Mark Swasey: New Basketball Contributor

We are blessed to have another great coach contributing to this BLOG.  Coach Mark Swasey is going to be providing his thoughts on the great game of basketball, things that he has learned over the years and some X and O items as well.  I talk with Coach Swasey on a weekly basis and am always bouncing ideas off of him because I know that he will give me an honest answer.  Coach Swasey is well known for his ability to simplify the game and his teams are known for their open floor game and fast style of play.  His team won the NCAA II East Region in 2008 and 2009.  His team, Franklin Pierce University,  loss the NCAA II National Championship in 2009 103-96 in the highest scoring final ever and his teams also played in 2 straight NCAA Atlantic Region Finals 2010 and 2011.

Coach Swasey’s overall college coaching record is 230-130. In his last 7 years as a head coach his teams had a 139-56 (71%) record. Coach Swasey's most recent coaching stint included a 50-19 record at NCAA Division II Cal University of Pennsylvania. During his coaching tenure, Coach Swasey has coached 3 All-Americans, 1 National Player of the Year and has a 15-5 Post Season Tournament record. Some of Coach Swasey’s coaching honors include

• 2002 Great NE Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
• 2008 East Region Coach of the Year
• 2009 NE-10 Conference Coach of the Year
• 2009 Daktronics NorthEast Region Coach of the Year
• 2009 WBCA/Russell East Region Coach of the Year
• 2010 New England Basketball Hall of Fame

Coach Swasey has conducted basketball seminars in Australia and Europe and has assisted 7 women's players who graduated with him as their coach in securing professional playing contracts in Europe and Australia. He has successfully recruited players from Canada, several European countries, Russia, Croatia, Africa, Australia and each region of the United States. There are currently two players that played four years for him who are current, very successful Division II Head Women's Basketball Coaches.