2009-2010 RUTGERS-CAMDEN MEN'S BASKETBALL

 

 

Head Coach:
Brian Wischusen (4th season)
High School:
Union Catholic Regional
College:
Boston College (1997)
Major:
Sociology
Minor:
Black Studies


Brian Wischusen has the Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball program on the verge of a huge turnaround as he enters his fourth season as the Scarlet Raptors’ head coach.

Wischusen has steadily been building a solid foundation and an attitude of basketball success on the Camden campus. Although the Scarlet Raptors have posted 6-19 records during each of his first three seasons, the similarities end there. Wischusen’s second team made significant inroads toward eroding the history of losing seasons that have haunted Rutgers-Camden since the mid-1980s. His third team, during the 2008-09 season, overcame numerous obstacles and came within a few points of turning a losing record into only the second winning season at Rutgers-Camden since 1983-84.

Last season’s Scarlet Raptors were forced to practice and play on the road due to the year-long renovations at the Rutgers-Camden Gymnasium. Daily practices were held in West Deptford and all “home” games were miles from campus, with most being held at Gloucester County College and two being played at the Community College of Philadelphia. Despite the travel and logistical hardships, Wischusen’s team shaved five points off its average deficit from the previous year, going from -9.8 points per game to -4.8. The Scarlet Raptors dropped seven games by five or fewer points, including four by two points and another on a buzzer-beating layup for a one-point loss. Yet another loss came by seven points in overtime.
Brian Wischusen
Four of those close losses came against conference teams, giving the Raptors a deceptive 1-12 mark in New Jersey Athletic Conference play. One of the two-point defeats came on the road at powerful Richard Stockton College, which won the NJAC and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division III championship game before losing.

The Raptors’ co-captains led the way as Bill Banks earned NJAC Second Team honors in his senior season, while junior Josh Askew moved to within 10 steals of the program’s career record.

With the Raptors’ significant strides and a phenomenal new facility to call their home, Wischusen’s club is looking forward to a major surge during the 2009-10 campaign.

During the 2007-08 season, Wischusen led the Raptors to a 3-10 mark in conference play, the most NJAC wins since the 2002-03 team went 3-15. More significantly, the Raptors climbed out of the cellar in the NJAC’s South Division, the first time Rutgers-Camden escaped the conference basement since the 2001-02 campaign.

Along the way, Rutgers-Camden posted its first sweep against The College of New Jersey since the home-and-home series started during the 1983-84 season. The Raptors’ 58-53 win over the Lions on Jan. 30 snapped a 10-game losing streak against TCNJ, which had won 40 of the previous 41 games in the conference rivalry.

Wischusen’s signature victory last season came against Richard Stockton College, with an 87-74 win in Camden on Feb. 13. That victory broke an incredible 46-game losing streak against the Ospreys, who hadn’t lost to Rutgers-Camden since Jan. 25, 1984. Not only did Rutgers-Camden end its longest losing streak against a conference foe, but it accomplished the feat against a team which ended up winning the NJAC title and advancing to the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.     

Wischusen’s guidance helped his young team mature into a promising club which posted a 3-4 mark in its last seven games, including the big win over Stockton and a tough two-point loss against another NJAC playoff team, Montclair State University (75-73 on Feb. 2).

The Raptors’ second-year coach saw Banks earn NJAC Honorable Mention recognition following a season in which he collected his 1,000th collegiate point. Freshman Brandon Canty added honors as the NJAC Rookie of the Week on Feb. 18. Askew, meanwhile, collected 59 steals for the second straight season and finished tied for 27th nationally at 2.5 steals per game.

During his first season, Wischusen led Rutgers-Camden to a 6-19 record as his team doubled the amount of wins that the Raptors had achieved over the previous two years combined. Rutgers-Camden had been 3-46 during the previous two seasons and hadn’t won six games in a season since the 2002-03 team went 8-17. The Wischusen-led Raptors also broke a 44-game losing streak in New Jersey Athletic Conference play, dating back to the 2003-04 campaign.

The Raptors’ improvement began almost immediately as they won four straight games after losing their opener. By winning their second game, Rutgers-Camden reached .500 for the first time since a 1-1 mark on Nov. 24, 2002. By winning its next game, Rutgers-Camden improved to 2-1, its first mark over .500 since a 14-11 record to end of the 2001-02 campaign.

After two years of laying a foundation, Wischusen plans to build on that base this season, combining a solid recruiting class with the hard work, fundamentals and dedication he brought to the program. He came to Rutgers-Camden after serving as an assistant men’s basketball coach with a pair of collegiate programs.

Wischusen was an assistant coach at Rutgers-Newark during both the 2003-04 and the 2005-06 seasons. Between those two stints, he served as an assistant at a Division II program, the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

A 1997 Boston College graduate with a major in Sociology and a minor in Black Studies, Wischusen received his Masters of Social Work from Boston College in 1998.

Wischusen started his coaching career as the head junior varsity and assistant varsity boys’ basketball coach at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, where he spent two seasons from September 1998 through May 2000. He spent the next two seasons (June 2000 to August 2002) as the assistant varsity boys’ basketball coach at Marist High School in Bayonne, then served in the same capacity at Hillside High School for the 2002-03 season.

Text Box: Wischusen’s Rutgers-Camden record Year Overall NJAC 2006-07 6-19 2-11 2007-08 6-19 3-10 2008-09 6-19 1-12 Overall 18-57 6-33 Wischusen joined the collegiate coaching ranks in June of 2003, getting hired as an assistant at Rutgers-Newark. The next year he worked in a similar capacity at UMass-Lowell before returning to Rutgers-Newark. During his last season with the Scarlet Raiders he served in numerous capacities, from scouting to developing winning practice and game strategies, and from recruiting to assisting with the academic program and monitoring the academic progress of specific players.

Wischusen’s two stints at Rutgers-Newark prepared him for the competitive nature of NJAC competition.

“In this league, you’re coaching against some of the best Division III coaches in the country,” he said.
You’re also recruiting against some of the best Division III programs in the country.

“It’s about relationship-building,” Wischusen said. “That’s the most important part. It’s about working day in and day out.”