Colgate has rewarded men’s basketball head coach Matt Langel with a five-year contract extension.

Director of Athletics Victoria M. Chun ’91 MA’94 made the official announcement Thursday, less than two weeks after the Raiders completed their best season since 1996. Colgate finished second in the Patriot League standings and advanced to the tournament semifinals.

It was Colgate’s first Patriot League semifinal appearance since 2009, and the Raiders won 12 conference games for the first time in program history.

"We are committed to having Matt continue his tenure as our men’s basketball coach," Chun said. "He and his family – wife, Tara, and their children, Logan, Luke and Jackson – have become active and valued members of this community, and we are happy they will remain in Hamilton.

"He has brought pride and success to our men’s basketball program while being a consummate professional, maintaining a high level of integrity, and recruiting student-athletes who seek success not only on the court but in the classroom as well."

Langel, 37, was named Colgate head coach in April 2011 and just completed his fourth season with the Raiders.

18329Colgate won 12 Patriot League games this year for the first time in program history.

Colgate this year finished 16-17 overall and 12-6 in the Patriot League, just one game out of first place. It marked the third straight year under Langel of improved totals in both the overall win column and in conference victories.

Colgate under Langel won eight, 11, 13 and now 16 games in his first four seasons, respectively. The Raiders won two, five, six and now 12 Patriot League games in those same four years.

"I could not be more appreciative of the continued support and commitment from the leadership at Colgate University, specifically our Athletic Director, Vicky Chun," Langel said. "I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to lead our men’s basketball program and for how Colgate has treated me, my family, and the members of our Colgate Basketball family.

"As we have worked hard to build a program capable of competing for a Patriot League championship, I would be remiss not to mention how significant our talented and loyal staff has been to the process."

Excitement All Around

Attendance at Cotterell Court reflected the excitement surrounding Colgate Basketball. The Raiders down the stretch drew their three largest crowds of the Langel era for Senior Day 2015 and the two Patriot League Tournament dates.

An average of nearly 1,400 fans packed Cotterell Court for each of those games, recalling the energy and anticipation of playoff basketball not felt since the Patriot League title years of 1995 and 1996.

15241Under Langel, the Raiders have improved their win totals each of the last three seasons.

That’s the last time Colgate posted a conference finish better than this year’s second place. The Raiders earned that position too, with convincing sweeps of both regular-season champ Bucknell and third-place finisher Lehigh.

"Over the course of this season, the University and Hamilton community fans could not have been better," Langel said. "The players all noted how signifcant the crowd support was to our growing success.

"I know that the returning group is eager to start working toward next year’s goals to ensure the fans will continue to have something to be excited about."

Langel arrived at Colgate in April 2011 after five seasons as an assistant coach at Temple and two at Pennsylvania – all under head coach Fran Dunphy. Langel was a 1,000-point scorer under Dunphy at Penn and is in the Quaker records book in several categories.

With the extension, Langel is now under contract at Colgate through the 2019-20 season.

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