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Wagner College head men’s basketball coach Bashir Mason has announced that Mike Babul has been elevated from Assistant Coach to Associate Head Coach.
Babul, who’s entering his fourth season staff and works primarily with the Seahawk forwards and centers, also serves as the program’s co-recruiting and scheduling coordinator. In 12 years of coaching at the Division I level, Babul has coached five NBA players and has mentored over 30 student-athletes that have gone on to play professionally.
A member of the coaching staffs at Auburn, Texas-El Paso (UTEP), Drexel, Youngstown St. and Memphis, before arriving on Grymes Hill in 2012, Babul was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter for UMass from 1996-to-2000, helping the Minutemen to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. During his time in Amherst, Babul was team captain and was named to three Atlantic-10 (A-10) All-Defensive and All-Academic Teams (1997-2000). He graduated in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management.
“I’ve known Mike for a long time, have had the pleasure of working with him these past three seasons, and there’s no doubt that he is richly deserving of holding the title of Associate Head Coach,” said Mason. “Mike is tremendous in all facets of coaching Division I men’s basketball. His hard and productive work lets me know that he is well on his way to one day leading his own program.”
Under Babul’s tutelage, the Wagner post players combined to contribute 34.9 percent of the teams total’s points during the 2014-2015 season, nearly a five percent increase from the 2013-14 campaign. In addition, the Seahawks were ranked in the top-five in the Northeast Conference (NEC) in six statistical categories while leading the circuit in Offensive Rebounds per game at 14.93 a contest.
During his tenure, Babul has seen the program match the fourth highest win total in a two-year span (38) when the 2012-13 and 2013-14 teams posted identical 19-12 records en route to securing the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament.
“I am grateful for the opportunity Bashir has given me at Wagner College, and it is an honor to be promoted to Associate Head Coach,” said Babul. “Coach Mason has established a winning culture here at Wagner, and I take great pride in working with our student-athletes day in and day out to help them reach their goals on the court and in the classroom. The ultimate goal is to win a Northeast Conference Championship and return to the NCAA Tournament. I am looking forward to working with this talented and hungry group of young men as we enter another season.”
Babul has aided in the development of several All-Conference players, including most recently Marcus Burton (’15), who was named to the All-NEC First Team in his final season this past year. He has mentored the defensive prowess of Kenneth Ortiz (’14), who became the first-ever three-time NEC Defensive Player of the Year and Naofall Folahan (’14), who shattered the Seahawks’ single-season and career blocks record, as the former Green & White center rejected a school-record 230 shots for his career and 89 during the 2013-14 season while the team averaged 6.9 blocks per game, fourth-highest in the NCAA. The interior defense also helped Wagner limit opponents to a league-low 39.1 percent shooting that season, which ranked 12th nationally.
Prior to his arrival on Grymes Hill, Babul served as the Director of Operations under Tony Barbee for two seasons at Auburn after holding the same role for four seasons at UTEP.
In those combined six years, Babul managed the team’s budgetary responsibilities, organized on-campus recruiting, oversaw student-athlete athletic enhancement, coordinated team travel arrangements, established a relationship with Under Armour and Nike and served as a camp/clinic director and continued working closely with alumni relations.
While at UTEP, Babul helped lead the Miners to the 2009 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Finals and in the following year, helped guide the UTEP to the No. 12 seed in the West Regional of the 2010 NCAA Tournament after securing the Conference USA (C-USA) regular season championship.
Prior to joining the staff at UTEP, the North Attleboro, MA native worked under Drexel head coach James “Bruiser” Flint as the Dragons’ Director of Basketball Operations, where his duties mirrored those from Auburn and UTEP.
In 2005-06, his lone season at Drexel, he and Mason were both assistants at Drexel when the Dragons advanced to the Preseason National Invitational Tournament (NIT) Final Four, where they dropped a heartbreaking one-point decision to the eventual national runner-Up UCLA Bruins.
During the 2004-2005 season, Babul worked as an assistant coach at Youngstown State, after starting his collegiate coaching career as the Assistant Director of Operations under John Calipari at Memphis in 2003-2004, in which the Tigers advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to his playing career at UMass, Babul was a standout at North Attleboro High School. As a senior, he was a McDonald’s All-American nominee and was named the 1996 Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year and the Massachusetts High School Coaches’ Association Player of the Year. In addition, Parade Magazine selected Babul as a Fourth-Team All-American.
http://www.wagnerathletics.com/news/2015/9/11/MBB_0911150935.aspx
(Photo courtesy: Dave Saffran)
