Bridgewater College Director of Athletics Curt Kendall has announced the hiring of Mike Maczko as the new head men’s basketball coach on Monday afternoon.
Maczko comes to Bridgewater after most recently serving as an assistant coach at ODAC rival Randolph-Macon last season and brings in head coaching experience after serving as the head coach at Mercy College in New York.
“I am truly honored to be the next head men’s basketball coach at Bridgewater College,” said Maczko. “I’d like to thank Director of Athletics Curt Kendall, the search committee and the entire staff for giving me this opportunity.”
Last season, Maczko assisted the Yellow Jackets to a 25-5 overall record with an impressive 15-1 mark in conference games as RMC finished atop the ODAC standings. The program finished the year No 7 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Maczko assisted in recruiting for the program and helped tutor a trio of All-ODAC performers, including Daniel Mbangue who went on to claim a second team all-region selection by D3hoops.com and a second team spot on the NABC All-District listing.
“I look forward to building upon the already established foundation of excellence, both on and off the court, and to propel this program to new heights,” continued Maczko. “I cannot wait to get started and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to join the Bridgewater community.”
Prior to the move to Ashland, Maczko joined the coaching staff at Baruch for the 2022-23 season where the Bearcats went 22-6 with a 12-2 record in the CUNYAC on their way to a conference championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“We are excited to have Mike Maczko to lead our men’s basketball program,” said Kendall. “His experience as a head coach and his time at Baruch, Johns Hopkins, Randolph-Macon and Salisbury has given him a great understanding of the ODAC and what it takes to compete at the highest level. He knows our program and has a good vision of the steps we need to take to compete every day with the top of the conference.”
Maczko stepped in to lead the program at Division II Mercy College before the start of the 2017-18 season. He took over a 2-25 program and won 10 games in his first season at the helm, which was just the second time in 20 years the program reached double digits in victories.
During his five seasons at Mercy, Maczko recruited and developed Kerwin Prince who was lauded as the program’s first East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in over 15 years and oversaw the development of Bryan Griffin to a First Team All-ECC selection and all-region honors. In the 2020-21 season, Maczko led the Mavericks to their first conference tournament appearance since 2016.
Maczko has assistant coaching stops on his resume at Post University, Georgia Tech (graduate assistant) and Johns Hopkins.
A former Division III student-athlete, Maczko played three seasons at Salisbury where he started all 77 games for the program. He was a team captain for his junior and senior campaigns and was named All-Capital Athletic Conference following his final season for his now former Randolph-Macon boss, head coach Josh Merkel. He began his collegiate playing career at Division I institution New Jersey Institute of Technology on a full scholarship where he averaged 12.5 minutes per game and had three starts. Maczko, the son of Terry Maczko, a long-time junior college coach in Maryland, played his high school basketball at Baltimore Catholic league power, John Carroll.
After his playing days at Salisbury, Maczko returned to his alma mater as a volunteer assistant to begin his coaching career. While serving as a coach at Johns Hopkins, Maczko played two seasons of semi-professional basketball for the Bay Area Shuckers of the American Professional Basketball League.
A 2012 graduate of Salisbury, Maczko has a bachelor’s degree in communications and earned a master’s degree in sport management from California University of Pennsylvania (now PennWest California).
The Eagles finished last season with a 16-10 overall record behind a 9-7 mark in league play. BC faced a strong schedule that featured six teams that were ranked in the national top 25 polls at one time. The 16 victories marked the highest win total for the program since the 2004-05 season (17 wins) and the nine ODAC wins achieved the first winning record in league play since the 2008-09 campaign (10-6).
The program also supported a trio of All-ODAC honorees as Jordan Cooper was named Rookie of the Year, which marked the second time an Eagle claimed the honor in the last three years, and rising senior Aaron Oates and graduate Alec Topper each were named to the third team. The achievements marked the first time in program history at least two Eagles were named All-ODAC in three straight seasons.
An introductory press conference will take place on Tuesday, May 14, at 1 pm in the Great Room in the FLC. A live stream will be provided and can be viewed HERE.
https://bridgewatereagles.com/news/2024/5/13/mike-maczko-named-new-head-mens-basketball-coach.aspx
