Stephen Brennan – Babson College
Check out our Q&A with Coach Brennan
A six-time conference Coach of the Year and owner of the most wins in program history, Stephen Brennan is in his 20th season as head coach of Babson College with a career record of 316-227 (including this season). Brennan has guided Babson to NCAA or ECAC Tournament berths seven times during his tenure as head coach, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2002, an ECAC Championship in 2003, and another NCAA Tournament appearance in 2004.
It’s been a groundbreaking season for Brennan this year, having reached the NCAA DIII Final Four for the first time in program history. In fact, it will be the school’s first sighting in the NCAA Semifinals in any sports since 1991. Behind sophomore Joe Flannery (Acton, Mass.), a serious contender for National Player of the Year, and senior center John Wickey (Manchester, N.H.) the Beavers are set to take on sixth-ranked Augustana (26-4) on Friday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
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Dave Macedo – Virginia Wesleyan
Macedo is only the fourth men’s basketball head coach in the school’s 41-year history. In the tail end of his 15th season, Macedo has guided the Marlins to a 314-100 record in his time at Virginia Wesleyan. His winning percentage is nice, but his most impressive statistic as a head coach is his ability to get to the NCAA tournament, having berthed his team into the big dance 10 straight times, and achieve an overall record in the tournament of 21-9, which makes the school Virginia’s Division III all-time leader in NCAA tournament victories. He’s a six time Virginia College Division Coach of the Year, and in 2006 was the winner of the NABC and D3hoops.com National Coach of the Year.
Macedo has been to the NCAA National Championship twice in a row in 2006 and 2007. In ’06 his team took the crown as the best team in D3 basketball, but in 2007 they came up short to Amherst College.
Macedo is back, and his Virginia Wesleyan team will face the Pointers of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (25-5) on Friday at 8 p.m.
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Bob Semling – UW-Stevens Point
Bob Semling is in his 10th year as head coach of the UWSP men’s basketball team and has led the Pointers to three NCAA Division III national titles. Through his first nine seasons as head coach, Semling has compiled a 215-49 (119-25 WIAC) record and earned NABC and D3hoops.com Coach of the Year honors in 2010. His .814 career winning percentage is the highest among active NCAA Division III coaches.
Since 2006, UW-Stevens Point has not lost more than eight games in one season. The Pointers have achieved some amazing statistical feats under Semling. UW-Stevens Point was the only school among 1,187 NCAA and NAIA programs to shoot better than 80.1 percent at the free-throw line. The Pointers also averaged just 10.2 turnovers per game in 2007-08 (third in the nation) and committed just 8.5 turnovers per game the previous season. UWSP had a NCAA Division III best 1.54 assist-to-turnover ratio.
For the fourth time in 12 seasons, the UW-Stevens Point men’s basketball team is headed to Salem, Va. for the Final Four, where it will face Virginia Wesleyan on Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
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Grey Giovanine – Augustana
In his 16th year at the helm of Augustana Vikings men’s basketball, head Coach Giovanine has firmly established his program as one of the best in all of NCAA Division III. In his first fifteen years he has compiled a record of 284-116 (.710) and a CCIW mark of 140-70 (.667) including six conference championships. A three-year run from 2006-08 marked the first time in 28 years that any CCIW program captured three straight conference titles. This season’s appearance to the Final Four is the best season Giovanine has had since 2011 where the Vikings posted a 24-7 record and reached the tournament’s Elite 8 round, where they lost to St. Thomas, the eventual national champions that year.
Their Final Four showdown with Babson College will be the school’s first semifinal appearance since 1993.
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