GREEN COACHING
CAPSULE
Overall Conf
Year Rec
Pct Rec Pct
1983-84 17-12 .586 10-6
.625
1984-85 21-10 .677 10-4
.714 %
1985-86 22-8 .733
13-3 .813
1986-87 19-10 .655 11-5
.688
1987-88 23-7 .767
13-3 .813 %
1988-89 17-12 .586 11-5
.688
1989-90 16-13 .552
8-8 .500
1990-91 22-9 .710
13-3 .813 #
1991-92 14-14 .500 11-5
.688
1992-93 11-17 .393 8-10
.444
1993-94 14-13 .519 10-8
.555
1994-95 16-12 .571 11-7
.618
1995-96 7-20 .259
6-12 .333
1996-97 18-10 .643 13-5
.722
1997-98 23-7 .767
13-3 .813 !
1998-99 12-16 .429 9-11
.450
1999-2000 17-11 .607 13-5 .722
2000-01 13-15 .464 10-10 .500
18 years 302-216 .583 193-113 .631
! NEC Tournament Champions, NCAA Tournament appearance
% ECAC Metro Champions, NCAA Tournament appearance
# NIT appearance
Green’s
Coaching Accomplishments
- Winningest
coach in Fairleigh Dickinson history (302-216)
- Winningest coach in NEC History (193-113)
- Three NCAA Tournament berths (1985, 1988, 1998)
- One National Invitational Tournament invite (1991)
- Three NEC Tournament Championships (1985, 1988, 1998)
- NEC Tournament semifinals 12 times in 18 years
- Seven NEC Championship game appearances
- 14 winning seasons in 18 years
- Two-time NEC Coach of the Year
- Two-time New Jersey Sports Writers Coach of the Year
- Three-time New Jersey Coaches Association Coach of the Year
- One NCAA Final Four, Four NCAA Tournament bids and Two NIT
bids in 11 years as an assistant coach
Green’s
Milestones
Career Win #1
November 29, 1983
vs. Utica College (65-53)
Career Win
#100 March 1, 1988
vs. St. Francis (Pa.) College (68-58)
Career Win
#200 December 21, 1994
vs. Wright State (69-67)
Career Win
#234 February 9, 1997
vs. Robert Morris College (70-66)
Career Win
#300 February 18, 2001
vs. Long Island University (59-58)
Green vs.
the Northeast Conference
Quinnipiac
6-1 .857
Central Connecticut 10-2 .833
St. Francis (Pa.) 27-10 .730
St. Francis (NY) 27-11
.711
Long Island U.
28-12 .700
Sacred
Heart
2-1 .667
Mount St. Mary’s
17-9 .654
Wagner
23-16 .590
Robert Morris
24-17 .585
Monmouth
22-17 .564
UMBC
2-4 .333
All-Time
FDU Head Coaches
Tom Green
1983-present 302-216 .583
Dick Holub 1949-1966 233-167
.582
Al LoBalbo 1969-1980 128-142 .474
Don Feeley 1980-1983
45-37 .549
Jack Devine 1966-1969
23-44 .343
TOTALS 1949-present 731-606 .547
Tom Green
Head Coach
Entering last season, Tom Green was already the Northeast Conference all-time wins leader; a two-time Northeast Conference and New Jersey Sports Writers Division I Coach of the Year and three-time New Jersey Coaches Association Coach of the Year. With 13 more wins during the 2000-01 campaign, Tom Green cracked the top-50 active coaches with 300 wins.
Green, Fairleigh Dickinson’s all-time career wins leader with 302 victories, has put the Fairleigh Dickinson University basketball program on the national map, leading the Knights to their first NCAA Tournament appearances (1985, ’88, ’98) and NIT berth (1991). His track record at the Teaneck, N.J. school is a blue print for success.
In 1997-98, Green, just the fifth coach in the history of Fairleigh Dickinson University men’s basketball, brought a veteran team to the school’s third NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and that team took Green to the brink of going to the tournament’s second round.
Four years removed from breaking Dick Holub’s then-school-record mark of 233 wins, Green continues to shine at the New Jersey school. The first Fairleigh Dickinson basketball coach to reach the 300-win plateau, Green has established a degree of excellence which has made him the Northeast Conference’s winningest coach as well. Green’s success is not only evident in his accomplishments at Fairleigh Dickinson, but also because he has taken the Knights places no other coach was able to lead them. He has recorded five 20-win seasons (21-10 in 1984-85; 22-8 in 1985-86; 23-7 in 1987-88; 22-9 in 1990-91; and 23-7 in 1997-98), has taken the Knights to the NCAA Tournament three times (1985, 1988 and 1998) and to the NIT in 1991.
One of the most respected coaches in the Northeast Conference, Green’s teams have appeared in the NEC Tournament semifinal round 12 times in 18 years and have made seven championship game appearances, winning three times. In 18 years at Fairleigh Dickinson, Green has guided the Knights to 14 winning seasons, including the first back-to-back 20-win seasons (21 in 1984-85 and 22 in 1985-86) since 1952-53 and has set the school record of 23 victories in 1987-88 and tied the mark in the 1997-98 season.
In the NCAA Tournament and the NIT, Green’s teams have been a fearless David to the top-ranked Goliaths. Jay Bilas, ESPN’s college basketball analyst, called the 1997-98 team the number one team in the nation that, come tournament time, no team in the country would want to play. Big East champion Connecticut drew the Knights and didn’t fully realize the fight they would get from Green’s charges. In a game that will be remembered more for Elijah Allen’s tournament-high 43 points, what the guard from Newark did was keep Fairleigh Dickinson in a position to upset the heavily-favored Huskies. After an Allen three-pointer with 42 seconds left cut UConn’s lead to 87-81, the Huskies hit a string of free throws to escape the first round with a 93-85 win.
In 1985 at Dayton, Ohio, the school’s first trip to the "Big Dance," the Knights frightened Bill Frieder and Michigan, coming within four points (59-55) of the biggest upset in tournament history. Three years later in South Bend, Ind., Green led Fairleigh Dickinson into hostile Big Ten territory against another storied hoops program, Purdue, and coach Gene Keady. A persistent Knights team fell to the top-seeded Boilermakers, 94-79. In 1991, a 22-7 season couldn’t be ignored as the Knights were awarded the school’s first-ever NIT bid. In front of a near-capacity crowd at Knickerbocker Arena, Fairleigh Dickinson provided Siena with a stiff challenge, before falling, 90-85.
A native of Western Pennsylvania, Green grew up in Brockway and graduated from Brockway High in 1967. He was a first team All-State selection as a point guard and chose to attend Syracuse University.
As an Orangeman, Green was a three-year letterwinner and two-year starter as SU’s point guard. As a senior, he captained Syracuse to a 19-6 mark and a bid to the NIT. An unselfish player, Green averaged 7.9 points and 5.6 assists a game as a senior. Green graduated from Syracuse in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He earned his master’s degree in education from Syracuse four years later.
Upon graduation, Green began his coaching career in New Jersey as an assistant coach at Drew University. He returned to Syracuse one year later to serve under former Fairleigh Dickinson Director of Athletics, Roy Danforth. In four seasons with the Orange, Green was a major part of four NCAA Tournament teams. The highlight of his stay as a coach at Syracuse was the 1974-75 season, when the Orangemen finished 23-9 and advanced to the Final Four in San Diego. This marked the first time in the history of Syracuse University basketball that the team advanced beyond the tournament’s second round.
Green followed Danforth to the "Big Easy" in 1976, where he spent seven years at Tulane University. In five years under Danforth and two under Ned Fowler, Green was a vital part of the Green Wave’s turnaround. From 10-17 in 1976-77 to 19-12 in 1982-83, he was a part of two NIT squads. In his final season at Tulane, the Green Wave came within one game of reaching the NCAA Tournament, dropping a close decision to Final Four-bound Louisville in the Metro Conference final.
Twelve years of learning the craft of coaching had Green prepared for the next step. Named head coach in 1983, Tom Green’s era at Fairleigh Dickinson University includes a myriad of coaching honors. He has been named the conference coach of the year twice (1985 and 1986), the New Jersey Division I Coach of the Year three times (1985, 1986 and 1998) and the Coach of the Year by the New Jersey Sportswriters twice (1985 and 1986). An engaging personality, Green is a popular and a much sought after clinician and public speaker.
Green resides in New Milford, N.J. with his wife Margo, a real estate broker with Century 21 in Oradell, N.J. - son Brad - played for Fairleigh Dickinson last season.