Built on Heart and Hustle: Honoring Our Hoops Heritage
By: Brendan Faherty, Sports Information Director
You can’t tell the story of the Albertus Magnus College men’s basketball program without Mitch Oliver’s name being mentioned.
The year was 2007 and the program was coming off of a four-year stretch of going 14-86 and looking to move in a different direction.
Enter Oliver, who had just spent seven years as an assistant coach at Quinnipiac University and before that, three seasons at Sacred Heart University.
To turn the program around, there had to be a change in culture and goals set along the way.
“The first thing I wanted to do was establish a culture of accountability, work ethic and vision,” Oliver said. “I had a vision of building a championship program and building it quickly, and I shared that with the team in the very first practice. I made it clear that it was going to require a major commitment.”
“I talked about practicing extremely hard, playing for each other, winning games, packing the gym with fans, starting midnight madness, winning the conference, making the NCAA Tournament, winning NCAA Tournament games, and cutting down championship nets.”
The culture shift began on day one in his very first practice.
“That first practice was at 6:30 a.m. October 15th, 2007,” Oliver said. “I could tell you the exact time that every player showed up that day. I have every practice plan from every practice for the last 17 years.”
It didn’t take long to see Oliver’s vision for the program pay dividends.
In just his second season, the Falcons finished above .500 for the first time in six years, advancing to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals. By his third season he had Albertus back on top of the GNAC as the Falcons captured both the regular season and GNAC tournament title. It was the first GNAC Championship for the Falcons since the 1995-96 season, and the first of eight GNAC titles Oliver has gone on to win over his 17 seasons at Albertus.
Oliver has a 347-127 record all-time, including 36-8 in the GNAC Tournament. His winning percentage is fourth among active Division III coaches and 18th among all active coaches across all divisions. It also ranks eighth all-time in Division III and 50th all-time across all divisions.
Of course, to turn a program around, you need players to buy-in, so recruiting was paramount.
“Recruiting became the number one priority. I had to use my contacts and hit the road and convince players to come to a college that they didn’t know much about and a program that hadn’t won in a long time,” Oliver said.
His first stop on the recruiting trail was in Albertus’ backyard.
“My first priority was New Haven County. New Haven was rich in basketball tradition and I knew I had to try to keep some local players home. I had contacts all over the country from my experience as a Division I assistant but also knew New York and New Jersey were the most realistic in landing players because of the proximity. I just did everything I could to outwork people in the recruiting process. I told recruits to come be a part of history, come be on the first team to make the NCAAs and I would share my vision with every recruit and every person I knew in coaching. I wanted the Albertus name everywhere.”
The aspirations were sky high. However, achieving them came with its hurdles.
“Some of the biggest challenges were resources. I think my recruiting budget was done after two trips to Hillhouse and Bridgeport,” Oliver said. “But that didn’t matter. Nothing was going to stop me from building a roster that would win a championship. Honestly, all I needed was gym time, balls and practice uniforms. I had to get the program as much exposure as possible and let everyone I knew what I wanted to build and what I was looking for.”
From 2012-15, the Falcons won four straight conference titles, and had a stretch from 2012-2023 where they made the GNAC Championship game for 11 straight seasons, which at the time was the third longest active streak in the NCAA throughout all three divisions.
In a stretch of 10 seasons from 2011-12 to 2020-21, the Falcons had a record of 214-42, a .836 winning percentage. It was the highest winning percentage in Division III during that time and the fifth best across all three divisions. In that same time period, the Falcons also won 59 straight games at home in The Nest.
It’s not just the GNAC where Albertus has made noise. The Falcons have also done so on the national stage in the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament. And the first bit of noise they made in the tournament was, well, a splash.
The Falcons were facing a first round exit in the 2010 tournament against No. 7 William Paterson after a basket gave the Pioneers a 55-54 lead with 1.6 seconds left. However, Byron Reaves ’11 buried a halfcourt heave for the Falcons as the buzzer sounded, lifting the Falcons to the opening round upset in a 57-55 win.
It was the first of eight appearances for the Falcons in the NCAA tournament as they received an automatic bid for winning the GNAC Championship.
Since that first NCAA Tournament win, Oliver and the Falcons have won four more NCAA tournament games, and made an appearance in the Round of 16 in 2014 after wins over Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Purchase. That season, the Falcons finished 28-3, a program record for wins in a season.
With the success the Falcons have had over the years, it’s tough for Oliver to pick a favorite. But the win over William Paterson is at the top.
“There are so many moments, wins and buzzer beaters. You have a great moment or a championship and then a better one comes along the next year,” Oliver said. “If I had to pick one I’d say the buzzer beater for our first NCAA tournament win in 2010 vs. William Paterson.”
“We knew at the shoot around earlier that day that nobody gave us a chance to win. I used everything I could that day to motivate the team. I think I dove on a loose ball at the shoot around and ripped my pants. We knocked off one of the best teams in the country on their court and the court was flooded with two bus loads of fans that we brought with us. The shot made ESPN SportsCenter that night. It was a great moment for Albertus Magnus College.”
Over the years, the Falcons have built on that first NCAA Tournament win, having been ranked as high as No. 6 in Division III as well as receiving number one votes and consistently ranked in the Top 25 over the years.
Oliver and his players have racked up the awards as well. Three times Oliver has been named the GNAC Coach of the Year, while also being named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year. He was also a two-time finalist for the National Coach of the Year (2012, 2014).
Oliver has coached 42 All-GNAC players, six GNAC Players of the Year, three GNAC Defensive Players of the Year, 14 All-Region players and six All-Americans.
His first team at Albertus and first recruiting class helped lay the groundwork for what the program is today.
“There are so many players that I don’t want to leave anyone out. Everyone on that first team in the first year had something to do with what we built. Some of the first impact recruits were Byron Reaves ‘11, Walden St. Juste ’12, Sha’Ron Young, Fran Cordova ’09 and of course the player that helped to start it all was All-American Ray Askew ’12, ‘21 M.B.A.,” Oliver said.
“When I got Ray to commit I knew we were about to take off. I saw so much potential in him. I used to go to his high school games and hope he played badly so other college coaches didn’t see what I already knew,” Oliver said with a laugh.
“That would lead to players in the early years like Jefferson Lora ‘13, Jimmy Economopoulos ‘13, Arshad Jackson’ 13, Zach Dugas’ 13, All-American Darius Watson ‘14, ‘18 MS., and the list goes on and on for many years. Those players in the early years would pave the way for many GNAC Players of the Year, All Americans, All-Region and All-GNAC players and they would take us to an even higher level! Every player that puts the uniform on contributes to the success of the program.”