Kean Men’s basketball introduces a new coach with a new mentality

The Kean University Men’s basketball team has started off their season at 1-4 with a new head coach in Adam Hutchinson. Although he is new to the Kean family, he is a veteran in college basketball as Hutchinson coached at Amherst College for one season as well as Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia for 14 seasons.

Hutchinson was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Coach of the Year and Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) College Division Coach of the Year during his career at Washington & Lee University. Along with coaching those two college basketball teams, he coached at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Despite the rocky start, Hutchinson believes that with hard work comes great success.

“My expectations for the season are that we work hard and are intentional about improving on a daily basis,” Hutchinson said.

Assistant Coach Matt McDuffie shares the same type of sentiments as well and is looking towards his team’s youth to help the team improve in the years to come.

Assistant Coach Matt Duffie. Photo Courtesy of Kean Athletics.

McDuffie agrees that with a great group of athletes and a coach like Hutchinson, there is a lot to look forward to this season and the ones following. McDuffie also believes that Hutchinson’s most impactful contribution to the team is his defensive philosophy.

Moving forward throughout the season and the seasons to come with outstanding contributions from their coaching staff and their players, the Cougars are expected to improve and will be a team to watch as the seasons continue.