Drexel Head Basketball Coach Zach Spiker announced Friday the additions of Chris Clark, Paul Fortier and Rob O’Driscoll to his coaching staff. Between the three new faces on the Drexel staff, they have played or coach in 15 NCAA Tournaments.
Clark, a Philadelphia native, was on Temple Head Coach Fran Dunphy’s bench last season as the program’s video coordinator. Before returning to his alma mater, Clark served for two seasons as an assistant coach at Campbell University from 2013-2015. Prior to his stint at Campbell, Clark was on the St. Francis (Pa.) staff for four seasons, the last as an associate head coach. As a player at Temple, Clark helped lead the Owls to the first of their six straight NCAA Tournament berths. He was a team captain as a senior, when he led the Owls in three-point percentage as the squad won the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. He was named the Philadelphia Big 5 Most Improved Player his senior season. Clark played his high school basketball locally at St. Joseph’s Prep.
Fortier was the associate head coach at Cal Poly for the last three seasons. The Mustangs won the Big West Conference Tournament Championship in his first season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Before arriving at Cal Poly, Fortier was an assistant for eight years at the University of Washington, his alma mater. In those eight seasons, the Huskies went to four NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the Sweet 16 on two occasions. He was an assistant with Spiker on the Cornell staff in 2004-05 under Steve Donahue. In his coaching career, Fortier has recruited or coached 10 players who have played in the NBA, including seven active players. Fortier played professionally in Europe for 17 seasons before getting into coaching. He spent the majority of his career in France, but also played in Spain, Greece and Italy. Fortier was a standout player at Washington from 1982-1986, where he scored 1,326 career points. His teams went to three NCAA Tournaments and won two Pac-10 championships. An All-Pac 10 selection as a senior after averaging 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds, Fortier was drafted in 1986 by the Washington Bullets in the fifth round.
O’Driscoll arrives at Drexel after serving eight seasons as the associate head coach on the James Madison staff under Matt Brady. He was instrumental in rebuilding the Dukes’ program that posted eight straight losing seasons before his arrival. James Madison won the 2013 CAA Tournament and with that win, earned the school’s first NCAA berth in 19 years. JMU also won its first NCAA Tournament game that year, the first time the school advanced in the tournament since 1983. The Dukes won 20 or more games and made the postseason in four of his eight seasons at JMU and in three of his last four seasons in Harrisonburg, they won at least 19 games. Prior to his arrival in Harrisonburg, the Newtown Square, Pa. native was an assistant at Marist for four years under Brady. He was also an assistant at Iona for six years and at Manhattan for three seasons. O’Driscoll began his coaching career as an administrative assistant at Villanova. He graduated from Villanova in 1994 and earned a master’s degree from the school in 1997.
“We are very excited to welcome this group of coaches to Market & 33rd,” Spiker said. “Each has served programs as an associate head coach and will no doubt bring that experience to Drexel. We feel this group will challenge and serve our players. All three are future head coaches and will bring the necessary combination of energy and skills to help our guys experience success on and off the court.”
