HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 15, 2008) – Following two very successful seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at Stevens Institute of Technology, Josh Loeffler has accepted the position of assistant coach at Lafayette College – a Division I institution located in Easton, Pa. Loeffler is leaving Stevens after accumulating a record of 46-13 over the last two years. He will be joining the staff of Head Coach Fran O’Hanlon and looking to help the Leopards’ program improve on last year’s 15-15 mark, which included a 6-8 ledger in the Patriot League.
In his first season as a collegiate head coach in 2006-07, Loeffler led the Ducks to a 23-7 record. In the process, Stevens finished the regular season tied with Manhattanville College for first place in the Skyline Conference. After falling to SUNY College at Old Westbury in the semifinals of the postseason tournament, the Ducks received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Stevens made the most of its first-ever trip to the national tournament by defeating 18th-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute and New Jersey Athletic Conference champion Ramapo College to reach the Sweet 16. The Ducks ultimately lost to eventual national champion Amherst College on the road.
Stevens finished the year ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Atlantic Region and 24th in the country in the D3hoops.com poll. As a result, Loeffler was named the Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by D3hoops.com.
In 2007-08, Loeffler continued driving the men’s basketball program in the right direction as the Ducks tied the school record for wins in a season with a 23-6 record. Competing for the first time in the highly-competitive Empire 8, Stevens shard the regular-season title with Ithaca College. After losing to eventual champion Nazareth College in the semifinals, the Ducks received the top overall seed for the ECAC Division III Metro Championship. Loeffler went on to lead Stevens to three straight victories over the College of Staten Island, Brooklyn College, and York College as the Ducks captured their first-ever ECAC Metro title.
