Queens University of Charlotte Director of Athletics Cherie Swarthout announced the signing of Queens Head Men’s Basketball Coach Bart Lundy to a five-year contract. Lundy is entering his fifth year back with the program after returning in 2013, and his contract is the first of its kind for any coach in the department.
“We have tremendous gratitude for Bart’s leadership and commitment to our University and department of athletics,” Swarthout stated. “He has established the Royals as an elite basketball program in the country. We look forward to continued success both athletically and academically under his direction.”
The 2017-18 season will mark Lundy’s 16th year as a head coach, and nine of those seasons have been with the Royals. In a unique occurrence in collegiate basketball, Lundy has had two separate stints as the Royals’ head coach with the first taking place from 1999-2003. He has accumulated a 200-77 record at Queens, leading the program to four conference regular season titles and five NCAA appearances. In addition, the Royals have made one Sweet Sixteen and two Elite Eight appearances with the 2003 squad reaching the semifinals led by Spencer Ross, who was named the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year a year later.
Following the 2002-03 season, Lundy was hired as the head coach at High Point University where he totaled 96 wins, the most by a men’s basketball coach in High Points Division I history. He was also named 2004 NCAA Division I National Rookie Coach of the Year after taking a six-win team prior to his arrival to a 19-win team in his first season. While coaching the Panthers, Coach Lundy produced three Big South Players of the Year.
After six seasons at High Point, Lundy moved on to assist Buzz Williams at NCAA Division I Marquette University and Tony Benford at the University of North Texas. During these four seasons, Lundy was part of three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, advancing to two-straight Sweet 16s. Additionally, Lundy coached numerous NBA players including first round pick and NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler, and second round picks Jae Crowder, Tony Mitchell and Darius Johnson-Odom.
Lundy returned home to Queens in 2013, and the Royals have improved each season since. Queens has advanced to the NCAA Championships for two consecutive seasons, earning the No. 1 seed in the southeast region and hosting rights in 2017. Additionally, Queens grabbed an exhibition win over NCAA Division I VCU and their first South Atlantic Conference Regular Season and Championship Tournament titles in 2017. Tate Small was also awarded the Elite 18 Award at the SAC Championships, an award given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the championships. Queens completed the year with a program record 30 wins after opening with a program best 16 straight wins. Lundy now has 296 total career wins and his Queens record now sits at 200-77 making him the all-time winningest coach in men’s basketball history at the university.
“My family and I are grateful for the opportunities that Queens has given us and continues to give us,” Lundy stated. “This commitment by the University is important to me. Queens is where I want to be and we love the city of Charlotte. Our program operates at the highest level possible each and every day in order to make Queens University of Charlotte and the city of Charlotte proud when we take the court. This is another step in the growth of our program and athletics at Queens.”
