Colorado Springs, CO (May 16, 2005)- Manhattan College head men's basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez has been named an assistant coach for the 2005 USA Basketball World University Games Team, it was announced today by USA Basketball. Gonzalez and VCU's Jeff Capel will serve as assistants to Villanova's Jay Wright during the August 11-21 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. The selections were made by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim.
"There are so many great coaches in the country and so many guys want to be involved," said Gonzalez, whose first USA Basketball experience was as a court coach for the 2002 USA Junior National Team Trials. "I was really caught off guard and taken by surprise when I heard from USA Basketball. I was really honored. I thought, 'wow. What a great accomplishment.' Anytime you can do what you love to do, which is coaching, and then couple that with being involved with the best coaches and best players representing your country, that's an incredible, prestigious honor."
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RELEASEManhattan's head coach since the 1999-2000 season, the Jaspers have compiled a 109-66 record (.623 winning percentage) under Gonzalez' watch. The fourth-winningest coach in the program's history has led Manhattan into the postseason in three of the past four years, making the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Tournaments and 2002 NIT.
Gonzalez has been responsible for rejuvenating a basketball team that had won only five games in 1998-99. In his first year, Gonzalez led the Jaspers to surprising records of 12-15 overall and a 9-9 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) which was good for a sixth place finish after being picked last in the preseason poll. In 2000-01 his Jaspers continued their improvement and finished 14-15 overall, 11-7 in the MAAC and tied for fourth place in the conference and only one game out of first. It was the first winning season in MAAC play for the Jaspers since the 1995-96 season.
In just his third year at Manhattan, Gonzalez led the Jaspers to a 20-9 record and a trip to the NIT, the first NIT trip for a Manhattan team since 1996. Manhattan's success in 2001-02 earned Gonzalez the inaugural School News Nationwide (SNN) College Basketball Metropolitan Coach of the Year Award.
Gonzalez went on to post a total of three consecutive 20-win seasons, while also upping to six the amount of NCAA Tournament appearances in the school's history. Prior to his arrival, Manhattan had competed in four NCAA Tournaments, two in the 1950's and two in the 1990's, and had posted just six 20-win seasons since the inception of the program in 1904-05.
In 2002-03 he ran up a 23-7 record, won the MAAC regular season and tournament titles and made the NCAAs. The following year he guided the Jaspers to another improved winning mark and posted a 25-6 record, again swept the MAAC crowns and advanced to the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
Gonzalez in 2004-05 went 15-14 and 9-9 in the conference, which was quite an accomplishment after losing two-time MAAC Player of the Year
Luis Flores, a pair of four-year starters from his 2003-04 squad and listing just two seniors on this year's roster.
In his six years at the helm of the Jaspers, Gonzalez has been well-recognized by the media and his peers. In addition to his 2002 Met Coach of the Year honor, Gonzalez was named the 2004 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District II Coach of the Year, 2004 Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Co-Coach of the Year, 2003 MAAC Coach of the Year and the National Invitation Tournament and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association honored Gonzalez as the 2003 and 2004 Peter A. Carlesimo All-Met Division I Coach of the Year.
Prior to his arrival at Manhattan, Gonzalez spent six years as an assistant coach to Pete Gillen at the University of Virginia (1998-99), Providence College (R.I.) (1994-95 through 1997-98) and Xavier University (Ohio) (1993-94). During that time teams with Gonzalez on the sidelines posted a 112-73 record (.605 winning percentage), advanced in the 1997 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and competed in a trio of NITs (1994-96).
Gonzalez graduated in 1986 from Buffalo State College.
The 2005 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials, which will be used to select the final 12-member team, will be held July 28-31 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Athletes eligible for this competition must be a U.S. citizen who is currently working toward an accredited university degree or has recently graduated.
The 2005 World University Games men's basketball tournament will include 32 teams and the United States has been placed in preliminary round Group F with Germany, Iran and Slovakia. Also listed among this years competitors are Brazil, Finland Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in Group A; Group B consists of Haiti, Serbia and Montenegro, South Korea and Sweden; Group C includes Cyprus, Japan, Republic of South Africa and Russia; in Group D are Angola, Canada, Italy and Portugal; China, Croatia, Czech Republic and Peru have been placed in Group E; Group G consists of Australia, Great Britain, Lebanon and Lithuania; while Group H includes Estonia, Greece, Mexico and Spain.
The USA men in past WUG competitions have dominated, compiling a 119-17 overall record (.875 winning percentage) while medaling in all 17 Games, including 12 gold medals. In 2001, the most recent WUG's in which the U.S. men competed, the USA saw its streak of six consecutive golds and 46 consecutive wins come to a halt when host China, led by it's 'Walking Wall' of Menk Batere, Yao Ming and ZhiZhi Wang, all of whom competed for China at the 2000 Olympic Games the previous summer, edged the U.S. collegians 83-82 in the semifinals. The USA squad finished 7-1 to claim the 2001 WUG bronze medal.
The United States has been sending teams to the World University Games since 1965, and since then the World University Games has served as an important developmental event for the U.S. Seventeen players have represented the USA in both the World University Games and the Olympic Games, including Ray Allen, Stacey Augmon, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Bill Bradley, Quinn Buckner, Tom Burleson, Ken Davis, Tim Duncan, Phil Hubbard, Allen Iverson, Mitch Kupchak, Karl Malone, Mitch Richmond, Michael Silliman, Steve Smith and Jo Jo White.
Quotes from USA assistant coach Bobby Gonzalez, Manhattan College
What went through your mind when you were called and asked to be a member of this coaching staff?
I was extremely excited. I went up to the Coaches vs. Cancer gala for coach (Jim) Boeheim and he mentioned to me that maybe, possibly in the next few summers I might have a shot at being with one of the teams. I thought, 'jeez, that would be a great honor.' But I didn't take it really seriously because I felt that it might not happen yet. I know how competitive it is. There are so many great coaches in the country and so many guys want to be involved. I was really caught off guard and taken by surprise when I (heard from USA Basketball). I was really honored. I thought, 'wow. What a great accomplishment.' Anytime you can do what you love to do, which is coaching, and then couple that with being involved with the best coaches and best players representing your country, that's an incredible, prestigious honor.
What do you think about the coaching staff?
It's a great staff. Jay Wright is doing a terrific job at Villanova. We're great friends, we have some history together when he was at Hofstra, we coached against each other. I have a lot of respect for him and I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot. It's interesting, after being a head coach for six years and going back to being an assistant, it will be a good experience for me.
Jeff Capel, I know him very well. I remember him from when he was a player for Duke. Last year we were in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the NCAA Tournament. We were in the same region. VCU was playing Wake Forest and we were playing Florida. We were down there together and it was a wonderful experience. They played Wake down to the wire and we were fortunate enough to knock off Florida. We had to play Wake in the next round so we talked to Jeff a lot and he gave us a lot of helpful tips for the second round.
Jeff is a sharp young guy. I think it's a great staff and I'm really looking forward to working with both of these guys.
What do you know about international basketball?
I certainly know a decent amount the international basketball scene. I'm not as familiar with all the different tournaments, but I coached some foreign guys and I've recruited a certain amount of foreign guys. I worked for Pete Gillen for six years at Xavier, then Providence for four years and then at the University of Virginia. When I was with Pete Gillen at Virginia, Terry Holland was there, Pete Gillen has been involved with USA Basketball, they did a lot with USA Basketball. I was familiar with a lot of the qualifying events. I was a court coach three years ago for the team with Ernie Kent, Gary Waters and Bobby McKillop. So I've done a decent amount of international recruiting and other stuff with international basketball.
What would it mean for you to bring home a gold medal this summer?
That's definitely a challenge and something I'm looking forward to being a part of. For a younger coach like myself, to get this kind of experience will be invaluable for me and my own team. I'll be able to come back and pass along some of what I'll learn to my own players and of course to share in something like that. To have an opportunity to win a gold medal, I haven't been a part of too many things where you have a chance to win a medal. It's going to be a great challenge and an experience I'm really, really looking forward to.
