Joe Cassidy was an integral part of the Rowan men’s basketball program for almost 30 years and owns the school record for victories as head coach, with the 336 wins he amassed from 1996 to 2016.
During Cassidy’s 20 years as the Profs’ head coach, he compiled a 336-187 record while guiding the team to four trips to the NCAA Championship, 15 appearances in the NJAC Tournament and the conference title in 1998-99. Cassidy also had seven players earn All-America honors and saw 34 of his players named to the All-Conference Team, with three NJAC Players of the Year and one Rookie of the Year.
Cassidy handed over the reins of the program to Joe Crispin in 2016 and served as the associate head coach for four years. He began his career at Rowan in 1991 serving for five seasons as an assistant to Dr. John Giannini. Those years yielded the NCAA Division Championship in 1996, as well as two third-place finishes in the NCAA Tournament and two NJAC Championships.
Cassidy’s 2015-16 squad posted a 9-16 record, going 6-12 in NJAC play. In 2014-15, Rowan went 16-10, posting a 10-8 record in conference play. In 2012-13, Cassidy led the Profs to a 17-9 record, with10 of those wins coming in the NJAC.
In 2009-10, Rowan won 17 games, including a 7-6 conference record. In 2007-08, Cassidy and First Team All-American Matt Byrnes guided the squad to an 18-8 record to go along with a 7-6 record in the NJAC. In 2006-07, Rowan reached the 20-win mark, going 20-6 with a 9-4 conference record while Thomas Baker was named a First Team All-American.
Cassidy led the squad to back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04 with Tylee Thomas earning Second Team All-American honors in 2003. In 2000-01, the Profs went 14-10 with a 10-8 record in NJAC play while B.J. Johnson was named to the All-America Second Team. In 1999-00, Rowan went 22-5, and 15-3 in the NJAC, and boasted a back-to-back Second Team All-American in Maurice Davis.
In 1998-99, Cassidy’s squad notched a 25-2 record while going 17-1 in conference play earning him the NJAC Co-Coach of the Year award. In 1997-98, led by Cassidy and First Team All-American Rob Scott, Rowan went 21-8 with a 13-5 conference record and an NCAA Tournament berth. The Profs secured wins against USMMA and TCNJ in the first two rounds before losing to Wilkes in double overtime in the Sweet 16.
In his first year at the helm, he was named the NJAC Coach of the Year as Rowan went 26-3 and 17-1 in the NJAC. The defending NCAA Champion Profs made a deep run into the NCAA Tournament, knocking off Mt. St. Vincent (NY) and NYU in the first two rounds before beating Salem (MA) in the Sweet 16. Rowan’s run to repeat ended in the Elite Eight, losing to Williams.
Before Rowan, Cassidy served as assistant men's basketball coach under coach Eddie Burke at Drexel University from 1980 to 1991. He was also the head basketball coach at Harriton High School (1979-80) and an assistant at The Haverford School (1976-78).
A native of Ardmore, PA, who attended Archbishop Carroll High School, Cassidy was recognized as the Coach of the Year by numerous organizations during his career, including the NJAC, the NABC, the Philadelphia Small College Coaches and the New Jersey Collegiate Basketball Coaches Association.
Cassidy, a 1974 graduate of Saint Joseph's University, served as the famed Hawk mascot his junior and senior years. He and his wife Betty Ann have a son, Tyler, and daughter, Devon.
