Stockton University Athletics

Updated 6/21/18

Joe Fussner went 410-282 (.592 winning percentage) in three stints as the head coach of the Ospreys (1982-85, 1987-89, 1997-2018). His Stockton teams won two NJAC championships plus two ECAC titles and made 16 postseason appearances. He was on the bench for all seven of the program’s NCAA Tournament berths. Fussner earned his 400th win at Stockton with a victory over New Jersey City on January 10, 2018.

Fussner helmed the Ospreys to 18 wins in his final season of 2017-18 after 17 wins the year before. His 2014-15 and 2015-16 teams each tied the school record of 22 wins and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Fussner reached the 300-win milestone on January 16, 2012 as the Ospreys defeated Hunter 89-85. Stockton went on to win the ECAC Metro championship and finish 18-12 that year. In 2011, he brought the Ospreys back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years and fifth overall.

Fussner first brought Stockton into the league’s elite with an inspired postseason run in 1999-00 and was rewarded with the NJAC Coach of the Year award. The fourth-seeded Ospreys upset the top two seeds to win their first NJAC championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before finishing 18-10. That season began a string of four straight years with at least 18 wins that also included an ECAC Metro championship in 2001 and additional ECAC playoff appearances in 2002 and 2003.

Fussner led a young Stockton team with just one senior to the program’s second NJAC championship and an 18-10 record during the 2004-05 season. He earned his 200th victory at Stockton with a 47-42 win over Montclair State on February 12, 2005. The campaign was one of six in the seven seasons from 1999-2006 in which Fussner led the Ospreys to at least 18 wins.

That run of success under Fussner reached its pinnacle in 2005-06 when the Ospreys got off to their best start ever (11-0) and set a school record with 22 victories. Stockton also finished first in the NJAC during the regular season and earned their second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. 

Fussner initially became the Stockton head coach in 1982 and went 55-22 over a three-year span that included an NCAA Tournament bid and the program’s first 20-win season in 1983-84. After a two-year hiatus, Fussner returned to Stockton in 1987 and won NJAC Coach of the Year after the Ospreys went 14-12 and earned an ECAC tournament berth. His current stint as head coach began in 1997-98 when he inherited a 4-19 team that he improved to 14-10 in just two years.   

From 1974 to 1981, Fussner led the Atlantic City High School girls basketball team to two Group IV state championships, four South Jersey titles, and seven Cape Atlantic League crowns. Between 1988 and 1995, Fussner coached the Atlantic City boys basketball team to a 144-24 mark and six Cape Atlantic League titles. He is a member of the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame and South Jersey Coaches Association Hall of Fame.