| Vassar Coach Promoted to High School August 20, 2008 |
| POUGHKEEPSIE - In a devastating blow to the already-reeling Vassar basketball program, head coach Mike Dutton has left for a far more prestigious job at a high school in Maine. "When an opportunity comes along to be a gym teacher at a high school, you don't hold onto a third-rate job like coaching Vassar basketball," said Dutton as he literally walked on air. "Once they told me I'd also get the chance to grumpily chaperone the senior prom, I was packing my bags." Dutton took over a Vassar program that had languished, winning just 33 percent of its games, and took it to heights no Vassar student could dream of or even count to, winning 48 percent of his contests. This impressed the Vassar faithful, who were unable to perform the simple subtraction to determine that meant the Brewers were losing 52 percent of their games. Dutton takes the reins as athletic director at North Yarmouth Academy in Maine, which offers students a chance to either take physical education or courses in the performing arts. Dutton is expected to bring tapes of his Vassar squads badly impersonating a basketball team, along with long stretches of playing dead, which students at North Yarmouth can use as models for either choice. Dutton is replaced by Del Harris, who last coached as an assistant at Morgan State University in 2006-07. The Bears improved from 13-18 with Harris assisting to 22-11 in 2007-08 with Harris gone. "I am deeply humbled to have this very exciting opportunity at Vassar College," joked Harris. |