Courtesy: UMBC Athletic Communications
BALTIMORE - UMBC Director of Athletics Dr. Charles Brown announced today that head men’s basketball coach Randy Monroe has signed a six-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season.
Under Monroe’s direction, UMBC completed its most successful season ever at the Division I level, concluding with the school’s first appearance in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships. The 2007-08 Retrievers won the America East Conference regular-season (13-3 record) and tournament titles, recorded a school record 24 victories (24-9 overall) and led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.
“I am ecstatic about this opportunity that Dr. Brown, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Hrabowski have given me,” Monroe said. “I feel very fortunate and truly appreciate what the group of young men we’ve had in our program have been able to accomplish.”
The Philadelphia native was named America East Conference Coach of the Year and was also one of 10 finalists across the nation for the Hugh Durham Award, which went to former Drake bench boss Keno Davis.
“Randy Monroe has been with us for a long time as an assistant coach and the last four years as a head coach,” Dr. Brown said. “By all accounts, he has done an outstanding job and is deserving of this contract extension. He has delivered in a big way and captured the spirit and enthusiasm of the campus to an extent we have never seen before. We hope to continue this momentum and expand upon our current success.”
The Cheyney (Pa.) University graduate and member of that school’s Hall of Fame has completed four full seasons as the Retrievers’ head coach, after serving for 10 years as an assistant coach on Hilltop Circle. His 2004-05 and 2005-06 teams were competitive, but the program showed marked improvement in 2006-07, when the Retrievers finished in a tie for fourth in America East play and advanced to the league semifinals.
A strong nucleus had formed that season, as point guard Jay Greene (All Tournament Team) and wing guard Brian Hodges (Second Team All Conference) emerged as elite players, and freshman post Justin Fry and first-year wing Matt Spadafora displayed solid potential. The coaching staff was quietly optimistic heading into the 2007-08 season, as James Madison transfers Ray Barbosa and Cavell Johnson and Coppin State transfer Darryl Proctor appeared capable of adding needed offensive punch and leadership to the squad.
Using a fifth-place ranking in the preseason coaches’ poll as motivation, UMBC came out strong, defeating three Atlantic 10 teams (La Salle, Richmond, George Washington) in the first two weeks of the season. After giving 2008 NIT champion Ohio State a fierce battle just before the new year, UMBC opened conference play at 4-1 before a 62-59 loss at Binghamton on Jan. 19. The Retrievers would not lose again until March 2, reeling off nine straight wins, including first-ever victories at Boston University and Vermont. Hodges suffered a high ankle sprain on Jan. 30 against Albany and would miss the next five games, but UMBC managed to keep winning, highlighted by a well-played 76-73 victory over Boston University on Feb. 17 in which only six Retrievers saw action.
UMBC clinched the regular-season title on Feb. 23 with a stirring 71-68 overtime win over New Hampshire, witnessed by a school-record 3,712 fans. After defeating Stony Brook in the America East quarterfinals, the Retrievers came up against Vermont, a program which had appeared in five consecutive league title games. The Retrievers hit just 20 of 61 field goal attempts, but won for the sixth time when trailing with five minutes remaining, as they outscored the Catamounts, 18-4, in the final 4:15 and triumphed 73-64.
Before another RAC Arena record crowd of 3,810, a torrid Retriever team sprinted out to a 34-11 lead and defeated Hartford, 82-65 to win the league championship. UMBC drew second-seeded Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and nearly 1,000 Retriever faithful made their presence felt at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. The Hoyas prevailed, 66-47, but the loss did little to dampen the spirit of the team, its fans and its head coach.
The 2007-08 Retrievers finished second in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.6) and were also nationally ranked in three-point field goal percentage (28th, 38.9%), fouls (33rd, 16.3 per game) and winning percentage (39th, 72.7%). UMBC smashed its home attendance record, drawing an average of 2,706 fans to the RAC Arena.
Monroe, 46, is now 58-65 in four seasons at UMBC. The trip to the NCAA Tournament was his fourth as a coach, as La Salle earned three bids during Monroe’s tenure as an assistant under Speedy Morris from 1988-93. After one season as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt (1993-94), where the Commodores reached the NIT Finals, Monroe joined the staff at UMBC. He was one of 27 coaches across the nation to be named AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year in March 2003.
The basketball program has also experienced great success in the classroom. In 2004-05, the program received “top honors” in the NCAA’s Academic progress report and it currently ranks in the 70th -80th percentile amongst the 337 Division I programs in the nation. Hodges became the first graduate student to compete at UMBC during the Division I era after earning his undergraduate degree in three years.
“I am most proud of the young men that have come into this program and have learned how to prepare for life after UMBC,” Monroe said. “We have had stellar leadership during my time and those players have shared their knowledge and experiences with the younger players. It was so gratifying to have so many of them come back and thank us for putting the program on the map. I would like to thank them.”