NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Joe Mihalich, who coached the Niagara University men’s basketball team from 1998-2013, was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Hall of Fame on October 13. Mihalich was one of nine inductees for the Class of 2018.
The accomplishments during Mihalich’s 15 years career at Niagara yielded numerous titles and honors. He led the Purple Eagles to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 35 years when they appeared in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Niagara returned two years later where the Purple Eagles won their opening round game.
He led the Purple Eagles to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) three times (2004, 2009, 2013), won a pair of MAAC Tournament titles, had four MAAC regular-season crowns.
Mihalich coached three MAAC Players of the Year, two MAAC Tournament MVPs, two MAAC Defensive Players of the Year, one NCAA single-season scoring leader and one national mid-major freshman of the year to go along with numerous conference and regional awards for his student-athletes.
Mihalich accumulated nine coach of the year honors while at Niagara, including MAAC Coach of the Year (1998-99, 2004-05, 2012-13), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 1 Coach of the Year twice (2008-09, 2012-13), and CollegeInsider.com Coach of the Year (2012-13). Mihalich also received the 2013 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.
He finished his Niagara tenure with 265 wins which are the most in MAAC history.
