Dave Paulsen (born September 14, 1964) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach who is currently the head coach at Holy Cross. Previously, he was the head men's basketball coach at

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

. Before arriving at George Mason, he was previously the head coach at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

for seven seasons. Prior to Bucknell, he spent eight years as the head coach at his alma mater,

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, and also coached at St. Lawrence University in

Canton, New York Canton is an incorporated town in St. Lawrence County, New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Canton, the other named Rensselaer Falls. The town is named after the gr ...

, and

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college in DeWitt, New York.http://www.ongov.net/planning/haz/documents/Section9.7-TownofDeWitt.pdf It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. At its fo ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

Coaching career

At Williams College, Paulsen won the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

title in 2003, and finished as national runner up in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Paulsen was twice named

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

Coach of the Year during his time at Williams. On May 20, 2008, Paulsen was hired as head coach at Bucknell. Paulsen led the Bison to a disappointing 7–23 record in his first year at Bucknell. This constituted the school's worst winning percentage (.233) since the 1971–72 season when the Bison posted a mark of 5–18 (.217). In his second year, the Bison improved to 12–17, including a 9–5 record in Patriot League play. In his third year, Paulsen was named Patriot League Coach of the Year en route to leading his team to a 25–8 record heading into the NCAA tournament, including a 13–1 record in the Patriot League, culminating in both the regular season and Patriot League tournament championships. During his time at Bucknell, Paulsen recruited and coached future NBA player

Mike Muscala Michael Peter Muscala (/muˈSKĂ luh/; born July 1, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Muscala was born on July 1, 1991, in St. Louis Park, Minnes ...

. On March 30, 2015, Paulsen was hired as head coach of George Mason. His team struggled in his first year, finishing the season with an overall record of 11–21, 5–13 in conference and in thirteenth place in the Atlantic 10. His second year at George Mason saw the team significantly improve, finishing 20–14 overall and 9–9 in A–10 play, and receiving an invitation to the 2017 CBI, where they would lose in the first round to Loyola (MD). Paulsen returned to the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

when he was appointed head coach at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

on March 28, 2023."Holy Cross Names Dave Paulsen Head Men’s Basketball Coach," College of the Holy Cross Athletics, Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Retrieved March 28, 2023.

Head coaching record

References

External links