Tom Sullivan (basketball)

Last updated
Tom Sullivan
Biographical details
Born (1950-04-18) April 18, 1950 (age 74)
Playing career
1968–1972 Fordham
1972–1973 Italy (professional)
1974–1975 Switzerland (professional)
Position(s) Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1973–1974 Hunter (asst.)
1975–1976 New Hampshire College (asst.)
1976–1985New Hampshire College
1985–1986 Manhattan
1987–1994 Seton Hall (asst.)
1995–2004 UMBC
Head coaching record
Overall260–270
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • 2× NCAA Division II New England Region championships (1980, 1981)
  • Northeast Conference regular season champions (1999)
Awards

Thomas Sullivan (born April 18, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player and college coach.

Contents

Playing career

Sullivan grew up in the Bronx, New York City. [1] He played collegiately at Fordham University and was a four-year letterwinner from 1968 to 1969 through 1971–72, [2] playing the center position. As a senior, Sullivan was the Rams' co-captain and named the team MVP. [2] He guided Fordham to a berth in the National Invitation Tournament where they would lose in the first round to Jacksonville. At the end of that season, Sullivan was presented with the Haggerty Award, given annually since 1935–36 to the top male collegiate basketball player in the greater New York City area. [2] He was the co-recipient with Manhattan's Richie Garner, becoming the first duo to share the award in its history up to that point. [2] [3]

Following his career at Fordham, Sullivan was chosen in the 1972 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. [4] He was taken in the ninth round (139th overall). [4] Although he was drafted, Sullivan never played in the National Basketball Association. Instead, he went to Italy to play professionally in 1972–73, took the following year off to coach back in the United States, and then spent the 1974–75 playing again, only this time in Switzerland. [2] After two seasons in three years playing as an expatriate professional basketball player, Sullivan returned to the United States to pursue coaching full-time.

Coaching career

Sullivan began his coaching career as an assistant at Hunter College during the interim year between professional seasons. [2] His next job came as an assistant coach at New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University) during 1975–76, and after only one year at the school he became its full-time head coach in 1976. [1] Sullivan stayed at New Hampshire College from 1976 to 1977 through 1984–85 and also concurrently served as the athletic director for much of his tenure. [5] During his nine-year career at the NCAA Division II school, he compiled an overall record of 152–99, [3] including three 20-win seasons. [1] Sullivan led the team to two Division II New England Region championships (1980, 1981) as he earned regional coach of the year honors both of those years. [3]

He left New Hampshire College to take the reins at Manhattan College in which he compiled a 2–26 overall record his first year there. Sullivan only stayed one season, however, and left to become P. J. Carlesimo's assistant at Seton Hall between 1987–88 and 1993–94. [5] During this seven-year stretch, the Pirates made six NCAA Division I Tournaments, including a national championship game appearance in 1989, which they lost to Michigan in overtime. [5]

When Carlesimo left after 1993–94, Sullivan was a finalist for the head coaching vacancy. The position ultimately went to George Blaney from Holy Cross. [5] After a one-year absence from coaching, Sullivan became the new head coach at UMBC in 1995. [5] Over the course of his nine-year coaching career at UMBC, he compiled an overall record of 106–145, becoming the second coach in program history to amass 100 wins. [6] He named the Big South Conference Coach of the Year in 1998 after an eight-game improvement from the season before, and in 1999 was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year. [6] The school had switched conferences between years, and the 1998–99 season saw the Retrievers set a league record for consecutive wins to begin a season (15) en route to the conference regular season title. [6] Three years later, and for the first time in the program's Division I history, UMBC won 20 games in a season under Sullivan's guidance. [6] After that season he signed a contract extension to be effective through the 2006–07 season. [1] However, after a 7–21 year in 2003–04, Sullivan resigned. [6] His career college head coaching record is 260–270 in 19 seasons. [6]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
New Hampshire College Penmen (Mayflower Conference)(1976–1981)
1976–77New Hampshire College 10–15
1977–78New Hampshire College 14–13
1978–79New Hampshire College 16–9
1979–80New Hampshire College 22–8NCAA New England Regional Champions
1980–81New Hampshire College 23–7NCAA New England Regional Champions
New Hampshire College Penmen (NECBL)(1981–1985)
1981–82New Hampshire College 18–10
1982–83New Hampshire College 11–17
1983–84New Hampshire College 18–11
1984–85New Hampshire College 20–9
New Hampshire College:152–99
Manhattan Jaspers (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)(1985–1986)
1985–86 Manhattan 2–261–14
Manhattan:2–261–14
UMBC Retrievers (Big South Conference)(1995–1998)
1995–96 UMBC 5–223–117th
1996–97 UMBC 5–223–117th
1997–98 UMBC 14–146–63rd
UMBC Retrievers (Northeast Conference)(1998–2003)
1998–99 UMBC 19–917–31st
1999–00 UMBC 11–187–11T–7th
2000–01 UMBC 18–1113–73rd
2001–02 UMBC 20–915–5T–2nd
2002–03 UMBC 7–205–1312th
UMBC Retrievers (America East Conference)(2003–2004)
2003–04 UMBC 7–214–149th
UMBC:106–14573–81
Total:260–270

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. J. Carlesimo</span> American basketball coach

Peter John Carlesimo is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster and has worked with ESPN, The NBA on TNT, Westwood One, Fox Sports Southwest, Pac-12 Network, The NBA on NBC, and CSN New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Penders</span> American basketball coach

Thomas Vincent Penders is an American retired college basketball coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 649–437 career record. As a college athlete, Penders played both basketball and baseball for the University of Connecticut, and is one of the few players to have competed in both the NCAA tournament as well as the College World Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Allen</span> American mens college basketball coach

Frankie Allen is an American men's college basketball coach who most recently coached at Maryland Eastern Shore. He was also the head coach at Virginia Tech, Tennessee State and Howard, as well as an assistant at Radford and UMBC. His greatest success was at Tennessee State where he won three Ohio Valley Conference titles and was the 1993 national Coach of the Year. Allen played collegiately under Charles Moir at Roanoke College, where he was the school's first African-American athlete. Allen would later coach at Virginia Tech as an assistant under Moir and then follow Moir as the head coach of the Hokies. In 2013, Allen was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UMBC Retrievers</span> Athletic program of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The UMBC Retrievers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, located in Catonsville, Maryland, in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the America East Conference since the 2003–04 academic year. The Retrievers previously competed in the Northeast Conference (NEC) from 1998–99 to 2002–03; and in the Big South Conference from 1992–93 to 1997–98; while they also competed in the Mason–Dixon Conference at the NCAA Division II ranks: the first variation of it from 1972–73 to 1977–78; and the second variation from 1983–84 to 1987–88.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UMBC Retrievers men's lacrosse</span> University of Maryland, Baltimore County NCAA mens lacrosse team

The UMBC Retrievers men's lacrosse team represents the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college lacrosse competition. The Retrievers play their home games at UMBC Stadium, located in Baltimore, Maryland with a capacity of 4,500 spectators. UMBC competes as a member of the America East Conference. The program has an all-time record of 373–344 including pre-NCAA results.

Donald Zimmerman is a television analyst and former American college lacrosse coach. He became a color analyst for ESPN in May 2016 and does both high school and college lacrosse games. Prior to becoming an analyst, he served as the head coach for the UMBC Retrievers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for 24 years. Between 1984 and 1987, Zimmerman coached Johns Hopkins to three national championships. Zimmerman was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Fordham Rams men's basketball team represents Fordham University, located in the Bronx, New York, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Rams play their home games at the Rose Hill Gymnasium (3,200), the nation's oldest on-campus collegiate basketball arena still in use. On February 28, 1940, Fordham University played in the nation's first televised college basketball game, when the Rams fell to Pitt at Madison Square Garden. Fordham hired former assistant coach Keith Urgo on April 28, 2022.

John Becker is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Vermont Catamounts of the America East Conference. He replaced Mike Lonergan, who left to become the coach at George Washington University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UMBC Retrievers men's soccer</span> American college soccer team

The UMBC Retrievers men's soccer team represents the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college soccer competition. UMBC competes as a member of the America East Conference.

Aki Thomas is an American college basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) from 2012 to 2016. He replaced Randy Monroe, who resigned just two days before the start of the 2012–13 season.

Pete Caringi is an American soccer coach. He was named the 2014 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division I Coach of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016–17 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2016–17 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team represented the University of Maryland, Baltimore County during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Retrievers, led by first-year head coach Ryan Odom, played their home games at the Retriever Activities Center in Catonsville, Maryland as members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 21–13, 9–7 in America East play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament to New Hampshire. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Fairfield, Saint Francis (PA), and Liberty before losing in the semifinals to Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017–18 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2017–18 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team represented the University of Maryland, Baltimore County during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Retrievers, led by second-year head coach Ryan Odom as members of the America East Conference, started the season playing their home games at the Retriever Activities Center in Catonsville, Maryland, but moved to the new UMBC Event Center during the season. The new arena opened on February 3, 2018. UMBC beat UMass Lowell and Hartford to advance to the championship of the America East tournament where they defeated Vermont. As a result, the Retrievers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 16 seed in the South region, they defeated the No. 1 overall seed Virginia by 20 points, becoming the first 16th-seeded team to beat a No. 1 seed. The win is considered one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history and sports history depending on seedings or point spreads. The Retrievers lost to Kansas State in the second round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 UMBC vs. Virginia men's basketball game</span> Upset during NCAA March Madness in 2018

On March 16, 2018, during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the University of Virginia Cavaliers played a college basketball game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Cavaliers, who were seeded first in the South regional bracket and first overall in the NCAA tournament, faced the Retrievers, who were seeded 16th in the south regional bracket. Virginia and UMBC competed for the right to face ninth-seeded Kansas State, which had already won their first-round game against Creighton earlier in the day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006–07 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2006–07 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team represented University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the 2006–07 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played in the America East Conference (AEC) and was led by head coach Randy Monroe, in his third year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 UMBC Retrievers women's basketball team</span> Intercollegiate basketball season

The 2018–19 UMBC Retrievers women's basketball team represents the University of Maryland, Baltimore County during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Retrievers, initially led by seventeenth year head coach Phil Stern, play their home games at UMBC Event Center and are members of the America East Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UMBC Retrievers women's volleyball</span> American college volleyball team

The UMBC Retrievers women's volleyball program represents the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in NCAA Division I women's volleyball.

Liam Bowen is an American college baseball coach and former player, who is the current head baseball coach of the UMBC Retrievers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–20 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2019–20 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team represented the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Retrievers, led by fourth-year head coach Ryan Odom, played their home games at the UMBC Event Center in Catonsville, Maryland as members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 16–17, 8–8 in America East play, to finish in a tie for fourth place. They defeated New Hampshire in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament before losing in the semifinals to Vermont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2020–21 UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team represented the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Retrievers, led by fifth-year head coach Ryan Odom, played their home games at the UMBC Event Center in Catonsville, Maryland as members of the America East Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Retrievers finished the season 14–6, 10–4 in America East play, to finish in a tie for first place. They lost to UMass Lowell in the semifinals of the America East tournament.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tom Sullivan Signs Contract Extension Through 2006–07 Season". UMBCRetrievers.com. University of Maryland, Baltimore County. July 9, 2002. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tom Sullivan – Bio". UMBCRetrievers.com. University of Maryland, Baltimore County. 2004. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Player Bio: Thomas Sullivan". FordhamSports.com. Fordham University. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "1972 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Lambrecht, Gary (April 14, 1995). "UMBC Set to Name Coach". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "UMBC Head Men's Basketball Coach Resigns". UMBC.edu. University of Maryland, Baltimore County. March 12, 2004. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.