Mike Blaine, who owns a 92-72 career record in six years as a head coach, joins Eric and Justin on this episode of Beyond the Ball.

As head coach of Plattsburgh State, they finished just one game back of State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament qualification in his first season. He guided the Cardinals to an 8-17 overall (5-13 SUNYAC) mark.

Prior to arriving at Plattsburgh State, Blaine served as the head coach at Medaille College for five seasons. Medaille won two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championships under Blaine's direction, including most recently in 2016-17 when he earned AMCC Coach of the Year honors. He posted an 84-55 record (63-27 AMCC) during his time at Medaille and qualified for the AMCC Tournament every year. Blaine's Mavericks made two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances during his time in Buffalo.

In addition to his coaching duties at Medaille, he served as the AMCC's representative on the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Advisory Committee for men's basketball from 2016-18 and oversaw the department's NCAA compliance and student services.

Prior to Medaille, Blaine worked as an assistant coach at Division I Cornell University of the Ivy League from 2010-14 on head coach Bill Courtney's staff. He served as the program's primary admissions, alumni relations and game scheduling liaison and managed recruiting efforts in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States.

Blaine also coached for two seasons as an assistant at Division I University of Maryland Eastern Shore, one season as an assistant at Division III Hampden-Sydney College, one season as an assistant at Division I Radford University, two seasons as the director of basketball operations at Division I Army West Point and one season as the director of basketball operations at Division I James Madison University.

Coach Blaine discusses his journey, some of the challenges of recruiting during covid, and how he believes you have to coach who you are. Coach Blaine, we truly appreciate you coming on the pod!!!!

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