Jeff Hironaka, Head Coach
Seattle Pacific University
www.spu.edu

For so many years he was the man behind the scenes. Now, Jeff Hironaka is the front man for Seattle Pacific University basketball and, if his first four seasons at the helm is any indication, the Falcons figure to be one of the top NCAA Division II programs for years and years to come.

Hironaka, who was instrumental in establishing SPU as a regional and national force, pushed his first team into the NCAA tournament faster than any of his predecessors. Last season, in his fourth as head coach, Hironaka’s Falcons won 26 games and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, and matched the best NCAA tournament advancement, reaching the semifinal round of the Elite Eight.

Hironaka was voted both the GNAC coach of the year and the West Region coach of the year by the NABC.

It came as no surprise that Hironaka restored the program to prominence. His 16-11 record in 2002-03 was the second-best debut season in the program’s modern history. In his third year, SPU made the NCAA tournament. Going into the 2006-07 season, his teams have won 76 of 115 games.

Hironaka was promoted to head coach Apr. 30, 2002, replacing Ken Bone, who resigned after 12 years to accept a position at the University of Washington. Hironaka had been Bone’s top assistant for 11 years.

During his tenure at Seattle Pacific, Hironaka has proven vital in the Falcons’ rise to national prominence. With him on the bench , they have gone312-126, earned six outright or shared conference championships and have qualified for NCAA Division II tournament berths 10 of the last 13 years. In 2000, the Falcons reached the Final Four for the first time.

“SPU could not find a more knowledgeable or dedicated person to take the reins of our program,” said athletic director Tom Box, whose coaching search started and finished with Hironaka. “Jeff is the type of person who gives everything he has to his work. For 11 years he was loyal, tireless and intelligent in how he supported Coach Bone, the players and the men’s basketball program. He’s also a Christian coach who strives to present a positive role model to his athletes. That’s important to SPU.”

“When I first discussed the opportunity with him, I could see the fire in his eyes and it was obvious he felt ready. We all believe Jeff will light a fire in this program as it begins a new era.”

“This is my first choice of where I’d like to be head coach,” said Hironaka, who had coordinated the team’s defensive strategies and recruiting under Bone. “I’ve invested a great deal of time and effort in helping to build this program and I‘d like to continue the job and finish it by bringing home a national championship at some point in time.”

Hironaka is believed to be only the active Japanese-American head coach of a four-year program. Of the last seven head coaches hired by Seattle Pacific, six (including Hironaka) had previously served as assistants at the school. His 11-year run as Bone’s chief aide was the longest of any assistant in program history.

Hironaka has over 20 years of bench experience and an extensive network of contacts in the college game. He has coordinated the team defensive strategies, along with the program’s recruiting, travel and correspondence with opponents. Hironaka joined Bone’s staff in 1991 and became the associate head coach in 1996.

Before coming to SPU, Hironaka had three years of experience at the Division I level. He served on the staff at Idaho State from 1987-90, and later was an assistant and assistant athletic director at The Master’s College in Newhall, California. While at Idaho State he completed his master’s in sports administration.

A native of Weiser, Idaho, Hironaka began his coaching career in earnest in the prep ranks, beginning at his old high school as coach of the junior varsity and varsity assistant in 1980. In 1986 he became head coach at Idaho’s Ririe High School, and moved to Blackfoot High the following year.

Hironaka was also an accomplished player, lettering three seasons at Eastern Oregon, where he obtained his degree in secondary education in 1980. He was a member of the team’s coaching staff in 1979-80. In high school, he was an all-Snake River Conference selection at guard at Weiser. An avid runner, he is single and resides in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood.

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Geno Ford
Muskingum College
www.muskingum.edu

Geno Ford, Ohio’s Mr. Basketball of 1993 and a 1,700 career-point scorer for Ohio University, is entering his first season as head basketball coach.

Ford, who was assistant basketball coach at Kent State University from 2002-2005, helped guide the Golden Flashes to a 64-31 overall record, which included three straight 20-win seasons, two Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Division titles, two appearances in the MAC Tournament Championship game and three consecutive postseason appearances in the National Invitation Tournament.

Prior to arriving at Kent State, Ford had a successful year as head coach at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, where he led the team to a 22-10 record and second-place finish in the American Mideast Conference (AMC) in 2002. The 22-win record was a 10-game improvement from the 2001 season for the Bears. For his efforts, he was named the AMC Coach of the Year.

Prior to his responsibilities at Shawnee State, Ford was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Ohio University, for two seasons (1999-2001) and a graduate assistant for one year (1998-99) as well. During that time, the Bobcats posted a record of 57-34.

During his OU playing days (1993-97), Ford finished with 1,752 career points and was named to the All-MAC First Team as a senior after garnering second-team accolades as a junior. The Bobcats also made one appearance in both the NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament.

Ford holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from Ohio University in 1997 and a master’s degree in athletic administration from the school in 1999.

The Cambridge, Ohio, native was named “Mr. Basketball” by the Ohio Associated Press in 1993. His father, Muskingum alumnus Gene Ford (’74), recently retired as head boys basketball coach at Cambridge High School. Ford is married to the former Traci Lyons. The couple have two sons, Darin (9) and David (1).

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David McLaughlin
Stonehill College
www.stonehill.edu

David McLaughlin has earned many things in his life, from his standout high school career at Boston College High School to his solid career collegiately at Colby College. His tenure as an assistant coach at three different institutions earned him many other accolades, but none were as important as credibility and respect, and those two facets have prepared him well as he enters his third season as Head Men's Basketball Coach at Stonehill College.

A native of Brockton, Mass., McLaughlin becomes the 12th individual to serve in the position as Head Men's Basketball Coach in the College's 56-year history of the sport, as he guided Stonehill to five Northeast-10 Conference victories (the team's highest league win total in three years) during his 17-game tenure as the interim coach. Of those 17 games under McLaughlin's watch, 13 were decided by eight points or less, as the Skyhawks narrowly missed qualifying for the conference tournament and in the process knocked off a nationally-ranked opponent (Saint Rose) for the first time in five years. During the 04-'05 season, McLaughlin coached a 20-win squad, an 11-win improvement from the previous year. 2005 graduate Dezmond Morgan became the first 1,000-point player under McLaughlin as a head coach. McLaughlin assumed these head coaching duties after serving as an assistant coach at Stonehill for three-and-a-half seasons, as he had helped coordinate all facets of the Skyhawk program, including recruiting, game and practice preparations and various internal and external duties.

"It was my intention to conduct an open search for the next head men's basketball coach, but David's qualities, both as a person and as a coach, are exactly what I was looking for in filling this important position in the department," Stonehill Director of Athletics Paula J. Sullivan says of McLaughlin. "He demonstrated over the last two months in the interim position that he was extremely capable of leading this program. I am very confident that David's knowledge and passion for the game will serve our student-athletes well during his tenure."

Prior to his arrival in Easton in 2000, McLaughlin served as an assistant coach at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. for two seasons, where he coordinated all areas of recruiting for the Cardinals while assisting in scouting and implementing a highly successful strength and conditioning program. Prior to his tenure at Wesleyan, David served as an assistant coach at Suffolk University in Boston, where he assisted Head Coach Jim Nelson's Rams with recruiting, game and practice preparation as well as strength and conditioning. He also served as the head coach of the Northeast entry of the 1999 Bay State Games, guiding that squad to an undefeated mark and the gold medal in the event.

McLaughlin was a standout for legendary Head Coach Dick Whittemore during his playing days at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, as he shined for the White Mules in the highly competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference. McLaughlin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Colby in May 1997, and the former local star at Boston College High School earned a Master of Education degree in Secondary Education from Suffolk in 1999. In May 2000, David earned partial certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

A member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the National Strength and Conditioning Association, David and his wife, Jenna, reside in South Easton.

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Steve Fritz
University of St. Thomas
www.stthomas.edu

In the spring of 1992 Steve Fritz was named St. Thomas' Director of Athletics, a position that opened with the retirement of long-time athletic director Frank Mach. He’s now starting his 12th year in that role.

“Being both basketball coach and AD is a lot of work, but it is also exciting. I don’t think I would be able to do it unless I had a good support staff, both basketball-wise and administratively. I think this is a great time to be a part of the decision-making process in Division III athletics.”

The 2006-07 season will mark Fritz' 27th as the Tommies' head basketball coach. Since the 1904-05 season -- the first year St. Thomas records were kept -- the Tommies have won a total of 1,388 basketball games. As a player (1967-71), assistant coach (1971-80) and head coach (1980-present), Steve Fritz has been associated with 699 of those victories. In those 39 seasons, St. Thomas is 699-351 (.666) with 15 MIAC titles and 23 top-three conference finishes. In all, Fritz has been a part of 1,050 consecutive Tommie games as a player or coach.

UST has had only had one losing season in Fritz' 26 years at head coach. Fritz is an 11-time MIAC Coach of the Year, earning that honor in 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2002 and 2003. He was named NCAA West Region Coach of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 2002. His teams have won 11 conference championships, reached the MIAC playoff finals 12 of the last 18 years, and advanced to the conference playoffs 18 of the last 19 seasons. His Toms also have earned seven berths into the NCAA Tournament in the last 16 seasons. They reached the NCAA round of 16 in 1990 and 1993, and playing in the 1994 Final Four.

Fritz' career record entering 2006-07 is 464-229, including a 372-142 mark in MIAC regular-season games. His career winning percentage of .666 ranks him among the top 50 Division III coaches in the country. He took part in his 500th game as head coach in February 1999 and his 600th game in January 2003, and will coach his 700th game next season.

In January 2004 he passed Tom Feely and become St. Thomas' all-time leader in coaching victories. He ranks third among all-time MIAC men's basketball coaches in career wins behind Jim Smith of St. John's and Joe Hutton of Hamline.

From 1988-95, St. Thomas won either the MIAC regular-season title or the league tournament championship seven consecutive years. During that seven-year span, the Toms were 119-21 in MIAC regular-season games.

Fritz has been an integral part of the Tommie basketball scene since 1967, his freshman year at St. Thomas. As a three-time all-MIAC performer, he helped lead the Tommies to a combined 84-24 record and two conference titles from 1967-71. He led his team to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., in 1970 and again in 1971. In his junior and senior years, the Tommies went 30-2 in league play, and he won UST’s coveted Mr. Tommy Award his final season. He finished his playing career with 1,944 points, a school record at that time, including a then-school-record 43-point performance in a postseason win over Lakeland. He is still ranked second on St. Thomas’ all-time career-scoring list, and among the top 30 Minnesota collegians, and also ranks third in St. Thomas career rebounding with 915.

After his graduation in 1971, Fritz joined then-coach Feely’s staff as an assistant. He continued in that capacity until 1980, when he was named to replace the retiring Feely as head coach. He has also served in several administrative positions at St. Thomas, including assistant to the President, director of financial aid, and director of admissions.

Fritz is a member of the St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Bev, reside in Mendota Heights. They have three grown children -- Joe and UST graduates Peter and Maura.

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Bob Wilson
Vanguard University
www.vanguard.edu

Steve Shepherd
College of the Ozarks
www.cofo.edu
 

Steve Shepherd enters his third year as head men’s basketball coach at College of the Ozarks.

Shepherd served as the assistant coach at Evangel since 1998. Before that he was the head boys’ basketball coach at Parkview High School for three seasons (1995-98). His overall record was 53-24 and his 1996-97 team won the conference championship. Prior to his Parkview coaching job, Shepherd was the head boys’ basketball coach at Aurora High School from 1992-95. He accumulated a 65-20 record at Aurora and won two conference championships. He was also named Conference Coach of the Year two times.

From 1986-92 Shepherd was the girls’ basketball coach at Marionville High School, where he finished with a 141-31 record. His 1991 team won the state championship and Shepherd was named the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. His teams won four District Championships and four Conference Championships. He was also designated Conference Coach of the Year four times.

Shepherd is a 1982 graduate of Savannah (Mo.) High School and a 1986 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University. He earned his Master’s Degree from Evangel in 2000. Shepherd and his wife, Karen, have two daughters, Alex, 11, and Sydney, 6. They currently reside in Point Lookout, Missouri.

Kris Korver
Northwestern College
www.nwciowa.edu

Winning is important at Northwestern, but basketball is about more than victories and defeats.  Says Head Coach Kris Korver, “Character formation is the name of the game.  We want young men to display character in everyday life and on the court.  We view basketball as a tool for life transformation.”

Korver took over the helm of Northwestern basketball in 2000.  Since that time, he has led each of his five teams to the NAIA national tournament.  The 2001 and 2003 Red Raiders finished as national champions, and the 2002 squad finished in the Final Four.  The 2004-05 team advanced to the Elite Eight round of the national event.  Korver has twice been named the GPAC coach of the year and has once earned national coach of the year honors.

A former high school teacher and coach, Korver (’92) is a Northwestern College alum.  An instructor in the kinesiology department, he and his wife, Ann, have three children: Christian, Elizabeth and Luke.

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Rick Cooper
West Texas A & M University
www.wtamu.edu

Head coach Rick Cooper is entering his 13th season leading the WTAMU program. Cooper has taken the Buffaloes to five NCAA Regional Tournaments in his 11 years, including five appearances in the last eight seasons. He became the first WTAMU coach to lead the team to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight with an appearance in 1997-98. The 2004-05 season saw Cooper lead the Buffs to a 16-14 ledger, their 12th-straight winning season under his direction and 19th-consecutive overall, winning eight of their final 11 games of the season and making a run for the Lone Star Conference title, falling in the championship game.

Cooper holds a 385-162 (.704) record in 18 years as a head coach and is 243-114 (.681) in 12 seasons with the Buffaloes and has never had a losing campaign. On Jan. 8, 2004, Cooper became WTAMU's all-time winningest head coach and just the second coach in school history with over 200 wins. He is a three-time LSC Coach of the Year, winning the award his first season in 1993-94, as well as in 1997-1998 and 1998-99. The 1993-94 team advanced to the South Central Region semifinals. Cooper has also been named South Central Regional Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1997-98.

WTAMU has averaged nearly 20 wins per year in Cooper's 12 seasons at the helm. Cooper currently has compiled the fourth-best winning percentage. He tied the school record for most wins by a first-year head coach as he led the Buffs to a 20-10 mark in 1993-94.

Cooper led the 1997-98 team to many firsts. The Buffs set a school record by starting the season 15-0 and were ranked as high as fifth in the nation. By season's end, WTAMU led all NCAA Division II schools in team field-goal percentage and was ranked in five national statistical categories.

Prior to arriving at WTAMU, Cooper led Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, to three NAIA national tournament berths in his six years as head coach. Cooper compiled a 152-48 record (.760) as the Pioneers' head coach in six seasons, which still stands as a school record. Further, he guided WBU to at least the NAIA district semifinal round in each of his six seasons.

Cooper was an assistant coach at WBU for five years before being elevated to head coach, where he led the Pioneers to NAIA Top 10 finishes from 1987-1992, topped off by a third-place ranking in 1989. In 1990-91, he guided WBU to a school-best 29-4 record and captured the district championship. Cooper was tabbed the NAIA District 8 Coach of the Year in 1989, 1991 and 1992.

Cooper also had a distinguished playing career at WBU. A four-year letterwinner, Cooper led the Pioneers to their first 20-win season and NAIA District 8 championship. Listed 16th on WBU's all-time scoring leaderboard with 1,214 points from 1977-81, he was a formidible post player. His playing honors include NAIA District 8 Player of the Week twice, Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Sports Achievement Award and receiving first-team NAIA District 8 honors.

Cooper graduated from WBU with a bachelor's degree in education in 1981 with majors in English and physical education. He obtained his master's of education degree in secondary education specializing in physical education from WBU in 1984.

In 2002, Cooper received the Harley Redin Coaches Award from WBU.

Cooper and his wife Janie have two children, Tyler (19), a sophomore forward on the WTAMU men's basketball team, and Kori (17), who attends the University of Nebraska on a volleyball scholarship.

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Dave Robbins
Virginia Union University
www.vuu.edu

Dan Hays
Oklahoma Christian University
 www.oc.edu

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Joe Cassidy
Rowan University
www.rowan.edu
jcassidy@rowan.edu

Joe Cassidy is in his eleventh season as the head men's basketball coach at Rowan University. Cassidy is the 11th coach of the sport at the University. In ten years, he has an overall record of 192-75 for a .719 winning percentage.

He has guided the Profs to four appearances in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament and seven trips to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament. The Profs won the conference title in 1999.

Last year, the Profs had a 12-13 record. In 2005, Cassidy guided Rowan to a 16-11 record. The Profs lost in the semifinals of the NJAC Champsionship Tournament. In 2004, the Profs finished with a 21-6 record and they were first in the conference's Gold Division. Rowan advanced to the final of the NJAC Championship Tournament. In 2003, Rowan had a 20-6 final record and finished second in the final conference standings. The Profs had an overall record of 15-10 in 2002 and the men finished 14-11 in 2001. In 2000, the Profs were 22-5 and reached the sectional of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. It was Rowan's 12th appearance in the national tournament. Rowan finished 25-2 in 1999 and won the NJAC Championship Tournament. The Profs reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. Cassidy was named NJAC Co Coach of the Year.

In 1998, Rowan had a 21-8 overall record and the team played in
the NCAA sectional. In his first season, Cassidy was named the NJAC, Basketball Times Division III, Philadelphia Small College Coaches, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Atlantic District and New Jersey Collegiate Basketball Coaches Association (NJCBCA) College Coach of the Year. Rowan compiled a 26-3 record and advanced to the final of the NCAA sectional.

Cassidy was an assistant coach for the Profs for five seasons
before taking over the head position. During that time, Rowan won the national championship in 1996 and reached the national semifinals in 1995 and 1993. In addition, Cassidy served as the athletic academic coordinator and was responsible for the NCAA life skills program.

Prior to Rowan, he was an assistant coach at Drexel University
from 1980-91. In 1986, Drexel won the East Coast Conference
Championship and advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship
Tournament. Cassidy was an assistant coach at Swarthmore College from 1979-80. He was also the head basketball coach at Harriton High School (1979-80) and an assistant at The Haverford School (1976-78).

Cassidy graduated from St. Joseph's College (PA) in 1974 with a
bachelor's degree in politics and was the Hawks' mascot his junior and senior year. He is a baseball umpire for college and high school with a degree from the Al Somers School for Umpires and is active in the Philadelphia area.

Cassidy is a 1970 graduate of Archbishop Carroll in Radnor, PA.
He resides in Mullica Hill, NJ with his wife Betty Ann, son Tyler and
daughter Devon.

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Jason Lowery
Pacific University
www.pacificu.edu

Jason Lowery, a former Jesuit High School standout who has spent the last eight years coaching at the NCAA Division III and NAIA levels, is in his first season as Pacific's head men's basketball coach.

Lowery comes to Forest Grove from Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Claremont, Calif., where he has served as an assistant coach for the last four seasons.

"We had a good number of highly qualified candidates, which made this a tough decision to make, but I am confident that we have hired the perfect coach in Jason Lowery," said Director of Athletics Ken Schumann of the search that brought Lowery to Pacific. "Jason has learned his craft in a very successful Pomona-Pitzer program. His energy and enthusiasm for the game and the program here at Pacific makes him a strong fit."

The move marks a return to the Portland area for Lowery, who has resided in the Los Angeles area since 1993.

"I'd like to thank President Phil Creighton, Provost Willard Kniep and Ken Schumann for the opportunity to lead the men's basketball program at Pacific University," Lowery said. "I found the University, the athletic department and the men's basketball program to be in a great position to experience much growth and success, and I'm happy to be a part of it."

Lowery replaces Schumann, who relinquished his coaching duties in May after being named Pacific's Director of Athletics.

In his four years at Pomona-Pitzer, Lowery worked under Charles Katsiaficas in a powerhouse among small college teams in southern California. He helped guide the Sagehens to the SCIAC championship in 2004 and 2005. The team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2005, losing to eventual west sectional finalist Trinity (Texas).

Prior to coaching at Pomona-Pitzer, Lowery served two seasons as the head coach at Hope International, a NAIA Division I school in Fullerton, Calif., and started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Redlands. Professionally, Lowery currently serves as the NCAA Division III west region representative for the National Association of Basketball Coaches' assistant coaches committee.

In addition to his coaching duties, Lowery has served as a physical education instructor at both Pomona-Pitzer and Hope International. In 2001, Lowery founded the Special Touch Basketball School, which he continues to operate.

Lowery transitioned into coaching following an outstanding prep and college playing career. Lowery was a three-year captain and starter for Pomona-Pitzer, and was part of three SCIAC championship and NCAA tournament teams. He was an All-SCIAC selection in 1997 and set the Sagehens' career record for games played. In his four seasons, Pomona-Pitzer won 72 percent of their games and 82 percent of their conference contests.

Lowery played his prep basketball at Jesuit High School in Portland from 1990-1993, and was a two-time All-Metro League selection.

A native of Portland, Lowery graduated from Pitzer College in 1997 with a degree in psychology and earned a master's degree in education from Redlands in 1999. He and his wife Melissa, also a Portland native, have two daughters, three-year-old Jayla and 11-month-old Che.

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