Southall Named Head Men’s Basketball Coach
CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College Athletic Director Peter Krasny recently announced the hiring of Rob Southall as the new head men's basketball coach.
Coach Southall takes the reins of the Blazers' men's basketball program after an eight-year stint as a full time assistant coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
"I am honored to have been chosen as the next men's basketball coach at Elms College," Coach Southall stated. "I am grateful for the opportunity that Sister Mary Reap, John Keller and Peter Krasny have given to me. I am looking forward to leading our student athletes in the classroom, in the community and on the court."
Coach Southall brings extensive Division III coaching experience to his position at Elms and will look to continue the program's tremendous consistency. Since the 2004-05 season, the Blazers have had nine consecutive 18-plus win seasons, have won eight conference titles, earned seven NCAA Division III Championship appearances, and secured a pair of Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championship appearances.
During his time at WPI, the Engineers enjoyed tremendous success with Coach Southall on the bench compiling a 178-44 record with six New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season championships as well as the 2005-06 and 2012-13 NEWMAC tournament championships, six appearances in the NCAA Division III Championship and the 2011-12 ECAC Division III New England Championship title. WPI also notched 20 or more wins in each of Coach Southall's eight seasons on staff under head coach Chris Bartley.
"I am very excited to welcome Rob Southall into the Blazers community," Krasny stated. "Rob brings a tremendous amount of experience at the Division III level to our program having coached men's basketball in New England for the past eleven years."
Prior to his time at WPI, Coach Southall spent a season assisting Joe Reilly at Bates College and helped guide the team to one of its best seasons in school history (19-8). Bates reached the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship tournament final before falling to Amherst College.
A 2002 graduate of Springfield College, Coach Southall played basketball for two seasons and was a graduate assistant coach for the Pride under head coach Charlie Brock for two years. At Springfield, he was also the head junior varsity basketball coach and was heavily involved in recruiting and game preparation. Coach Southall also obtained a master's degree from Springfield in 2004.
