Steve Pikiell (pronounced PIKE-el) was named the 10th coach in Stony Brook men's basketball history on April 13, 2005.

Pikiell arrived at Stony Brook as one of the rising stars in the collegiate coaching profession. Known as one of the top assistants in the game before getting the head coaching nod, Pikiell clearly demonstrated how to build a winner. In his previous two stops, Pikiell had been instrumental in seeing programs win conference championships.

In his first season at the helm of the Seawolves, Pikiell's squad played one of the most challenging schedules in school history with games againt UConn, George Washington, Villanova, and Boston College. Pikiell wasted no time in bringing in the best recruiting class in program history, which was recognized nationally as the 27th best in the country by Hoopscooponline.com. The Bristol, Conn. native, Pikiell received the ultimate honor of being inducted into his hometown Bristol Hall of Fame in the fall of 2006.

During his second year, the Seawolves more than doubled their total win output and their conference wins under Pikiell's watch. The Seawolves played just the second-ever sold-out game at the Stony Brook University Arena as SB hosted Big-East foe Villanova in front of 4,285 fans. The team continued to garner national attention as the Seawolves played Hofstra and Notre Dame in front of a nationally televised audience on the Madison Square Garden Network.

Pikiell, who was known as one of the top assistants and one of the most successful recruiters in the nation, was an integral part of the rebirth of the George Washington basketball program over the last four seasons. In 2004-05, the Colonials recorded 22 wins, the most since the 1997-98 season and the second most in 50 years, en route to their first-ever Atlantic-10 title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 14 conference victories were the most in GW's Atlantic-10 Conference history, signaling a complete turnaround for a team that finished last in the Atlantic-10 in 2001. The remarkable resurgence was punctuated with the Colonials appearance in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 national polls in 2004-05. At GW, Pikiell landed two Top 25 national recruiting classes and brought four Top 100 players to the program. Two of Pikiell's recruits, Mike Hall and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, declared for the 2005 NBA draft.

"I let them know I'm not going to be a good coach if they don't want to be a good basketball player. If you don't want to lift weights, don't come here. If you don't want to graduate, don't come here. If you don't want to play in the NCAA Tournament, don't come here."

He joined the GW staff in 2001 and in his third season under Karl Hobbs, the Colonials posted an 18-12 mark, a second-place finish in the Atlantic-10 West Division and earned a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. The second-place finish marked the best showing for the program in the previous five years.

Prior to GW, he served as an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State University for five seasons from 1997-01 which, prior to his arrival, had never posted a winning season at the Division I level. During his tenure at CCSU posted a 81-63 (.563) record, including a 25-6 mark in 1999-2000 and a bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament. It marked the school's first appearance in the NCAA tournament. He was part of a staff at CCSU that posted three straight winning seasons including the 25-6 campaign which set a new Northeast Conference record for victories in a single season.

He was also instrumental in recruiting three players who won Northeast Conference Player of the Year awards in 2000, 2001 and 2004 including CCSU's first-ever NBA draft pick, Corsley Edwards. Seven of his recruits went on to earn all-conference recognition and he helped the 1999-00 team post the highest G.P.A. in the school's Division I history.

A 1990 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Pikiell was a point guard, two-year captain and four-year letterwinner for the Huskies from 1987-91. UConn won its first Big East title and advanced to the "Elite Eight" and "Sweet 16" during the two years that Pikiell captained the Huskies. He played in 106 career games and averaged 8.2 points a game as a freshman. In 1991, Pikiell was given the UConn Club Senior Athlete Award for outstanding contributions to UConn athletics.

Pikiell also spent three years as an assistant coach at Yale (1993-95) after spending one season as an assistant coach at Connecticut under head coach Jim Calhoun in 1991-92. Pikiell's responsibilities at GW included recruiting, game and practice preparation, scheduling of games, and assisting Hobbs with day-to-day operations.

Pikiell replaced Nick Macarchuk who retired from coaching at the conclusion of the 2004-50 season. He is the first former UConn alum who played under Calhoun that has gone on to become a head coach at the Division I level.

The Bristol, Conn., native has been an instructor at several summer basketball camps, including his own camp from 1991-99 in Cheshire, CT. Pikiell and his wife, Kate, have four children: Brooke Elizabeth (eight), John Patrick (six), Olivia Kathryn (four), and Kevin Thomas (two).