| Chris Wood Era Ends at Bard Winningest Coach Leaves After 7 Years June 5, 2009 |
| An era filled with great progress and some of the greatest victories in Bard basketball history ended this week when Chris Wood left the Raptors after seven years at the helm. Wood, hired prior to the 2002-2003 season, oversaw two conference moves, from the HVMAC to the NEAC, then to the Skyline Conference. Under Wood, Bard won 46 games, the all-time record for a Bard coach. The Raptors won as many as 11 in a season, and also captured a HVMAC conference title, the first conference crown in Bard basketball history. Unfortunately for Wood, a combination of increased competition level and injuries kept Bard from progressing in the win column. After posting a respectable 8-17, 5-13 in-conference during Bard's first Skyline year, 2008-09 became a disaster, with injuries and ineligibility leaving the Raptors shorthanded for most of the season. Fittingly, however, Bard's winningest coach went out on a high note, with a 75-70 victory over Yeshiva. While Bard's program will, with the right choice at the helm, only get better, Wood's contributions are what will make much of the future success possible in men's basketball. His success stands in contrast to immediate predecessors like Greg Dixon, whose decision to leave Bard for Johnson State was not wise, and Phil Roloson, who was hired away by SUNY-New Paltz in what Raptormania! can only assume was an early episode of Punk'd. |