Lonergan Becomes Assistant Coach at University of Maryland
Leaves Cardinals as All-Time Winningest Coach

By Chris McManes, CUA Men's Basketball Office

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Mike Lonergan, who led the Catholic University men’s basketball team to nine NCAA Tournaments in 12 years and won a national championship, has resigned to become an assistant coach at the University of Maryland.

“Mike Lonergan is a proven winner and a former national championship coach,” Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams said in a news release. “He is very familiar with the Baltimore-Washington area and brings a strong recruiting background to our staff.”

Lonergan, a longtime Maryland basketball fan, replaces his good friend and former CUA teammate Jimmy Patsos, who left the Terrapins earlier this month to become head coach at Loyola (Md.) College. Maryland (20-12 in 2003-04) won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and made its 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament this past season.

“I’m excited to join Gary Williams’ staff at Maryland,” said Lonergan, 38. “He’s one of the finest coaches in basketball, and he’s succeeded in the nation’s toughest conference. I want to thank Catholic University for giving me the opportunity to be a head coach at a young age, for supporting me through the years, and for its support of my decision to leave.”

Lonergan is the only coach in the nation at any division to lead his team to seven straight regular-season conference championships. His teams qualified for seven consecutive NCAA Division III Tournaments and advanced to at least the second round each year. The Cardinals captured the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament crown three times in the past four seasons and five times in Lonergan’s tenure. CUA is a blistering 88-10 (.898) in CAC regular-season play since 1997-98.

Under Lonergan, the Cardinals were the nation’s only Division III team to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen each year between 1998 and 2002. The Cards are 102-19 (.843) over the past four seasons and 174-35 (.833) since 1997-98. They advanced to the Elite Eight in 2000 and set a school winning percentage record (.897) with a 26-3 mark in 2001-02. Lonergan leaves with an all-time record of 251-88 and the highest winning percentage (.740) in school history.

Cardinal Athletic Director Bob Talbot said he has mixed emotions on Lonergan’s departure.

“He was my first hire when I came to the athletic department 12 years ago, and he has led the basketball program to unprecedented success,” Talbot said. “I hate to see him leave, but I think it’s a fabulous opportunity for him.

“I certainly think Maryland is getting an outstanding assistant coach.”

Lonergan guided CUA to its finest moment in Salem, Va., on March 17, 2001 when his club rallied for a 76-62 victory over William Paterson in the NCAA Division III championship game. The Cardinals culminated the campaign with a school-record 28 victories and Lonergan became the school’s all-time winningest coach in the title game. In the national semifinals, CUA stormed back from an 11-point deficit with 8:14 to play to vanquish then top-ranked Ohio Northern, 82-77.

Lonergan, who coached an All-American each of the past five years, was a consensus choice for 2001 National Coach of the Year. He collected his second Middle Atlantic Region Coach of the Year honor that season and has been recognized as Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Coach of the Year four times.

Lonergan is the only basketball coach in CUA history to lead his team to victory in the NCAA Tournament. His 13-8 career playoff record included five consecutive victories on the road. The streak ended this year when the Cardinals lost at Gwynedd-Mercy, 74-72, in overtime. His last home game was a 75-50 pounding of SUNY Old Westbury in an NCAA Tournament first-round game. Patsos and current Maryland assistant coaches Dave Dickerson and Matt Kovarik attended the game.

CUA seniors Adam Dickman, Blair Mills and William Morley averaged 25.5 wins a season, played in four NCAA Tournaments and won a national crown as freshmen.

“I wouldn’t trade my four years at Catholic University for anything, both in school and with the basketball team,” Dickman said. “I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had here. For Coach Lonergan, it’s good to see him get a big-time opportunity like that.”

This will be Lonergan’s second stint in Division I. He worked under the late Jack Bruen at Colgate University from 1989-92. Lonergan was a three-year starting point guard under Bruen at CUA before graduating in 1988 with a degree in history. He spent the next year at American International College in Springfield, Mass., where he earned a master’s in criminal justice.

Lonergan, a graduate of nearby Archbishop Carroll High School, lives in Bowie, Md., with his wife Maggie and their children Jack, 5, and Margaret, 3. Maggie led the Cardinal women’s team to a 21-7 record last year, its finest ever.