“Its not about me, its about the players and their team.” This is the philosophy of UB men’s basketball coach, Mike Ruane. Coach Ruane has been coaching at UB for eight years. When he took over at the school they were less than stellar only posting 12 wins combined over four seasons.
Coach Ruane has led UB to five straight 20 win seasons dating back to the 2002-2003 season. He has taken the school to five NCAA tournaments and won the ECAC Conference. “Success breeds success,” said Coach Ruane, who actually credits the President of the school for putting more emphasis on athletics. “We’ve been able to recruit
who we need and keep players eligible,”
said Coach Ruane.
He has always wanted to coach, at Alvernia College he was captain of his basketball team. “If I wasn’t coaching now I’d be looking for another coaching job,” said Coach Ruane. Part of his philosophy of coaching is to let the players be themselves. He does not lock them down in an offensive system.
He has had to change his offensive system numerous times due to different players talents. “That is part of being a flexible coach, evaluating and seeing what you need.” Throughout his years at UB he was won many awards. They include the NYCAC Coach of the Year in 2003 and Bridgeport Sports person of the Year in 2005, just to name a few.
“Its nice to be recognized,” said Coach Ruane. He continued to say, “It means more that the program was getting to a recognizable level.” Even though it seems like it, Coach Ruane’s success did not happen overnight. He spent two years at Philadelphia University as an Assistant Coach to Herb Magee.
Herb Magee took Ruane under his wing and showed him the right way to coach. “He taught me how to deal with players on the floor. And what it takes to be prepared.” Now Coach Ruane has been using what he has learned and it has been producing wins by the bunches. It is not always perfect however. “I’ve never wanted to quit, but sometimes you question your methods, if your doing it right. Are you supporting them enough to be successful,”
said Coach Ruane. One of his methods has been the post game speech. Coach Ruane said, “There is a lot of emotion, the best thing is when you win and your kids give it their all,”
Now UB is 6-11, things have not been
going as well as they usually do. However,
Coach Ruane’s players have adopted his
philosophy of team before I and no one is panicking or pointing the finger. UB
forward Quentin Martin said, “It’s a long season and we are a young team but it’s a
marathon not a sprint.” He continued “We just need to gel.” UB center Jeremy Benjamin said “We are still trying to find
our niche, its going to rough especially at
first but its better that we are rebuilding
this way.” Coach Ruane’s message of hard work, and selflessness has taken over the locker room and is put on display on the court every time the Knights play. “Getting through to your players, that’s important,” said Coach Ruane. So far the important part has been going just fine, win or lose.