City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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For a few years, Casey Stitzel admitted, he had been on the look-out for what he called the “next challenge.”

The now 34-year-old head coach took over a mostly-forgettable Delaware Valley program in 2008 and made the Aggies one of the top D-III programs in the area over an eight-year stretch.

Then a job opened up that couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Millersville was in the need for a head coach coming off a 4-22 season, as Fred Thompson was not retained after 18 seasons. And that happens to be a Marauder program the Stitzel family was plenty familiar with: Casey’s father, Glenn Stitzel, is in the school’s athletics Hall of Fame after starring with the men’s basketball team from 1965-69.

As the newest head coach at the Lancaster County institution, Casey Stitzel has found his next challenge.

“It checked all the boxes for a next step,” he told CoBL after being introduced at a press conference on Wednesday. “I like rebuilding programs, that’s what I’ve been good at. It’s not too far away from me and my wife to move, which is a really big plus from our family, and I think the PSAC is one of the best leagues in the country and Millersville has great tradition, the campus is beautiful and I really like the vision of the administration.”

Then add the family connection, the proverbial cherry on top.

Glenn has been behind Casey’s career since the younger Stitzel first played organized basketball at five years old, taking his son with him to games he coached at Palisades High School (Pa.) all the way up to serving as his son’s assistant at both Perkiomen Valley (2007-08) and then for three years at Del-Val.

“I’ve had a lot of great mentors and I have great family and my dad is one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason for me to be where I am today,” Casey Stitzel said. “And to take over his alma mater, a school that he had so much success at and loves with the bottom of his heart, it’s just a really special feeling for my family.”

Casey does have some big shoes to fill.

His dad was named one of the 30 greatest Marauders in 2000 and was inducted into Millersville’s Hall of Fame two years later; Glenn Stitzel still holds the program record for points in a game (58, against Southeastern University in 1968), season scoring average (31.1, 1967-68) and seven other categories, despite having graduated nearly 50 years ago.

So far, the son is putting together as impressive a resume as a coach as his father did on the court. Not that Casey couldn’t play; he scored nearly 1,200 points in a four-year career at D-III Widener from 2001-05 under current St. Joe’s assistant Dave Duda. After that came two years as an assistant under the legendary Herb Magee at Philly U and one as head coach at Perk Valley before taking over the Aggies.

At Del-Val, he took a program that hadn’t been to the postseason since 1969 and led it to four MAC Freedom championship games--not to mention three NCAA Tournament berths--over the last eight years. It’s an experience that should come in handy this time around.

“I think it’s all about changing culture,” he said. “You’ve got to change the culture, you’ve got to take it day by day, hour by hour and just getting everyone to understand what it’s going to take. On the court, off the court and in the community.

“We want kids that not only can play at the high Division II level but we want kids that are going to graduate, we want kids that are going to represent the program and their families and the community the right way off the court, and you want winners,” he continued. “I’ve always believed that when you get winners, on the court they win, off the court they win and they win when they graduate. And that’s the type of kids you’ve got to get, and that changes a culture.”

While Stitzel, at his age and with an impressive opening decade of his coaching career under his belt, will certainly be on the Division I radar if he can turn around Millersville and restore the program to the level of the one that made 11 NCAA tournaments between 1985 and 2008, he clearly isn’t treating this like just another stop along the way.

Instead, he brought up his former boss, who’s been at the same program for what will be his 50th season this fall and is one of just two NCAA men’s basketball coaches who’s hit the 1,000-win mark.

“I don’t know if I can do what Coach Magee’s done,” he laughed, “but I’ve got many years of coaching yet on me and I think this is a job that I can be at for the rest of my career and it’s a great opportunity for me and I’m beyond excited.”