Mike Blaine is entering his sixth year as the Head Coach of the Men’s Basketball Team.
During his tenure the Mavericks have compiled a 84-55 record overall and gone 63-27 in AMCC play. Not only has Medaille earned a spot in the AMCC Tournament in each of his first five seasons as the bench boss, the Mavs have been selected to play in either the NCAA or ECAC Tournament in four of those five seasons.
In his first season as a Head Coach in 2014-15 he led the Mavericks to their fourth AMCC Championship in program history, earning the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Two years later he repeated that feat defeating La Roche College in the Sullivan Center for their second NCAA bid in three seasons.
That season he also helped coach senior Guard Johnathan Belton to one of the most prolific seasons in school history. Belton was named to the AMCC All-Conference First Team; AMCC Player of the Year; AMCC Defensive Player of the Year; was named to the D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes Second Team; was named to the NABC Great Lakes First Team, led the nation in steals, and also became the first Medaille student-athlete in school history to earn a spot in a national All-Star Game when he was named to the Reese’s NABC Division III College All-Star Game.
in 2017-18 Medaille won at least 19 games for the third time in four seasons under Blaine, earning a spot in the ECAC Postseason Tournament. Wins over Westminster and Bethany earned the Mavs a spot in the Semifinals, and also gave the Men’s Basketball program their most wins in a single postseason in school history.
The Mavs earned their second straight ECAC Tournament berth in 2018-19 after winning 14 games overall and earning yet another trip to the AMCC Semifinals.
Blaine came to Medaille College with over ten years of experience working for NCAA basketball programs. Most recently he was an assistant coach on the Cornell University staff. While at Cornell, Blaine played a large role in player skill development and was able to help in the growth of several All-Ivy League honorees. Blaine was able to develop Eitan Chemerinski, who played sparingly his first two years in the program, graduated as the school’s career field goal percentage leader, while (2011-12) Ivy League Rookie of the Year Shonn Miller earned first-team all-conference accolades in (2012-13) as one of the league’s top defensive players. He also worked with young big man David Onuorah, whose (28) blocked shots, ranks second all-time at Cornell as a freshman.
Prior to working at Cornell, Blaine spent the previous two seasons assisting the turnaround of the Maryland-Eastern Shore program. UMES won (11) games and went (8-8) in the MEAC conference to finish fifth in 2010-11, nearly tripling the program's win total from the season before Blaine arrived. Junior Hillary Haley led the team in scoring (12.4 ppg) and was named to the all-tournament team in the backcourt. Blaine's responsibilities included working with the backcourt players, as well as scouting and recruiting.
Prior to Blaine’s stint at UMES, he spent one season at both Radford (2006-07) and Hampden-Sydney College (2007-08). He also worked as a Director of Basketball Operations at Army (2004-06) and James Madison (2003-04), leading the administrative efforts, as well as film exchange, academic progress of the players and team travel.
A 2003 graduate of Johns Hopkins with a degree in political science and sociology, Blaine was a standout for the Blue Jays. He currently ranks among the school's top 20 players in field goal percentage (seventh, .572), blocked shots (13th, 50) and offensive rebounds (17th, 105). He was part of teams that compiled (67) career victories, including a win over Navy that served as Johns Hopkins' first-ever over a Division I opponent. Blaine received the Robert H. Scott Award, given to the senior student-athlete who best demonstrates excellence in athletics, scholarship and extracurricular activities.
Blaine and his wife Kara were married in August 2014. The couple resides in Buffalo, NY with their newborn daughter Erin.
(updated 5/16/19)
