One week ago, our men's basketball team was preparing to play Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines. Less than 48 hours later, we were searching for a new basketball coach.



As soon as my phone rang shortly before 10 on Saturday morning and the caller ID said "Steve Pikiell," I knew. My first reaction was to get to the office immediately. I had planned to watch our softball team play at 12:30 and then head over for our women's lacrosse game. Needless to say those plans changed in a hurry.

Transition is part of our business and I knew that Steve leaving for another job was a strong possibility given our program's success under his leadership. As coaches and administrators, we understand that movement happens all the time. For our student-athletes, however, this is a new and unsettling experience.



My primary focus is on the 14 young men on our team and the two who are coming in next year. These hires happen at warp speed and Steve barely had time to call his wife and me before the news broke that he was going to Rutgers. When I met with the team on Saturday afternoon and asked the guys how they found out, most of them said through Twitter or from friends and relatives.

As you can imagine, our players are anxious about who their next coach will be. As I assured them again yesterday when we met, everything is going to work out for them. They made history this year and our goal is to build on it and achieve even greater heights. The future of Stony Brook men's basketball is beyond bright - it's radiant.

While the process to identify our next men's basketball coach is moving, I will also be keeping a watchful eye on our spring sports this weekend. We're poised for a fantastic spring!

• Residents of Baltimore should expect a heavy Stony Brook presence this weekend as our softball, tennis and men's lacrosse teams compete at UMBC this weekend.
• The baseball team is heading to the mecca of college baseball to play a weekend series against Creighton in Omaha.
• Women's lacrosse is home for two games at LaValle Stadium starting tonight at 7 against Jacksonville. On Saturday, we will battle our fourth ranked opponent of the year when Stanford comes to Long Island. First draw is 3 p.m. so please come out to support our team!

I also want to acknowledge the amazing accomplishments of women's lacrosse junior Courtney Murphy, who broke the school's career scoring record last week. All Courtney did was score five goals in each of her three games last week to bring her career total to 160.



In addition to being a record-setting lacrosse player, Courtney is a member of our Academy of Leaders and is a student worker in our facilities and operations office. Go Courtney! Stay tuned.

It's going to be an exciting few weeks for the Seawolves!

Together We Transform!


Warm regards,

Shawn