The 2007 National Basketball Coach of the Year, Keno Davis, works at Providence College, and Hall of Fame inductee Jim Calhoun is the head coach at the University of Connecticut. Despite the fact that both schools play in the mighty Big East and hold a 42-7 all-time record against Northeastern on the hardwood, neither was named 2008-09 New England Div. 1 Coach of the Year by the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rhode Island’s Jim Baron was so honored in 2003, and Boston University’s Dennis Wolff succeeded Baron in 2004. Both maintained their respective positions in 2009 and both earned wins last season over NU. But once again, neither was recognized with the honor this year.
Instead, representatives of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame have chosen Northeastern’s Bill Coen as their 2008-09 Div. 1 Coach of the Year, an honor that upon first glance seems surprising.
Coen has worked in New England for nearly two decades, following head coach Al Skinner from the University of Rhode Island to Boston College before taking the job at Northeastern in 2006. Skinner has been named Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year (1995), Big East Coach of the Year (2001), and National Coach of the Year (2001). He has led his teams to 210 wins and eight NCAA tournaments, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance with the Eagles in 2006.
Coen’s teams have won 46 games and lost 49 during his three seasons as Northeastern’s head basketball coach. His Huskies have never won more than 19 games in a single season, a feat they accomplished last year. Though a loss in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association tournament dashed any hope of a berth in the National Invitational Tournament, Coen did guide Northeastern to its first postseason victory since 1984, when his squad defeated Wyoming in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.
His accomplishments seem plebian when compared to those of his New England brethren, especially Calhoun, Davis and Skinner, but so do Coen’s resources. Calhoun and Davis coach in the Big East and Skinner’s team is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both leagues send multiple teams each season to the NCAA tournament. Calhoun and Davis tussle with teams like Louisville and Syracuse, while Skinner must contend with rivals such as Duke and North Carolina. Though Calhoun may be given the lion’s share of resources, all three are provided with the facilities and the financial support necessary to handle their competition.
Perhaps it is Coen’s relatively modest support that made him a favorite of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. His squad is part of a mid-major conference and shares an arena with a hockey team that is more popular with Northeastern’s humble fan base than his own. Yet, the Huskies managed to defeat a Big Ten opponent (Indiana) and Davis’ own Providence College Friars last season. This year, Northeastern will have another opportunity to earn a win against Baron’s Rhode Island Rams when it travels to the Ryan Center in December.
Coen will try to improve upon last season’s win total in a newly renovated arena that should help him lure choice recruits to Huntington Avenue. Perhaps then he will belong amongst New England’s other great coaches.
‘- Jared Sugerman can be reached ‘
at [email protected].
