Cal State East Bay’s nationwide search for a new men’s basketball head coach came to a conclusion in its own backyard last week.

After 10 seasons with the Cal Maritime Keelhaulers out of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in Vallejo, The Pioneers nabbed Bryan Rooney away to be the new CSUEB men’s basketball head coach after finalizing a deal on Sept. 12, according to the CSUEB athletics department.

During his 10 season as head coach Rooney was also the assistant athletic director for part of that time. While at the helm, he led the Keelhaulers to a 200-112 record, 56 percent winning percentage, five consecutive NAIA postseason tournament appearances, and finished last season as a top 25 ranked school in the nation for the first time in Cal Maritime’s school history.

According to the Cal Maritime athletics department, “[Under Rooney] these ten years have been without question most successful in the program’s history as Rooney is the program’s winningest coach by a wide margin.”

The Cal Maritime athletics department also said, “Coach Rooney has established a program built on toughness and defensive accountability shown by the fact that his teams are consistently in the top 5 nationally for defensive production.  On the offensive end, the motion offense employed by the Keelhaulers allows for the talents of players to be maximized.  The 2013-2014 team was one of the best in country converting over 50% of its field goals and scored 90 plus points multiple times.”

When asked about his decision to leave Cal Maritime, Rooney stated, “In many ways it a very difficult decision . . . but [I am] very excited for the future.”

East Bay students, players and supporters should be excited for the future that Rooney represents as he makes the jump from the NAIA Division II to the ranks of NCAA Division II competition.

We will have to wait until the Pioneer Classic on Nov. 10 to see how the defensive craftsman leads the Pioneers into competition in the first home games of the season against Sonoma State and Seattle Pacific.