Notables

Kate Pearson has been named head women’s basketball coach at Cabrini. Pearson will take over leadership of the women’s basketball program July 1 following five seasons as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers.

“Kate’s experience as a phenomenal Division III player and as our assistant coach for the past several years makes this a perfect opportunity to promote a good person from within,” said athletic director Joe Giunta. “She excelled ... at the University of Scranton (as Kate Pierangeli) and has been a major part of our success as an assistant coach at Cabrini. The Cabrini women’s basketball program is in great hands with Kate.”

Pearson inherits a Cavaliers team that has captured two consecutive conference titles and has advanced to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. In 2008-09, Cabrini finished with 23 overall victories, the program’s highest win total since the 1994-95 season.

“I am ecstatic to become the head women’s basketball coach at Cabrini College,” Pearson said. “This program has experienced a great deal of growth and success the last few seasons and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”

Pearson joined the Cabrini sidelines in 2004-05 as an assistant to head coach Bobbi Morgan. In four seasons alongside Morgan, the Cavaliers posted a 66-41 overall record, captured one CSAC championship, advanced to one NCAA Tournament and appeared in two conference title games.

Last season, Pearson helped guide Cabrini to its second consecutive CSAC crown and trip to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Bernadette Laukaitis. The Cavaliers claimed the conference regular season title for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.

Pearson played four seasons at perennial Division III power Scranton under legendary head coach Mike Strong. With Pearson in the backcourt, the Lady Royals owned a 95-18 record, captured two Middle Atlantic Conference titles and appeared in three NCAA Tournaments.

Pearson was a three-time D3hoops.com All-Region selection and earned MAC First Team honors three times. She lists first all-time in program history in career three-point field goals made (181) and attempted (551). Pearson also ranks fourth all-time in assists (427), fourth in steals (263) and sixth in free-throw percentage (.742). She lists 11th all-time, scoring 1,292 career points.

Pearson was also a three-year letterwinner with the women’s lacrosse team at Scranton, winning two MAC crowns and appearing in two NCAA Tournaments. She was a three-time MAC First Team honoree. Pearson was named the Tom O’Hara Award recipient in 2004 as the school’s top female athlete.

Pearson’s ties to Cabrini extend well before her first season as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball team in 2004-05. Her mother, Dianne, coached the Cavalier women’s soccer team for nine seasons from 1993-2001.

Pearson graduated from Scranton in 2004 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in secondary education English at Cabrini. Kate and her husband, Mike, were married in May 2009 and reside in West Chester, Pa.

Bard and Rochester Tech will join the Liberty League as full members, beginning in the 2011-12 season. The announcement was made official today by Jim McLaughlin, Liberty League president.

“We’re delighted to welcome Bard and RIT into the Liberty League,” said McLaughlin. “Both of these outstanding institutions share the ideals of the Liberty League in terms of student-first philosophy and approaching intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the overall educational experience. We look forward to the contributions that Bard and RIT will make to the league, both academically and athletically.”

Bard is currently a member of the Skyline Conference, while RIT is in the Empire 8. Bard’s five-year record in men’s basketball is 25-101, 29-87 in women’s basketball and it will be the Raptors’ third conference affiliation in five seasons, after the school left the NEAC. Both Bard head coaching positions are currently open. RIT is 75-57 over the same period in men’s basketball, 43-73 in women’s basketball.

“Bard is very pleased to accept membership into the Liberty League, a long and well respected conference with a clear focus on the balance of the student-athlete experience,” said athletic director Kristen Hall. “Our academic profile blends nicely with that of the league’s membership and we look forward to the future experiences that our student-athletes will have with our peer institutions.”

“We are very pleased and honored to have gained acceptance in to the Liberty League,” said RIT athletic director Lou Spiotti. “The Liberty League is a premier NCAA Division III conference composed of colleges and universities with values and aspirations similar to those of RIT. This is a historic move for RIT and for our intercollegiate athletics programs and we look forward with great anticipation to our new association."

Rochester Tech sponsors Division I men’s ice hockey, as do several other Liberty League schools, and will maintain its Atlantic Hockey affiliation.

Dennis Collins, commissioner of the North Coast Athletic Conference passed away suddenly, Sunday, June 14, from a heart attack.

Collins became the conference's first and only commissioner when the league began its first playing season in 1984. For 25 years, he led one of the most successful conferences in all three divisions of the NCAA.

He was a respected national leader and has served as president of the NCAA Division III Commissioners Association, a group he helped to organize in 1989. From 1992-96, he served as a member of the NCAA Council, the national association’s equivalent of a board of directors. In the same period, he chaired the NCAA Dist. IV Postgraduate Scholarship Committee, served on the Division Special Restructuring Taskforce and in 1999, completed a six-year term on the NCAA Interpretations Committee. He was awarded the prestigious Meritorious Service Award from the Div. III Commissioners' Association in 2006. He was a founder of the Intercollegiate Officiating Association, a cooperative amongst 27 NCAA/NAIA colleges that provides regional officiating services. Collins served 17 years as that group’s chief administrator. He served on Presidential Advisory/Visiting Committees at both Carnegie Mellon and Bates. He also served on the Games Committee of five Kickoff & Pigskin Classics, college football's opening games, between 1984 and 2002. Over the years, Collins guided two membership expansions of the NCAC -- one in 1988, adding Earlham and Wittenberg, and the most recent, the addition of Hiram and Wabash in 1998.

Prior to coming to the NCAC, Collins served five years as communications director for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He also was sports information director/athletic-alumni director at Case Western Reserve and news director/sports information director at Otterbein. For an eight-year period, he operated his own firm, Collins Communications, which provided public relations and photographic services to regional and national clients such as the National Football League.

He was a graduate of Ohio State with an undergraduate degree in journalism and served four years in the U.S. Coast Guard. He is survived by his wife Jeanne, and three grown children, Jennifer, Kate and Michael, as well as his mother, sister, brother and their families.

Cornell rising senior Chris Handke was selected Thursday by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 41st round of the Major League Baseball draft, even though he's had far more success as a center for the Rams than a pitcher.

Handke is 6-11, 235, and was taken No. 1,237 overall. Although the right-hander pitched in just six games this season and compiled a 15.19 ERA, the Dodgers saw something they liked.

"I had talked with the Dodgers before the draft," Handke said. "I thought there was a decent chance they would take me, but you never know how things will work out. ... I checked online after lunch and that's when I found out. The Dodgers called (Thursday) night around 10. It's definitely exciting."

Handke, one of 19 Division III baseball players drafted, drew attention from scouts last month at the Perfect Game USA showcase event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where his fastball topped out at 93 miles per hour. Handke said he started to get phone calls two or three days after the showcase.

In three seasons at Cornell, Handke has made 17 appearances on the mound, including two starts. He has a career 10.12 ERA with 25 walks and 11 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.

Handke is better known on the basketball court. A second team all-IIAC center, Handke helped lead the 2008-09 Rams to the conference tournament title and a berth in the Division III NCAA Tournament. He averaged 9.8 points and 6.3 rebounds and set a single-season school record with 45 blocks.

"I enjoy both sports," Handke said. "I've always had people tell me that because of my height and I can throw the ball hard at times that I had a lot of upside and potential in baseball. It's something I'm obviously interested in doing."

Handke said he has until the middle of August to negotiate a contract with the Dodgers, but he plans to return to Cornell for his senior year.

"I told the Dodgers that I want to finish my degree at Cornell and complete my basketball career." said Handke, who carries a 3.9 GPA with a major in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Alverno coach Brad Duckworth, sophomore Alicia Kontowski and Centenary junior guard Kristen Camuso represented the USA on a 10-day, four-game tour of Italy. The tour was organized by American International Sports Tours.

The first game of the tour was an exhibition game played near Florence, Italy on Thursday, May 28, against a B1 level team where the American team fell 84-80.

“This was our first experience with international play. The physical style surprised us a little,” Duckworth said.

Two days later near Venice the American team got things moving in the right direction with a 71-47 victory, led by Kontowski’s game-high 21 points, in the first of the friendly competition games.

“Alicia played great and our team really figured out how to match the intensity and play of the Italians. Once we had our first win we knew that we could handle ourselves,” Duckworth said.

“Playing in Italy was extremely different than playing in the U.S.,” said Camuso. “They have so many different rules so it took a little while to get used to things, for example there are only 24 seconds on the shot clock, the paint is a different shape and rules for traveling are also different.

On June 1, the team traveled to San Marino for the semifinal game facing another B1 level team. The American team rolled to a 72-59 victory. Kontowski continued her hot shooting pouring in 15, including three three-pointers.

With only five players available for the third game, five Italian players joined the squad to play a B1 team. Camuso finished with seven as her team pulled out the victory. The final contest of the trip came against an all-star lineup of the A2 and B1 Italian teams.

“Our team really came out inspired to win this thing. It was a great 6 minutes of basketball but then the length of the week and tired legs hit us for a while,” Duckworth said. “We talked at halftime about finding a way to push through it.”

After a back and forth third quarter the American team found itself down three with two minutes to play in the game. Following a timeout the American team, which also included former Susquehanna guard Ashley Polcovich and Baptist Bible's Holly Walton, was boosted by a layup by Camuso, the 2009 NCAA Division III leader in 3-point field goals per game.

Trailing by one the American team created a turnover that led to Camuso getting fouled. Camuso went 2-for-2 at the foul line to put the team up one.

Needing another big defensive series the American team once again came up with a stop as Kontowski snatched a defensive rebound with seven seconds remaining. She was immediately fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line to increase the lead to two. The 40-foot last second attempt by the Italian team fell short as the American team won 86-84. Kontowski finished with nine points in the final.

"I got to see and experience things I never thought I'd get to see," Camuso said, "and if anyone gets a chance to play overseas as I did I would highly recommend it.”

Brian Wilson, associate head coach at Holy Cross, has been named women's basketball head coach at Connecticut College. Wilson, a 2000 graduate of Virginia, spent six years with the Crusader program in the Patriot League, handling the role of recruiting coordinator for the past five seasons.

Wilson replaces Laura Hungerford, who stepped down after eight seasons with the program. She went 65-121 (.349), 7-65 (.097) in the NESCAC.

"Connecticut College has a strong history of academic and athletic achievement," Wilson said. "I hope to add to that legacy by taking the women's basketball program to a new level of competition."

At Holy Cross, Wilson's teams earned NCAA Tournament berths in 2005 and 2007, reaching the Patriot League championship game for four consecutive years from 2005-2008. Wilson earned a reputation as an effective and tireless recruiter. In 2007, Wilson's recruiting class was recognized by the Blue Star Basketball Report in its honorable mention category. Wilson was responsible for recruiting Briana McFadden, the 2008 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.

In 2007, Wilson was elevated to the position of associate head coach, becoming just the second coach at the college to hold that title in the past 24 years. Prior to Holy Cross, Wilson spent two years as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky. In 2003, the Hilltoppers captured the Sun Belt Conference Crown, securing a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Wilson earned his master's in history at WKU in 2006.

At Connecticut College, Wilson will return to the NESCAC, the league that launched his coaching career. In 2000-2001, Wilson landed his first job at Williams as an intern with the men's and women's programs.

Fran Shields, Connecticut College's athletic director and chair of physical education, is impressed with Wilson's experience recruiting and developing talent at highly competitive academic institutions.

"Brian has a strong background recruiting and developing student-athletes capable of succeeding on and off the court," Shields said. "His experience in the Patriot League and the NESCAC will be an advantage as he begins to lead our program. We're all excited about the impact Brian will have on our student-athletes."

Emily Cummings, a rising senior co-captain and member of the NESCAC All-Academic Team, is looking forward to Wilson's arrival in New London.

"After meeting with Coach Wilson, the team is excited about the positive direction that he has in store for our program," Cummings said. "There seems to be a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm about Connecticut College women's basketball."

UW-Platteville conducted an extensive national search for its 13th men’s basketball coach, but as it turned out, the ideal candidate was already on the Pioneer bench.

Jeff Gard was introduced as the head coach Tuesday in front of a large gathering in the Pioneer Student Center. He moves to the head coaching position after serving as a Pioneer assistant for the previous six seasons. He spent the last two as the associate head coach under Paul Combs, who left for Division II Wayne State (Neb.).

“We had a really good pool of candidates, and Jeff rose to the top,” UW-Platteville athletic director Mark Molesworth said. “His tireless hard work and efforts over the last six years have helped the Pioneers return to the NCAA III playoffs. We’re very confident he can continue that as a head coach. He truly is a member of the Pioneer family, as he has his undergraduate and master’s degrees from UW-Platteville and has also worked in the admissions office. He is in a great position to carry the Pioneer message forward.”

During Gard’s six seasons at his alma mater, the Pioneers were 103-56, won the 2004-05 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, beat Division I Bradley 84-79 in an exhibition game, earned the school’s first national number one ranking (in December 2008) in 10 seasons, and made the 2009 Division III NCAA Tournament, the school’s first berth since winning its fourth national championship in 1989-99. The Pioneers advanced to the second round of the 2009 playoffs, beating Hope 83-59 before falling to host Wheaton (Ill.) 74-69 in overtime.

"I am humble and excited to be able to take this next step in my career and lead this storied program," he said. "I know there are a lot of eyes on Platteville as a result of what these young men accomplished last year as well as the rich tradition that has gone before us. I am honored to be associated with the great tradition in both athletics and academics at UW-Platteville and this great community. We do not make a whole lot of promises, but we make commitments; commitments that this will be about players first."

Gard was an assistant at Lakeland for two seasons, helping the Muskies to a 35-18 record and back-to-back Lake Michigan Conference championships.

The Iowa-Grant native and UWP graduate spent three seasons as an assistant coach at one of Wisconsin’s prep powerhouses, Cuba City, under legendary coach Jerry Petitgoue, and one year at Southwestern High School.

Gard graduated from UW-Platteville in 2001 with a Bachelor’s in physical and health education and earned his master’s in education at UW-Platteville in 2005.

He is the younger brother of former UWP assistant coach and current Wisconsin associate head coach Greg Gard, who attended the introductory news conference.

"Our goal for this program is simple: to make Platteville and Southwest Wisconsin proud of this team, proud of their program, of their work on the court and our integrity off the court," the new coach said. "I can't wait to get started!"

Pete Barry, the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach at the Coast Guard Academy, has announced his retirement.

The Bears went 12-13 this past season, 4-8 in the NEWMAC.

Barry, who coached at the both the high school and college level for a combined 40 years, posted a record of 262-216 (.548) in 19 years at Coast Guard and finishes his collegiate career with a record of 413-315 (.567) in 27 seasons.

He led the Bears to the greatest season in school history in 2007-08, when the team won a school-record 24 games and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bears won their second straight New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference tournament championship that season. They won the program’s first NEWMAC tournament championships in the 2006-07 after finishing in last place during the regular season. He was named the D3hoops.com Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 2007-08.

Barry led the Bears to three Constitution Athletic Conference championships (1991, 1994, 1995) and three berths in the ECAC tournament (1994, 1995, 2006) during his career at the Academy.

He led his alma mater, the University of San Francisco to a 49-13 record and back-to-back NCAA Division I Tournament appearances in 1980 and 1981.Barry also was head coach at Southern Oregon for six seasons before arriving at Coast Guard. He posted a 102-86 record and led the team to the playoffs four times.

He was inducted into the University of San Francisco Hall of Fame in 2003 for baseball and the Daly City Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

Barry also coached baseball at Coast Guard for seven seasons (2000-2006) where he won 115 games and led the Bears to the first postseason win in school history, an ECAC win in 2002. He led the team to the NEWMAC tournament championship game three times (2000, 2001 and 2003). He earned NEWMAC Coach of the Year honors in 2001.

Frostburg State has accepted an invitation to become a member of the Capital Athletic Conference, it was announced by FSU president Jonathan Gibralter and Capital Athletic Conference commissioner Tom Byrnes. Frostburg will become an official member of the league on July 1, 2010, and start athletic competition that fall.

The school, which is 150 miles from Washington in the Maryland panhandle, has been talked about as a potential CAC member since the mid-1990s. The Bobcats currently compete as the southernmost member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

“The Capital Athletic Conference Board of Directors is thrilled to offer CAC membership to Frostburg State University, an institution that not only fits our philosophical makeup but also offers a highly competitive array of intercollegiate athletic teams,” Sullivan said.

Frostburg returns the league's membership to nine schools, following the departure of Gallaudet, which D3sports.com announced last week
"Entry into the CAC represents a new era for Frostburg State athletics that will improve our competitiveness and expand our range of sports," Gibralter said. "In addition, the schools that represent the CAC are in our recruitment area, making it easier for FSU to attract student-athletes and for their families to watch their sons and daughters participate in intercollegiate athletics. We will miss the AMCC. It is an outstanding, competitive conference, but this is best for our students.”

The change will give the CAC four state schools (Frostburg State, Salisbury, St. Mary's, Md. and Mary Washington) and five private schools (Hood, Marymount, Stevenson, Wesley and York, Pa.).

Hope led Division III in men’s and women’s basketball attendance according to statistics provided by the NCAA. The Flying Dutchmen drew 43,319 spectators over 16 games for an average attendance of 2,696. Hope has taken the men’s attendance crown every year since 2002 when it finished second to Calvin.

On the women’s side the Flying Dutch had 21,581 spectators over 17 games for an average attendance of 1,269. The Hope men went 14-2 and the women 17-0 at the DeVos Fieldhouse, which seats 3,400 and hosted the 2008 and 2009 women’s national semifinal and championship games.

Hope’s archrival Calvin also drew plenty of people to check out the new VanNoord Arena, which opened in midseason. The Knights finished second in men’s average attendance with 2,553 and third in women’s average attendance behind UW-Eau Claire (1,055) with 1,053. In the first regular season home game played at VanNoord, the Calvin set a new single game women’s attendance record with 4,395 watching the Knights’ 71-65 double overtime victory over Trine. The previous high (4,356) was set by Howard Payne in an NCAA tournament second-round victory over Chapman in 2007.

Wooster, Wheaton (Ill.), UW-Stevens Point, Puget Sound, Illinois Wesleyan, Maryville (Tenn.), Carthage and Christopher Newport rounded out the men's top ten, while the MIAA took the conference title with an average attendance of 1,059. The NCAA tournament drew a total attendance of 50,563 and the average regular season home game attendance was 802. Men's attendance figures

Bowdoin, Illinois Wesleyan, George Fox, NYU, McMurry, UW-Stout and Mount Union rounded out the top 10 for women’s attendance. The WIAC took the conference title with an average attendance of 501. The NCAA tournament drew a total attendance of 40,614 and the average home game attendance including the tournament was 239. Women's attendance release

Finlandia and Maine-Presque Isle were not included in the men’s attendance figures. UC Santa Cruz, Crown, Elmira, Finlandia, Ithaca, La Roche, Maine Maritime, Maine-Presque Isle, Pitt.-Bradford, Sewanee, Spelman and Waynesburg were not included in the women’s figures because they did not provide complete information. Pomona-Pitzer credited itself with an average of more than 2,200 men's fans this past season, but a study of the individual games figures by D3sports.com suggests the number was excessively inflated.