New Britain Herald: C.W. Post Will Have Central Feel
By BART FISHER
Staff Writer
Nobody's saying the uniforms C.W. Post men's basketball takes the court in this season will be anything other than the traditional Green and Yellow that the Pioneers have always worn. Look hard enough however and you'll likely see a figurative, if not a literal touch of blue.
Post's new head coach is Chris Casey, the former Howie Dickenman assistant who went on to a Big East career. And his new assistant is New Britain native and former CCSU sharpshooter Marc Rybczyk.
Casey was hired in May, but not long after Southern Connecticut parted ways with Rybczyk, he was on the fast track to Long Island. “We're very fortunate to have Marc,” said the Pioneers head coach. Saying in affect that Rybczyk is the kind of guy who could hit the ground running, which is exactly what he was looking for, Casey added, “He's already out there doing a great job in terms of recruiting and everything else. We're just thrilled to have him on our staff.”
Rybczyk was one of best three-point shooters in CCSU history. After graduating in the early '90s he went on to a coaching career that included the University of New Haven, where he was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator, SUNY Cobleskill, were he led the Div. III Fighting Tigers to double digit wins and then Southern. There he was Jerry DiGregorio's assistant before spending a couple of seasons as head coach himself.
Casey meanwhile comes to C.W. Post, which is part of the LIU system, after spending the last six years at St. John's. He was the Red Storm's Director of Operations for two seasons under Norm Roberts before being promoted to assistant coach
During his tenure at St. John's, his official C.W. Post bio notes, Casey was responsible for recruiting, opponent scouting, player development, on-court instruction and practice and game preparation.
He was also well liked and well regarded as a member of the Blue Devils brain trust. He was the top assistant and coach Dickenman's go to guy on recruiting, scouting and game preparation.
During the three years he spent in New Britain the Blue Devils averaged nearly 19 wins per season and made two Northeast Conference championship game appearances, winning the 2002 contest to advance to the NCAA tournament.
The following season he was voted the National Assistant Coach of the Year.
Before joining Dickenman's staff and working with standouts like Corsley Edwards and Ron Robinson, both NEC Players of the Year, Casey spent three seasons as the head coach at Rutgers University-Newark and eights campaigns as an assistant at St. Peter's.
He also made coaching stops at Western Connecticut, which is his alma mater and at St. Francis of New York. He picked up an undergraduate degree in business administration at Western, where he played four years and earned a master's at CCSU.
Casey is only the ninth head coach in C.W. Post history. The program has qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice in the last three years, including an appearance in the Elite Eight Tournament in 2009.
While he was a student and a player at Central, Rybczyk twice hit nine three-pointers in a single game and in one memorable battle against LIU during the 1991-92 season he canned 11 shots from outside the arc.
Also an excellent free throw shooter, you can be certain he'll be teaching technique as soon as Post begins practicing next month.
Both Casey and Rybczyk have a lot of friends in our area; many Blue Devils fans among them so, don't be surprised if you hear a C.W. Post score over the P.A. system during games at the Detrick Gym this season.
Go Pioneers!