Colgate Basketball: Revival of Raiders program and the future ahead

By Shea Irish | Apr 19, 2022

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20: Jeff Woodward #55 of the Colgate Raiders slaps hands with teammate Jack Ferguson #13 during the first half against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 20, 2021 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images) /

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Colgate Basketball head coach Matt Langel Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /

Rising from the bottom to the top of the Patriot League

When Matt Langel took over as the head coach of Colgate in 2011-12, he was inheriting a program that was 7-23 the season before, had never won 20 games in a single season, and had only two NCAA Tournament appearances in school history.

In fact, there hadn’t been much glory at all since the mid-1990’s when Adonal Foyle, the #8 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, played for his hometown team and dominated play to become a 2x Patriot League POY and a 1996-97 NCAA All-American. With just three winning seasons over a 15-year span following the team’s last NCAA Tournament appearance, it was time to take a step in a different direction.

That’s when the program hired Langel, a former assistant of the famous Fran Dunphy for seven seasons between the University of Pennsylvania and then with the Temple Owls. Langel helped guide teams to six NCAA Tournament appearances in that time. He would find out fast that this rebuilding project wouldn’t be smooth sailing like he was accustomed to.

In his first season, Colgate would go on to lose 22 games. The next season wasn’t much better, finishing with an 8-21 record. Losing 43 games in two seasons, Langel had already lost more times than in his previous four seasons combined with the Owls. Overall, he won just 37.8% of the team’s games through his first six seasons in Hamilton.

Fast forward a half-decade later, the 44-year-old is now a 3x Patriot League Coach of the Year and has Colgate as a perennial championship contender in the league. In the last five seasons, Colgate is 66-18 in Patriot League play and has advanced to the Patriot League Final in every campaign.

They have made three NCAA Tournament appearances, more than the program had made in its entire history combined before his arrival. To say he has done a remarkable job in turning this program around would be a vast understatement.