SUNY COBLESKILL’S MCCARTHY NAMED MEN’S NJCAA DISTRICT I COACH-OF-THE-YEAR

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) announced today that SUNY Cobleskill Head Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin McCarthy has been named the 2007-08 NJCAA District I Coach-of-the-Year. McCarthy guided the Fighting Tigers to the NJCAA “Final Four” this season for the second time in program history after capturing the program’s third NJCAA Region III Division III Championship and posting a 26-8 overall record. This marks the third time that McCarthy has received District I Coach-of-the-Year honors previously having been honored by the NJCAA with the award in 1998 and 2005.

“Even though I get the award, this honor is really reflective of all of the hard work and dedication that our coaching staff, players, our support people and of course our great fans put into our program,” said McCarthy. “One man can not do it alone and I am fortunate to work with a number of very talented people who have helped us create something special here at Cobleskill.”

Under McCarthy’s direction the Fighting Tiger program has posted a 339-119 career record giving him a 74.0% winning percentage. Under his direction the Fighting Tigers have been nationally ranked in every Final Season NJCAA Division III National Poll since 1994. Cobleskill has spent a combined total of ten weeks ranked number one in the nation during this time.

During his tenure the Fighting Tigers have won three Mountain Valley Conference Western Division titles and two overall Mountain Valley Conference Championships. Cobleskill has made fifteen NJCAA Division III Region III Play-off appearances highlighted by Region III Championships in 1998, 2005 and 2008. The Fighting Tigers advanced to NJCAA Division III Final Four in 1998 and 2008 along with an Elite Eight appearance in 2005. All thirteen of the college’s twenty-win seasons have come under his direction including a SUNY System record of eleven consecutive twenty-win seasons from 1994 thru 2005.

McCarthy has been named Mountain Valley Conference Coach-of-the-Year four times, NJCAA Region III Division III Coach-of-the-Year twice and has now been named the NJCAA District I Coach-of-the-Year in 1998, 2005 and 2008.  The Cobleskill mentor was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 2004 with the organization’s Guardian of the Game Award for Education becoming the first junior college coach ever honored with a Guardian Award.