A Quarter Century of Coaching Excellence
In 25 years as a head college basketball coach, Mike Deane is in the process of leaving a legacy in the game few can match. He has led nine different teams to 20-plus win seasons, has guided five teams to the NCAA Tournament and another four to the NIT, including one that reached the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Three of his teams have won 25 games.
In 2008-09, Deane guided the Seahawks to a 16-14 record, surging into the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament with a regular-season ending four-game winning streak. Included in this stretch were victories over first-place Robert Morris and second-place Mount St. Mary’s, which gave Wagner the distinction of being the only team in the NEC to have beaten both league kingpins last season. Wagner's 8-3 non-conference record tied fifth in league history with a .727 winning percentage. In 2007-08, Wagner posted a 7-4 non-league mark for a two-year record of 15-7 (.682).
Over the last two seasons, Wagner’s 39 victories are the second-most among NEC teams, trailing only Robert Morris. Winning games is obviously important to the ultra-competitive Deane, who has won more than 400 in his illustrious career. His career has also been marked by his bent on developing high quality student-athletes, preparing his young men for life beyond the gates of the college campus. Deane’s track record in recruiting and developing quality student-athletes is nearly unparalleled.
To wit, all four senior members of the 2009 class earned their degrees, with two earning MBA’s and two receiving their bachelor’s. Justin Drummond earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a Marketing concentration one year ago. An injury that caused him to sit out his sophomore season allowed him a fifth year of eligibility in 2008-09. In addition to averaging a career-best 10.5 points, Justin further took advantage of the extra year by earning an MBA with a Management concentration.
Drummond’s classmate and fellow Baltimore native Jamal Smith followed a similar path to academic and athletic prominence. Smith missed his freshman season after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Medical treatment, combined with a high measure of faith and courage, allowed him to return to the basketball court. Like Drummond, Smith took full advantage of his opportunities. The two-year captain went on to score 1,281 career points as a four-year starter, a figure which ranks 20th on the Wagner all-time scoring list. In May, 2008, he earned a Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance and in May, 2009 he earned his MBA with a Marketing Distinction.
Joey Mundweiler , who earned his bachelor’s in Sociology with a Criminal Justice concentration, capped his productive Seahawk career with a stellar senior campaign. He drained an NEC-best 98 three-point field goals while averaging a team and career-high 14.3 points per game. He ended his career with 312 made three-pointers, which rank No. 1 all-time in Wagner history and No. 2 all-time in NEC history. His 1,260 career points places him 22nd on the Seahawk all-time scoring list.
Llew Radford delivered far and away in his finest season as a Seahawk, averaging a career-best 11.0 points while leading the team in rebounding at 7.7 per game. He will walk today with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting.
In 2007-08, Deane guided Wagner to a sparkling 23-8 record and a second place finish in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The 23 victories are a school record, besting the old mark of 21 wins which were accomplished on three occasions, 1967-68, 1978-79 and 2002-03. In the process, Deane helped mold senior center Durell Vinson into becoming a first-team All-NEC selection in 2007-08, along with senior guard Mark Porter. This marked just the second time in Wagner history that the Seahawks have placed two players on the All-NEC First Team in the same year (1992-93).
The 2007-08 campaign also represented a milestone season for the silver-haired and sage leader. The December 15, 2007 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore marked Deane’s 400th career victory. He enters the 2009-10 season with 432 career wins, and ranks 26th among all active NCAA Division I coaches. He is also one of just 13 active coaches (and one of just 28 coaches in NCAA history) to have led three different teams (Siena, Marquette, Lamar) to the "Big Dance." With 10 more wins, he will become the 11th coach in NCAA history to amass 100 or more wins at three different institutions.
The 2009-2010 season will mark Deane’s seventh on Grymes Hill. If you ask Mike Deane how many games he’s won, or about his all-time record (432-306, .585 winning percentage) or how many tournaments he’s coached in, he’ll be quick to shift the focus to the many student-athletes and assistant coaches he has mentored along his journey. Nearly 40 student-athletes who played under Deane have continued their careers in the coaching profession or played on the professional level
The affable and quick-witted Deane has earned the respect of the many players and coaching peers he has influenced, and learned from, during his nearly a quarter century of coaching excellence. In June, 2003, Deane became the 16th head men’s basketball coach in Wagner history. Now in his fifth season on Grymes Hill, his first four teams have been feisty, competitive and each has won between 11 and 14 games.
Prior to the rousing success of the 2008-09 team, glimpses of a breakthrough were evident as the 2006-07 squad knocked off traditional NEC contender Fairleigh Dickinson by the score of 91-63. The hard-luck Seahawks, however, dropped seven games by six points or less to finish with an 11-19 mark.
In 2005-06, Deane led the Seahawks to a 7-2 non-league record, tying for the then best non-conference mark in NEC history. For the first time since 1991-92, Wagner defeated an Atlantic-10 opponent with a 63-61 win at Rhode Island. The Seahawks then narrowly missed registering a monumental upset, battling the No. 12 ranked UCLA Bruins to the wire at historic Pauley Pavilion, before falling 74-72. Deane, who ranks in the top 30 among active head coaches in career wins, posted his 375th career victory on December 30, 2005 in the Seahawks’ win over Stony Brook.
In 2004-05, Deane and the Seahawks pulled off one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation. After starting the season 2-15, the Seahawks reeled off 11 wins in their final 13 games en route to an appearance in the NEC Tournament Championship game.
The Stony Point native returned to New York after spending four seasons at Lamar University (TX) where he won his 300th game on January 22, 2000 against Nicholls State.
In just his first season at Lamar in 2000, he led the Cardinals to the Southland Conference Tournament championship, earning the program its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 17 years.
Prior to his stint in Beaumont, Deane enjoyed a highly-successful stay at Marquette University where he posted a 100-55 record in five seasons. He guided the Golden Eagles to four 20-win seasons, four postseason appearances and to the 1997 Conference USA Championship. Marquette was runner-up at the 1995 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and a quarterfinalist in 1998, and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1996 and 1997. His first four teams at Marquette ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in scoring defense and field goal-percentage defense.
Before leading the Marquette program, Deane served as head coach at Siena College in Loudonville, NY, from 1986-94 where he posted a 166-77 record. He led Siena to its first-ever postseason appearance in the 1988 NIT and took the Saints to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1989, where the 14th-seeded Saints upset 3rd-seeded Stanford in the first round.
Four of Deane’s Siena teams competed in postseason play, including the 1993-1994 squad that posted a 25-8 record and finished third in the NIT. The 1990-1991 team advanced to the third round of the NIT. While at Siena, Deane was a two-time New York State Coach of the Year (1988 and 1991) selection and was named National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District II Coach of the Year in 1988.
Before arriving at Siena, Deane was an assistant coach at Michigan State from 1982-1986 and served as interim head coach prior to the start of the 1984-1985 season while head coach Jud Heathcote recovered from a heart attack. Among the players he coached at Michigan State, where he helped the Spartans compile a 74-44 record, were future NBA stars Scott Skiles and Kevin Willis. Prior to his tenure at Michigan State, Deane served as head coach at Oswego State from 1980-1982. He began his head coaching career four years earlier, spending four seasons at Delhi A&T Junior College, from 1976-80.
A 1974 graduate of Potsdam State, Deane immediately jumped into his coaching career, serving as an assistant at Potsdam State in 1974-1975, where he was also the assistant baseball coach. He left after one season to become the assistant basketball and head baseball coach at Plattsburgh State for the 1975-76 season.
A three-year letter-winner at Potsdam State, Deane was a Small College All-American in 1973 and 1974 as well as a three-time East Coast Conference All-East honoree (1972, 1973 and 1974). He finished his career as Potsdam’s career scoring (1,447) and assists (805) leader and established records for career scoring average (18.0 ppg), most points in a game (42) and most assists in a game (23). He also played second base for the Bears for two years.
He received a bachelor of arts degree in economics and was the 1974 recipient of the John W. Maxy Award, which recognizes the top senior student-athlete at Potsdam State. He was also named the Chancellor Boyer SUNY Scholar Athlete of the Year.
In 1974, before embarking on his long and decorated coaching career, Deane was a ninth-round selection of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and attended training camp.
Coach Deane and his wife Paula have been married for 28 years and the couple resides here in Staten Island.
