EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University men's basketball head coach Jeff Wilson was named the Division II Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) after guiding the Warriors to a school record for wins and the second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history.

Wilson, in his eighth year at ESU, was also recognized as the PSAC East Coach of the Year following a season that included the program's first PSAC East regular season championship, PSAC semifinal appearance and national ranking in the NABC Coaches Poll since 1992.

The Warriors, picked sixth in the PSAC East preseason poll, finished their record-setting campaign with a 24-6 record, including the longest unbeaten streak (13-0) to open a season in program history. Freshman Terrance King was named PSAC East Freshman of the Year and senior guards Andy Heimbach (first team) and Robby Pines (second team) gave ESU a player on both the PSAC East first and second teams for the first time in 10 years.

Wilson molded one of the most balanced squads in the country, as Heimbach's 12.6 points per game led a team that had eight players average at least 6.9 points last season. Wilson is the only one of the nine NABC Coach of the Year recipients (there were two selections in the West Region) who did not coach a member of the All-District first team in his region.

A 1986 graduate of ESU, Wilson has been a member of the men's basketball program as a player, assistant coach and head coach for 21 of the last 27 years. He served as an assistant coach under Sal Mentesana for nine seasons, including the 1989-90 PSAC championship and NCAA Tournament team, and assisted Mentesana for six years at Lehigh University before returning to ESU as head coach prior to the 2002-03 season.

Wilson and assistant coach Justin Potts took over a program that went 4-20 the year before their arrival in 2002-03 and have built a consistent winner. The Warriors have qualified for the PSAC tournament in four of the last five years (2006-08, 10) and have a 92-49 record in that span, the most-ever in a five-year stretch at the university. Wilson has a career record of 125-96 in his eight seasons on the sidelines.

The 2009-10 team returned just one starter and six letterwinners from the previous season but meshed immediately, with Heimbach, Pines, junior guard Mike DeMarco and junior forward Mike Tobin leading the way. Senior forward Preston Ritter and sophomore forward Eric Bryan were also returning letterwinners.

Five newcomers made significant contributions – junior guard Micah Covert and freshmen Gerald Bridges, Jr., Marcus Brown, Duane Johnson and King – with Brown, Johnson and King combining for 11 of the 15 PSAC East Freshman of the Week awards.

The Warriors attained the second national ranking in school history when they entered the NABC poll at No. 24 on January 12, the start of a run of six straight weeks with a national ranking that saw them rise as high at No. 12 on February 9.

ESU beat Cheyney, 76-65, in the PSAC quarterfinals on March 5 at Koehler Fieldhouse and earned the right to host the PSAC Final Four for the first time in school history. IUP, the eventual national runner-up, posted a 67-63 win in the semifinals.

The Warriors earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional and fell to No. 4 seed West Virginia State, 89-79, in the first round at IUP the following weekend.

The NABC Regional Coaches of the Year for 2009-10 are listed below:

Atlantic – Jeff Wilson, East Stroudsburg
Central – Matt Margenthaler, Minnesota State
East – Dave MacLaughlin, Stonehill
Midwest – Todd Lee, Kentucky Wesleyan
South – Mark Downey, Arkansas Tech
Southeast – Joey Higginbotham, Mt. Olive
South Central – Grant McCasland, Midwestern State
West – Brad Jackson, Western Washington and Greg Kamansky, Cal Poly Pomona