SAINT HEAD COACH CHRIS DOWNS
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12th Season St. Lawrence, 11th as St. Lawrence Head Coach

 

A proven winner as a head coach, Chris Downs has led St. Lawrence University to eight postseason appearances. In his first ten years at the helm of the Saints, Downs has guided St. Lawrence to an NCAA Elite Eight, an ECAC Championship, two ECAC finals, two ECAC Semifinals and a school best 24 win season.

 

The Saints have registered a 163-99 (.622) mark in Downs' ten seasons, an average of more than 16 victories per year. Downs made an immediate impact on St. Lawrence basketball, leading the Saints to a 24-2 record during the 1997-98 season, the best in school history. The first year head coach guided the Saints to an NCAA Elite Eight. Following the season, Downs was named the East Region Coach of the Year, New York State Coach of the Year and the UCAA Co-Coach of the Year.

 

Despite losing a National All-American and a Regional All-American, the program's success continued during the 1998-99 season as the Saints collected 16 wins and earned a trip to the Eastern College Athletic Conference, advancing to the semifinals. The 1999-00 season was a rebuilding year for the Saints, but Downs quickly brought St. Lawrence back to league prominence in 2000-01. The Saints finished the season 18-10, were UCAA Regular Season Champions and ECAC Semifinalists.

 

Year five in Canton proved to be one of the best of Downs tenure. Along the way, the Saints posted a 21-9 record, finished UCAA Regular Season and UCAA Tournament Runners-Up, and earned an ECAC Upstate Championship. Just a season later in 2002-03, the Saints posted another promising season, finishing 17-10 and advancing to the Semifinals of the ECAC Tournament. Downs helped develop sophomore Aaron Marshall into one of the top forwards in the region. Marshall posted a single season high 483 points and was named First-Team All East Region.

 

The 2003-04 campaign was Downs fourth consecutive league-dominating season. The Saints 17-8 record earned them a UCAA Regular Season Co-Championship. The Saints rebounded from a rebuilding 2004-05 season in 2005-06 as the they posted an impressive 11-3 record in Liberty League play. Downs was named Liberty League Coach of the Year and received the St. Lawrence University Bernie McKinnon Athletic Department Coach of the Year Award. He continued to prove his ablity to scout and develop talent as freshman Bella Vonak was named Liberty League Rookie of the Year.

 

In the 2006-2007 season, Downs led the Saints to a 23-6 record and a 12-4 conference record in the Liberty League as well as winning the Liberty League championship title, which gave the team a berth in the NCAA tournament. St. Lawrence hosted the first and second rounds of the tournament, and the Saints made it to the second round before losing to Brockport.

 

Downs has coached eight 1000 points scorers, five Regional All-Americans, a National All-American, three Rookies of the Year and 19 All-Conference players.

 

Downs is the 14th coach in the modern era of St. Lawrence basketball. He was an assistant in 1996-97, and helped guide the Saints to a 22-4 campaign, the best in school history prior to the 1997-98 campaign.

 

A 1992 graduate of Oneonta State, Downs began his education at SUNY Cobleskill. He was a two sport athlete there, participating in both basketball and baseball, and earned Athlete of the Year honors in 1989. He transferred to Oneonta State to earn his bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1991 and was an All-SUNYAC Basketball selection his senior year.

 

After spending a year as a teacher and a scholastic associate coach with Jefferson Central Schools, he moved on to Division II LeMoyne College, where he spent two years assisting in all aspects of Dolphin basketball, and helped to guide them to a 35-18 overall record in those two years. From there he moved to Potsdam where he was involved with the Bears program for a year, before finally arriving here at St. Lawrence.

 

Downs and his wife Tonki reside in Canton and have a five-year old son Andy, a three-year old son Christopher, and a baby girl Winnie.

 

 

ASSISTANT COACH KEITH SULLIVAN

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Keith Sullivan enters his second year as an assistant coach for the Saints men's basketball team. A 2005 graduate of St. Lawrence, Sullivan spent a year working for U.S. Trust, a financial firm in New York City, before returning to his alma mater to coach the Saints.

 

Sullivan brings a year of coaching and four years of varsity basketball experience, as well as extensive knowledge of the St. Lawrence basketball program to the 2007-2008 team. He was captain of the Saints during his senior campaign, earning Honorable Mention All-League honors the same year. He was also a member of the 2001-2002 ECAC Champion Saints basketball team.