Alfred announced the hiring of Dale Wellman as men's basketball coach. Wellman succeeds Jay Murphy, who resigned his post earlier this year to become head coach for the AU women's team. Murphy was 210-421 in 25 seasons overall, 13 at Alfred.
Wellman had served the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Williams. “I'm very excited to be at Alfred. This is a great opportunity,” said Wellman, who is confident in his ability lead the Saxons. “I want to bring a winning mentality to the program. This has been a winning program before and there's no reason it can't be again.”
Wellman is a 1999 graduate of Sewanee, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history. He played four seasons for the Tigers, participating twice in the NCAA Tournament (1997, 1998) and earning Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference academic honors in 1998.
His collegiate coaching career began in 2002, when he was appointed assistant at Kenyon. A year later, he was appointed assistant coach and assistant facility supervisor at Union, followed by a year as a graduate assistant at Division I Eastern Kentucky. Following the 2004-05 season, he was appointed administrative assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky, from which he earned a master's degree in physical education (sports administration) in 2006.
After earning his master's degree, Wellman left Eastern Kentucky to accept the assistant coaching position at Williams, under head coach Dave Paulsen, who is now the head coach at Division I Bucknell.
In his first season at Williams, the Ephs went 16-12, won the New England Small College Athletic Conference title, and participated in the NCAA championships. Last season, Williams was ranked as high as fourth in the nation and finished the year 17-8.
Jim Moretti, AU athletic director, is optimistic Wellman's success at Williams, one of the best Division III programs in the country, will translate into success at Alfred. “I'm confident his background, particularly his Williams College experience, will serve him well here,” Moretti said. “He's coming from one of the top programs in the nation. He impressed the (selection) committee right away with his enthusiasm and energy, and his willingness to go the extra mile to bring in quality recruits.”
Wellman inherits a roster than includes seven letterwinners (three starters) from last year's squad. In addition, sophomore forward Pat Smithgall is set to return to the team after missing last season with a knee injury. Smithgall was one of the top rebounders in Division III as a freshman in 2006-07 and would have been one of the top returning scorers last year.
Wellman looks forward to meeting the Saxons' returning players and working with them this fall in preparation for the 2008-09 season. He will stress teamwork and team chemistry as he implements his offensive and defensive systems. “The one constant of the programs I've coached at has been that the team always comes first. The players have to know and understand their roles. The more they understand that, the better off the team will be,” he said. “Team chemistry, to me, is the No. 1 factor in creating a winning program.”