jim.ferry@liu.edu

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ABOUT COACH FERRY
2005 NEC COACH OF THE YEAR

Jim Ferry, entering his fifth season as head coach at Long Island University and ninth season overall, has the Blackbirds on the right track. His approach - always on the move, always attacking on offense and pursuing on defense - is one that fits perfectly with his personal style and basketball history.

Ferry is no stranger to success. He reached 100 victories in his fourth season of coaching, believed to be the seventh fastest in NCAA history to hit that plateau. And at LIU, he is directing a program where Hall of Fame coach Clair Bee reached 200 and 300 victories faster than any Division I coach in history. That history intrigues Ferry.

Teams know what’s in store for them when Ferry is on the opposite bench. He has a passion for the game, its techniques and its traditions. He’ll go anywhere to get a player -- from a local high school gym to remote spots far away. The current roster includes athletes from the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, the center of Rhode Island, the nearby borough of Queens, two international students who honed their skills in southwest Virginia and a pair from north of the border in Canada. Ferry pieces them together like parts of a puzzle.

“I recruit with my style in mind,” he said. “I’m always looking for athletes with size and skill. At this level, we need them to be more versatile than one-dimensional.”

Last season, the squad suffered through a multitude of injuries - including ailments to three starters at the same time - that resulted in a relatively slow start. Once everyone came back healthy and rounded into shape, the Blackbirds started to roll, closing out the final 12 regular season games of the season with an 8-4 record.

“We finished the year winning eight of our last 12 and the teams we lost to (Fairleigh Dickinson twice,
Central Connecticut State and Monmouth) were three of the best teams in our league,” Ferry said. “I think that if we are healthy, we have just as good a shot as anyone to compete for a championship.”

In 2004-05, the Blackbirds were picked in a coaches’ preseason poll to finish last (11th). However, the young team surprised many - but not Ferry - when they finished the regular season in fourth place. The Blackbirds’ six-game improvement in league games from 2003 to 2004 (4-14 to 10-8) was not only the best in the league that season - no other team had improved more than three games - but the biggest jump for a team in four years. The result earned Ferry the 2004-05 NEC Coach of the Year award in only his third year on the job.

When he arrived in downtown Brooklyn in 2002, Ferry loved the idea of playing games in the old Brooklyn Paramount theater where Bing Crosby sang and Ginger Rogers danced. A place his father came as a kid. But he is aware of the impact the program’s new state-of-the art facility - the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center - will have on the future of his program. The home-court advantage of the WRAC paid dividends in early 2006, as the Blackbirds went 6-1 in the new building.

Ferry grew up in Elmont, N.Y., the son of a New York City transit police officer. He played for a year at New York Tech before transferring to Keene (N.H.) State, where he earned a degree in safety studies. He averaged 14 points for his career, was a 43 percent 3-point shooter (121-for-283) and led the Owls in scoring (15.5) in his junior year.

He spent eight years as an assistant coach, first at Keene State and then at Bentley, before his first head coaching job at Plymouth State. That team broke the school record for wins, going 22-8 and winning the Little East Conference title in 1998-99.

From there, Ferry moved to Adelphi on Long Island, making an immediate impact. His first team set a school record for wins (23), won its first regular-season conference championship in 36 years and reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Division II tournament.

Adelphi won its first 31 games the next season, rose to No. 1 in the nation and posted a .969 winning percentage, best for any team in Division I, II or III. After one more year at Adelphi (28-3), Ferry won his third straight Metropolitan Coach of the Year award.

“Adelphi was full circle for me,” Ferry said. “It was five miles from home. What we accomplished there was phenomenal.”

It also opened the door to a Division I job for Ferry and he stepped right through. He embarked on a major reconstruction job at the downtown Brooklyn campus and has turned the program into one of the top teams in the NEC. This year he will continue that rebuilding job with a team that was picked to finish third in the NEC preseason poll. It is proof that the hard work he and his staff have put in over the last half decade could pay big dividends at the end of this season.

Jim Ferry and his wife, Kelly, live in Merrick, N.Y. with their children: Victoria, 13, twins Hannah and James, 9, and newborn Leo.

Ferry was named NEC Coach of the Year in 2005. He receives his award from NEC assistant commissioner Andrew Alia.