STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Stony Brook University head men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell has had his contract extended through the 2014-15 season, Director of Athletics, Jim Fiore, announced Thursday. The 2010 America East Coach of the Year, Pikiell guided the Seawolves to their first America East regular-season title this past season.
Additionally, Pikiell was named All-Met Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) on Wednesday, while Muhammad El-Amin received first-team honors. Voting for the teams was done by members of the media in the tri-state area.
"Steve and his staff have done an extraordinary job of revitalizing our men's basketball program," said Fiore. "He has recruited and developed our student-athletes into a highly successful group of young men who represent our University, our community and the Seawolves family with the same class, commitment and swagger that he personally demonstrates every day as the head coach. It was an easy decision to extend his contract and we look forward to continued growth and success for the Stony Brook men's basketball program under Steve's leadership."
In his fifth season at the helm of the Seawolves, Pikiell led his squad to Division I program records for overall wins (22) and conference wins (13) and captured its first America East regular-season title. SBU also earned its first ever Division I postseason berth and hosted Illinois in the first round of the 2010 National Invitation Tournament, becoming the first America East host a postseason game since 1987.
"I'm honored and humbled to have the opportunity to continue building our program at this great university," Pikiell said. "I sincerely appreciate the confidence Jim Fiore, [University] President Stanley and our entire administration have in what we are developing here at Stony Brook. We have made tremendous strides as a program and our success and growth would not have been realized without the continued support of the entire University community."
The first player in program history to earn America East Player of the Year honors, El-Amin set a Division I program record for points in a season this year (517). He also finished his two-year Seawolves career just 29 points short of 1,000. He ranked second in the America East in scoring during conference play (19.1 points per game) and scored 23 in the 82-78 victory over Vermont on Feb. 24 that clinched the Seawolves' first America East regular-season title. He is the first Stony Brook player to receive first-team All-Met recognition.
"I couldn't be prouder of Muhammad; he has worked hard at making himself
a better player and I'm happy that he could be recognized for his hard
work," Pikiell said. "I'm also extremely honored to be recognized among
all the great coaches in this area. Our program could not have had the
success we had this year without the great support of [Stony Brook
Director of Athletics] Jim Fiore, our athletics' administration and the
entire University community.
Information from Stony Brook Athletic Communications was used in this report