America East Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

8. Mike Lonergan – Vermont (2005-2011)

Before Lonergan arrived at Vermont in 2005, the program was already in fantastic shape and so was his coaching career. He had spent a dozen years at D3 Catholic, leading the Cardinals to the D3 national title in 2001 before accepting an assistant coaching job at Maryland. He’d spent just one season with the Terrapins before beginning his D1 head coaching career, taking over the America East’s best program.

Lonergan did great work maintaining Vermont’s presence as the most powerful team in the league. In his six seasons with the Catamounts, he won more than 70% of his conference games and led the team to four postseason bids. Vermont returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and won at least 23 games in each of those four seasons.

Lonergan departed for George Washington in 2011, though allegations brought his coaching career to an end five years later. There’s no room for complaint about his work with the Catamounts, but could it have been better? His predecessor and successor (to be seen later) both accomplished more than him with this program. Still, three regular-season titles and a long run of success is nothing to be disappointed about.