Head Coach John Tharp

John Tharp is entering his third season as the Hillsdale College men's basketball coach.  Tharp takes the place of Ed Douma, who retired in March 2007 after a 32-year coaching career, including nine with the Chargers.

In 2008-09, Tharp guided the Chargers to their best record in several seasons, 16-11, and took the team to a second-place finish in the GLIAC South Division. With Tharp on the sidelines, Hillsdale College hosted its first GLIAC Tournament game on March 3, 2009. He's won 30 games in his first two seasons as the Chargers' coach, and in 2009-10, will coach a team made up completely of players he has brought into the program.

Tharp compiled a 14-14 record in his first season as Chargers' coach, and has brought in two straight deep recruiting classes to help build up the depth in the program. His '08 team featured two of the GLIAC's three leading scorers in Tony Gugino and Tim Homan. Those two players combined to earn five GLIAC South Division Player of the Week honors, after the Chargers had one such honor in the previous two seasons combined.

Tharp comes to Hillsdale after a very successful 13-year stint as the head coach at Lawrence University, a Division III school in Wisconsin.  Tharp leaves Lawrence as that school’s all-time leader in victories and winning percentage, compiling a career record of 204-108.

“There’s great excitement for me and my family to become part of the Hillsdale community and become part of the Hillsdale College family,” Tharp said.  “I was very impressed with the quality of people I met when I visited there, and we believe in the mission of the college.  The players I met were all first-class individuals and we look forward to the challenges that will be in front of us.  I want to make it a program everyone can be proud of.”

Starting with the 2003-04 season, Tharp guided Lawrence to three of its best seasons in school history.  He led the program to three consecutive Midwest Conference championships from 2003 to 2006, and rang up an overall record of 69-12.  The best of those three seasons came in 2005-06, when Lawrence went 25-1 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation among Division III teams for one month during the season.  That .852 winning percentage he compiled between 2003-2006 was the best of any Division III school in the nation.

In 2003-04, Lawrence went 24-5 and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Tharp noted that Lawrence and Hillsdale are very similar in their academic standards and student populations.

“The schools have similar missions, and I believe in kids getting a great education,” Tharp said.  “At the same time, we want players who can come in and play great basketball.  I don’t think you have to sacrifice one for the other.”

Lawrence University represented the first head coaching job for Tharp when he was hired at the age of 24, prior to the 1994-95 season.  He spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Beloit (Wisc.) College before taking over the Lawrence program.  After winning eight games in his first season, Tharp turned Lawrence into a conference champion just three years later, when he led the team to a 22-3 mark and its first MWC championship in 53 years, back in 1996-97.

Tharp was named MWC Coach of the Year four times in his 13 seasons with the Vikings.

In his playing days, Tharp led Sheboygan North High School to the WIAA Class A state championship in 1986 before moving on to Beloit College.  At Beloit, Tharp was named All-Conference twice and was an NCAA Division III leader in assists.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1991, and holds a master’s degree in education.

Tharp and his wife Jennifer have three children, McKayla, Logan and Lukas.

Assistant Coach Dan Evans

Dan Evans steps in as one of the full-time assistant coaches for the men's basketball program in 2008-09. He joined the staff in 2007 when John Tharp was named the program's head coach.

Evans played for coach Tharp at Lawrence University in Wisconsin from 2002-2005. Evans was the team's starting point guard for two years, and led Lawrence to back-to-back regular season conference titles and back-to-back conference tournament championships. He was named honorable mention All-Conference as a senior, and helped the team advance to the Division III Elite Eight as a junior and the second round of the NCAA Division III national tournament as a senior.

Evans played his high school basketball at Cary-Grove High School in Illinois, where he was a two-time All-Conference selection. His team was the Fox Valley Conference champions both of his seasons on the varsity, and he averaged 15 points, six rebounds and six assists per game as a senior.  His team advanced to the Illinois state sweet 16 his senior year.

Evans said he is looking forward to coaching under Tharp, after learning so much from him as a player.

"He was a point guard, so me playing as his point guard, we had similar experiences in our college careers," Evans said. "We developed a great relationship, and having him coach me on an individual basis was really helpful for me in my basketball career."

Evans spent the past two years working for Caremark as a pharmacy manager in Northbrook, Ill. He now returns to athletics, and basketball in particular, at a school where he feels like it's a natural fit.

"This school is very similar to Lawrence, so it's something I can relate to a great deal," Evans said. "I came here to Hillsdale for a camp my freshman year of high school, so I had some familiarity with this place before taking the job. It's refreshing to come to a smaller school like this and have the opportunity to coach great players."

Assistant Coach Brian "Pistol Pete" McCauley

Joining the Charger men's basketball staff on a full-time basis for the first time in 2008-09 is Brian McCauley, also known as "Pistol Pete" to his friends. McCauley was a part-time assistant coach in 2007-08.

McCauley also shares a background with coach Tharp, having worked for Tharp at Lawrence University for five years. During those three seasons, Lawrence went 100-28 and won three straight conference championships.

McCauley attended Kimberly High School in Kimberly, Wisc. and earned a total of seven varsity letters, in basketball, track and cross country. He was part of the Fox Valley Association championship 4x400 relay team during his prep years. He later attended Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisc.

"I am very excited to be a part of the Hillsdale College basketball family," McCauley said. "The high level of the student-athletes at Hillsdale are outstanding and I am anxious to get started coaching this group we have assembled."

Student Assistant Coach Keith MacKenzie

After completing his basketball playing career in 2008-09, Keith MacKenzie will join the Charger coaching staff for the 2009-10 season.

MacKenzie played for Hillsdale for two seasons, leading the team in assists both years. He was named Second-Team All-GLIAC after his senior season. A guard in his playing days, MacKenzie started his career at Division I Oakland University. He played his prep basketball at Warren DeLaSalle, where he was fourth in the voting for Mr. Basketball in 2004-05.