Dan Mara

Danny "Dan" Mara is a retired College basketball (section Women's) coach who is in his ninth year as Commissioner of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and former Chair of the NCAA Division II Membership Committee. He spent 16 years directing a highly successful basketball camp at Mitchell College where he is considered a special alumni.^[1][2] As head coach at Mitchell, he coached ten Kodak All-Americans including future Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Rita Williams.^[3] Williams went on to University of Connecticut to lead them to the 1998 Big East Championship and was named tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP). She was the 12th pick in the 1998 WNBA Draft and was chosen as the first all-star game representative in Indiana Fever history. As coach of the New London, Connecticut junior college team, Mara was the legal guardian of the longest regular-season winning streak in college basketball.^[4] In his coaching career at Mitchell college, Mara still lived on campus, in Matteson Hall, a men's dorm. He roomed with Pep, a 16-year-old Samoyed and collie mix, who until the '94 basketball season sat beside him at home games. To players he is something of a father figure to potential athletes, because each year Mara looks after stray players who, for various reasons, have not found a place at a four-year college, and he makes them part of his family.^[5]

Early years

Mara was born in Hartford, Connecticut. In an article for Sports Illustrated in 1994, he said, "Mitchell College adopted me when I had nothing left to lose." Dan Mara, then 39, was an only child whose father, James, died when Dan was two. Eighteen years later, while a sophomore at Mitchell, Mara lost his mother, Elizabeth, in a fire.^[6]

Mara graduated from Mitchell College in 1974 and earned a Bachelor's in English from Roger Williams University in 1976. After his college graduation, Mitchell offered him a summer job as a Residence hall director. He started his career in NJCAA at Mitchell College in 1976 as Sports information director. Mara was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director in 1978 and his duties included sports information as well as coordinating recruitment for all sports.^[7]

Coaching

In 1977, he began coaching as Assistant Softball Coach and Assistant Women's Basketball Coach. In 1979 was promoted as Mitchell's Baseball Coach due to Jim Grant (at the time was head coach) sustained a broken hip in a car accident.^[8]

Basketball coach

In 1984 he became Mitchell College's head coach of the women s basketball team, the Mariners (Historically known as the Pequots). Mara coached the Mitchell College Women's Basketball Team for ten seasons and compiled a career mark of 289-16 (.947 winning percentage). His teams won ten National Junior College Athletic Association New England titles and reached two National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Final Fours. In five different seasons the Pequots reached number one in the NJCAA National Poll. During Mara's tenure, Mitchell established a national record for consecutive regular season victories. The Mitchell women were not just successful on the court. Ninety Eight percent graduated from Mitchell and an equal percentage continued their education at four-year colleges. Mara led the Post University Athletic Department for eleven years (1995-2006) during which he moved the Mariners from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to full membership status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II. Mara began as Director of Athletics in 1995 and was promoted to Associate Vice-President in 2002. During his tenure, the Post athletic program grew from five varsity sports to twelve varsity, two sub-varsity and two club sports. In 2013, he returned to coaching on a volunteer basis. Mara has coached Blessed Sacrament School of Waterbury for three seasons. In his three years, the team has won three league championships, two state championships and one New England title.

Coaching technique

Mara knows that players like to run and hate to play defense, so he sets goals his players enjoy achieving. In a Sports Illustrated article, Mara states,"We try to score 25 points every 10 minutes," says the coach, whose team averaged a top-rated 99.6 points per game last year. "Defense?" he asks facetiously. "Who cares? We don't play D to stop the other team from scoring, we play it to dictate tempo." Which explains why the Mariners will stay in a full-court zone press for the entire game, creating dozens of turnovers and layups per outing. Mara has a brilliant basketball mind. "He's the most cerebral coach I know," says his best friend, Al Sokaitis, the men's coach at Post University. "He understands the game."^[9]

Eastern College Athletic Conference

In 2008-2010, Mara was President of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) after serving as Vice-President since 2006. He has been an ECAC Board of Directors member since 2005 and currently holds the office of Past President. In 2007, he chaired the ECAC Commissioner Search Committee. He chaired the ECAC Strategic Planning, League and Affiliates and Nominating Committees and is a member of the Marketing Committee. Mara is an active member of the Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association and was chairman of the DII CCA Web Site Committee as well as serving on the CCA Corporate Partners and Legislation Committees.^[10] Mara arrived at the CACC Office after 11 years as the Associate Vice-President for Athletics and Fitness at CACC-member Post University. During his tenure at the CACC, the conference has grown from 12 members in 2006 to the current 14 members. The addition of Chestnut Hill College (2007) and Concordia College (2009) ranks the CACC as sixth largest conference in Division II. The CACC trails only the Northeast-10, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference, and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in number of members.

Awards

Mara was chosen as the 2016 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Conference Commissioner of the Year. He was named CACC Athletic Administrator of the Year in 1997-98, 2000-2001 and 2005-06 and was named NAIA Region X Athletic Administrator of the Year in 2001. The American Red Cross recognized him with the Good Neighbor Award in 2005. He was named NJCAA New England Women's Basketball Coach of the Year nine times, Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Coach of the Year six times, NJCAA District Coach of the Year three times and Converse District One Coach of the Year in 1994. He was named CSAC Softball Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1991 for leading Mitchell to the conference championship both seasons.^[11]

Personal life

Mara lives in Waterbury, Connecticut with his son Danny.

References