Cal Maritime enters the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

CM falls to FP

Cal Maritime fell 90-81 in overtime to host Fresno Pacific Tuesday night. Howie (Chabot College) Manzo did his best for the Keelhaulers, scoring 23 points including 6-10 from three-point range. Erik (Santa Rosa Junior College) Hanson almost posted a double-double with 10 points plus nine boards. Grant (Shasta College) Blaser totaled 16 points.

Cal Maritime triumphs

Cal Maritime bounced back big with a 69-59 victory over Oregon Tech and venerable Coach Danny Miles (42 years on the job), whose team won the NAIA championship last season.

The Good Ship Rooney docked at Cal Maritime

Most coaches offer that they have the best job in the world and, while such an employment rating is impossible to calculate, Cal Maritime University Coach Bryan Rooney is making a pretty effective case for residing in the pole position.

You may or may not know of Rooney -- that's on you. However, his remarkable success on and off the court is accumulating.

Now don't expect Coach K or Roy Williams to develop a sudden case of poison envy and begin campaigning for the job in Vallejo. That's not going to happen. But you can bet that some coaches are casting an eye on the Cal Maritime program and thinking 'that's a pretty good gig.'

What Rooney has accomplished is a trio of California Pacific Conference Coach of the Year honors in four years, culminating in this season's 13-0 league record, 21-9 overall. and a first for the Keelhaulers -- participation in the national NAIA tournament.

Plus, his roster is comprised entirely of Golden State residents, almost exclusively of northern California talents.

So how is the 2003 graduate of Dominican University and First Team All Conference player while there making such an impression?

First off, Rooney credits his coaching staff -- Associate Head Coach Mike Warrington and Assistant Coaches Justin Bayer, Royster Martin and Jesse West -- plus his players.

Then he said it: "I love my job, it's the best job in America."

In elaborating on his view of the process of gathering talent, Rooney explained "recruiting has to be a partnership and a fit. We want guys who hold the things important that we do as a program, They need to love the game. If they simply like the game, ours won't be the place to be."

He continued, "part of the process is trying to educate prospects and families. Some think we are a military school when in fact we are part of the CSU system. Once we have people on campus, they see that our professors are extremely passionate, the campus community is supportive and that we take basketball very seriously. Having a well rounded experience is what they deserve."

A primary component for Rooney is that "at the end of the day, our program is about relationships. That gets thrown out a lot but I tell our guys that we are going to be great at relationships everyday. It's a trust factor. They and their families are trusting our school and our program, that Cal Maritime is going to be a place where they can thrive. So we recruit guys we can trust and vice versa."

Another critical element: "we need to believe that the guys we bring in will work for a common goal."

And that's because "you have to be talented but cohesion is an essential element."

Once aboard, "we push our guys and get them to understand it's about getting better everyday. It's extremely rewarding when they start to understand the importance of the process."

But even with that aspect, Rooney shares the credit: "Having our older guys show the younger players what to do is meaningful and necessary."

That spurred a memory of his days at San Joaquin Delta College.

"Phil Ricci [out of Galt High, then Delta and finally Oregon State] was the best player and the hardest worker in practice. Lee Bethea [Edison High, then Metro State where his team won a national championship] was another one. Their work ethic bonded them and they felt a responsibility to their teammates to work hard."

Plus, away from the court is another area of success for the Cal Maritime basketball program.

"When I go to graduation and see them walk across the stage, it's a proud and gratifying moment," Rooney offered. "97% of our students have a job upon graduation in areas such as security (FBI, Homeland Security), engineering or working in ports throughout the world ".

Why the coaching profession for Rooney?

"I knew it was what I wanted to do for a long time," he explained. "With the question what do I want to do when I grow up, I knew I wanted to have a positive impact on others. I enjoy teaching, being in a setting where the light bulb goes off."

It was a trio of coaches Rooney experienced growing up who solidified his career choice.

"When you are 12 or 13, you don't really understand the profession but I had great models growing up. Guys like Jon Gustorf, Coach [Brian] Katz at Delta and Bill Treseler at Dominican and how they carried themselves and the atmosphere they created made such a positive impression."

Rooney also credits some of the players he inherited when he took over the position in 2007 for the Keelhauler success.

"I came in at a time where we could have gone backwards," Rooney said. "We had a really great group of people that first year, especially Cody Gatton -- we called him The Rock -- and Simon Heller and Steve Berrera." He also credits previous coach Tim Harrison for taking the Keelhaulers from 0-25 to 15-17 in three years.

Asked what those who are interested in entering the coaching profession should do to facilitate entry into the field, a trio of Rooney's suggestions stood out: "constantly be learning, search for knowledge and keep pushing."

Every coach has a formula for success, an outline of ingredients, structure and direction. The carrying out of such, now there lies the rub. The good ship Rooney and his crew are proving more than capable of that task.

SRJC's Erik Hanson to Cal Maritime

Missed this one from earlier: Erik Hanson of Santa Rosa Junior College has aligned his college future with Cal Maritime Academy. He stands 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds.

Fetzer goes Keelhaulin'

St. Helena High's Alec Fetzer has gone anchors aweigh with Cal Maritime Coach Brian Rooney and Keelhauler basketball.

Vince D'Adamo and Cal Maritime offer features on the signing of the all-around talent.

Cal Maritime and the Daily Show

College Park High seniors John and Michael Daily have joined forces with Coach Bryan Rooney and the Cal Maritime men's basketball program.

Cal Maritime falls

The Times-Herald has the scoop on Cal Maritime's 61-54 loss back in Missouri in the NAIA Division II National Championship tournament.

Cal Maritime playing today in national tourney

Jose San Mateo profiles the Cal Maritime basketball program -- the court firm of Greenwell, Moore and Campbell in particular. The Keelhaulers are in national tournament action today back in Missouri.

Cal Maritime continues to roll

Cal Maritime won again last night, besting Simpson 70-60 -- the Times Herald has the details.

Cal Maritime basketball honors

Cal Maritime Coach Bryan Rooney plus players Josh Greenwell, Isaiah Moore and Keven Campbell are all honored for their individual and collective basketball achievements this year -- here are the details.

Cal Maritime's Isaiah Moore named POW

Cal Maritime's Isaiah Moore was selected as the California Pacific Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.

Cal Maritime wins twice

Behind Isaiah Moore's 19/13 double-double, Cal Maritime won both the game against Menlo College 64-43 last night but also the California Pacific Conference regular season title as the Keelhaulers are an unblemished 12-0 in league play, 19-9 overall. Congrats to Coach Bryan Rooney and his squad on the achievement.

Cal Maritime wins Cal Pacific Conference

From the Times Herald:

The Cal Maritime men's basketball team wrapped up the California Pacific Conference crown with a 52-45 win over host William Jessup of Rocklin on Thursday.

Hogan High graduate Josh Greenwell had 19 points and Isaiah Moore had 15 points. Keelhaulers coach Bryan Rooney said Keven Campbell took a big charge in the second half, a play that helped turn the momentum.

The Keelhaulers (17-9, 10-0) will be the No. 1 seed when the Cal-Pac tournament begins.

From the Cal Maritime basketball site:

"I am very proud of our guys tonight.  As we told them, in order to win a championships we had to find different ways to win.  Saturday night we made 13 three pointers and tonight we only took 4 as William Jessup did a good job of defending our three point shooting.  As has been the case all season, it came down to the defensive end and fortunately we made some timely stops," commented Head Coach Bryan Rooney.

Congrats to the Keelhaulers.

Keven Campbell honored

From the Vallejo Times-Herald:

"Cal-Maritime men's basketball player Keven Campbell won a share of the Cal-Pac conference player of the week on Monday.

Campbell shares the award with William Jessup's Jordan Wilson. Campbell averaged 17.5 points per game in the Keelhaulers two wins this week"

Cal Maritime wins again

Led by Keven Campbell's 20 points (including 6-8 from three-point range), Cal Maritime busted Simpson down 90-66 last night. Here's a brief report from the Vallejo Times Herald.

Cal Maritime wins by six

Cal Maritime took a win on the road versus UC Merced 72-66 as Isiah Moore led with 16 points with Keven Campbell's 15 right behind.

Coach Brian Rooney's Cal Maritime basketball program notched another win last night, 74-63, behind 20 points from Hogan High graduate Josh Greenwell.

The Keelhaulers are undefeated halfway through California Pacific Conference play, standing 6-0, 13-9 overall.

Cal Maritime over Holy Names

Cal Maritime committed blasphemy against Holy Names 66-49 as Thomas Gase details.

Keven Campbell doing some damage for Cal Maritime

Out of Stockton and San Joaquin Delta College, junior backcourter Keven Campbell is performing well for the 6-7 Cal Maritime Keelhaulers.

Campbell is averaging just under 14 points a game, bolstered by shooting just below 42% on 53 long distance shots.