BALTIMORE – Coppin State University announced today it will not renew the contract of head men's basketball coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell.
The all-time winningest coach in Coppin State men’s basketball history with 429 victories and six-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Coach of the Year, Mitchell accomplished plenty during his 28 years at the helm of the Eagles. Overall, Mitchell won 656 games during his career, which included eight seasons at Gloucester County College.
He guided the Eagles to a share of nine of 10 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season titles during the ‘90s, equaling the most won by any NCAA Division I program in the decade, four NCAA Tournament appearances (1990, 1993, 1997, 2008), an upset of South Carolina as a No. 15 seed in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, two NIT bids, including a first-round win over Saint Joseph’s in 1995, six 20-win seasons, 11 straight winning seasons from 1988 to 2000.
This past season, the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the MEAC tournament after upsetting No. 2 seed Hampton in the quarterfinals. Coppin State also defeated Oregon State on the road on Nov. 10, 2013. The men’s basketball program, under Mitchell’s direction, was one of three CSU athletic programs that had a grade point average of 3.2 or better during the Fall 2013 semester. The men’s basketball team earned a 3.263 term GPA, which was the second consecutive term that the men’s basketball team has earned above a 3.2 term GPA.
In addition to his own personal success, Seven CSU athletes have been named MEAC Player of the Year seven times under his watch, and 78 players have earned all-conference honors.
Mitchell, who served as a coach for the 1995 USA Basketball National Team trials, helped Coppin State garner a 107-11 mark in MEAC regular-season play during the 1990s.
“We thank Coach Mitchell for the time and service he dedicated to Coppin State,” Director of Athletics Derrick Ramsey said. “The University decided to move in a different direction with our basketball program. We appreciate his service and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Coppin State will immediately begin a national search to name Mitchell’s successor.
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