NEW PALTZ, NY — The connection between SUNYAC rivals New Paltz and Cortland will be even stronger for the 2003-04 season as second year Head Coach Doug Pasquerella has announced his coaching staff for the upcoming season.
Pasquerella, who spent seven years as assistant coach at Cortland prior to being named the head coach at New Paltz in April 2002, has appointed two former Red Dragons to work alongside him this winter. This year’s staff will include Kenny Rodriguez, Kevin DeVantier.
Rodriguez, a four-year member of the men’s basketball program from 1997-2001, helped the Red Dragons compile an impressive 81-32 record during his career. Cortland made back-to-back trips to the “sweet 16” in the NCAA Division III Tournament in 1999 and 2000 and were ECAC Upstate New York tournament qualifiers in 1998 and 2001.
Rodriguez, a guard, played in 26 games off the bench as a sophomore as Cortland went 23-7 and reached the first of its two consecutive “sweet 16” appearances. As a senior tri- captain in 2001 he helped lead Cortland to a 21-7 record and a spot in the ECAC Tournament.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Cortland in 2003. The Brooklyn, New York, native is a 1997 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School where he was a three-year member of the basketball team.
Also a 2003 graduate, DeVantier started 23 of the Red Dragons’ 25 games and hit a team-high 43 three-pointers while averaging 9.4 points per contest as a senior. He was second on the team in with 37 three-pointers as a junior was third on the squad in scoring and rebounding.
DeVantier was a part of two Cortland teams that reached post-season play including the 2000 squad that went 24-5 and advanced to the “sweet 16” in the NCAA Division III Tournament. DeVantier earned his degree in physical education. He is a 1998 graduate of Roscoe High School and was a member of the basketball, football and track & field teams. In basketball he earned all-league honors twice and was an all-state selection as a senior. DeVantier was also an all-league quarterback as a senior.
SUNY New Paltz went 11-17 last season and advanced to the championship game of the league’s post-season tournament. The Hawks, who were seeded eighth among the eight-team field, eliminated top-seeded Potsdam and fifth-seeded, and two-time defending champion Brockport, before falling to third-seeded Buffalo State in the title game.
