July 11, 2008

LAURINBURG, N.C.—St. Andrews Presbyterian College Director of Athletics Brian Mand announced the appointment of Richie Schueler as the Knights new head men’s basketball coach on Friday.

“It gives me a great deal of pleasure to name Richie Schueler as the Knights new head men’s basketball coach,” said Mand. “Richie has been a mainstay in athletics with a strong campus presence during his four years at St. Andrews and has been well received and respected in the Laurinburg community, as well.”

“We have a great deal of confidence in Richie Schueler based on his four years of service as Assistant Coach for our men’s basketball team,” said President of St. Andrews, Paul Baldasare. “Richie is a team player, who shares our commitment to teaching and coaching student-athletes. For Richie, performance in the classroom is as important as performance on the court. He exemplifies the very best of NCAA Division II and St. Andrews athletics.”

Schueler has spent the past four years as the first assistant coach for the St. Andrews men’s basketball team. He will begin his new duties immediately replacing Billy Lee, who retired from coaching earlier this week.

“I am grateful for having had Billy Lee as a mentor and friend and am highly thankful for Brian Mand’s confidence in my abilities,” said Schueler. “I look forward to working side-by-side with Brian Mand, the administration including Paul Baldasare and Bob Hopkins, and all of the coaches in the department.  It’s reassuring when you are able to work with a group of people with such high integrity.”

“Richie is the right man at the right time to take over the program at St. Andrews,” said former head coach Billy Lee. “He is familiar with the players and most of all he knows the college as he ascends to the head coach position.”

Over the last four years Schueler has been instrumental in rebuilding the St. Andrews men’s basketball program winning 42 games during that time frame The Knights men’s basketball team won a combined 25 games in the four seasons before Schueler arrived at SAPC.

“Richie has demonstrated a tireless work ethic and ingenuity which has placed him on a fast track to become a head coach. His knowledge of and dedication to St. Andrews and the men’s basketball program made it apparent that the search for a new coach started and ended on our own campus,” commented Mand. “Richie has an infectious attitude and personality, which has served him well in recruiting, coaching and mentoring many of the fine young men who have played for and graduated from St. Andrews the last four years and will continue to do so in the future. The Knights athletics program is pleased to have found within our ’family’ such a loyal and deserving individual as Richie Schueler to elevate to the head men’s basketball coaching position.”

Schueler has coached three All-Conference selections and four Conference Players of the Week at SAPC. He has also helped coach a future professional player (Chad Eichelberger), an NCAA statistical champion (Richard Stone), and a 1,000 point scorer (Taiwon Grooms) in a Knights uniform.

Schueler has also gained valuable coaching experience as the head coach of the St. Andrews junior varsity basketball team for the past four years. The Knights JV team has continued to improve over his tenure and has developed several players who made the varsity squad. In addition he has also taught in the Sports Studies Department and served on the residence life staff.

Schueler stated, “Laurinburg has been my home since 2004 and I’m excited to further invest myself into the community.  I want Knights basketball to be a team that the St. Andrews community and Laurinburg will be proud to support.”

Before coming to St. Andrews, Schueler spent the 2003/04 season as an assistant coach for the Wilmington College (Ohio) men’s basketball team. While working on his Master’s at Austin Peay State University, Schueler served as a graduate assistant on the men’s basketball team. During that year APSU won its conference tournament and qualified for the national tournament.

Schueler has worked or played under five NCAA Division I head coaches who have combined for more than 1,100 victories, 85 years of experience, nine D-I NCAA National Tournament appearances, and 14 D-I Coach of the Year awards. He has also coached a total of eight professional players in his six years of coaching.

The Cincinnati, Ohio, native’s playing experience included one year at his alma mater, the University of Evansville. He was also selected to play for the Svjetlost Brod A1 Pro Basketball League in Croatia. Schueler has worked with Athletes in Action and has been involved with more than 25 basketball camps.

Schueler graduated from Evansville in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Special Education. He completed his graduate studies at Austin Peay in 2003 with a Master of Science in Health & Human Performance with a Sports Administration Specialization.

“Richie will be taking over a veteran team that has numerous strengths and he is aware of these strengths,” expressed Lee. “Richie paid his dues and it a great opportunity for both Richie and the college to move forward with an outstanding program.”

“I have worked with Coach Lee to build a strong foundation for our basketball program and am excited about coaching next year’s team.  Our staff will work hard on behalf of our players, St. Andrews, and the Laurinburg community,” concluded Schueler.

If you are interested in being a member of the St. Andrews men’s basketball program under Coach Schueler, please contact Admissions at 1-800-763-0198.