Royce Chadwick Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: S.W. Oklahoma State, 1980

E-Mail: chadwickr@marshall.edu

Royce Chadwick enters his 25th year of coaching on the heels of a season that saw him eclipse the 500 win mark for his career. While he was the first to dismiss the significane of the number, it is impossible to overlook an accomplishments that only a handful of coaches in the country can put on their resume.

Another point that is impossible to overlook is the turnaround Chadwick has made with the Thundering Herd program. Entering his eighth season at Marshall, Chadwick has put together a string of five consecutive non-losing seasons, a record the program has not seen in over 20 years. The upswing continued last season as Chadwick led the Herd to two wins in the C-USA Tournament and just minutes short of an appearance in the championship game.

Since taking the reins of the Herd in March of 2001, Chadwick has been vital in the dramatic turnaround of the program. The Herd is riding a streak of four consecutive non-losing seasons, the second longest such streak in school history, which has produced the best four-year win total (67) at Marshall in the last 18 years. In 2004-05, he guided the Herd to its first Mid-American Conference East Division title by virtue of a 12-4 record in league play - Marshall's highest single-season conference win total in school history. Marshall's 19 wins were the most the school had seen in 14 years. That, coupled with its No. 1 scoring offense and MAC-high nine double-digit conference wins, allowed Chadwick to finish second in MAC Coach of the Year voting.

Chadwick's ability to resurrect a program is unmistakable after he revived a Marshall team that hit major doldrums after its 1997 NCAA appearance. Marshall went 30-81 in the four years after its lone NCAA berth, compared to 58-58 in Chadwick's first four years in Huntington. He also stayed at .500 in conference play (32-32) during that span, while the previous four years yielded only a .151 winning percentage (10-56) against MAC foes. Further, during Marshall's 12-game win streak in 2004-05 alone, the Herd won more conference games (11) than did his predecessor in four years combined. The winning streak, the fifth longest in the nation when it ended, was Marshall's longest in 33 years.

The fifth women's basketball coach in school history, Chadwick reached his 450th career win - and 50th at Marshall - with the Thundering Herd's win over Toledo on Jan. 29, 2005. He also coached in Division I game No. 400 in an earlier win versus Ohio. Another landmark victory in 2005 came when the Herd posted an 82-76 win over intrastate rival West Virginia, giving Chadwick his first career win over the Mountaineers, a team that would later play in the WNIT championship game.

His arrival at Marshall brought not only a keen basketball mind, but a success-driven individual whose leadership skills have produced many meaningful triumphs during an illustrious career. Chadwick, 50, owns over 485 wins in his collegiate coaching days (488-219) with an astounding .690 winning percentage. His Div. I record (301-172) alone is remarkable, winning at a .636 clip over 16 seasons at Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Marshall.

During his tenure at MU, the team has garnered votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Top-25 polls for the first time in school history and has tallied wins over schools from the Big East, Big 12 and ACC.

The enthusiasm that Chadwick and his athletic teams generate throughout the community have resulted in hefty crowds at the Cam Henderson Center, including a school-record 7,017 fans to witness Marshall's clash with Kentucky in 2004. That crowd made it four straight years that the Herd set the MAC's single-game attendance mark for each respective season. In 2001, Chadwick's initial season in Huntington, Marshall's attendance rose by 251 percent, which was the nation's third largest Div. I increase.

Chadwick, who received a contract extension in August of 2004 to remain at Marshall through the 2008-09 season, saw his hard work begin to blossom during the 2003-04 season when the Herd secured its first winning season in seven years. A postseason MAC game at home - a program first - allowed the Herd to advance to Gund Arena where it would pull off the tournament's biggest upset by knocking off No. 3 Kent State. Marshall lost to eventual champion Eastern Michigan in the MAC semis, but that experience continued to lay a new foundation of success for women's basketball at Marshall.

An admirable list of first-time and program-best accomplishments legitimized the 2003-04 Herd. The tournament victory over KSU was Marshall's first in Cleveland, highlighting a season in which the Herd posted its most overall wins (18) since its final year in the Southern Conference. The first ever win over MAC power Toledo, the best non-conference record (8-3) in seven years and a No. 4 national finish in rebounding margin (+8.7) dot Marshall's triumphs four seasons ago.

He and his staff's recruiting efforts yielded an influx of talented, athletic and bold athletes that changed the face of basketball at Marshall. Back-to-back top-50 recruiting classes in 2002 and 2003, plus several integral pieces along the recruiting trail from high schools to junior colleges, have given Chadwick the athletes he needs to achieve early success in Marshall's new era in C-USA.

The Herd's non-losing seasons the past four years can be linked to a monumental win in DeKalb, Ill., in March of 2003. Marshall, coming off an 11-16 regular season, won its first ever MAC Tournament game by posting a 70-58 victory over Northern Illinois. The win proved to be the lone victory by a visiting team in the tournament's first round, sparking MU to a fast 8-1 start the next season.

Before his arrival in Huntington, Chadwick spent seven seasons as head coach at Stephen F. Austin, where his teams were known as fast, athletic, pressure-defense oriented teams. He established himself as one of the top collegiate coaches in the nation by virtue of his regular and postseason success. During his tenure at SFA, Chadwick averaged 24.7 wins per season (.797) and led the Ladyjacks to seven consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

In 1996, the native of Floydada, Texas, led Stephen F. Austin to the NCAA's Sweet 16. During that season's NCAA Tournament, Chadwick's team garnered SFA's first ever road tournament wins. He also guided the Ladyjacks to seven Southland Conference Tournament titles, while compiling a staggering conference record of 128-14 (.901). From 1996-2001 at SFA, five of Chadwick's Ladyjack squads posted 25-win campaigns, along with the aforementioned NCAA Tournament bids. In his final season at the school, the Ladyjacks finished 76th in the women's basketball Sagarin ratings.

Success has followed Chadwick at every stop during his coaching career. His first collegiate head coaching assignment was at Panhandle (Okla.) State, where he led his Aggie teams to 19 and 20 wins, respectively, in his two years there. Those two seasons also marked the first appearances in postseason play for Chadwick--a place the Southwest Oklahoma State graduate would grow accustomed to as his career progressed. At Sam Houston State, his next stop, he guided a school that had never posted a winning season to an 18-9 mark during the 1988-89 campaign. That team was also one of the nation's most improved programs, advancing to the Gulf Star Conference postseason tournament. In his five seasons at Howard, Chadwick posted a record of 148-21, won four Western Conference titles, advanced to the NJCAA Tournament twice and was named National Coach of the Year in 1992. A multifaceted talent, Chadwick also served as Howard's athletic director. After moving on to Stephen F. Austin, Chadwick continued to win and add to the Ladyjacks' reputation as a basketball powerhouse. SFA's 255 wins in the 1990s thrust them into seventh place nationally in overall wins, while their .821 winning percentage (255-56) placed them sixth.

In 1983, Chadwick broke into the coaching ranks at Olton High School in Texas, where he led the Mustangs to a record of 21-5 and its first district championship in nine years.

Chadwick earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Southwestern Oklahoma State in 1980 and later earned a master's degree in business education from his alma mater in 1982.

Chadwick is the proud father of two daughters, Kasi, 21, and Kelsi, 18.