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| d3photography.com photo |
After 21 seasons as head coach of the Augustana men's basketball program, Grey Giovanine announced his retirement on Tuesday. Under Giovanine's guidance, the Vikings posted a 433-150 (.743) record, won 10 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships and six conference tournament titles and made 10 trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament — including two appearances in the national championship game.
"After much reflection, prayerful consideration and discussion with family," said Giovanine, "I have decided that it is time for me to conclude my coaching tenure at Augustana.
"The decision comes with heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for all of the people associated with Augustana and our program during my 21 years of service to this very special place. My thanks to the students, faculty, staff, administration, community, media and especially the young men I've been privileged to work with. I am proud of all we have accomplished together. I remain in good health, and while I don't expect coaching to be a part of what lies ahead, Kelly and I look forward to the next chapters to come."
The Vikings finished 18-8 this past season.
Augustana athletic director Mike Zapolski, who indicated a nationwide search is planned to find Giovanine's successor, reflected on the veteran coach's tenure: "Grey's accomplishments at Augustana have been remarkable—the list of team achievements is impressive, especially when you consider the level of parity that exists today in small college sports. Grey's drive, enthusiasm and passion were ever-present, whether it was during a game, practice or in the recruiting process. In the final analysis, Grey's biggest mark on the program was the number of people that he impacted and how he effectively used the platform of basketball to teach critically important life lessons."
In his 21 seasons at the helm, Giovanine cemented the Viking program as one of the very best at the NCAA Division III level. For five seasons, from 2014-19, his teams went 131-26 and advanced at least as far as the national sweet sixteen each year. During that time, Augustana became the first program ever to capture five consecutive CCIW championships and the first to be ranked in D3hoops.com's final top five for five straight years. The Vikings' 17 NCAA Tournament wins over those five seasons were the most by any program at any level of competition.
Giovanine's 2014-15 squad went 27-5 and advanced all the way to the Division III title game. Behind a tremendous senior class, his 2015-16 outfit equaled the best record in program history, going 29-2 and reaching the national quarterfinals. Despite losing his top six scorers from that team, the veteran coach led his 2016-17 squad to 24-9 record and Augustana's second national title game appearance in three years. The Vikings were 25-6 national quarterfinalists in 2017-18 and went 26-4 and reached the round of 16 in 2018-19.
Giovanine was named national Coach of the Year by D3hoops.com in 2017. He was also D3hoops.com's Region Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2017.
A nine-time CCIW Coach of the Year, Giovanine led his teams to a 214-88 (.709) record in league play. His ten regular season titles are the second-most in conference history and he's third all-time in wins and fourth in winning percentage among coaches with more than one season of service. His six conference tournament championships are the most in league history.
Giovanine came to Augustana after six seasons as head coach at NCAA Division I Lamar. While in Beaumont, Texas, he led the Cardinals to three straight winning seasons for the first time in over a decade, including a 17-11 record in his final campaign in 1998-99. After going 10-15 in his first season in Rock Island, his Vikings never failed to win at least 16 games overall and posted 20 consecutive winning records in CCIW play—the longest such streak in league history.