Rutgers-Camden has announced new men's and women's basketball coaches, with Jason Curbison moving to New Jersey from Penn State-Abington and Gail Gilchrest coming from three seasons as coach at Drew.
"We're thrilled to have Gail on the staff and we're looking forward to working with her," said Rutgers-Camden athletic director Jeff Dean. "She has a history of being successful wherever she has coached. She brings a lot of knowledge, experience and passion to the program."
Rutgers-Camden has not had a winning season in women's basketball since capturing the NJAC title during the 2002-03 campaign. The Raptors have had seven consecutive losing seasons since that time, a span which has included five coaches.
Dean is confident that Curbison can revive the program, which has just one winning season in the past 27, a span which also included an NCAA-record 117-game losing streak. "We are extremely excited about the future of Rutgers-Camden basketball under the direction of Jason Curbison," Dean said. "He brings a lot to the table. We feel he has the talent, the enthusiasm and the drive to usher in a new era in Rutgers-Camden basketball."
"It's a great opportunity," said Curbison, who spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Penn State-Abington. "It's a good chance to be able to turn the program around.
Curbison comes to Rutgers-Camden after a two-year stint at Penn State-Abington, where the Nittany Lions are in the middle of the transition to NCAA Division III status. In his first year, they were a member of the Penn State University Athletics Conference and in the midst of the exploratory phase of moving to Division III. The team posted a 6-19 record overall and a 6-11 conference mark. Last year they were 6-20.
"We'll try to change the culture and bring some new energy and enthusiasm to the program," said Curbison, who has yet to decide on his coaching staff. "We want to work hard as a staff and work hard as a team to change the culture and get us to the next level."
Curbison started his coaching career as an assistant men's basketball coach at Goldey-Beacom in 2002-03. He spent the next five seasons as an assistant coach at Rowan.
Gilchrest spent the last seven years building a pair of programs as a head coach. She took over the head coaching reins at Washington College during the 2003-04 campaign and after three tough seasons, she led the Shorewomen to a 12-13 record during 2006-07. It was the program's best record in six seasons and included a win over Muhlenberg, which was ranked No. 23 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 at the time.
Gilchrest moved on to Drew for the 2007-08 season, inheriting a team that had graduated one All-American and another all-conference performer. With only two returning starters, her first Rangers team went 6-19. Drew improved to 11-14 during the 2008-09 season and had a breakthrough year in 2009-10, posting a 15-12 record and earning a berth in the ECAC semifinals. The Rangers' victory total was the second-highest single-season win total in the history of a program that started in 1971.
"Obviously it's Rutgers. It's a great school. That speaks for itself," Gilchrest said. "It's a great area in South Jersey. It's a great spot and the facilities are awesome. Rutgers is in a good position. Not too long ago they won the conference. When I played (for Kean), they won the ECACs. They had a few good years.
"We played Rutgers-Camden when I was at Drew, so I've seen them play and have film on them. They have a good core of kids. The girls want to make things happen."