HEAD COACH BOB CAMPBELL
Bob
Campbell begins his 23rd season as Head Coach of the men’s basketball program at
Western Connecticut State University and is the Colonials’ longest tenured head
coach. In each of his first 22 years, Campbell has lifted his program to unprecedented success and recognition. Campbell has the highest winning percentage of any coach in the program’s 59-year history with an overall record of 435 wins and 169 losses, a .720 winning percentage. He has also guided the Colonials to numerous regional and national rankings.
Last season, WestConn won the Little East Conference Tournament and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in school history. It advanced to the second round of the Tournament before dropping a 79-77 decision to WPI. It was the sixth time that the Colonials had advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In each of his first 12 seasons, Western Connecticut appeared in either the NCAAs or ECACs Post-Season Tournament. After two seasons of narrowly missing post-season play, the Colonials have returned to the ECACs for two campaigns before making two straight NCAA Tournaments in 2001-02, 2002-03.
In 2003-04 they won the ECAC New England Championship and finished with a 19-11 overall record.
A year earlier, the Colonials went 20-9 overall and were Little East Conference regular-season (11-3) and tournament champions. They defeated Clark (MA), 84-82 on a last-second bucket by Jay Reginatto in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament then fell to Rochester (NY), 73-62 in the second round.
In 2001-02, Western Connecticut went 21-7 overall and 10-4 in the Little East Conference. It finished tied for second in the conference then went on to win the Little Conference Tournament on the road at Keene State College. The Colonials defeated Salem State College, 92-89 in the first round before falling to Amherst College, 82-77 in the second round of the Regionals.
In 2000-01, the Colonials went 17-10 overall, finished third in the Little East Conference with a 9-5 record and appeared in the ECAC New England Tournament. It was their eighth ECAC appearance during Campbell’s tenure.
In 1999-2000, Western Connecticut finished the season with a 19-9 overall record and were 9-5 in the Little East Conference. It appeared in its seventh Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament. The Colonials advanced to the ECAC New England second round before falling to Tufts University, 68-63.
In 1998-99, his Colonials returned to the NCAA Tournament after earning the automatic berth by winning the LEC Post-Season Tournament. On their way to through the LEC Post-Season Tournament, Western defeated nationally ranked Keene State College and Plymouth State College. That season, Western Connecticut went 18-11 overall and 8-6 in the league. Its season ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a loss to the #1 team in the country Connecticut College, 94-76.
Campbell has long surpassed Harvey Jessup for coaching longevity at Western. Jessup coached for 12 years from 1949 to 1961.
The Colonials won 20 or more games for seven straight seasons and 10 times overall, since Campbell took the WCSU helm in 1984, until 1995-96’s 19-8 record. He has now won 20 or more games in 10 of 19 years as head coach. Three times the Colonials won 19 games and twice captured 18 wins in a season.
In 1993-94 the Colonials finished at 23-6 overall and captured the school’s first-ever ECAC New England Championship.
1989-90 was the school’s finest season as it posted an impressive 28-2 record, appeared in the national Top-20 throughout the season, ranked as high as second in the nation, and advanced to the NCAA Division III Atlantic/Middle Atlantic Sectionals. Each of the previously mentioned accomplishments are records for the men’s basketball program at Western.
The Colonials opened the 1989-90 season with 19 straight victories, and after an 80-63 upset loss to Hartwick College at Bill Williams Gym, regained their composure and won nine of their last ten. Western’s season-ending win streak came to a close in the finals of the Atlantic/Middle Atlantic Sectionals, (The Elite Eight) with a 107-104 overtime loss to host Washington of Maryland.
During the 1985-86 season, Campbell’s second year as head coach, the Colonials set school records for consecutive wins with 20. With that success (25-1 regular-season) came a spot in the NCAA Division III Top 20 for six weeks, a final ranking of 14th and their first bid to the national playoffs.
1985-86’s 25-3 dream season came after his head coaching debut that saw Western post a 16-9 record a year earlier.
A Danbury native, Campbell graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he worked with coaching legends Jim Valvano, Dom Perno and United States Olympic Coach Dee Rowe. Campbell received his master’s degree from Columbia University.
Following graduation from UConn, Campbell taught in the Danbury school system and broke into coaching at Danbury High School, under the respected Harry Hyra.
Campbell came to Western in 1980-81 as a part-time coach, assisting three different head coaches, before getting the opportunity to take over WCSU’s program in 1984.
In the summer of 1994, Campbell was selected as coach for the World Student-Athlete Games held in Newport, RI.
In 1990, he was selected as coordinator in basketball for the Nutmeg Games, Connecticut’s Olympics.
Campbell’s Record as Head Coach at WestConn