History of Men's Basketball Program
On January 24, 1903, then Keystone State Normal School faced off against Reading High School. Although the Maroon & Gold was defeated, 24-8, the game began a century of men’s basketball that produced numerous outstanding players and several conference championships.
The first faculty coach was also a standout player. KU Athletics Hall of Fame member George B. Ely came to Kutztown in 1905. A standout athlete and coach, he led the basketball team to successful records from 1905-08.
The men’s basketball program reached a high level of success in the late 1910s, winning two Pennsylvania State Normal School championships. The program’s first title, and the first championship in any sport at the school, came in 1917. Coach Bert Bohler and player Raymond Loose led the team to a perfect 18-0 record that season. In 1919, Bohler led an almost completely new cast of players to a second championship.
Arlan Baver was one of the best players in the first half of the century at Kutztown. He scored 711 points from 1926-30, a scoring record that stood for 25 years. He also held records for points in a season (249) and a single game (32).
In 1936, a group of future Hall of Famers brought another title to Kutztown. Hall of Fame coach James MacGovern, and Hall of Fame players Russ Stoudt (captain), Joseph “Gino” Musso, John Polischak and George Kovich were key factors in the title run. The team finished the year 11-2, defeating West Chester, a team it had lost to earlier in the year, for the Pennsylvania State Teachers College championship.
The program, discontinued during World War II, was reinstated in 1945-46 by Hall of Fame coach Walt Risley. Risley coached the cagers until 1963. Roger Cocivera (1952-56) became the first 1,000-career point scorer, finishing with 1,231 points.
The 1960s and 1970s produced seven 1,000-point scorers, including Hall of Famer John Cresswell, the first to eclipse 1,400 career points in 1969, and Hall of Famer George Krell, who passed Cresswell with 1,467 points in 1970. Hall of Famer Eddie McTague set the school records for assists and his steals mark still stand today.
In the mid-1980s, head coach Rick Binder produced several standout players and a three-year span of 53 wins. Hall of Famer Butch Hills set the school’s scoring record with 1,525 career points. He teamed with fellow Hall of Famer Marty Eggleston, who set the career rebounds and blocks records, to lead the 1987-88 team to a school-record 21 wins. That team also won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East title and qualified for the NCAA playoffs.
The 1990s produced Hall of Famer Lock Jennings, who scored a then-school-record 1,682 points from 1989-93, and 1,000-point scorer, Keith Mackrey.
In KU’s second century, current head coach Bernie Driscoll posted 10 straight winning seasons from 2002-12 and led Kutztown to two appearances in the PSAC title game. He led the Golden Bears to back-to-back-to-back PSAC East titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as well as in 2012, 2016 and 2017. In 2008, the Golden Bears shared the title with Cheyney, and in 2009, KU won it outright with a then-school-record 13 PSAC East wins. In 2009, Driscoll advanced the Golden Bears to their first NCAA Division II regional final by winning the school's first NCAA tournament games in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Atlantic Regional. Driscoll was named the 2009 PSAC East Coach of the Year, while the school's second leading scorer Dave Ben, who finished with 2,017 points in his career was named the 2009 PSAC East Player of the Year.
Stephen Dennis put together a stellar career in the Maroon and Gold, capped off by a senior season that saw him average more than 26 points a game as the Division II Player of the Year in 2010. The 6-6 guard broke Kutztown's career scoring record and his 2,406 points rank third in PSAC history. He was named the PSAC East Player of the Year as a senior, was a four-time All-PSAC East selection, and was named the PSAC East Rookie of the Year. In addition to setting the all-time Kutztown scoring record, Dennis established program marks in field goals (850), free throws (621) and assists (447).
In the Driscoll-era (2001-present), KU has produced 14 1,000-point scorers - Hall of Famer Bilal Salaam, Hall of Famer Jeff Brickus, Bobby Eberhart, Hall of Famer Dave Ben, Hall of Famer Stephen Dennis, Andre Woodlin, Ryan Washington, Nate Edwards, Micah Fraction, Josh Johnson, Ryan Connolly, Anthony Lee, Ethan Ridgeway and Wesley Butler, and the school's all-time leaders in rebounds (Salaam), 3-pointers (Connolly), free throws (Dennis), assists (Ridgeway) and blocks (Salaam).
