Palm Beach State College Athletics has selected Michael Ruane to serve as its new head men’s basketball coach. He officially begins May 2.
He was selected for the role from a national pool of more than 200 candidates.
Ruane has been the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Conn. for the past 22 years. Earlier this year, he achieved his 400th career win with Bridgeport making him one of only 40 active coaches at the 305 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II level schools with that number of victories.
In 2019-20, he guided the Bridgeport basketball team to one of its most successful seasons, as it finished 24-4 and was ranked #13 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll and #1 in the East region.
“We could not have found a better coach to move this program forward,” said PBSC Athletics Director John Scarpino. “Mike not only has the level of professionalism and integrity we desire, but his players also have a proven track record of success both on the court and academically.”
In his 22 seasons, Ruane has led Bridgeport to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances (the most for a coach in the East Coast Conference (ECC) history, four ECC Tournament Championships, five ECC Regular Season Championships, two NCAA Regional Semi-Final appearances, and one NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.
Ruane has also been named ECC Coach of the year five times, Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Coach of the Year, Fairfield County Sports Person of the Year for Bridgeport and received the Sam Schoenfeld Award for Sportsmanship presented by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association twice.
“I am so thankful to President Ava Parker, Vice President Peter Barbatis, Athletics Director John Scarpino and the entire search committee for giving me this opportunity,” said Ruane. “Building this program will be an honor and my number one priority tied with my marriage.”
Prior to his appointment at Bridgeport, Ruane spent two seasons under legendary and Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Herb Magee at Jefferson University (formally Philadelphia University and Philadelphia Textile). He also was an assistant at NJIT and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Ruane earned a Master of Education in Sports and Athletic Administration from Temple University in Philadelphia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from Alvernia University in Reading, Pa. While at Alvernia, Ruane played basketball, baseball and ran cross country.
Story Courtesy: KRISTI SORROW, Palm Beach State
