| Art Luptowski | ||
 |
Title | Head Men's Basketball Coach |
| art.luptowski@aic.edu | ||
| Phone | (413) 205-3538 | |
Art Luptowski will enter his ninth year as head men's basketball coach at American International College in 2007-08. Luptowski became the 12th coach in AIC's 66-year history on May 4, 1999. Luptowski has amassed a 301-216 (.582) record in 18 seasons as a college coach.
Over Luptowski's 18 years as a head coach at the collegiate level, his teams have made five trips to the NCAA Tournament and posted 12 winning seasons. Luptowski is a four-time conference Coach of the Year.
Last season, Luptowski guided the Yellow Jackets to a fifth-place finish in the Northeast-10 as AIC recorded its most victories since 2001-02. He won his 300th career game against The College of Saint Rose at home on February 17, and Magen McNeil was a First Team All-Northeast-10 selection. McNeil was also selected to play in the NABC/Division II All-Star Game held in Springfield at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2005-06, American International posted impressive victories over nationally-ranked Saint Rose and 2005 Division II runnerup Bryant. John Huggins finished the season as the Northeast-10's leading scorer and was named Second Team All-Conference.
In 2004-05, Luptowski guided the Yellow Jackets to their first Northeast-10 Tournament win since 2001-02 when No. 12-seed AIC stunned fifth-seeded Stonehill on the Chieftains' home floor. John Huggins was also the Jackets' first All-Conference honoree since 2002.
In his first year, 1999-2000, Luptowski rebuilt a slumping program into both a Conference and regional power. The Yellow Jackets posted a 22-8 record during his first season as Head Coach, claimed a share of the Northeast-10 Conference regular season title, advanced to the NE-10 Tournament Championship game and earned the program's first NCAA Division II Tournament berth since 1994.
For his efforts, Luptowski earned NE-10 Coach of the Year honors and New England College Athletic Conference (NECAC) Division II Men's Coach of the Year accolades. He is the only coach to ever earn both NE-10 and New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Coach of the Year honors.
Luptowski reached the 200-win plateau on December 16, 1999, when he led AIC to a 60-57 win over his former team, Franklin Pierce College.
Luptowski came to AIC after a highly successful stay at Franklin Pierce. In 10 seasons at the Ravens helm, he posted a 192-97 (.664) record and four trips to the NCAA Tournament, culminating with the 1990-91 season in which FPC finished with a 26-6 mark and advanced to the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship game.
A Ridley Park, Pa., native, Luptowski is one of four coaches to earn New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Coach of the Year honors in consecutive seasons and has earned the award a total of three times. He also earned Kodak District Coach of the Year accolades from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) following the 1990-91 season.
Several of Luptowski's players have moved on to professional careers in the United States Basketball League (USBL), England, Ireland and Uraguay. They have also performed in the classroom, with 87-percent earning Bachelor's Degrees and finding success after college.
Prior to assuming the head coaching duties at Franklin Pierce, Luptowski was an assistant coach at the College for four years. He was an integral part of two NAIA District Championships, resulting in bids to the NAIA National Tournament.
Luptowski was a four-year player at Bloomsburg (Pa.) University, earning NAIA All-American honors as a senior in 1973. He is one of four Bloomsburg men's basketball players who have had his number retired and was inducted into the Bloomsburg Athletic Hall of Fame.
Upon graduation, Luptowski became an established coach at Karns City High School, compiling a 37-14 (.725) record with one district championship. He then led Kutztown High to a 173-48 (.783) clip from 1978-85.
Luptowski, currently resides in Keene, N.H.,
with his wife, Molly, and son, Patrick.