NEW YORK (April 11, 2022) ---
Mark A. Corino of Caldwell University and
Russell Rogers of Stevens Institute of Technology will be honored with Distinguished Service Awards from the Met Basketball Writers Assn. at the 89th All-Met Haggerty Awards Dinner scheduled Monday, April 25, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, NY.
Corino is currently completing his 34th season in the dual roles of head men’s basketball coach and Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics at CU in Caldwell, NJ.
The 2021-22 school year is Rogers’ 22nd as the Director of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation at Stevens since assuming that role in July 2000. He first joined the Institute in Hoboken, NJ, in 1995 as Director of Campus Recreation.
Both DSA recipients are being honored by the MBWA for their meritorious service over the years.
Corino is one of only three college head coaches in New Jersey to surpass 500 career victories and this past season became the state’s all-time leader, finishing 2021-22 with 606 wins. He is followed on the state roster by Stockton’s Gerry Matthews with 603 and Princeton’s Pete Carril with 514. Corino’s resume with the Cougars includes five trips to the NAIA national tournament, two appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs, seven Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season championships, six CACC tournament titles and an NAIA District 31 crown.
A former member of the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee, among honors that Corino has received: four CACC coach of the year awards; MBWA coach of the year in 1998; induction in 2016 into the Caldwell Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2018, Caldwell named the playing floor at its George R. Newman Center the Mark A. Corino Court.
Corino is recognized as emphasizing academics among his student-athletes. His men’s basketball teams have been awarded the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award seven out of the eight years the honors program has existed.
During his tenure as Director of Athletics, the Cougars sports programs have grown from three to 17, the school completed its transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2002, and there has been an expansive upgrade in many playing, practice, locker and other athletic facilities, including the opening of the Newman Center in 2002.
A native of Belleville, NJ, Corino earned his Bachelor’s degree at Kean University and a Master’s at Caldwell. He resides in Cedar Grove, NJ, with his wife, Susan. They have a daughter, Michele, son-in-law Michael, and grandsons Vincent and Valentino.
Rogers’ tenure has overseen an era of growth and development at Division III Stevens, including an increase in varsity sports from 17 to 25 and a transition for the Ducks from the Empire 8 to the Middle Atlantic Conference. Success at Stevens includes the school’s first NCAA team national championship by men’s volleyball in 2015. Additionally, the school is just one of three institutions among 320 at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III levels (along with Williams and Princeton) to be named the ECAC Institution of the Year for excellence in academics and athletics twice (2008, 2013).
Over the years the Ducks men’s and women’s basketball teams have enjoyed varying successes. This past season, the 17-9 Stevens men won their second MAC Freedom title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, the 19-7 women’s team was runner-up in the conference championship game, followed by a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament where the Ducks also advanced to the second round.
Among numerous honors, Rogers was lauded as the NACDA Division III Southeast Athletic Director of the Year in 2009 and the ECAC Division III Male Administrator of the Year in 2015. He currently is president of the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey. On campus, he has overseen many improvements for all sports, including the construction of the DeBaun Athletic Complex, the artificial turf home for Stevens soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and baseball.
Rogers, who earned a Bachelor’s degree at Wake Forest and a Master’s from North Carolina-Chapel Hill, lives with his wife, Mary Jane, in Branchburg, NJ. Son Bryan graduated from Stevens in 2018 and daughter Camryn is set to graduate in 2023. Both offspring have earned letters playing lacrosse for the Ducks.
For a list of the MBWA’s previous DSA honorees:
Distinguished Service Awards (year-by-year).