By Joe Arruda
@joearruda9
After a 42-year coaching career, and 24 years heading the Springfield College men’s basketball team, Charlie Brock has announced that he will retire following the 2021-22 academic year. As one of 14 coaches in program history, Brock is the longest-tenured and winningest coach at the Birthplace.
“I feel truly blessed, after 45 years of teaching and coaching, for all the unforgettable relationships I have had with so many players, assistant coaches, colleagues, and mentors. I am very grateful to Springfield College, going back to my undergraduate days, for the opportunity to serve as a basketball coach for the last 24 years, a member of the faculty, and represent Springfield in various NABC and NCAA professional organizations and committees during my professional life,” Brock said in a statement released by the athletic department.
“I remember Coach Bilik calling me during the summer of 1977, to come back to Springfield, get my Masters degree and assist with the men’s basketball team. Going to practice as a coach was the first time I truly enjoyed practice after all the years that I had played. I knew then that coaching was meant for me, and I for it, if I was lucky enough to stay in it. It is time for me to move aside, and let someone else have the privilege of guiding the Springfield College men’s basketball program. It is a blessing to have had a job that for 45 years never felt like I had to go to work. It is hard to believe how good I have had it, and how long I have had it so good.”
Brock led the men’s basketball program to the Division III NCAA Tournament seven times and tallied 356 total wins over his tenure. Brock served on the prestigious NABC Board of Directors, spent five years on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee and the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Committee, chairing the Committee in 2010, according to Springfield College Athletics.
Moments of joy like this are the reason we do what we do. I am eternally grateful for the players, coaches, colleagues, and mentors I have been associated with. All have made a difference in my life. Unforgettable and thank you! pic.twitter.com/iPogPU7Kq9
— Charles Brock (@CoachBrock41) March 1, 2022
Most notably, after the 2018 season in which the Pride made it to the NCAA Final Four, Brock received the Glenn Robinson Award which is presented to the best Division III coach in the nation.
“A national search for Brock’s replacement will begin immediately,” Springfield’s statement concluded.