Pat Flannery accumulated a 327-222 record as a college basketball head coach on the NCAA Division III and Division I level as the head coach at Lebanon Valley College and Bucknell.
At Lebanon Valley College, Flannery won an NCAA championship in 1993-94, a team built with Pennsylvania talent, including Mike Rhoades, who was a star for the team, and now the head coach of Penn State basketball.
In our conversation, Flannery dives into his current role at Penn State, serving as the general manager of “More to Give,” Penn State’s basketball-specific NIL initiative through Happy Valley United.
In 2004, Flannery was at the helm of the Bucknell basketball program, who won the Patriot League title, earning a spot on the March Madness bracket, a 14-seed playing three-seeded Kansas, a 14 over 3 upset that Flannery’s Bison pulled off.
The next year, Bucknell won the Patriot League again and were seeded ninth, and upset eight-seeded Arkansas to win two straight first round games in back to back seasons.
In our chat, Flannery takes us inside the locker room of an underdog in March Madness, before and after the game, and on Selection Sunday.
Perhaps his most interesting insight is on the current state of college athletics and where it’s heading, with perspectives as a former college basketball player, coach and consultant.
A Conversation with Legendary Basketball Coach Pat Flanery