Head Coach Bob Lindsay
3/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Entering his 17th year at the helm of the Kent State womens basketball program, head coach Bob Lindsays name has become synonymous with MAC basketball and has gained a reputation as one of the winningest coaches in MAC basketball history.
Already the winningest womens coach in the MAC, Lindsay added another milestone to his coaching resume last season, becoming the first womens coach and the third overall to win 300 games in the MAC.
Last year Lindsay led a Kent State team with one senior to a share of the MAC East Division championship and fell one win shy of advancing to the NCAA tournament after falling to Bowling Green in the MAC tournament championship game. He also recorded his 10th 20-win season with 21 wins and recorded his 14th-consecutive season with at least 10 league victories. Further, Kent State has been the most successful team in the MAC over the last five years, winning 97 games.
In his 16 years as the Golden Flashes mentor, Lindsay has amassed a career record of 308-161 (.656) and a Mid-American Conference regular-season record of 196-72 (.731), the best-ever marks for a league head coach. Lindsay became the first womens basketball coach, and the fourth MAC hardwood coach overall, to reach 200 victories when his Golden Flashes upset nationally ranked Virginia 85-74 Jan. 24, 2000 and won his 250th game in the 2002 MAC Tournament quarters.
This year Lindsay needs just four more conference wins to become the first MAC coach to reach 200 league wins.
Under Lindsays tutelage, Kent State players have been named to the All-MAC First Team 15 times, including two-time MAC Player of the Year Amy Sherry (1995 and 1996), 2000 MAC Player of the Year Dawn Zerman and 2002 First Team All-MAC selection Kate Miller. Twenty-one others have been selected to the second team or received honorable mention. In addition, 11 players have been all-freshman team honorees; three of those players were named the MAC Freshman of the Year.
Lindsay has taken a substandard program and turned it into one of the conferences best, challenging for a league title and NCAA berth 13 of the 16 seasons since he was named Kent States head coach May 17, 1989.
In 2003-04 Lindsay guided a young, relatively inexperienced bunch (one senior) to a second place finish in the MAC East after finishing the regular season on a tear by winning their last eight games and 10 of 11, earning a first round bye in the MAC tournament and the schools first-ever postseason WNIT bid. Kent State also handed the MAC regular season champion Miami RedHawks its only two MAC defeats of 2004.
In 2002-03, Lindsay led the Golden Flashes to a 10-6 MAC record, earning 10 or more MAC wins for the 12th straight year, despite not having Preseason All-MAC pick Andrea Csaszar the whole year due to injury.
In 2001-02 Lindsay might have had his best coaching job at Kent State as the Golden Flashes won their fifth consecutive East Division crown and their third MAC Tournament title in five years despite having only seven healthy players in the conference season.
Following a 5-22 record in his first season, Lindsays teams have posted a 303-139 (.685) record during the past 15 years and have never lost more than 13 games in a single season. The Golden Flashes have qualified for the MAC Tournament each of the past 14 seasons and have advanced to the MAC Tournament championship game in 10 of the last 14 years, winning the event in 1998, 2000 and 2002. The Golden Flashes have won or shared five of the last eight regular-season conference crowns, posting a perfect 18-0 record during the 1997-98 season. Overall, Lindsays teams have never finished worse than fifth in the final conference standings since his first season as head coach.
Lindsay has been named the MAC Coach of the Year twice (1996, 1998) and the WBCA District IV Coach of the Year once (2000) while leading his team to the NCAA tournament in each of those seasons. The 1995-96 club, seeded 10th after receiving just the second at-large bid in conference history, upset seventh-seeded Texas A&M University 72-68 in the first round of the national tournament. The Golden Flashes then bowed out to host and second-seeded Penn State University 86-59 in the second round. In 1998, the 13th-seeded Golden Flashes lost to host Iowa State University, the fourth seed, 79-76 in the NCAA Tournaments first round. In 1999-2000, ninth-seeded Kent State fell to eighth-seeded University of Arizona 73-61 in the first round. The Golden Flashes fell to Kansas State University 93-65 in the first round in 2002.
Along the way, Kent State has gained national attention and respect. The Golden Flashes have received votes in the national weekly Top 25 polls six of the last 10 seasons; following the 1995-96 season Kent State was ranked 32nd in the CNN/USA Today Womens Basketball Poll.
One reason for Kent States dominance has been its play at home. The Golden Flashes boasted a 43-game home court winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation at the time. During Lindsays tenure Kent State is 153-31 (.831) at Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, including a 136-15 (.900) mark during the past 12 years.
Lindsay came to Kent State from the College of the Holy Cross, an NCAA Division I program that had won 20 or more games in four of the five years prior to his departure. Lindsay was first assistant at Holy Cross from 1984-89. During that time the Lady Crusaders compiled a 103-42 (.710) record, competed twice in the NCAA Tournament championships in 1985, 86 and 88.
While at Holy Cross, Lindsay recruited and coached one Rhodes Scholar finalist, three academic all-Americans and three conference players of the year.
In 1989 he was inducted into the United States Lacrosse Coaches Associations Century Club for 100 career wins. Lindsay was active in regional administration of the sport, serving as vice president of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
A native of Worcester, Mass., Lindsay graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a bachelors degree in physical education. Lindsay was a starting defenseman in lacrosse, playing on teams that were nationally ranked with one club advancing to the USILA/NCAA final four.
Lindsay's Year-by-Year Results:
Season Overall Pct. MAC Pct.1989-90 5-22 .185 3-13 .1851990-91 17-12 .586 9-7 .5621991-92 18-12 .600 10-6 .6251992-93 20-9 .690 12-6 .6671993-94 20-8 .714 12-6 .6671994-95 17-10 .630 12-6 .6671995-96 24-7 .774 16-2 .8891996-97 20-10 .667 14-4 .7781997-98 23-7 .767 18-0 1.0001998-99 22-7 .759 14-2 .8751999-2000 25-6 .806 15-1 .9382000-2001 21-8 .724 14-2 .8752001-02 20-11 .645 13-3 .8132002-03 16-13 .552 10-6 .625 2003-04 19-10 .655 12-4 .7502004-05 21-9 .700 12-4 .750TOTALS 308-161 .656 196-72 .731
