T he Coaches Loyola Men’s Basketball 2003-04 17 Loyola Coaches Scott Hicks Head Coach Le Moyne ’88 Scott Hicks, the 19th head coach in Loyola men’s basket- ball history, is now in his fourth season at the helm at Ever- green Campus. Known for his hard work and dedication, Hicks is a well- respected coach among his peers. With nine underclassmen, under his guidance this season, Hicks will once again be work- ing hard to get the Greyhounds ready for conference play and for the MAAC Championships in March. “Loyola is considered one of the finest undergraduate insti- tutions in the East,” says Hicks. “I feel strongly that we can achieve a high level of success on the basketball court in the years to come.” Hicks’ dedication to his players goes beyond the court and into the classroom. He knows the grueling schedule and aca- demic pressures today’s student-athlete goes through, and is building a program that encourages true student-athletes to succeed in all aspects of their collegiate careers. “Our goal,” adds Hicks. “Is to make Loyola’s basketball Scott Hicks was the youngest head coach at any level when team a leader in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.” he started with Le Moyne in 1992. Hicks, 37, possesses a career mark of 146-165 in 11 sea- sons as a collegiate head coach. He came to the Evergreen In 1999-2000, with his team competing at the NCAA Divi- Campus after a three-years stint as head coach at the Univer- sion I level for the first time in the history of the program, sity at Albany. During his tenure at Albany, Hicks oversaw the Hicks led Albany to an 11-17 record. Included on the schedule Great Danes’ jump from the Division II ranks to that of a Divi- were several demanding games against well-established pro- sion I independent program. grams and 17 road contests against just 11 home dates. Hicks’ first season at Albany, 1997-98, saw the Great Danes Scott Hicks Year-By-Year produce a 19-8 overall record and earn a berth in the ECAC tournament. Albany made a second consecutive trip to the Year School Record/Highlights ECAC’s postseason during the 1998-99 campaign, finishing 1992-93 Le Moyne 18-10/Head Coach at 26 with a 14-14 overall record that year. 1993-94 Le Moyne 16-11 Hicks has one senior on his roster this season. Fifth-year 1994-95 Le Moyne 16-12 senior Lindbergh Chatman will lead three juniors, five sopho- 1995-96 Le Moyne 24-6/NCAA Tournament mores and four freshmen into 2003-04. Although it will be a 1996-97 Le Moyne 13-7/NCAA Tournament young team, three of Hicks’ top five scorers are back and the 1997-98 Albany 19-8/ECAC Tournament coaching staff is confident that the Greyhounds will be a much 1998-99 Albany 14-14/ECAC Tournament improved squad. 1999-2000 Albany 11-17/First season D-I “Scott is a great young basketball mind, and he has been 2000-01 Loyola 6-23 successful at every juncture of his career,” says Loyola Di- 2001-02 Loyola 5-23 rector of Athletics Joe Boylan, himself a longtime collegiate 2002-03 Loyola 4-24 basketball coach. “We’re extremely excited to have him as our basketball coach and believe in great things to come for Overall: 146-165 (.469) At Loyola: 15-70 (.176) our men’s basketball program.” In 1992, at just 26 years of age, Hicks was hired as the head men’s basketball coach at his alma mater, LeMoyne College. 18 Loyola Men’s Basketball 2003-04 Loyola Coaches He became the youngest men’s enth in assists (320) and sec- basketball head coach at an ond in steals (178). He was NCAA institution at any level also a two-time first-team when he accepted the position. All-Mid East Conference selec- During his five-year tenure at tion as a junior and senior. For his Le Moyne, he led the Dolphins to efforts, Hicks was inducted into the NCAA Division II tournament ap- Le Moyne Athletics Hall of Fame pearances in 1996 and 1997 and in 2002. compiled an impressive 87-56 Following graduation from Le overall record. His .608 winning Moyne, Hicks played profession- percentage ranks second in school ally for the Rheineck Sea Horses history, while his victory total is in Timaru, New Zealand, in the third all-time at the school summer of 1988. Under his leadership, Le Upon his return from abroad, he Moyne captured the New England served as an assistant coach at two Collegiate Conference (NECC) programs under two head coaches Championship in 1996 and fol- among the most successful at their lowed that with the Northeast 10 respective levels. From 1988-1990, Conference title in 1997, earning he served as an assistant to Tom an automatic bid to the NCAA Murphy at Division III power tournament each year. Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Hicks, who was also the Hicks then went on to serve as an College’s NCAA compliance of- assistant coach for the legendary ficer and director of scheduling, Jim Boeheim at Syracuse Univer- led the program to a 24-6 record sity for the 1990-91 and 1991-92 in 1995-96, matching the school Scott Hicks has coached his team into the postseason seasons. record for victories. Hicks and the four times in his 11 seasons as the head man. A native of Oneida, N.Y., and a Dolphins had winning seasons in graduate of Vernon-Verona- each of his first four years as head coach. Sherrill High School, Hicks is married to the former Lisa Hicks is a 1988 graduate of Le Moyne with a Bachelor’s Dooley, also a 1988 graduate of Le Moyne. Degree in business administration. He concluded his career with The couple has three children —sons Jake (7) and Luke (5) 1,470 points to finish seventh on the school’s all-time list. He and daughter Abigail (1). The Hicks family resides in also ranked ninth in school history in rebounding (627), sev- Lutherville, Md. The Hicks Family (L-R): Scott, Luke (5), Jake (7), Lisa and Abigail Hicks (1). Loyola Men’s Basketball 2003-04 19 Loyola Coaches to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference at Loyola prior to Byron Thorne the 2000-2001 season. Assistant Coach While at Albany, Thorne had similar responsibilities with recruiting, scouting and on-floor coaching duties. He helped Penn St.-Behrend ’94 the Great Danes to a 19-win season in 1997-98, two consecu- tive ECAC Tournament appearances and aided in the team’s transition to the Division I level. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Thorne is a 1994 graduate of Penn State University, The Behrend College in Erie, Pa. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management informa- tion systems while playing for PSU-Behrend’s basketball team. Byron Thorne came to Loyola with Head Coach Scott Hicks and is now in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Byron Thorne Coaching Timeline Greyhounds. He is responsible for recruiting, scouting and on- Year School Position floor coaching duties, working mostly with Loyola’s perim- 1995-96 Elmira College Assistant Coach eter players. 1996-97 Elmira College Assistant Coach An assistant coach at the University at Albany for three 1997-98 University at Albany Assistant Coach seasons (1997-2000) under Hicks, he also made the transition 1998-99 University at Albany Assistant Coach 1999-2000 University at Albany Assistant Coach 2000-01 Loyola College Assistant Coach 2001-02 Loyola College Assistant Coach 2002-03 Loyola College Assistant Coach On the court, he was a 1994 honorable mention All-America guard as well as an ECAC Division III All-Star. Following graduation from PSU-Behrend, Thorne went on to serve as an assistant coach at Elmira College under Terry Zeh, now an assistant coach at MAAC rival Canisius College. He worked with Zeh for two seasons before joining Hicks’ staff. While at Elmira, he handled recruiting, scouting, and con- ditioning for the extremely successful Soaring Eagles’ program. He helped Elmira reach the ECAC Division III Upstate New York championship game in 1997 as well as the ECAC quarterfinals in 1996. In addition, Thorne received his master’s degree in education from Elmira in the spring of 1997. A Vincentian High School graduate, Thorne, 31, was voted to the Pittsburgh Fabulous Five All-Star team as a high school senior. Thorne currently resides in Towson and is engaged to Lisa Fessler. The couple plans to wed next summer. Byron Thorne has been coaching with Scott Hicks since the two paired up at Albany in 1997. 20 Loyola Men’s Basketball 2003-04 Loyola Coaches Karl Radday Assistant Coach Le Moyne ’95 Karl Radday returns for his second season as an assistant coach at Loyola College after serving as the head basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg for two seasons. Radday continues responsibilities in recruiting, scouting and on-court duties for the Greyhounds, centering mostly on work- ing with Loyola’s post players. A post player himself, Radday played for Greyhound head coach Scott Hicks at Le Moyne College from 1991-95. As a coach he took the reigns as the first full-time head coach of the Pitt-Greensburg program. On a 2001-02 team that had 11 fresh- men, Radday was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Coach of the Year. Prior to that, Radday served as the associate head coach at Penn State University, The Behrend College, for the 1999-2000 season.