Photo: Thomas Griffin

 
On the Ball: New Coach Heads Women’s Basketball team

Whether on the basketball court as a coach for high school and college basketball, or a special education teacher inside the classroom, John Greene has been a mentor who has led by example for virtually all his career.

Greene’s leadership style is now being put into play when he hits the courts as head coach for Rensselaer’s outstanding women’s basketball team, the Red Hawks.

“You will not find a team with a better work ethic and dedication,” says Greene, who was named head coach this fall. “The returning players have tasted success that they’ve earned through hard work, commitment, and attention to detail and are instilling this formula for success in the freshmen. My objective is to help them continue on this path.”

Last year, for the first time in the team’s 26-year-history, the Red Hawks competed in the NCAA Division III Tournament. However, the team will experience some challenges this year, Greene says. The 15-member team lost three senior players, and with that some key leadership. Still, he says, the style of play will remain the same.

“They are very accustomed to playing a disciplined, up-tempo style of basketball with intense defense, and that will likely not change,” he says.

Originally from Somerville, Mass., Greene, 35, earned his B.A. in history and English from the University of Massachusetts and an M.A. in physical education from Springfield College. Last summer, he was selected from among the top coaches in the country to represent the United States as a coach at the 2001 World Scholar-Athlete Games.

In the course of his career, Greene has worked in the classroom with learning-disabled and other special-needs students at Nauset Regional High School on Cape Cod.

Before coming to Rensselaer, Greene served as the women’s basketball coach for two years at the University of Bridgeport. Under his leadership, the UB team was honored with the Arthur Ashe Scholar Athlete Award and the NYCAC Ann Adamchik Sportsmanship Award.

For more information on women’s basketball and Rensselaer’s other varsity sports, visit the Athletics Web site at www.rpi.edu/dept/athletics or call (518) 276-6685.

Touchdown!

The Rensselaer football team, which concluded its second perfect regular season in the past three years with a 35-29 come-from-behind win over Hobart Nov. 10, was chosen to participate in the NCAA Playoffs, earning the top seed and a first-round bye in the East Region. As Rensselaer magazine went to press, the Engineers, who are 8-0, were scheduled to host Ithaca in the second round of the playoffs on Nov. 24.

This season marks the second time in the past three years that Rensselaer, coached by Joe King, has been selected to the 8-team tournament that will determine the 2001 NCAA Division III National Champion. In 1999, the Engineers were 9-0 and earned the first berth in the program’s history, losing to Rowan, 29-10, in the first round.

The Engineers also captured their fourth Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) title in the past five years with the Nov. 10 victory. Student-athletes Chris Speck and Evan Cochran earned honors for their efforts in the game. Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette named Speck, a defensive back, the Division III Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Cochran, a wide receiver, earned the ECAC Northwest Co-Offensive Player of the Week Award.

The Engineers are 0-1 all-time against Ithaca (9-1), having lost to the Bombers 16-7 in 1946. The Nov. 24 game marks the 13th time Ithaca has appeared in the playoffs. They have won three national championships (1979, 1988, and 1991).