Notables

When the Edgewood women’s basketball coaching position opened, one of the first people who called Casey Thousand to tell her about it was her mother. “She wanted to know if I’d applied yet, and I said, ‘Mom, it was only posted a few hours ago,’” said Thousand. The desire to be a head coach and the opportunity to do it close to her Barneveld, Wis., home certainly appealed to Thousand (and her mother). On Tuesday, Edgewood named Casey Thousand the 12th women’s basketball coach in school history.

She replaces Tola Neils, who resigned June 16 after compiling a 51-30 record in three seasons. Bethel head coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer and Division II Upper Iowa assistant Paul Brundson were the other two finalists for the position, according to an earlier school announcement.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” said Thousand. “It’s a good league and I think we can do well here in a very short amount of time. It’s going to be very exciting to be closer to home and have my family be able to come and see the games.”

Thousand comes to Edgewood after three years as an assistant coach at Carthage. Under head coach Tim Bernero, Thousand helped guide the Lady Reds to a 51-28 record and three consecutive appearances in the Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament. Last season, Carthage reached the title game falling to then unbeaten and top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan in the final.

“We are thrilled with the addition of Casey to our athletic staff,” said athletic director Al Brisack. “We think Casey has all the tools to be an outstanding head coach and we are excited to watch the program develop under her leadership.”

Thousand is no stranger to Edgewood or most members of the Northern Athletics Conference. She was a standout player for NATHC rival Lakeland from 2000 to 2004, earning all-conference recognition every season including a first team all-Lake Michigan Conference selection in 2003-04. From Lakeland, she joined the staff at MacMurray before moving on to Carthage. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sports and facility management from Lakeland and is completing her master’s degree in guidance and counseling at Carthage this month.

Edgewood will open the new season on November 16 at Elmhurst. Thousand will coach her first game at the Edgedome on Dec. 2 when the Eagles host Marian in a NATHC tilt. The Eagles are coming off a 19-8 season, their highest winning percentage in school history.

After a national search, Clarkson has named Mark Gilbride head coach. He replaces Adam Stockwell, who departed after five years at Clarkson and a 52- 77 record to take over the head coaching job at Oswego State.

Gilbride spent the past season at Yale where he helped guide the Bulldogs to a second place finish in the Ivy League. Gilbride previously served as an assistant coach at Division II Stonehill. In his one season as an assistant at Amherst in 2006-07, he aided the Lord Jeffs in recording a 30-2 record en route to the Division III national championship.

A 2002 graduate of Bowdoin with a degree in economics, Gilbride played with the Polar Bears before starting his coaching career as an assistant there. Gilbride spent three seasons as the first assistant and recruiting coordinator at Bowdoin where he helped recruit a class that broke the school record for wins (22-7). As a player, Gilbride was a team captain and starting point guard for the squad, leading the team in assists for three years in a row, and ranking seventh all-time in assists per game at Bowdoin.

"Mark has worked at some notable institutions, from his alma mater Bowdoin, one of the finest Division III schools in the northeast, to one of the great academic and historic universities in the country, Yale,” Clarkson athletic director Steve Yianoukos said. “I think that his time at those quality institutions has well prepared him for this position. I look forward to Mark taking over the Clarkson University men’s basketball program, and we fully expect that he will take the team to the next level after several fine seasons under former coach Adam Stockwell."

"I am thrilled to coach at Clarkson, a school with such strong academic and athletic tradition," Gilbride said. "Coach Stockwell has laid the groundwork for a strong basketball program. Now we will build on that foundation to create a team that can compete at the highest level of Division III basketball."

Mark Gilbride comes from a coaching family, as his father, Tim, has served as the head men's basketball coach at Bowdoin for the past 24 seasons, accumulating 337 wins and three NCAA Tournament appearances. His uncle, Kevin, has been an assistant coach in the NFL since 1989 and was the head coach for the San Diego Chargers in the late-1990s. He currently serves as the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants.