COBLESKILL MEN’S BASKETBALL

By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

The Cobleskill men’s basketball team is getting a facelift for the upcoming season.

But don’t expect a different look for long.

Kevin McCarthy, 51, will take a one-year sabbatical from coaching the Fighting Tigers, effective for the 2005-06 season, the college announced Wednesday.

"I’ll be back next year," said McCarthy, who has a 292-103 record in 13 years at Cobleskill. &#[an error occurred while processing this directive]quot;We’re going to be out on the recruiting trail in September.

"The grind of driving vans, getting home at 1 a.m. and eating fast food gets to you," continued McCarthy, who said he wanted to spend more time with his family. "It gives me an opportunity to get recharged and take a little break. I’m not retiring."

Although he’s stepping down, McCarthy will continue playing the roles of athletic director, tenured associate professor and chair of the physical education/recreation and sports studies department at Cobleskill. His duties include helping the Fighting Tigers make the transition from a two-year NJCAA Division III school to a four-year NCAA Division III college. Cobleskill has yet to release a date on when that transition will be completed.

"It’s not necessarily a negative that he’s stepping down," said Steven Ackerknecht, Cobleskill’s vice president of student affairs. "I wish he wasn’t, but in higher education, faculty get the chance to take sabbaticals. If someone needs to step back to move ahead, I’m all for it."

The college will hire a full-time interim coach for the 2005-06 season. McCarthy said he is part of the search committee.

After 28 straight seasons of coaching basketball, McCarthy said he needed a little rest and he wanted to take the time to watch his son, Brennan, play sports in his final year at Cobleskill-Richmondville.

"A key component is my son and I only have one shot to watch him his senior year," McCarthy said. "Last year during football season was the one time I got to see him play a sport."

A former Mountain Valley Conference All-Star at Clinton CC, McCarthy first coached at Granville High for three seasons. He then served as an assistant at Central Michigan University and the University of Chicago.

McCarthy took his first college head coaching spot at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., where he went 67-89 from 1987-92. His best season there came in 1990-91, when the team went 15-11.

McCarthy came to Cobleskill in 1992 and went 9-19, a seven-victory improvement from a team that went 2-24 the year before. That was the last time the Fighting Tigers finished a season at .500 or worse.

"He’s such a dedicated, hard-working coach and it’s part of his bloodline," Ackerknecht said. "I’m confident with a year out, he’ll come back and lead us again."

After a 14-14 finish in 1993-94, McCarthy led the Fighting Tigers to 11 straight 20-victory seasons, capped by a 30-6 finish in 2004-05. Cobleskill set a school record for single-season victories last winter, won the Region III championship and finished seventh at the NJCAA Division III Tournament.

"Obviously he’s done an outstanding job with the Cobleskill basketball program," said Delhi Tech athletic director Gary Cole, who coached against McCarthy in the 1990s. "I’m happy for him that he can spend some time with his family. ... It’ll be interesting to see him come back in a year. He’s good for the coaching profession and good for Cobleskill."

McCarthy’s teams have won three Mountain Valley Western Conference titles, two MVC titles and two Region III titles, advancing to the national tournament in 1998 and 2005.

"Sometimes a timeout is good," Ackernecht said. "It’s no different than a timeout in a game to get focused, reorganized and move forward."

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P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.