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.

March 6, 2010 - Double-Overtime CAA Quarterfinal

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.

March 16, 2010 - Back to the NIT

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.

February 2, 2010 - Down by 15, win by 20

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.

February 19, 2010 - Hockey steals one from BC

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.

February 20, 2010 - Bracketbuster vs. Louisiana Tech

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.

December 1, 2009 - Basketball hosts Providence

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.

December 31, 2009 - Cable Car Classic

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.

Here are our picks for the top highlights from November of this season.

November 6, 2009 - Hockey vs. Boston University

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.

November 14, 2009 - Final home football game

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.

November 28, 2009 - “The Buzzer-Beater”

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.

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.

Hank Datelle, the 2007 Atlanta Business person of the year is a primary investor for Anduro Manufacturing that specializes in full integration packaging and boasts the highest BOPP/PP bag production capacity in the Western world.

“I have enjoyed Hank’s friendship and common desire to advance Northeastern Basketball,” said Bill Coen. “I am thankful for his support and look forward to working with him in our goals.”

“It is very appropriate that this gift enables Northeastern basketball to advance to its goals of excellence,” said Hank Datelle.

The donation comes amid a renegotiation of head coach Bill Coen’s contract, and after Coen interviewed for openings at Siena and Boston College. Those openings appear to have been filled, as Boston College hired Cornell’s Steve Donahue and Siena is close to naming their choice today.

Though the amount is significant in its own right, the donation also publicly signals growing support for Northeastern basketball, and could be a turning point in the speculation surrounding Coen’s 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.

Late Sunday, Coen was mentioned as a possible candidate for the head coaching position at Siena.