Lebanon Valley College Athletics

Brad McAlester has been the Head Coach of the Lebanon Valley College men’s basketball team since the 1994-95 season. The program’s all-time winningest coach, McAlester (431-370) has led the Flying Dutchmen to the postseason 19 times with five NCAA appearances and three conference championships on his résumé. 
 
During his tenure, McAlester has coached 13 All-Americans (Sam Light '18, Andy Orr '18, Kevin Agnew '15 twice, Danny Brooks '13, Anthony Trautman '11, J.D. Byers '05, Steve Horst '01, Andy Panko '99 three times, and Mike Rhoades '95 twice), 46 All-Conference players, and three Division III National Players of the Year (Rhoades and Panko twice). He has had a player chosen as Conference Player of the Year 11 times.
 
Academically, McAlester's student-athletes have excelled, with five CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (Orr, Horst, Byers twice, and Brooks) and 15 CoSIDA/College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees. He coached one Josten's Trophy winner (Byers) and two finalists (Panko and Orr). LVC has had more than 60 players named to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Academic Honor Roll under McAlester.
 
Panko is Lebanon Valley’s all-time leading scorer with 2,515 career points, while Rhoades, with more than 2,000 career points, led LVC to the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1994 and is now the Head Coach at Division I Penn State University. Light (2,097 points), Byers (1,898 points), and Horst (1,608 points) rank among LVC's all-time leading scorers. Orr became the only player in LVC history to record 1,900 points and 900 rebounds for his career.
 
McAlester has also directed Lebanon Valley to five NCAA Tournament appearances and seven Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Tournament appearances. LVC won the ECAC Tournament title in 1998, 2000, 2004, and 2011.

In a shortened 2020-21 season, McAlester guided the Dutchmen to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game for the second time in four seasons. Thanks to his efforts, McAlester was tabbed MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year. Additionally, Collin Jones was named the Conference Offensive Player of the Year, while Justin Baker earned Defensive Player of the Year recognition. 
 
In 2017-18, McAlester led LVC to its first outright conference championship since 1995, earning the program an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time in more than a decade. The Dutchmen earned a thrilling 81-79 win over longtime rival Albright in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game before falling to No. 18 Middlebury in the first round of NCAA play. Under McAlester's watch, Light earned a D-III News All-America Honorable Mention nod, while Orr picked up CoSIDA Academic All-America Third-Team recognition. Light was named to the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List, and Orr became the program's third player to be named a Josten's Trophy Top-10 Finalist. Both players added All-Region recognition from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), D3hoops.com, and the ECAC. LVC won three games against nationally-ranked competition, and the squad as a whole was named the NABC Division III National Team of the Week in early January. 
 
In his first year at LVC, McAlester coached the Dutchmen to a 23-5 record and was named the 1994-95 MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year. That season, Lebanon Valley was crowned as MAC Champions for the second straight season and earned its third straight NCAA playoff berth in the process.
 
Two years later, McAlester’s team finished 17-11 and advanced to the MAC championship game for the second time in his tenure. The team also qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the second time in three years.
 
McAlester guided The Valley to a 20-8 season in 1997-98 as the team won the ECAC Southern Region championship. The next season marked his winningest campaign at LVC, as the Dutchmen ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season and finished 24-4. Lebanon Valley also won the Commonwealth Conference regular season title and made its third appearance in the MAC Championship game under McAlester.
 
The Dutchmen continued to excel under McAlester in the 1999-2000 season, when the team went 17-12 and won its second ECAC South title in three years.
 
From the 2000-01 through the 2003-04 seasons, LVC finished in the upper portion of the conference standings and qualified for the Commonwealth playoffs each year. The 2001-02 squad qualified for the ECAC South playoffs and came within two victories of a 20-win season, going 18-9. The 2002-03 squad made its mark as one of the top defensive teams in the country, finishing 10th in field goal percentage defense (38.6 percent). In 2003-04, Lebanon Valley finished 17-12 and captured the ECAC Southern Region title. Seeded sixth out of eight teams in the tournament, McAlester's squad upset all three top seeds on its way to the championship.
 
In 2004-05, McAlester's Dutchmen finished 20-7, placed second in the Commonwealth Conference, and advanced to the Commonwealth championship game. The team went on to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, where it advanced to the second round. Once again, Lebanon Valley flexed its muscle defensively and led the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.1 percent).
 
McAlester's 2006-07 squad finished 15-12 and advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC Southern Region tournament. The team finished 31st nationally in field-goal percentage defense (40.4 percent).
 
In 2010-11, LVC went 23-7 and made a run to the Commonwealth Conference title game, eventually winning the ECAC South title behind the potent back-court duo of Trautman and Joe Meehan '12, both of whom were First Team All-Commonwealth picks. Trautman was also named CC player of the year.
 
McAlester led the Dutchmen to the MAC Commonwealth Playoffs in 2015-16 en route to being named the conference's Coach of the Year. He also guided the team to the ECAC South Postseason Tournament that winter. Under his tutelage, Orr was named the ECAC South Player of the Year and MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year. Orr, along with Light, earned MAC Commonwealth First Team All-Conference honors.

In 2016-17, LVC won 16 games and qualified for the MAC Commonwealth Championship Tournament for the second year in a row. The Dutchmen opened the year by going toe to toe with Division I and former Final Four qualifier George Mason. Following the season, Orr and Light each earned All-Region recognition, as well as MAC Commonwealth First Team All-Conference honors under McAlester's tutelage. The pair of players became the 35th and 36th players in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark for their careers, respectively, during the campaign.
 
Before taking over the reins at LVC, McAlester was an Assistant Coach at Siena College (1989-94), Iona College (1987-89), Monmouth College (1986-87), Manhattan College (1982-86), and SUNY-Oneonta (1981-82).
 
McAlester is a graduate of Southampton College of Long Island University. McAlester helped the team advance to the NCAA Elite 8. He was named team MVP as a senior.
 
McAlester resides in Hummelstown, Pa., with his wife, AnneMarie. Brad and AnneMarie have two sons, Bradley and Brendan.