Press Releases

April 10, 2002
Southampton College Names New Women's Basketball Head Coach

With Over 30 Years Experience, Pat McGunnigle Is Promoted From Assistant

Contact:
Darren Johnson (PR@southampton.liu.edu)
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Southampton College Athletic Director Mary Topping announced today that Pat McGunnigle, a veteran coach with over 30 years experience, has been promoted from assistant to head coach of the Lady Colonials basketball team. He fills a vacancy that opened last month when coach Jim Meyer resigned.

"Pat is going to do a great job," Topping said. "He is a wonderful teacher. His resume is impeccable, too." McGunnigle takes over a team that went 14-14 this past season, qualifying for the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs. He becomes just the sixth head coach in the program's 17-year history.

Last season, the Lady Colonials were the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference's most imposing team, with seven players at six feet or taller. "We also were one of the league's most athletic teams," McGunnigle said. "Our players can really get up court in a hurry."

The team returns all of its six-footers and all of its starters for 2002-03, including junior college All-American point guard Dani Thomas (13.8 points per game last season for the Colonials), 2000-01 Ohio High School Player of the Year Amber Gooden (10.6 ppg) and forward Kerri Rueb (8.9 ppg, 6.7 rebounds per game), who will be senior captain on the team. It's that depth that really encourages McGunnigle. "We are going to play 40 minutes of full-court pressure basketball to take advantage of this depth of talent we have," he said. "If we get the players to sacrifice and work together, we should end up having an outstanding season."

McGunnigle has coached for over 30 years on Long Island, including prosperous runs coaching boys" basketball at the high school level. At Hampton Bays High School, McGunnigle led the Baymen to a 321-93 record for a 78 percent win ratio. A resident of Hampton Bays, he also taught in the district before retiring in 2000.

McGunnigle has run elite youth camps and over his career developed All-American high school players, including Jimmy Spillane, who went on to star at UCLA, Tom Riker, who went on to play for the New York Knicks, and Bill Harvey, one of just a handful of Eastern Long Islanders to be receive national hoops notoriety. McGunnigle also was coach and mentor to Rick Pitino, the famed coach who now is at Louisville.

Still, the 2002-03 Lady Colonials may be the best-stocked team McGunnigle has skippered. "I'll be working with quality, skilled kids who are very versatile," the coach said. "I can't wait to get started."