Bob McVean enters his 40th season as the head coach of the RIT men’s basketball program in 2023-24. He holds a career coaching record of 599-505 in 43 years as a Division III bench boss, including a program-record 542 wins at RIT. During his tenure, the longest among current coaches at RIT, the Tigers have consistently been one of the top teams in the East Region.
On Feb. 8, 2013, McVean became the 32nd coach in Division III history to win 500 games. He enters the 2023-24 season with the third-most wins among active Division III coaches.
McVean led the Tigers to 19 consecutive winning seasons from 1991-2010, posting six 20-win seasons. He led the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. McVean led RIT to the 2009 Empire 8 championship, and an automatic berth into to the NCAA tournament.
In 2011, McVean was inducted into the RIT Athletics Hall of Fame and in 2014 he was inducted into the prestigious Frontier Field Walk of Fame. In 2015, McVean was inducted into the Pavillion Central School Hall of Fame, and the Wendy’s College Classic Hall of Fame in 2017. He was awarded the Charlie Wagner and Christine Wagner Welch Founder Award in 2023 by the Rochester Press Radio Club.
On Feb. 28, 2009, McVean won his 400th career game at RIT, leading the Tigers to a 65-62 win over Utica College in the Empire 8 Semifinal. He earned his 500th win on Dec. 1, 2017 at Bard.
He coached 2009 All-American, and 2017 RIT Sports Hall of Fame selection Mark Carson, who led all of Division III in rebounding, second only to 2009 NBA first overall draft pick Blake Griffin. In 2008-09, McVean led RIT to a 19-9 mark, securing his sixth Empire 8 championship.
McVean feels it takes a different type of player to excel with the RIT program. “RIT is a top-notch academic institution and that’s what is most important. Our athletes truly must balance athletics with their curricula.”
During his tenure, McVean has amassed two Wendy’s College Classic Tournament titles; six Empire 8 Conference championships; and three number-one seeds in the East region of the NCAA Division III tournament. He is a two-time National Association of Basketball Coaches East Region Coach of the Year and seven-time Empire 8 Coach of the Year. McVean coached RIT’s all-time leading scorer and 2003 RIT Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Craig Jones. In 2017, Jones became the first RIT men’s basketball player to have his jersey retired by the university.
Before coming to RIT, McVean was the head coach at Eisenhower College for four seasons, compiling a 58-58 mark.
From 2012-2016, McVean served as Chairman of the NCAA Division III East region committee and for the past 39 years, has also run the Bob McVean Basketball Camps.
The College Basketball Officials Association has honored Coach McVean and the RIT Basketball program three times (1999, 2005, 2013) with the Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award. The award is presented annually to the team that best exemplifies sportsmanship, character, and ethics—traits that the RIT basketball program has always valued.
From 2012-2016, he also served on the NCAA Division III National Basketball Committee and presently is a regional congressman for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
McVean, a native of Pavilion, N.Y., resides in Penfield with his wife Debbie. They have three children: Carrie, Tara, and Scott. Carrie graduated from RIT with a degree in criminal justice and Tara is a University of Pittsburgh graduate with a master of fine arts degree from RIT. Scott is a graduate of Ithaca College and completed his master’s degree in athletic administration at SUNY Brockport. Currently, Scott is the senior associate director of athletics at RIT. McVean has seven grandchildren, Alex, Cole, Nina, Cora, Isla, Kenny and Emily.
