Mike Lonergan is the new head coach for men's basketball at George Washington, incoming athletic director Patrick Nero announced. Lonergan was introduced at a news conference at the Charles E. Smith Center on Monday.

Lonergan coached Catholic University to the 2001 Division III national championship, becoming the all-time winningest coach at the school with a 251-88 mark. He left Catholic to take an assistant post at Maryland in 2004.

"Mike Lonergan has the skills, experience and drive needed to take the GW men's basketball program to new heights," Nero said. "Out of an extremely talented national field of possible candidates, Mike distinguished himself as the right fit for George Washington University and the best candidate to lead our men's basketball program to future success."

"The opportunity to return to my roots in the Washington, D.C., area and build a program at an exceptional school like George Washington was too good to pass up. The combination of GW's strong academics, commitment to excellence and athletics tradition make it an ideal position, and I am eager to get started. I am committed to supporting and developing our student-athletes and building a program that will make GW proud," said Lonergan.

Lonergan brings to GW 18 years experience as a college head coach, with an overall record of 377-156, 15 winning seasons, 13 NCAA Tournament victories including a NCAA Division III national championship, 13 postseason appearances, 12 regular season conference titles, 12 years of 20 or more victories, 10 NCAA Tournament qualifications and five conference tournament championships. He was named the 2001 Division III National Coach of the Year and America East Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2011. Deeply committed to academic success for student-athletes, Lonergan has achieved a 100 percent graduation rate as head coach.

"Mike Lonergan has deep connections to the greater Washington metropolitan area and a proven record of helping student-athletes succeed in the classroom and on the basketball court," said GW President Steven Knapp. "The fact that he has achieved a perfect graduation rate among the student-athletes he has coached speaks volumes about his integrity and commitment to the young people he leads."

Lonergan comes to GW after six seasons as the head coach at tVermont, where he led one of the most successful mid-major programs in the nation. Under his leadership, Vermont achieved a 126-68 overall record and 69-27 conference record, both the best in the America East Conference. Vermont captured three America East regular season championships, in 2007, 2009 and 2011, and appeared in three America East Championship games, in 2006, 2007 and 2010, winning the title in 2010. He guided the Catamounts to the 2010 NCAA Tournament and twice to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), in 2007 and 2011. At Vermont, Lonergan also served as Director of the Vermont Basketball Camp, holding two sold out sessions each summer.

Prior to his service at Vermont, Lonergan served from 2004-05 as assistant coach at Maryland under head men's basketball coach Gary Williams. At Maryland, he was involved in every aspect of a top Atlantic Coast Conference program including recruiting, scouting, practice and game preparation, off season workouts and community service events. He helped lead the team to a season sweep of top ranked Duke and a semifinal appearance in the 2005 NIT.

From 1992-2004, Lonergan served as head coach at Catholic. At Catholic, Lonergan was the winningest coach in the program's 100-year history, with an overall record of 251-88. He led the team to nine of the 13 NCAA Tournament appearances in the history of the program, including the first since 1964. Under his leadership, Catholic won the Division III national title in 2001 and Lonergan was named the 2001 Division III consensus National Coach of the Year.

A native of Bowie, Md., Lonergan is a 1984 graduate of Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, where he was class salutatorian. He is a 1988 graduate of Catholic, where he was a starting point guard and captain of the men's basketball team. He also holds a Master of Science degree from American International College. Lonergan and his wife Maggie have four children: Jack, Margaret, Michael Jr. and Robert (Moe).

Lonergan takes over a GW program that returns four starters and six of the team's top seven scorers from last season. He replaces Karl Hobbs, who was released from his contract on April 25. The Colonials went 17-14 overall, 10-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference (tied for 4th place) in 2010-11.