“It has truly been an honor and a privilege to lead our storied program,” Croci said in a press release. “I am incredibly proud of our players and will be forever in their debt. We found great success on and off the court. I still firmly believe we would have won the national championship in 2020 had COVID not interrupted life. Thanks to all former coaches and support staff who have made our program go. I look forward to supporting the program and rooting the Tigers on from a distance.”
Croci was the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award in 2018 and 2020 when the Tigers won the NCAC regular-season championship. His teams won the NCAC tournament in 2018 and 2019 and made the NCAA tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The 2020 team finished 28-2 and reached the Sweet 16 only to have the season cut short by the pandemic.
The Tigers finished 13-12 in back-to-back seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before improving to 18-9 last season.
Croci finished his Wittenberg tenure with a record of 142-60. He was 89-32 in the NCAC.
Croci now moves into an athletic director role for the first time. Wilmington is a longtime Ohio Athletic Conference member. Briana Clark, associate director of athletics, had served as interim AD at Wilmington since Bill Wilson stepped down as AD in June.
“With great enthusiasm, we welcome Matt Croci as our new athletic director at Wilmington College,” Wilmington President President Corey Cockerill said in a press release. “Matt is a charismatic and collaborative leader with a long history of success within D-III athletics. His leadership will undoubtedly inspire our student-athletes and bring both support and new opportunities to our Quaker athletic programs.”
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