Dan DeRose poised to take over Chowan's Men's Basketball Program

Dan DeRose Poised to Take Over CU's Men's Basketball Program
 
April 7, 2010

MURFREESBORO –  Dennis Helsel, Vice President for Athletics at Chowan University, announced today the hiring of Dan DeRose as Chowan University's new men’s basketball coach at a press conference held on the University’s campus. DeRose will become the third head coach of the men’s basketball program in four-year school history, and only the second since the school transitioned to NCAA DII status in 2005. DeRose will assume the position on April 19th. This will be DeRose’s third collegiate head coaching stint.
 
“We drew over 200 applicants for the position when it was advertised. I was given the blessing by our University’s President, Dr. Chris White, to travel to five different states to interview five candidates for the position,” stated Helsel. “We brought three candidates to campus, all of whom had some solid credentials but Dan was by far the most enthusiastic and most passionate.”
 
Speaking at the press conference DeRose said, “I was impressed with the passion and vision that both Dr. White and Dennis share for Chowan University. Their enthusiasm for the University and athletics, along with the warm reception we received from the community and the Chowan staff helped us to make the final decision to come to here.”
 
“When the search started, it was important that Chowan’s new head coach would meet three criteria,” stated White. “Proven head coaching experience, a proven winner, but also bring a high level of enthusiasm to the program. We certainly feel we met all three criteria when Dan accepted the position.”
 
DeRose hopes to bring a high level of enthusiasm to the court. “I will work extremely hard to bring an up tempo style of basketball to the floor. Our players will work hard and we hope to be competitive in a very talented league in the CIAA.”
 
DeRose will take over the program on April 19th. He has already begun the process recruiting and will use his ties at the junior college level to help him along the way.  “The recruiting process has started and I will be bringing some players in soon. Anytime you want to have an immediate impact on a program, it’s nice to have players with junior college experience and maturity to help fill some gaps.”
 
DeRose will indeed have some gaps to fill as the program will graduate the CIAA’s second leading scorer in Jaleel Nelson, All-CIAA forward Lando Morrison, and floor leader Nate Walchuk. Helsel stated, “We do not have a program in disarray with our returning players committed to coming back. But we did lose three key components to our program in those three young men.”
 
DeRose comes to Chowan by way of Pennsylvania where he most recently served on the basketball staff at Seton Hill University, a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Prior to his time at SHU DeRose served as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the Community College of Beaver County for six seasons. During his six seasons at CCBC, he guided the men’s basketball team to six straight 20-plus winning seasons. DeRose had gained national exposure for CCBC, a small, rural community college with an enrollment of 2,000 students. Under his leadership, the Titans have ranked as one of the top fifteen Junior College Basketball Teams in the nation during his six years.
 
DeRose tallied an overall winning record of 139 wins and 45 losses during his tenure at CCBC. He had led the Titans to six consecutive WPCC regular season and conference tournament championship victories. His teams were in the PCAA State Championships in all six seasons as Head Coach, nailing two championship titles and four runner-up titles.
 
DeRose’s success continued at the Region XX level, where the Titans won two years in a row (2005 and 2006). In 2006, The Titans also won the District II Championship, which qualified them for the national tournament in Danville, IL where the Titans finished in seventh place.
 
DeRose was no stranger to the CCBC program or its players. A CCBC team member himself in 1987-1988, he also held the position of assistant coach during the 2001-2002 season. Prior to coaching at CCBC, he served as head coach for Penn State-McKeesport from 1998-2001.
 
DeRose has garnered 15 coaching awards in his six years at CCBC. Successfully demonstrating that he has developed the skills of his players both offensively and defensively, DeRose won WPCC Coach of the Year in 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 08-09, PCAA State Coach of the Year in 2004-05, and 2008-09,Region XX Coach of the Year in 2004-05 and 2005-06, District Coach of the Year in 2005-2006, and Beaver County Hall of Fame coach of the Year, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09
 
DeRose is married to wife, Valerie and together they have a four year old daughter, Shea Marie.