

Strahorn was the longest-tenured assistant coach at Columbia on the staff of former head coach Joe Jones. They coached the Lions to the most Ivy League wins for Columbia during a three-year span since 1994 and helped them tie for most wins in one season in 30 years with a 16-12 mark in 2006-07. Strahorn was named interim head coach at Columbia last April when Jones left to become the associate head coach at Boston College.

"We are excited to welcome Damien Strahorn as our new head men's basketball coach," said PSU athletic director John Clark. "Our search committee had a very difficult decision because there were a number of outstanding candidates, but Damien emerged as the clear choice. He is extremely knowledgeable and qualified in all areas of coaching basketball, and we look forward to him leading our men's basketball program and being a member of the Plymouth community."

In the four years Strahorn was at Columbia, the team had its best four-year record since 1980. Strahorn went to Columbia after serving as an assistant for four years at Colby under veteran under coach Dick Whitmore.

"I would specifically like to thank John Clark and the committee members for the tremendous opportunity they have offered me," added Strahorn. "I would also like to thank two Plymouth State alumni, Seth Peloso and Nick Pelotte, for their help and support through the process. It is apparent that the basketball program already has a strong alumni base and I look forward to meeting and working with as many alumni as possible."

A native of Menlo Park, Calif., Strahorn graduated from Colby in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in economics and a minor in administrative services. As a two-year player at Colby, Strahorn was captain of the men's basketball team and was named First Team All-NESCAC and D3hoops.com Second Team All-Region after averaging 22.9 points per game in his senior season.

SUNY-Maritime has announced the appointment of athletic director Dick Hack as men's basketball coach.

Hack replaces Jody King, who was let go after three seasons in which he compiled a 47-35 record, including a 19-8 mark this past season. King inherited a team that had gone 4-21 the previous year and was 21-103 in the previous five years.

Hack has previously been a head coach at Tri-State (now Trine) and Medaille. Hack's last two years as coach were at Medaille, were the program compiled a 4-46 record, his only two seasons at the helm.

Hack joined the Maritime staff as athletic director in 2008, after a stint as athletic director at Pitt-Greensburg. He has been involved with coaching basketball on the collegiate level for over 25 years, serving as a head coach for 19 years. He graduated from New Paltz State in 1974 and has a master's degree from Indiana.

Eastern athletic director Brad Fields announced the hiring of Nate Davis as women's basketball coach. Davis is charged with the task of building the women's basketball program into a perennial contender in the MAC Freedom and the region.

Davis replaces Katie Levis, who was 19-53 in three seasons as head coach.

Though the job will be his first as a head coach, Davis is no stranger to the building process. In his ten years as an assistant coach, he has played an integral role in turning a pair of programs around. Davis comes to Eastern from the South Carolina-Aiken, where he served as an assistant in the men's program under Vince Alexander. In his five years in Aiken, the Pacers improved from a team near the bottom of the Peach Belt Conference to a top 25 team in NCAA Division II.

Fields pointed to Davis' experience in building programs and his talents as a recruiter and teacher as important factors in the decision to bring him to Eastern: "In addition to his obvious talent as a coach, I can attest to Nate’s outstanding characteristics as a human being. As the parent of a young daughter, I can think of no one better my wife and I would rather our daughter play for that Nate, and to me, that's the ultimate compliment."

While the Eagles are scheduled to return the bulk of their scoring and several key young players for the 2010-11 season, Davis will have work to do in building the Eastern program into a top team. Eastern finished the 2009-10 campaign at 7-17 with a 1-13 mark in the league. Fields, however, believes that Davis has the ability to do it. Prior to his time in South Carolina, Davis worked with Alexander at Division II Mansfield, where they helped the Mountaineers to improve from a nine win team to a PSAC contender. As part of both rebuilding efforts, Davis has earned a reputation as a tireless and effective recruiter.

Fields, who was able to observe Davis at work when he was at USC Aiken, commented, "It was just a matter of time before this outstanding coach got a chance to lead his own program and I feel truly blessed that we are able to give him that opportunity."

Two Division I schools in Louisiana got the final go-ahead to begin reclassifying into Division III as a result of approval from the Division III Management Council.

The University of New Orleans and Centenary (La.) are on the road to joining the largest division in the NCAA, with 432 member institutions and nearly two dozen more in the pipeline.

UNO plans to add three sports in time for the 2011-12 academic year, and expects to make an announcement in the fall about which new teams it will field.

"We have received a lot of positive feedback from the community each time the possibility of adding football, women's golf and women's soccer at UNO comes up in conversation," said interim athletic director Amy Champion. "Adding sports is always an exciting process and one that our campus has embraced."

In 2010-11, the University will sponsor teams in nine sports, of which five are men's and four are women's. These teams will compete as an NCAA Division I Independent Transitioning to Division III. UNO last competed as NCAA Division I Independent in 1975-76 and again from 1980-1987.

Additionally, UNO has established a partnership with Texas-Dallas, which will serve as a mentor during the reclassification process.

Founded in 1961, UT-Dallas is a public research institution with an undergraduate enrollment of more than 9,800 students that competes in the American Southwest Conference. The ASC is a Division III conference that includes members in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

"It is our pleasure to work in collaboration with everyone at the University of New Orleans in their pursuit of transitioning from Division I to Division III," said UT-Dallas athletic director Chris Gage. "We feel that part of our collegiality is to assist and nurture institutions as best we can in such endeavors; it strengthens the division as well as the industry to welcome like institutions into our organizations."

New England Collegiate Conference commissioner Del Malloy announced that Regis will become the tenth member of the conference at the close of the 2010-11 academic year. Regis will be the first full-time member added by the NECC since its inception in the fall of 2008.

Regis was one of two schools remaining from the breakup of the Commonwealth Coast Conference, which saw nine of its members split off earlier this summer to form a new league.

"The NECC is proud to welcome Regis College as the tenth full-time member of the conference," said Malloy. "Their commitment to the student-athlete, sportsmanship and equity along with a broad-based athletics program makes them compatible to our existing members in every way."

"I am delighted," said Regis President Mary Jane England, MD, "that the New England Collegiate Conference Athletic Directors and Conference Presidents have confirmed Regis as a full-time member of NECC. The Conference's commitment to the whole student-athlete, particularly with regard to academic achievement and sportsmanship, is deeply compatible with our educational values at Regis. In addition," she continued, "Regis students and coaches are looking forward to welcoming NECC members to our splendid new athletic facilities and letting the games begin!"

The NECC currently sponsors conference championships in 14 sports: baseball, men's and women's Basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's volleyball. Women's lacrosse will be added as a conference sport in 2012.

Regis sponsors 17 sports, seven for men and 10 for women, and will compete in all conference sports with the exception of Baseball.

"Competing within the NECC is a great opportunity for Regis," said Regis athletic director Marybeth Lamb. "The NECC offers a great fit athletically and promotes, as we do, sportsmanship and equity. I'm looking forward to Regis competing for a conference championship very soon."

The New England Collegiate Conference has just completed its second year of operation. Current members include: Bay Path, Becker, Daniel Webster, Elms, Lesley, Mitchell, Newbury, Southern Vermont and Wheelock.

Stephanie Tobey announced her resignation as the Lynchburg head women's basketball coach to assume an assistant position at Division I Fordham.

Tobey will return to the Northeast after a basketball and lacrosse collegiate career at Division II Bryant and a two-year head coaching stint at Lasell. She completed her master's of education from Lynchburg in the spring of 2009.

The Hornets were 49-80 in Tobey's five seasons, 41-59 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Her teams' best campaign was in 2007-08, with a 16-10 finish, 13-7 in league play. LC advanced to the ODAC Tournament in her last four seasons.

"We appreciate the time and effort that Stephanie has put into the Hornet women's basketball program," said athletic director Jack Toms. "We wish her the best of luck with her new opportunity at Fordham."

Hendrix announced the hiring of Emily Cummins as women's basketball coach. Cummins, who won a Division III national championship as a player at Wilmington, comes to Hendrix after a three-year stint as an assistant at LaGrange.

Cummins, a Springfield, Ohio native, accepts her first head coaching position with excitement and eagerness. "I am thrilled for the opportunity to be the new head coach for the Hendrix College women's basketball team," stated Cummins. "I am very excited to get started and continue building on the success that the team and Coach McCracken had last season. I could not ask for a better place than Hendrix College to accept my first role as a head coach and I look forward to continuing the tradition that has already begun."

Cummins assisted under last season's Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) Coach of the Year Mark Isenhour and was a key component in turning a sub .500 level program in 2007-08 (11-15) into a conference contender in 2009-10 (18-8). The Panthers qualified for the GSAC Semifinals last year and finished second in the league with a 12-2 league mark.

Cummins spent the majority of her time on the court coaching the guards and has proven her value with back-to-back Panther guards earning GSAC Freshman of the Year awards. Throughout her coaching career, Cummins has guided a total of 17 all-conference players, including five of the Ohio Athletic Conference's OAC top 18 leading scorers.

Cummins is a 2004 Wilmington graduate. She had an outstanding career with the Lady Quakers, ending with a NCAA D-III National Championship her senior year. Cummins senior season was preceded by two NCAA Tournament appearances that included trips to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Cummins also won three OAC championships over her four years and was named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA D-III Sectional Tournament in 2004.

"Emily is a promising coach who is ready to begin her career as a head basketball coach, and we think she is a great fit to continue the success of our women's basketball program," says Danny Powell, Hendrix athletic director. "She has tremendous experience as both an assistant coach at solid NCAA Division III programs, and also as a player, where she was part of a national championship team. Emily understands the values and goals of our college and our athletic program, and we're excited for her to get to campus to begin work with our student-athletes."

Cummins earned her bachelor's in Sports Management from Wilmington before garnering her master's in Business Administration from Otterbein in 2007. She spent time as an Instructor of Health and Physical Education at Otterbein and was also a Freshman First Year Orientation Instructor at LaGrange.

Colby-Sawyer and New England College will join the North Atlantic Conference effective the fall of 2011, following a mass exodus of membership earlier this year that saw nine members of The Commonwealth Coast Conference break away to form a new league.

"The North Atlantic Conference Presidents Council is pleased both Colby-Sawyer College and New England College will be joining the conference," chairperson for the Presidents Council and Maine-Farmington president Theodora Kalikow said. "Both institutions clearly share the commitment to academic excellence and to the NCAA Division III philosophy of the existing NAC members making this an excellent fit for all involved."

The addition of Colby-Sawyer and New England College will bring the number of full member institutions to 10 and marks the first change in membership for the NAC since the addition of Green Mountain and Lyndon State in the fall of 2008. The two New Hampshire schools bridge a gap in the conference footprint that currently includes four institutions in Maine and four institutions in Vermont.

Beginning in the fall of 2011, both schools will take part in nine NAC championships; men's and women's basketball, men's and women’s cross country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer and women’s lacrosse. Colby-Sawyer will also compete in women’s volleyball and men’s tennis while New England College will compete in men’s lacrosse and softball.

The North Atlantic Conference members sponsoring baseball and women’s tennis, currently compete in the North Eastern Athletic Conference for those sports. Both New England College and Colby-Sawyer will join this existing partnership in baseball and Colby-Sawyer will also compete with the NEAC as an associate member in women’s tennis.

"From a sport sponsorship and geographic standpoint, Colby-Sawyer and New England College are the perfect additions to our already strong Conference," Commissioner Julie Muller indicated. "I have no doubt they will each make a seamless transition into the NAC and their student-athletes will continue to have the outstanding experiences to which they are accustomed.

Curry, Endicott, Gordon, Nichols, Roger Williams, Salve Regina, University of New England, Wentworth and Western New England broke from the CCC to form a new league, while Anna Maria will be joining the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Eastern Nazarene and Regis (Mass.) have not announced plans for a new affiliation.