Men's Basketball | April 1, 2023

PHILADELPHIA — Joe Mihalich '78, the Special Assistant to the Head Coach of La Salle men's basketball, has been named one of four recipients of the Joe Lapchick Character Award, the Joe Lapchick Character Award Foundation announced.
 
Mihalich joins Jim Nantz, Tim Cluess, and Gail Marquis as those who earned the award. This is the 15th year the award presented to those who have shown the character traits of Lapchick, who coached at St. John's and with the New York Knicks. The foursome will be honored at a luncheon on Sept. 21 in New York.
 
Mihalich is coming off the first season of his third stint coaching the Explorers, this time as the special assistant to head coach Fran Dunphy. Mihalich and the Explorers' coaching staff helped La Salle reach the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2015 and win two conference tournament games for the first time since 2002 during its 15-19 season.
 
Prior to the 2022-23 campaign, Mihalich spent the last nine seasons at Hofstra, stepping down after seven seasons in charge of the men's basketball program to become the special assistant to the athletic director. In his seven years at the helm of the Pride, Mihalich amassed a record of 141-92, including four postseason berths - two NIT bids and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth that never took place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his second season at Hofstra, Mihalich improved the squad to a 20-14 record and a CBI first round appearance. In 2015-16, the Pride became Colonial Athletic Association regular-season champions with a 14-4 conference record in just his third season in charge. Mihalich tallied five winning seasons in his seven years as head coach at Hofstra, combining for a 53-16 record in his final two years that saw the Pride record back-to-back regular season titles and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2019-20 after sweeping both the regular season and CAA Tournament Championship.
 
Prior to his time in Hempstead, Mihalich developed one of the most consistent programs in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, leading Niagara to 265 wins, five postseason appearances and earning three MAAC Coach of the Year awards in his 15 seasons inside the Gallagher Center. Mihalich was responsible for 12 winning seasons while with the Purple Eagles, becoming three-time MAAC regular season champions and two-time tournament winners.
 
Before making his jump to head coach, Mihalich spent 17 seasons on the sidelines at 20th & Olney, assisting at his alma mater under head coaches Lefty Ervin and Speedy Morris. Mihalich was part of eight postseason appearances and five NCAA Tournament teams while at La Salle and helped develop numerous players that would play professionally in the NBA, including Lionel Simmons, Tim Legler, Doug Overton, and Randy Woods.