Mihalich Leaves Niagara To Lead Hofstra Program
Niagara Media Relations
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Joe Mihalich, who elevated the Niagara men’s basketball program to heights never reached in Western New York, has been named head coach at Hofstra University.
“I have always believed that Joe was a very good coach on the basketball court but, more importantly, he has been a tremendous coach for our players and students off the court, as a leader, role model and mentor, as evidenced by this year’s Skip Prosser Award. We wish him great success. For the Niagara community, he will always be a Purple Eagle,” said the
Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., president of Niagara University.
The accomplishments during Mihalich’s 15 years of coaching have yielded an NCAA Tournament victory, two NCAA tournament berths, a pair of MAAC Tournament titles, three berths into the NIT, four MAAC regular-season crowns, national, regional and conference accolades for his student-athletes and top 25 rankings in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll.
The all-time winningest coach in MAAC history leaves Niagara with a 265-203 record. The 265 career wins are the second most in school history behind the legendary John “Taps” Gallagher (465).
“I would like to thank Joe Mihalich for his years of service at Niagara. He did a terrific job and everyone wishes him well, but this presents a wonderful opportunity for Niagara,” said Director of Athletics
Tom Crowley. “There is significant interest in the job and we will find an outstanding coach.”
In his 15th and final season at the helm, Mihalich steered the youngest team in the MAAC to its first regular-season title since the 2004-05 season and earned Niagara a bid into the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) as Mihalich guided the Purple Eagles to a postseason tournament for the fifth time during his tenure. Mihalich reached a personal milestone on Dec. 12, when he earned his 250th career win in a 75-59 victory over Hartford.
Mihalich was named MAAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career to become only the second coach in league history to win the award three times. He was named National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 1 Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Most recently, he received the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award to honor those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off of it as well. Mihalich accumulated nine coach of the year honors while at Niagara.
Mihalich coached three MAAC Players of the Year, two MAAC Tournament MVPs, two MAAC Defensive Players of the Year, one NCAA single-season scoring leader and one national mid-major freshman of the year to go along with numerous conference and regional awards for his student-athletes.