Mark Hanson
Gustavus Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mark Hanson became the 65th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach 400 wins on Saturday afternoon when the Gusties defeated Saint Mary’s 89-78 at Gus Young Court in St. Peter. His all-time record in 21 seasons at Gustavus is now 400-176 (576 games) for a .695 winning percentage. He is the 31st active coach to reach the 400-win plateau. Although the NCAA does not keep record of how fast coaches have reached 400 wins, research indicates that Hanson is the 14th fastest coach to reach 400 victories in Division III history (576 games).
Hanson becomes the sixth coach in MIAC history to compile 400 wins. The first was Joe Hutton of Hamline in January of 1953, followed by Tom Feeley of St. Thomas in 1979, Jim Smith of Saint John’s in 1990, and Steve Fritz of St. Thomas in January of 2003. Rich Glas, the current head coach at Concordia-Moorhead, has 523 victories. This is his second season at Concordia after previously serving as head coach at UM-Morris, Willamette, and the University of North Dakota. Hanson’s 400 wins are distinct in that he is the second fastest to reach 400 victories among the group. Hutton claimed his 400th win in his 22nd season but he did it in 488 games, Feeley in his 25th season (647), Smith in his 28th season (672), and Fritz in his 22nd season (594 games). Hanson has posted his 400 career wins in just 576 total career games.
Hanson’s all-time MIAC record is 303-117 (420 games) – .721 winning percentage. Hanson picked up his 300th career MIAC win on Wednesday, January 19 against Bethel. He became the fifth MIAC men’s basketball coach to reach this milestone behind Joe Hutton, Jim Smith, Steve Fritz, and Guy Kalland (who did it on January 8 against Saint Mary’s).
At the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Hanson ranked as the 18th winningest active coach in Division III by percentage at .702. He ranked 30th in Division III among active coaches by victories with 387. Hanson also ranked 23rd all-time (active and retired combined) in winning percentage at .702 and 66th in victories with 387.
Gustavus completed the regular season in fifth place in the MIAC standings with a league record of 11-9. The Gusties are the #5 seed in the MIAC Playoffs and will play St. Olaf in Northfield on Wednesday, February 23 at 7:30 pm. The Gusties split the regular season series with Oles as Gustavus won 74-66 in St. Peter and St. Olaf won 80-64 in Northfield.
Coach Hanson (center) with team after the milestone victory.