| Title: | Assistant Director of Athletics/Head Men's Basketball Coach |
| Phone: | (610) 409-3350 |
| Email: | ksmall@ursinus.edu |
Kevin Small enters his 13th season as the head men's basketball
coach at Ursinus. Small has led Ursinus to four Centennial
Conference titles. With an overall record of 193-127, he became the
all-time leader in wins at Ursinus with a 77-60 win over F&M on
February 13, 2008.
In 2007-08, Small led the Bears to a school-record 29-4 mark and a
perfect 20-0 in the Centennial Conference en route to the school's
fourth CC title. Along the way, the Bears finished a perfect 17-0
at home and advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship Round,
before finishing fourth. He coached his seventh Centennial
Conference Player of the Year as Nick Shattuck repeated the honor
in 2007-08. Shattuck joined a long line of players (Richie Barrett
2001; Dan Luciano 2003; Dennis Stanton 2004; Mike McGarvey 2005-06)
who earned POTY honors under Small.
A two-time NABC Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year, he was honored in
2008 by the Philadelphia Small College Coaches Association as the
Sam Cozen Coach of the Year.
Small's teams have also been honored four times by the College
Basketball Officials Association with the association's
Sportsmanship award (2003, 05, 06 and 08) and won the Schoenfeld
National CBOA Sportsmanship Award in 2006. It didn't take long for
Small to turn the program around, as in his first season in
2000-01, the Bears won the Centennial Conference Eastern Division
title and advanced to the conference playoffs for the first time in
league history.
Two short years later, the Bears captured the Centennial crown
with a perfect 15-0 mark and earned a number one seed in the NCAA
tournament. Small earned his first NABC Mid-Atlantic Region Coach
of the Year honors after leading the Bears to 21 wins, the second
most in the 89-history of Ursinus basketball.
In 2004-05, Ursinus went 18-10 and won the Centennial crown, while
repeating as conference champions in 2005-06. In addition to the
team accomplishments, Small has mentored five straight
All-Americans (2003-08), two Jostens Trophy finalists, an Academic
All-America (Dennis Stanton in 2004), along with 19 players earned
All-Centennial honors. Away from the court, Ursinus has placed 12
players on the Centennial Conference All-Academic team, which
requires a 3.40 GPA or higher. Dennis Stanton became the first
Ursinus male athlete to be named a first-team Academic All-America
and a first-team All-American in 2004. Stanton finished as the
school's all-time leading scorer, until his record was broken by
Shattuck in 2008.
Small's teams have continued to rewrite the school and Centennial
Conference record book as Small has coached the all-time scoring
leader (Shattuck), rebounds leader (Steve Erfle) and assists and
steals leader (Mike McGarvey). Several players have also set single
season Centennial and school marks under Small.
Before stopping in Collegeville, Small had prior coaching
experience in the Centennial serving as an assistant at Haverford
(1991-94), Ursinus as an assistant (1994-97), and also served on
the staff at Swarthmore (1997-99). He is the chair of the
Centennial Conference men's basketball committee and also serves on
the ECAC men's basketball selection committee. From 2002-05, he
served on the NCAA men's basketball championship selection
committee.
"In our basketball family here at Ursinus, we play with passion
and with a tremendous respect for the game and for our opponents,"
said Small when asked about his coaching philosophy. "We take
pride in being part of a family, in being part of something bigger
than just ourselves. We want to build the premier basketball
program in the Centennial Conference and in the Middle Atlantic
region. We want to create a basketball family - a group of
coaches and young men who are very close, who treat each other with
tremendous respect, and who carry themselves with class and dignity
at all times. We want to build a program that competes each
winter against the toughest competition. And lastly, we want
to mentor great men - during their four years in our family, we
want our players grow into great leaders and men of courage,
integrity and loyalty."
Small is a 1991 graduate of St. Joseph's University where he also
earned a master's degree in education administration. Small and his
wife, Kirsten, reside in Narberth with their son, Sasha and
daughter Kari.

