TThehe CCoachingoaching SStafftaff A ccombinedombined 5500 yyearsears ooff ccollegeollege ccoachingoaching eexperiencexperience oonn tthehe BBisonison bbenchench HHeadead CCoachoach PPatat FFlannerylannery round of the NCAA Tournament. Drexel and William & Mary in the 1980s, Flan- “The victory was almost surreal,” nery was the head coach at Lebanon Valley said Flannery after taking the Bison to College for fi ve years, leading that team to its the fi rst NCAA Tournament victory in fi rst-ever national championship in 1994. The program and league history. “It is proof Dutchmen won the Division III title in thrilling that good things happen to those who fashion, with overtime victories in both the work hard for it. The players in this pro- semifinals (93-83 over Wittenberg) and the gram truly earned that victory, and it’s a championship game (66-59 over New York Uni- memory that they will carry forever.” versity). The title game win by the Dutchmen The Bison surpassed even those capped a 28-4 season in Flannery’s fi fth year as lofty heights in 2005-06, winning a head coach at the Eastern Pennsylvania school, school-record 27 games against only which recently celebrated the 10th anniversary fi ve losses. Ranked in the top 25 for of that national crown. the fi rst time in school history for one In his fi rst year at Lebanon Valley, Flannery week in February and at the end of guided the Dutchmen to a 17-9 mark, the the season, Bucknell became the fi rst program’s fi rst winning season in 18 years, and team in Patriot League history to go proceeded to record fi ve consecutive winning unbeaten in league play at 14-0. The seasons. His 1992-93 team reached the second Bison repeated as league champs, round of the NCAA Tournament, before his earned a best-ever No. 9 seed in the 1993-94 team won the title. In fi ve years at Leba- NCAA Tournament, and knocked off non Valley, Flannery compiled an overall record Arkansas 59-55 to make it to the round of 95-44 (.683) and earned the 1994 Division of 32 for the second straight year. III Coach-of-the-Year Award from the National Following the season he earned Association of Basketball Coaches. the Hugh Durham Award as the na- In October 2005 Flannery was inducted tional “mid-major” coach of the year, into the Lebanon Valley Athletics Hall of Fame, as well his third Patriot League Coach and coincidentally he went in alongside Mike of the Year honor. Rhoades, the team captain of the national Last season, the Bison put togeth- championship team and currently the head IInn 1133 yyearsears underunder headhead coachcoach PatPat Flannery,Flannery, thethe BisonBison havehave recordedrecorded er a school-record 14-game winning coach at Randolph-Macon College. a 1119-5119-51 (.700)(.700) recordrecord iinn rregular-seasonegular-season PPatriotatriot LLeagueeague ggames,ames, aandnd streak and fi nished 22-9 overall and 13- Flannery’s appointment as Bucknell’s 19th ttheyhey capturedcaptured tthehe PPatriotatriot LLeagueeague ttitleitle iinn 22005005 aandnd 22006.006. 1 in the Patriot League, but they were men’s basketball head coach in 1994 capped knocked off by Holy Cross in the Patriot a tumultuous two-month stretch. His wife, In 13 years as head coach at his alma mater, League championship game. Despite Patti, gave birth to the couple’s fi rst son, Ryan, 2006 Hugh Durham Award recipient Pat Flan- the 22 wins and an RPI in the 70s, Bucknell was in between the national championship and nery has taken his Bucknell team to heights not selected as an at-large participant in either Flannery’s hiring at Bucknell. The couple had never before seen in the 112-year history of the NCAA Tournament or NIT. their second child, Jesse, 11 years ago. Bison Basketball, and he is committed to main- Flannery made a mark on the Bucknell “At the time of my hiring, I was coming off taining the program’s status as one of the elite men’s basketball program long before return- two of the biggest things in my life,” Flannery teams in the Patriot League and beyond, both ing to Lewisburg in 1994-95 as the team’s head said. “If it wasn’t my alma mater, and wasn’t a on and off the fl oor. coach. As a player, he captained the 1979-80 school with this kind of philosophy, I wouldn’t A staple in the Lewisburg and surrounding Bison team that fi nished 20-7 and ushered in an have moved. The philosophy of the Patriot communities, Flannery is the second-longest era of unprecedented success at Bucknell. League is the philosophy of my coaching. I tenured head coach in program history, trailing Flannery remains the only player ever to always wanted a place that was academically only his own former coach, Charlie Woollum. lead the Bison in assists for four straight years, oriented. I was very happy (at Lebanon Valley), With 222 coaching wins at Bucknell, Flan- and he fi nished his career with a total of 505 but the people here got me excited. nery ranks second to the Hall of Famer Wool- assists, which was a school record at the time In his 13 seasons as coach at his alma mater, lum (318) on the school’s all-time list. No coach and still ranks third in Buck- in the 17-year history of the Patriot League has nell history. won more conference games than Flannery, He also tallied 779 ca- whose teams have won 70 percent of the time reer points and boasted (119-51) against league competition. a career free-throw per- Flannery, who received a contract exten- centage of .787. Bucknell sion in March 2006, presides over a proud pro- posted a 38-16 record over gram that is well-armed for college basketball’s Flannery’s fi nal two seasons, future with a sparkling home arena that and he captained the team opened in 2003 and a sixth year of recruiting each of those years. with merit scholarships upcoming. An emotional, com- “With the leadership, excitement and petitive point guard out respect that the Patriot League has developed of Pottsville High School, since I have been the head coach at Bucknell, I Flannery was actually the believe this is a wonderful time to be in charge fi rst recruit signed by then- of this program,” Flannery said. “I have a deep rookie Bucknell coach Char- history and love for Bucknell University, and lie Woollum in 1976. It was I feel like that feeling comes through to our indeed fitting, then, that student-athletes. when Woollum left in April “The support from the university and the 1994 to return to his alma administration makes me feel proud of the job mater, William and Mary, we have done here,” Flannery added. after a marvelous 19-year Those exciting changes paid dividends in career, Flannery was se- 2004-05, when Bucknell fi nished 24-9, captured lected as his successor. the Patriot League championship and defeated After serving as an as- HHeadead ccoachoach PPatat FFlannerylannery wwithith hhisis wwife,ife, PPatti,atti, aandnd ssonsons RRyanyan ((13)13) aandnd JJesseesse ((11)11) third-seeded Kansas 64-63 in the opening sistant coach at Bucknell, 2007-08 Bucknell Men’s Basketball • 64 • www.BucknellBison.com HHeadead CCoachoach PPatat FFlannerylannery Flannery and the Bison program have lived up to those high expectations. He has created an PAT FLANNERY’S RESUME atmosphere in which his players have been suc- cessful and he is again giving back to the school PERSONAL that gave him an opportunity in 1976. Hometown: Pottsville, Pa. After three straight 20-win seasons — a Parents: Nancy and the late John Flannery fi rst in Bucknell annals — his career record now Wife: Married to the former Patti Struble (Bucknell ‘86) Children: Ryan, 13, and Jesse, 11 stands at 317-202 (.611) overall and 222-159 (.583) at Bucknell. EDUCATION Flannery began his coaching career at B.A. (Economics, Political Science), Bucknell, 1980 Bucknell in 1994-95 by guiding the Bison to M.S. (College Administration), Bucknell, 1983 an 11-3 fi nal league mark and earning Patriot League Coach of the Year honors. He was the HEAD COACHING CAREER fi rst Patriot League coach to earn such honors in Year School W L Pct. Notes 1989-90 Lebanon Valley 17 9 .654 fi rst winning season in 18 years his opening season with a program. The award 1990-91 Lebanon Valley 15 12 .556 ECAC invitation was especially sweet for Flannery, considering 1991-92 Lebanon Valley 17 8 .680 ECAC invitation the Bison had opened the year 0-8, before win- 1992-93 Lebanon Valley 18 10 .643 NCAA Tournament ning 13 of their fi nal 19 games to collect a share 1993-94 Lebanon Valley 28 4 .875 NCAA Champions, NABC Coach of the Year of the regular season title. Lebanon Valley Totals 95 43 .688 In 1995-96, Bucknell was again solid in 1994-95 Bucknell 13 14 .481 Tied for fi rst in P.L.; P.L. Coach of the Year league play, going 8-4 in Patriot games, and 1995-96 Bucknell 17 11 .607 Tied for third in P.L. fi nishing the season with an overall record of 1996-97 Bucknell 18 11 .621 Second in P.L.; P.L. Co-Coach of the Year 17-11. Included in those 17 wins was one of 1997-98 Bucknell 13 15 .464 Tied for third in the P.L. the school’s biggest victories of all time, when 1998-99 Bucknell 16 13 .552 Tied for second in the P.L.