Longtime Saint Joseph’s College men’s basketball coach Rick Simonds has resigned after 23 years with the Monks.

The 52-year-old Simonds, who was ousted as athletic director last December after 20 years of doing the job on a part-time basis, preferred not to get too specific regarding his reasons for stepping down.

“I don’t know where the program is headed, but I think, based on all that has occurred recently, this might be a good time for me to step down,” said Simonds, who compiled a record of 463-175 in his career and was named 2003 coach of the year by the Maine College Basketball Coaches and Writers Association.

Back in December, when Dr. David House, Saint Joseph’s president, notified Simonds that he would be replaced by David Roussel, Simonds said he felt “blindsided” by the “disappointing” decision and linked it to a personality conflict between House and him. Roussel has been hired on a full-time basis.

Simonds is as proud of his AD accomplishments as he is his efforts on the court.

“I think that has been overlooked at times. We went from five programs to 11 and built four athletic fields and a new gym during my years as AD here,” Simonds said.

The five-time MCBCWA award winner has won 15 coach of the year awards overall, but when pressed to come up with a particularly memorable accomplishment while with the Monks, Simonds mentioned the 1986-87 season, when the Monks went 26-6 and became the only New England team to win a game at the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City by upsetting No. 3 seed Biola College (Cal.) 78-66

“I’ll tell you what, you hate to pick out just one moment, but certainly in 1987, when we first qualified to go to NAIAs … That was special,” Simonds recalled. “Back then, you didn’t just have to win your conference, you had to win regional championships to get there.”

Simonds, who would still like to coach and/or be an administrator, is keeping his options open as far as future employment.

“There are some things I’m exploring right now, but at this moment, I’m not sure,” he said. “I’m waiting to see what’s next, whether it’s coaching at the college or high school level, or a job with administrative responsibility.

Simonds, his wife Eileen, and 11-year-old son Steven live in Windham.

Kostacopoulos hits milestones

The University of Maine’s Paul Kostacopoulos has been a head baseball coach for less than 14 seasons, but already he has established himself as one of the region’s most successful coaches.

Earlier this season, Kostacopoulos earned his 400th career coaching victory. With the Black Bears’ continued success this spring, he has boosted his career ledger to 419-284, a .596 winning percentage.

That averages out to more than 30 wins per season as a college coach.

Kostacopoulos will achieve another coaching milestone by virtue of UMaine’s next victory. At 199-147, he is one win shy of 200 during his six-plus-year career in Orono. He could get No. 200 Wednesday night when the Bears visit Husson College in Bangor.

Kostacopoulos has taken a UMaine program that had suffered three consecutive losing seasons prior to his arrival (1994-96) and taken the resurgent Bears to the America East championship and an NCAA Tournament berth last season.

Kostacopoulos was named the America East Coach of the Year at UMaine in 1997 and 2001. His Bears have been surging in recent years, having put together an impressive 121-54 record (.700) since the early part of the 2000 season.

Kostacopoulos began his coaching career at his alma mater, Providence College, as the nation’s youngest Division I coach at 25 in 1990. He spent seven seasons with the Friars, posting a 220-137 mark while directing Providence to two Big East Conference titles and two trips to the NCAA Tournament.

America East adds UMBC

BOSTON – The University of Maryland, Baltimore County will join the America East conference in all the school’s sports beginning in the 2003-2004 school year, conference officials announced on Tuesday.

The addition brings the conference’s total membership to 10 institutions.

“The institution is a natural fit for the conference with an academic and athletics mission similar to our current members,” commissioner Chris Monasch said in a statement. “The mid-Atlantic location of UMBC, combined with our present membership in New York and New England, positions America East as a significant mid-major conference in this part of the country.”

UMBC, which has an undergraduate enrollment of roughly 9,500, has won the Northeast Conference’s Commissioner’s Cup as the top overall athletics program for four straight years. It fields teams in each of the 21 of American East-sponsored sports but golf.

“It is an honor for UMBC to join the America East Conference,” said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III. “Our campus community, particularly our student-athletes and athletics staff, looks forward to competing on the field, on the court and in the classroom with our sister institutions in America East.”

The expansion is the first for the America East since Binghamton joined in April 2001.

The other conference members include Boston University; Hartford; Maine; Albany, N.Y; New Hampshire; Northeastern; Stony Brook and Vermont.