John Tharp, who led the Lawrence men's basketball team to unprecedented success, is leaving the university to be the head coach at Hillsdale, a Division II school in Michigan. Joel DePagter, Tharp's assistant for the past four seasons, has been named interim head coach, athletic director Robert Beeman announced Wednesday.

"I want to thank the university for giving a wet-behind-the-ears 24-year-old a chance to run a college basketball program," said Tharp, who coached the Vikings for 13 seasons. "When you start something, you envision what it could be and we got pretty close to that."

Tharp, the winningest coach in the program's history, went 204-108. His teams won four Midwest Conference championships (1997, 2004-06) and won the MWC Tournament in those four seasons as well. Lawrence advanced farther in the tournament than any team in MWC history when it reached the Division III Elite Eight in 2004. Tharp's 5-4 record in NCAA Tournament play gives him more wins and a better winning percentage than any coach in league history.

"When you have young, talented coaches, they are often the target of other programs," Beeman said. "I am not surprised that someone else recognized what we have known here at Lawrence University for some time, that John Tharp is an exceptional basketball coach."

Tharp oversaw a three-year span from 2004-06 in which Lawrence was 69-12. In 2005-06, Lawrence won 25 consecutive games, was the last unbeaten men's college basketball team in the land, and achieved a No. 1 ranking in the D3hoops.com Top 25.

DePagter, a 1998 Lawrence graduate, takes over a team that returns four starters and 19 letterwinners from a squad that finished 13-10. DePagter starred for the Vikings early in Tharp's tenure as head coach. "The one bright point of me leaving is coach DePagter taking over the program," Tharp said. "His dedication and loyalty have been a key reason for our success. I'm happy and excited for him."

DePagter led Lawrence to the 1997 MWC championship and was named the conference player of the year. He served as an assistant under Tharp in 1999-2000 before working in the same capacity at Hillsdale. DePagter has been Tharp's top assistant for the past two seasons.