| Mike Blaine played at one
Division III school and coached at another before coming to
Medaille. Medaille athletics photo |
With less than two weeks until preseason practice begins, Medaille College named replacements for its men's and women's head basketball coaches.
On the men's side, Medaille named Cornell (NY) assistant Mike Blaine as the new head coach. He replaces Mike MacDonald who left in September to take the head coaching job at Division II Daemen.
Blaine comes to Medaille with over ten years of NCAA basketball experience. Most recently he was an assistant coach for Division I Cornell. "Mike is more than ready to lead the program at Medaille College” said Bill Courtney, Cornell’s Head Basketball coach. “His enthusiasm and positive energy will be infectious with his players and throughout the Medaille community. He is an excellent teacher and a terrific role model."
| Coach Profile | Mike
Blaine, Medaille |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins, 2003 |
| Experience | Assistant
coach at Division I Cornell (NY); worked at various other
schools |
| Replaces | Mike
MacDonald, 149-73 in eight seasons at Medaille |
Prior to working at Cornell, Blaine spent the previous two
seasons at Maryland-Eastern Shore. He spent one season at Radford
(2006-07), one at Hampden-Sydney (2007-08), two at Army (2004-06)
and one at James Madison (2003-04), leading the administrative
efforts, as well as film exchange, academic progress of the players
and team travel.
A 2003 graduate of Johns Hopkins with a degree in political
science and sociology, Blaine was a standout for the Blue Jays. He
currently ranks among the school's top 20 players in field goal
percentage (seventh, .572), blocked shots (13th, 50) and offensive
rebounds (17th, 105).
Women: Lonergan retires, replaced by "Rocko"
| Rachelle Matthys |
Following the retirement of long-time women's head coach Pete Lonergan, Medaille named Rachelle “Rocko” Matthys as his replacement.
This will be Matthys' first year as a collegiate coach. She just returned from her fourth year of playing professional basketball overseas. She played in Germany, Australia and England during which she captured a Division II championship title for the DBBL in Germany.
During her time in Germany, Matthys served as Basketball and
Strength and Conditioning Coach for U11, U15 and U17 teams. While
in England she served as a Community Coach for Durham University
where she earned her Master's in Science Education.
In between her season in England and Germany, Matthys was the
assistant to the Director of Player Performance for the WNBA's New
York Liberty. A native of Saint Clair, Michigan, Matthys
attended the University at Buffalo and was a four-year letter
winner and co-captain for the Bulls. She graduated in 2009
with a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science and a
Concentration in Coaching.
Lonergan went 231-71 in 11 seasons at the head of Medaille's program. He was previously the men's head coach at Niagara and St. Francis (Pa.).