A lot has changed in 28 years, but one thing that has remained the same is the pairing of Don Maestri and Troy basketball. Maestri is entering his 28th season at the helm of the Troy basketball program, and the results speak for themselves -- his winning percentage is close to .600 and he earned his 450th career win against Arkansas State during the 2008-09 season. When Don Maestri took over the reigns of the Troy basketball program in 1982, the Trojans had not posted a winning season in the previous five years. In the 27 years since, Maestri turned the program into a perennial Division II national contender, then won four championships in a five-year span at the Division I level. Just this past season, the Trojans enjoyed their most successful campaign as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Troy finished with a 14-4 record in Sun Belt play, good enough for a third-place regular season finish, just one game behind league leaders Western Kentucky and Arkansas-Little Rock. The Trojans were the only team during the 2008-09 season to defeat every team in the Sun Belt. For the team’s efforts, Maestri was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, his seventh such award and first in the Sun Belt. He also had three players voted to the all-Sun Belt teams and junior Richard Delk was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year. Five different conferences have called Maestri its Coach of the Year, tying him with West Virginia’s Bob Huggins for the most among active coaches. The veteran head man was also named Coach of the Year by highly-respected CollegeInsider.com following the successful campaign. Following the regular season, Troy made its return to the postseason, hosting College of Charleston in a first round game in the 2009 College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Although Troy was not victorious, falling 93-91, the Trojans erased a 19-point halftime deficit in a frantic comeback completing a game that many have called one of the best in Trojan Arena history. The Trojans last added to their trophy case during the 2003-04 season, rolling through the Atlantic Sun Conference schedule with an 18-2 record to capture another league crown. To this day the 18 league victories is the highest single-season total for any Atlantic Sun school. Troy posted an overall record of 24-7 that included the school’s first-ever trip to the National Invitational Tournament. The 2003-04 season saw senior Greg Davis lead all of Division I college basketball with 256 assists while also leading the team with 15.5 points per game. Davis was named A-Sun Player of the Year and helped Maestri earn league Coach of the Year honors. The Trojans finished the year second in Division I in scoring at 84.6 points per game, and ninth in scoring margin, winning by an average of 12.0 points per game. Troy also led all of college basketball in three-point field goals made with 346. Troy finished fourth in the country in steals per game (11.4), sixth in fewest turnovers per game (11.3) and seventh in assists per game (17.6). The 2002-03 campaign will long be remembered as the year the Trojans came of age in Division I. In what was scheduled to be a rebuilding year, Maestri led Troy to 26-6 record by pulling a page out of the past and employing an up-tempo system. Along the way, Troy picked up its first win against a Southeastern Conference team, defeating Arkansas, 72-66, on the road, as well as appearing in the finals of the San Juan Shootout. On top of the 26-6 record, the Trojans won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title with a 14-2 record and followed that up with the A-Sun tournament championship, earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Troy finished the year ranked 11th in the country in scoring, averaging 79.9 points per game, fourth in three-pointers made per game (9.8) and ninth in won-loss percentage (.813). The 2002-03 season was the watershed moment for Maestri and his staff, having already won three conference titles in Troy’s first nine seasons at the Division I level. During Troy’s first season at the Division I level, 1993-94, Maestri’s run-and-gun style shot the Trojans to a conference title, going undefeated in the East Coast Conference. Troy also gained national recognition by leading the nation in three-pointers made per game while averaging 97.6 points per contest. For his efforts, Maestri was named East Coast Conference Coach of the Year. Three years later, the Trojans were back in contention in the Mid-Continent Conference, upsetting Sweet 16 participant Valparaiso, 72-69, on the road in overtime to cap a 17-10 record. Troy claimed third place in the conference that year, with Maestri earning Coach of the Year honors again. Another three years would pass, but during that time the NCAA lifted the eight-year rule, allowing Troy to be eligible for the A-Sun’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 1999-2000 season. And in their first season of NCAA Tournament eligibility, the Trojans ran through the A-Sun, going 13-5 while claiming a share on the regular-season championship after being picked to finish sixth in the conference. For the third time in the school’s seven years as a Division I member, Maestri earned Coach of the Year honors. Maestri wasn’t the only one honored that season. Detric Golden became the first player in the Division I era to earn conference player of the year and was also named newcomer of the year. That 1999-2000 season was the first indication of things to come. The very next year, Troy improved on its record, finishing 19-12 and losing in the A-Sun Championship game to Georgia State, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. To outsiders, Maestri’s success at the Division I level is amazing. But one look at his career, and one can understand why he has been so successful for so long. Maestri is the school’s all-time winningest coach with 455 wins. He passed former head coach John Archer on Jan. 20, 2001, with his 305th win, a 74-67 victory over Georgia State. Archer won 304 games from 1956 to 1973. During his tenure at Troy, Maestri has gained acclaim for his scoring teams. Troy has led the nation in scoring three times (1991, 1992 and 1996), as well as leading the nation in three-pointers six times (1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2005). On Jan. 12, 1992, Troy became the first and only team to score 200 points in a basketball game, defeating DeVry, 258-141. Troy hit 51 three-pointers during the game, still a NCAA record. All of Maestri’s success came out of some early struggles. Facing a huge rebuilding project, Maestri led the Trojans to a 15-13 record in 1982-83, his first season at Troy. After an 18-11 mark in 1983-84, Maestri’s next two teams went 14-13 before his first losing season in 1986-87, when the Trojans finished 12-14. Rising from the ashes of that losing season, the Trojans focused on defense, going 24-10 and advancing to the Division II “Elite 8” before falling to Alaska-Anchorage. After waiting two years for another NCAA Tournament appearance, Troy finished 23-7 in 1990-91 by lighting up scoreboards across the nation. Troy scored 100 points or more 19 times during the year, including a then-NCAA record 187 points. The Trojans also claimed the Gulf South Conference title, the first conference title for Maestri, earning him Coach of the Year honors. The 1991-92 team continued that success, finishing with a 23-6 record and another berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans continued their high-scoring ways, racking up at least 100 points in a game 23 times. That season, the Trojans averaged 121 points per game. The Trojans saved their best for last, going 27-5 in 1992-93, their last season at the Division II level. The 27 wins set a new school record as the Trojans advanced to the national championship game before falling to Cal State-Bakersfield. Maestri was named Southeast Region “Coach of the Year” by the NCAA following his team’s brilliant season. During Troy’s last six seasons in Division II, the Trojans averaged 22 wins per season and finished each year ranked in the Division II Top 25. From 1991-93, the Trojans were 73-18, topping the century mark in 68 of their 91 games played. During that span, Troy scored more than 10,000 points, averaging 114.5 points per game. Prior to his arrival in Troy, Maestri spent two seasons at the University of Alabama on Wimp Sanderson’s staff (1980-82). During his time with the Crimson Tide, Alabama participated in the NIT and NCAA tournaments. Alabama finished 24-7 in 1982, winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament and advancing to the NCAA East Regional. Before coaching at Alabama, Maestri spent the 1979-80 season as an assistant coach for Jim Hatfield at Mississippi State. A graduate of Southern Mississippi, Maestri began his coaching career in the fall of 1970 at Holy Cross High School in his hometown of New Orleans. In 10 seasons as coach, he posted a 211-99 record, leading Holy Cross to a state runner-up finish in the top classification in the Louisiana high school ranks. This 1974 team had a final record of 35-6. His 1976 team finished with a 32-3 record and was ranked 11th in the nation. Maestri’s teams also finished first or second six times in the Catholic League. Maestri played at the University of Southern Mississippi for coach Lee Floyd, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Maestri is married to the former Sharon Rogers of Zionsville, Ind. The couple resides in Troy with their two children, Julea and Michael.
Courtesy: Kevin Glackmeyer
