Meet Plymouth State's Newest Men's Basketball Coach

Plymouth State's Men's basketball team has a new head coach this year, Andrew Novick. I am not going to lie, I was a fan of last year's head coach, Damien Strahorn, but Coach Novick has easily become one of my favorite coaches at Plymouth. Novick has been around some great basketball coaches throughout his career, and he will bring that knowledge to Plymouth this year. This team went 11-14 last year and graduated the majority of their starters. While this year isn't a rebuilding year, this could be the start of something extremely special here at Plymouth.

1. How have you been involved in the basketball world the past couple of years?

Basketball continues to be an important part of my life.  Last season, I spent the year learning from Hall of Fame Coach Bob Brown as an assistant at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine.  Prior to that, I served 5 seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach at Tulane University in New Orleans.

2. Have you found the process of adjusting as the head coach of the Panthers easier than expected?

This has been a very exciting preseason.  Our players are working hard to establish our identity and continually improve.  Certainly, the vast experience I have as an assistant coach has helped prepare me for this opportunity.

3. What do you bring to the table as a coach that makes you unique from other coaches?

Spending time both at the college and high school level and working for some very accomplished coaches has provided me with a well-balanced coaching perspective that will hopefully help us build a successful basketball program.

4. I see that you have coached at some outstanding colleges within the past couple of years, including at the University of Maryland under Gary Williams as well as at Tulane University under Dave Dickerson. What was the biggest thing that you learned as an assistant under both of these coaches that you plan on bringing to Plymouth?

Coach Williams and Coach Dickerson have both shared with me not only a wealth of basketball knowledge but also provided me with useful insight into successful strategies for making our team and program successful. 

5. Who is your favorite NBA and college basketball team (outside of Plymouth, of course)?

I am a big Celtics fan.  I'm not sure I have one favorite college team.  I love watching college basketball throughout the year, regardless of the teams participating.

6. Three former coaches of Plymouth's basketball team (Phil Rowe, Paul Hogan and John Scheinman) have said a lot of positive things about you in the past couple of weeks. Do you find that this adds more pressure to yourself?

I have been very fortunate in getting to know these three terrific coaches.  They have been a wonderful asset in helping shape our men's basketball team.  Each of them loves this school and wants our men's basketball program to be successful. 

7. Is your coaching style focused more on the offensive side of the court, or more defensive minded?

We work hard every day in practice on all aspects of the game.  To be good, I think we have to be consistent and effective on both sides of the court. 

8. The majority of the starters on last year's team graduated. Do you think this works in your favor since the players will endure a new coaching staff?

Plymouth State graduated a talented, experienced senior class.  It will be interesting to see which of our players, returning and new, will be able to make the biggest contributions and fill the gap left by 5 graduating seniors.

9. Who do you see on the team as having the best sense of humor?

No one person stands out in my mind, but we have some great personalities on this team.    

10. Have you and the team done any team building events that has brought you and the players closer?

Each player was asked to submit a one-page autobiography.  We distributed the autobiographies to everyone on the team.  Following every practice, I ask a question about that day's teammate to everyone on our team.  Our players have done a great job with this team-building activity.

11. Last year's team went 11-14 and 5-9 in Little East Conference play. How do you plan on improving on that record this year?

Our goal is to work extremely hard this season and focus on getting better throughout the course of the season.  Hopefully, that will translate into us being a good team by the end of February.


12. What will Plymouth's final record be, and assuming that you guys make the playoffs, how far do you think you guys can realistically go?

I think the great part about our sport is that after all of the pre-season rankings and forecasted expectations, you still have to go out and prove your worth on the court.

I look forward to seeing our fans, especially our students, at the games this season to support our men's basketball team!