| Todd Landrum brought a little
bit of stability to St. Mary's, but not a lot of
wins. St. Mary's (Minn.) athletics file photo |
When the final horn sounded for the Saint Mary's men's basketball team's regular-season final against Augsburg on Feb. 16, it was the last time the home crowd would get to watch Michael Burfeind, Josh Bennett, Tom Gores, Joe Murray and Brian Thomas play wearing the Cardinals' red and white.
Little did Cardinal fans know then, however, that it would also be the last time they would get to see Todd Landrum roaming the sidelines as the SMU head coach.
Landrum announced Feb. 25 that, after five years as the Cardinals' head coach — and over 35 years in college and professional basketball — he was retiring as a college head basketball coach.
The Cardinals were 4-21 this past season, 3-17 in the MIAC. They were 34-91 in his five seasons at the helm, and 157-186 in 13 seasons as a head coach.
"We are very thankful for my time here with our student-athletes, our coaches who helped over the last five years — top assistant Kevin Landrum, Adam Eberhardt, Bob Biebel, and Ryan Wockenfus — and the best trainer in the MIAC, Bill Rossini. We wish them the very best in the future.
“We are excited about possible opportunities to remain in basketball or athletics in the future.”
Landrum became the 12th SMU men's basketball coach prior to the 2008-09 season. Prior to his arrival at SMU, Landrum was the Youth/Scholastic basketball coordinator for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.
His career stops included three college head coaching positions: Charleston (W.Va.), UW-Platteville, and Saint Mary's. He also served as an assistant at the University of Delaware, UW-Platteville, with three teams in the CBA (Pittsburgh, Chicago, and La Crosse), as well as 10 years in the Big Ten — first at Wisconsin and then Ohio State University, where the Buckeyes made three NCAA appearances and secured an NIT title.
“Coach Landrum has been impactful in the development of our student-athletes – on and off the basketball court. I am thankful for his commitment to our student-athletes, and I wish him the best,” said Nikki Fennern, SMU's director of athletics.
Fennern noted that a national search for Landrum's replacement will begin immediately.