In just his sixth season at the helm of the Albertus Magnus men's basketball program, head coach Mitch Oliver earned his 100th career victory on Tuesday night as his team defeated Suffolk University 95-76 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action. Oliver is 100-55 all-time at Albertus Magnus College.
Oliver, who began coaching at Albertus during the 2007-08 season, has led his team to an NCAA Tournament appearance in two of the last three seasons. He has turned the Falcons into a GNAC power-house as the Falcons are unbeaten in regular-season GNAC play in their last 33 contests, dating back to the 2010-11 season. The Falcons' 33-game win streak is currently the longest in the nation in Division III men's basketball. Buffalo State University and Becker College hold the all-time DIII men's basketball record at 37-straight regular-season conference wins.
This season, Oliver has led the Falcons to a 13-1 overall mark, including an 8-0 showing in GNAC play. The Falcons' only loss of the year came against Division I Yale University on Dec. 18, 2012 as Albertus has not lost in the regular season to a Division III opponent since its 95-93 buzzer-beater loss to Medgar Evers on Dec. 6 of last season.
Oliver led his squad to its most successful season in program history last year as the Falcons went 28-2 to produce a program-record in single-season victories. He was named the 2011-12 GNAC Coach of the Year for the second time as he earned the coveted honor in 2009-10 as well.
On January 12, 2012, Oliver earned his 70th career victory to become the all-time winningiest coach in Albertus Magnus men's basketball history. His Falcons broke into the National rankings for the first time in program history during the 2011-12 season as they were ranked 24th in the February 6th Top-25 poll on D3hoops.com. Albertus was ranked as high as 15th in country on February 20 before finishing the season ranked 20th. Oliver also coached four-year starter Ray Askew (Hamden, Conn.), who earned All-America honors in 2011-12 to become the first Albertus men's basketball player in program history to earn that recognition.
Oliver was chosen as a finalist for the Glenn Robinson Award last season as well, which is presented annually to the top Division III men's basketball coach in the nation.
In 2008-09, Oliver led Albertus to its' first winning season in seven years as the Falcons also earned an appearance in the GNAC semi-finals. In addition, the Falcons had a 78-50 upset playoff victory over No. 2 seed Emerson College.
Prior to taking the head coaching position at Albertus, Oliver was a veteran of a decade as a Division I Men's Assistant Basketball Coach. He served seven seasons at Northeast Conference member Quinnipiac University as he was the program's recruiting coordinator. Oliver helped the Bobcats to three Northeast Conference semifinal appearances and one Northeast Conference Championship game appearance. Before arriving at Quinnipiac, Oliver served three seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach at Northeast Conference Division I Sacred Heart University. Oliver started his career as an assistant basketball coach at both Foran and Bunnell High Schools.