SAINTS HEAD COACH CHRIS DOWNS
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Entering his 13th Season St. Lawrence, 12th as St. Lawrence Head Coach

A proven winner as a head coach, Chris Downs has led St. Lawrence University to nine postseason appearances. In his first eleven years at the helm of the Saints, Downs has guided St. Lawrence to an NCAA Elite Eight, an ECAC Championship, two ECAC finals, a Liberty League championship, two ECAC Semifinals and a school best 24 win season.

 

The Saints have registered a 180-112 (.616) mark in Downs' eleven seasons, an average of 16 victories per year. He has led the team to the two highest single-season win totals in the school's history: 23 in 2007 and 24 in 1998 while also guiding the Scarlet and Brown to a first or second place finish in the conference in eight of his eleven seasons.

 

Downs made an immediate impact on St. Lawrence basketball when he became the head of the program, leading the Saints to a 24-2 record during the 1997-98 season. The first year head coach guided the Saints to an NCAA Elite Eight. Following the season, Downs was named the East Region Coach of the Year, New York State Coach of the Year and the UCAA Co-Coach of the Year.

 

Since that season, Downs has earned many accolades for his work with the men's basketball team. In addition to his coaching awards following the 1997-1998 campaign, he has thrice been named Conference Coach of the Year and in 2006, St. Lawrence University recognized his efforts, as the Athletic Department awarded him the coveted Coach of the Year honor.

 

Downs has developed his players to be some of the strongest players on both a regional and national level. He has coached eight 1,000 points scorers, four All East Region selections, a National All-American, four conference Rookies of the Year, one conference Player of the Year, 25 all-conference players and several all-academic student-athletes. In 2003, one his players was the NCAA Division III leader in Field Goal Percentage.

 

In addition to coaching, Downs was one of 35 coaches to be selected as a congressman for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), a position he has been in since 2000. This allows him to work on issues facing Division III college basketball and bring them before league members for discussion and support. He is also a current member of the New York State Coaches Athletic Association.

 

Downs is the 15th coach in the modern era of St. Lawrence basketball, a program that currently has a 1017-778 (.567) record dating back to 1922. He was an assistant in 1996-97 before becoming the head coach in the fall of 1997.

 

A 1992 graduate of Oneonta State, Downs began his education at SUNY Cobleskill. He was a two sport athlete there, participating in both basketball and baseball, and earned Athlete of the Year honors in 1989. He transferred to Oneonta State to earn his bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1991 and was an All-SUNYAC Basketball selection his senior year.

 

Downs and his wife Tonki reside in Canton and have two sons, Andy and Christopher, and a daughter Winnie.

 

ASSISTANT COACH SEAN KELLY

The St. Lawrence University men’s basketball team welcomes Sean Kelly, a 2007 graduate of The Catholic University of America, as assistant coach to the Saints for the 2008-2009 season.

Kelly spent the last year serving as the assistant coach for Hartwick College’s men’s basketball team, where he was responsible for several aspects of the program, which included being the in-game special situations coach, assisting in daily basketball operations, overseeing the in-season conditioning program, and serving as the primary recruiter.  He has also worked as a counselor and administrator at Hartwick’s summer camps, as well as at LeMoyne College.

At The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Kelly’s accolades extended both on and off the court.  He was the recipient of the Senior Male Athlete Role Model of the Year Award and was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Honor Court.  Kelly, who was a politics major with a concentration in world politics, maintained high academic standards throughout his tenure at CUA, as he was named to the Dean’s List and the Capital Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. He helped guide the Cardinals to a 64-23 overall record, as well as two Capital Athletic Conference tournament championships, which earned them two consecutive NCAA tournament berths, in his three years on the squad.