This morning, Northeastern announced that basketball head coach Bill Coen was signed to a Six-year contract extension, ending weeks of speculation about Coen’s future. Coen and athletic director Peter Roby spoke about the deal on an online question-and-answer program earlier today.
Coen and Roby had been negotiating for the past few weeks, ultimately reaching an agreement in the past few days. No further details of the contract’s terms have been disclosed, though Roby and Coen alluded to raises for assistants and an increased recruiting budget to effectively compete in the top tier of the CAA.
WRBB Sports Basketball
Basketball provided two more lasting memories in the month of March, concluding Northeastern’s best season in years:
Northeastern and Hofstra tangle in a thrilling CAA quarterfinal matchup that took two overtimes to decide. For the first time under Bill Coen, the Huskies advanced to Sunday night in Richmond.
Northeastern returns to the NIT, matching up and almost overcoming UConn, in front of hundreds of students who made the trip south to Storrs, Connecticut.
WRBB Sports Basketball, The Dog Pound CAA, Hofstra, NIT, UConn
The biggest moments in February came as the season inched towards its conclusion:
Hofstra appeared to be in control early, but Northeastern came back to take a dominating win, scoring 45 points in the second half, maintaining first place in the standings.
Continuing a mid-season surge, Northeastern hockey gave fans hope for a late-season comeback when it defeated Boston College in front of a near-sellout crowd at Matthews Arena.
Despite the outcome of the game, the raucous crowd of over 4,400 at Matthews Arena was the culmination of years of resurrecting Northeastern basketball. An appearance on ESPN2 drew unprecedented buzz leading up to game day, and likely created countless new fans.
WRBB Sports Basketball, Hockey, The Dog Pound BC, Bracketbuster, Hofstra, Louisiana Tech
While wins were hard to come by in December, but two games stood out. You can weigh in by messaging us on Twitter (@wrbbsports), e-mailing us(sports@wrbbradio.org) or commenting on our Facebook page.
Despite the loss, it was the first time the Huskies hosted a Big East school in over a decade. With over 2,500 in attendance, NU put up a valiant effort only to fall short late in a great effort against a power conference team at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern basketball didn’t come away from this season totally empty-handed. They were able to best Kent State to win Santa Clara’s Cable Car Classic. In itself, the game was yet another back-and-forth fight that went down to the wire.
WRBB Sports Basketball, The Dog Pound Holiday Road Trip, Kent State, Providence
You can weigh in by messaging us on Twitter (@wrbbsports), e-mailing us (sports@wrbbradio.org) or commenting on our Facebook page.
Here are our picks for the top highlights from November of this season.
This one had all the ingredients: sell-out crowd, rivalry game, two nationally ranked teams, one of them the defending national champion. Chris Rawlings stops 43 shots and NU holds on for an incredible four-plus minutes on the penalty kill at the end to seal one of the most dramatic hockey victories in the past decade.
Though few knew it at the time, this rain-soaked homecoming game at Parsons Field would be the last home game for Northeastern football. Ending in a bizarre finish, the Huskies beat Hofstra 14-13. Their opponents, ironically, would cut football just weeks after Northeastern did.
The game itself was exciting, but it was Chaisson Allen’s buzzer-beater to win it that drew nearly 100,000 views on Youtube. For a different perspective, listen to WRBB’s call of the final shot - one of the top moments of the basketball season.
WRBB Sports Basketball, Football, Hockey BU, Hofstra, Wright State
Northeastern athletics announced via e-mail yesterday that the basketball program received a gift of $100,000 from NU alumnus Hank Datelle.
Below is an excerpt of the e-mail:
BOSTON, Mass. - - Northeastern University Athletics Director Peter Roby today announced a $100,000 gift to the men’s basketball program from Hank Datelle of Atlanta, GA.
The gift will be utilized to support and enhance student-athlete recruiting. “This extremely generous gift from Hank Datelle will enhance our basketball program and will serve as the foundation of our goal towards sustained excellence in basketball,” said Peter Roby. All of us at Northeastern are grateful for Hank’s loyal commitment to the university.
Read more…
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The coaching carousel continues to spin, as Cornell’s Steve Donahue will be announced as Boston College’s next head coach this afternoon, reports Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman. Northeastern head coach Bill Coen interviewed for the job earlier this month, in addition to his interview for the opening at Siena in Albany.
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This week, as coaching jobs at Siena and Boston College became available, speculation began to swirl about the future of Huskies head coach Bill Coen. That speculation was downplayed by Northeastern athletic director Peter Roby, who maintained that Coen is Northeastern’s head coach for the foreseeable future.
Roby acknowledged that both sides have been renegotiating Coen’s contract, an extension on which was signed during the 2009 off-season. It was not disclosed how many years the extension covers, or if there was any salary change.
“We are currently negotiating new terms, which have not yet been agreed upon,” Roby said of the contract, adding, “We are excited for the future of our basketball program with Bill Coen as our head coach.”
In addition to contract negotiations, the athletic department is currently working on its 2010-2011 budget, which is not expected to be complete until May. This includes the reallocation of resources following the termination of Northeastern football in November, as well as recruiting and travel budgets for the upcoming year.
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Earlier this morning, the Boston Globe’s Mark Blaudschun reported that Boston College fired head coach Al Skinner, just days after Skinner interviewed for the opening at St. John’s University. Though BC has requested permission to talk with two coaches (Richmond’s Chris Mooney and Cornell’s Steve Donahue), the report names Northeastern’s Bill Coen as another possibility for consideration, as he is “thought to be on his short list” of candidates.
Late Sunday, Coen was mentioned as a possible candidate for the head coaching position at Siena.
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March 16, 2010 - Back to the NIT
