Dave Magarity Named Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach

Long-Time Marist Coach Joins Black Knights' Staff

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Look who is back in the Hudson Valley.

Dave Magarity, long-time college coaching veteran and one of the most recognizable faces in the Hudson Valley, has joined the Army women's basketball staff this season. Army head coach Maggie Dixon tabbed Magarity as Army's associate head coach, the Black Knights' new mentor announced today. Magarity brings 30-plus years of coaching experience to the Army staff.

"I am extremely excited for Coach Magarity to be joining our staff," Dixon said. "He brings an invaluable amount of experience to our staff from his 23 years as a head coach at the Division I level. He also fits into the ideals of West Point as being a person of character and concern for cadet-athletes. He has experienced Division I women's basketball through his daughters and greatly respects the women's game."

Magarity arrives at West Point following a brief stint as the Assistant Commissioner/Director of Men's Basketball Operations for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Magarity was responsible for basketball scheduling, working closely with the MAC Coordinator of Officials and served as a liaison between the league office and the 12-member institutions. Prior to joining the MAC, he held a similar position with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) based in Edison, N.J.

Magarity is best known for his accomplishments during his tenure as the head coach of the men's basketball program at Marist College from 1986 to 2004. In that time, Magarity guided the Red Foxes to a 253-259 record with one NCAA (1987) and one NIT (1996) appearance. He was an assistant coach at Iona when the Gaels advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1984 and 1985.

Magarity has garnered many coaching accolades during his career as a head coach at Marist and Saint Francis University (Pa.). The honors include Northeast Conference "Coach of the Year" (1987, 1995), Spalding MAAC "Coach of the Year" (2001), NABC District "Coach of the Year" (1981, 1996, 2001, 2002), College Insider.com "Coach of the Year" (2000, 2001, 2002) and Sport Magazine New York Metro Basketball Writers Association Award (1988).

A 1974 graduate of St. Francis in Loretto, Pa., Magarity earned a bachelor's degree in business management and marketing. Following a stint as an assistant coach at his alma mater, he was named head coach and associate athletic director at St. Francis in June of 1977. In August of 1983, Magarity went to Iona College as an assistant coach. He was named head coach at Marist College in 1986. Magarity served as director of athletic development at Marist from April through Sept. 2004, before accepting his position at the MAAC. He had joined the Mid-American Conference staff in June 2005.

Magarity and his wife, Rita, have three children: Maureen (24), Katie (21) and David, Jr. (20). David, Jr. is on the basketball team at Marist and Maureen is in her first year as an assistant women's basketball coach at Fairfield University.

Dave Magarity Biography

January 10, 2003 will be a date that Magarity remembers for many years to come, when in an 83-78 win over Canisius, he won the 300th game of his head-coaching career. In 22 years as a head coach, five at his alma mater, St. Francis (PA), Magarity has won 307 games, 247 of them coming in his 17 seasons with the Red Foxes.

This accomplishment came only six days after another great moment in Red Fox history, which can also be credited to Magarity’s coaching success. ESPN2, for the first time in school history, broadcast live from the McCann Center, despite nearly two-feet of snow falling the 30 hours prior to tip-off.

Magarity’s coaching tenure, the 16th longest in the country through last season, has been marked by more than just collegiate playing success. David Bennett, a 2003 graduate, joined alumnus Gregg Chodkowski as an Academic All-American. Bennett, who scored 42 points in a single game a senior, was named to the Second Team, as well as being named the 2002-03 MAAC Student-Athlete of the Year. Over his Marist career, over 95 percent of Magarity-coached players, who completed their eligibility at Marist, have earned their degrees.

Magarity has established Marist as a program which has earned the reputation as one which prepares players for professional careers, by developing players to their fullest potentional, on and off the court. Entering the 2003-04 season, 11 former players are still playing professionally around the world. Bobby Joe Hatton, a 1999 graduate was named to the Puerto Rico national team, and helped that squad qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, GA.

Over his 22-year coaching career, Magarity has been honored as Coach of the Year in three different leagues. Magarity was first named Coach of the Year while at St. Francis (PA) in 1981, earning NABC Division I District III Coach of the Year accolades while coaching in the ECAC-South Conference. His first honors at Marist came in the 1986-87 season, when he earned ECAC Metro Coach of the Year honors. He was honored again following the 1994-95 campaign, earning Northeast Conference Coach of the Year recognition. The following season Magarity was named the NABC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Since joining the MAAC, Magarity has been named coach of the year on three occasions. He earned NABC Coach of the Year honors following the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, as well as being named the MAAC Coach of the Year in 2001-02 by the leagues coaches, as well as the online basketball website, CollegeInsider.com.

Under his direction the Red Foxes have seen unparalleled success, as he has led his teams to an NCAA Tournament appearance and to the National Invitational Tournament. Of the 17 teams he has coached in Poughkeepsie, 15 of them have seen the Red Foxes reach at least 10 wins, eclipsing the 20-win total on two occasions, including a 22-win performance in the 1995-96 season. Magarity-coached teams have played in two-conference tournament championship games, and won two conference Regular Season Titles.

Magarity began his coaching career at his alma mater, St. Francis (PA), in 1973, as a graduate assistant, and worked as an assistant coach until taking over the reins of the program in 1978, becoming, at the time, the youngest Division I head coach in the nation, at age 27. In his third season Magarity led St. Francis (PA) to a 17-10 mark, the most wins in a season for St. Francis in a dozen years, and earned District III Coach of the Year honors as a result.

Magarity began his Empire State coaching career as an assistant coach at Iona College, serving under Pat Kennedy, the current head coach at the University of Montana. While a member of the Gaels coaching staff, Magarity helped Iona to a pair of 20-win seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances. After three successful years at Iona, Magarity headed up the Hudson River at the conclusion of the 1985-86 campaign and took over the reins of the Red Foxes.

In his first season at the helm of the Red Foxes, the 1986-87 season, Magarity made a name for himself leading that team to the program’s first-ever 20-win season, 20-10, and the team’s second consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament. Magarity had the Red Foxes playing tenacious defense from the outset, as his first year squad ranked 11th in the country in field goal percentage defense (42.5%) and scoring defense (62.9 ppg). The Red Foxes won 14 of their last 15 games that season, as Magarity took home ECAC Metro Coach of the Year honors.

In his sophomore campaign Magarity and the Red Foxes continued to impress, as they finished 18-9 overall and earned a share of the ECAC Metro Conference regular season crown. Marist continued to show that defense was a key to Magarity’s coaching philosophy, ranking second in the nation in field goal percentage defense holding opponents to 40.1 percent shooting from the floor. Marist also showed that it could score, connecting on 45 percent of its three-point attempts, ranking 13th in the nation in that category. The Metropolitan Basketball Writers association honored Magarity by presenting him the second annual Mike Cohen “Good Guy” Award. That June, Magarity saw Marist gain national prominence when 7-4 center Rik Smits was the second pick of the NBA Draft, by the Indiana Pacers. Smits became the first, and only, Red Fox to be drafted and play in the NBA.

The Red Foxes’ return to prominence began with a 14-win season in 1992-93, and the mid ‘90’s found Magarity and his squads back at the top of the NEC. In the 1993-94 season the Red Foxes went 14-13, setting up a 17-11 performance the following season, earning Magarity his second Coach of the Year honor, but was just a prelude to what was to come.

The 1995-96 season is one that will be forever inked in the minds of Red Fox fans as Magarity led Marist to only its second 20-win season, compiling a school-record 22 wins, and posting a school-record .759 winning percentage. The Red Foxes earned the program’s first-ever bid to the NIT that season, and Magarity was recognized as the NABC District II Coach of the Year. Four players from that squad were named to the All-NEC Team, Alan Tomidy participated in the prestigious NABC All-Star Game, and Kareem Hill showed his skills on national television in ESPN’s Slam Dunk Competition.

Just two seasons later Magarity took the Red Foxes headlong into the MAAC, earning the program’s first win December 6, 1997, a 91-75 defeat of Niagara, as well as a win in MAAC Tournament play, a 74-73 overtime win over Fairfield University. The 2001-02 season marked another advance for the Red Foxes, as they posted a 17-14 record and a berth in the MAAC Tournament semifinal. During the six years as a member of the MAAC, Magarity has led his charges to a pair of tournament semifinals, in 1999 and 2001.

The 2001-02 season was a special one for Magarity and the Red Foxes, who won a share of the MAAC Regular Season Title, the first since joining the league prior to the start of the 1997-98 season. Chosen fifth in the preseason poll, Marist went 13-5 in MAAC action, on its way to winning 19 games on the year. The success was another step in the Red Foxes progression in the MAAC, as the team earned the two-seed in the MAAC Tournament, its best ever.

The 2002-03 campaign was one of the most challenging of Magarity’s career as unforeseen circumstances saw the team depleted to just seven scholarship players. With a walk-on starting nearly every game, Magarity led his team to a 13-16 overall record and within seconds of two MAAC Tournament wins. Nick Eppehimer highlighted the individual accomplishments of the year by becoming the 22nd player in Marist history, and the 11th Magarity coached Red Fox, to reach 1,000 points for his career. David Bennett had success on the floor as well, earning ESPN SportsCenter highlights, when he scored 42 points, 32 in the second half, in a win over Saint Peter’s.

The Red Foxes continued to present themselves well in the 2002-03 season, finishing third in the nation in team free throw percentage, hitting 77.8 percent of their attempts. Bennett, who connected 90 percent of the time from the line, finished 12th and Eppehimer, who hit 86.5 percent, ranked 30th in the nation. As a team, the Red Foxes ranked 42nd in the nation in three-pointers made per game, 7.8, and were tops in the MAAC, 67th nationally, in three-point field goal percentage, 36.9 percent. In MAAC individual rankings, the Red Foxes had two players in the top-15 in 10 of 12-recorded categories. Highlight the impressive numbers were Bennett and Brandon Ellerbee, who both ranked in the top 10 in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio.

The 52-year-old Magarity, who hails from Philadelphia, PA, currently resides in Wappingers Falls, NY, with his wife Rita and their three children. Their daughters both currently attend Marist College with Maureen, 22, a member of the women’s basketball team, and Katie, 20, a junior, and son David, Jr., 18, who is beginning his freshman year at Marist.