Basketball (M)
- News & Events
- Leatherman Announces Retirement - 07/30/2008
Bridgewater College head basketball coach Bill Leatherman has announced his retirement after 23 years at the helm of the program.
Leatherman was hired as the head coach at Bridgewater College in 1985.
In just his second season, Leatherman led the Eagles to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference regular season title with a 17-9 record. A year later, Bridgewater won the 1987-88 ODAC championship and earned a berth to the NCAA Division III tournament – the College’s first-ever appearance in postseason play. That team finished with a 24-5 record, the best record during the Leatherman years.
Bridgewater made two more trips to the NCAA tournament. The 1995-96 team earned an at-large bid and finished with an 18-10 record. The next season, the Eagles finished with a 21-8 record and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Leatherman was named the ODAC Coach of the Year four times – 1987, 1989, 1996 and 2005. He was named the South Region Coach of the Year in 1987, 1988, 1996 and 2005. Following the 2005-06 season, Leatherman received the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians Award for Advocacy. The honor is one of the top awards a coach can receive from the NABC.
During his tenure at BC, Leatherman coached three All-Americans – Ramsey Yeatts, Dan Rush and Kyle Williford. His players earned recognition on the All-ODAC first team 17 times and the second team nine times.
Leatherman’s 1989 team led all divisions in the NCAA in field goal percentage, making 55 percent of its shots. In 1992, the Eagles led Division III in shooting percentage.
Leatherman finishes his career with 335 wins and 262 losses at Bridgewater. He has the most wins of any men’s basketball coach in the College’s history. He earned his 300th career win during the 2004-05 season when the Eagles defeated rival Eastern Mennonite. His final team at BC finished with a 13-13 record.
Leatherman started his coaching career in 1966 at Staunton River High School and began his college coaching career in 1979 as an assistant coach on Lou Campanelli’s staff at James Madison University.
In his six seasons at James Madison, the Dukes competed in three consecutive NCAA tournaments, notching first-round wins over national powers Georgetown, Ohio State and West Virginia.[-Statement from President Stone-]- Cecil, Rice named captains for 2008-09 - 05/02/2008
The Bridgewater College men's basketball team has selected its captains for the 2008-09 season. Kris Cecil, a 5-8 senior guard from Amherst, Va., and Rob Rice, a 6-3 senior guard from Mechanicsville, Va., were chosen by their teammates to serve as team captains.
"Kris and Rob are two outstanding student-athletes and will be excellent team leaders for us,' Bridgewater head coach Bill Leatherman said. "Kris is more vocal and as our point guard has a true understanding of the game and the team concept. Rob is probably the hardes worker we've had at BC since Ricky Easterling and Kyle Williford."
Also for 2008-09, the ODAC will be implementing an unbalanced league schedule for men's basketball for the first time.
"This is something the coaches have worked toward for several years. We were playing too many league games and basically beating ourselves up," Leatherman stated. "The addition of Randolph College helped bring about the change. Our league is just too tough to play 20 league games. This gives us all scheduling flexibility."
Next year's 25-game schedule features a Nov. 18 contest at Division I Radford University.- Marlins hold off Eagles, 78-69 - 02/29/2008
Virginia Wesleyan turned back a second-half rally by the Bridgewater College Eagles to take a 78-69 victory Friday night in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Salem Civic Center.
The Marlins led by 13 points, 43-30, at the half and maintained a double figure lead until 14:43 mark when Dominic Trawick hit a 3-pointer, trimming the VWC lead to 52-45.
The Eagles continued pecking away at the margin and pulled to within one point, 59-58, when Justin Reavis powered inside and converted a three-point play with 7:10 left in the game.
The Marlins never lost the lead and pushed the lead back to six when Stephen Fields made a free throw with 4:10 left.
Jay Strotman hit two foul shots with 3:05 left to pull the Eagles within three, 68-65, but that would be as close as the Eagles could get as the Marlins held on to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Bridgewater placed five players in double figures, led by Trawick and Strotman with 18 each. Reavis scored 11 and Michael Oblitey and Andrew Cathlin added 10 apiece. Fields led the Marlins with a game-high 21 points.
The Eagles finished their season with a 13-13 record. Virginia Wesleyan is now 21-5. [Boxscore]- Eagles play Marlins tonight in ODAC tourney action Eagles play Marlins tonight in ODAC tourney action - 02/29/2008
The Bridgewater College men's basketball team opens play in the ODAC tournament tonight at the Salem Civic Center.
The seventh-seeded Eagles play No. 2 seed Virginia Wesleyan at 6 p.m. The teams split two games during the regular season.- Trawick named to All-ODAC second team - 02/29/2008
Bridgewater College junior Dominic Trawick was named to the All-ODAC second team Thursday during the conference's annual awards banquet. Trawick made the second team for the second consecutive year.
Trawick led the Eagles in scoring with 15.4 points per game. He shot 40.4 percent from 3-point range and 72.4 percent from the foul line.
Bridgewater junior Michael Oblitey received honorable mention on the All-ODAC team. Oblitey averaged 13.3 points per game and led the Eagles with 6-2 rebounds per game.
Senior Josh Fox was named to the All-ODAC sportsmanship team. The team featured one player from each ODAC school. [All-ODAC Press Release] for details on tonight's game.