Trinity to Dedicate Gym Floor to Former Men's Basketball Head Coach Ogrodnik
Courtesy Trinity Sports Information
HARTFORD, Conn. – Trinity will officially dedicate its gym floor for varsity basketball and volleyball as the “Stanley Ogrodnik Court” prior to its home game against NESCAC foe Amherst on Saturday, Jan. 23. The Trinity women will host Amherst at 1 p.m., followed by the dedication ceremony, and the Bantam men will play the Lord Jeffs at 4 p.m.
Ogrodnik, who was honored by the Connecticut Sportswriters Alliance last spring as a Gold Key recipient for his lasting impact on sports in the state of Connecticut, retired prior to the 2008-09 season.
Ogrodnik (Warwick, R.I.), the most successful coach in Trinity College basketball history, was Trinity’s head men’s basketball coach for 27 seasons and compiled a 469-186 record that gives him one of the top 30 winning percentages (.717) among NCAA Division III coaches. His remarkable tenure included seven NCAA Tournament bids, four ECAC Division III New England titles, and eight consecutive appearances in the NESCAC Championship . In his final season in 2007-08, Trinity finished with a 21-7 overall record, won the league title for the first time, and hosted an NCAA Tournament game.
In 1994-95, Ogrodnik guided his team to the NCAA semifinals. That season, the Bantams finished 24-5, tying a school record for victories in a season set earlier by the Ogrodnik-coached 1983-84 team. In 1998-99, the Bantams finished 22-4 and reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in College history. Trinity has 18 winning seasons in the last 20 years. His 469 victories are the most of any coach in the history of Trinity athletics in any sport and his winning percentage is the best for any Trinity coach of an NCAA men’s sport with over career 50 wins in the college’s history. Ogrodnik also coached women’s volleyball at Trinity from 1987-1994 and his 1987 squad posted the only 20-win season in the program’s history.
Ogrodnik joined the Trinity staff as an assistant in 1979 after nine very successful years as the head coach of East Catholic High School in Manchester, Conn., where he guided Eagle teams to a 162-49 record, two Class L state championships, three state runners-up finishes, and five conference championships. A member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, Ogrodnik served as an assistant with the British National Team in the 1988 Olympic Games.
