Men's Basketball Program Thrives On and Off the Court

The record is mindboggling when you think about it: 603-243 in 30 years at the helm.

That’s the record that former Stockton University men’s basketball coach Gerry Matthews amassed in his time on the sidelines at Stockton.

In fact, for a little over nine years, he was the winningest coach in New Jersey men’s college basketball history before his record was broken by Caldwell University coach Mark Corino on January 8.

Matthews’ coaching prowess helped power the Ospreys to 16 NCAA tournaments, two NCAA Final Four appearances 22 years apart (1987, 2009), including one appearance in the NCAA title game (2009). He won’t take credit, though. Matthews is proud of the talented players he coached over those three decades.

“Hard work, a lot of good kids, a lot of great players,” said Matthews, who retired in 2016. “The kids bought into what we were doing and success followed. “I just know I had fun doing it. The first 14 years were part time and the last 16 were fulltime. I retired from teaching when they made it fulltime. When I did that I didn’t necessarily think I’d be there 16 more years, but it was always fun. It wasn’t like going to work.”

One player who immediately comes to mind for Matthews is Marty Small. Small, a two-time NJAC honoree during his time at Stockton, holds the records for rebounds in a season (286) and career (799) and ranks 11th in scoring history with 1,238 points. He graduated in 1998 and was inducted into Stockton’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Small, who helped Stockton to NCAA Tournament berths in 1994, 1996 and 1997, has been the mayor of his hometown Atlantic City since 2019. In November, he won his first four-year term.

“One of the best things, one of our favorite all-time players will be sworn in as the mayor of Atlantic City on New Year’s Day,” Matthews said about 10 days before the swearing in on Jan. 1, 2022, which he attended. We always said when he was on the team that he was going to end up the mayor of Atlantic City because he’s been there all his life and the city means something to him. He’s followed his dream.”

According to The Press of Atlantic City, Small told those at his swearing in on January 1 about the second chance he got at Stockton after failing math his freshmen year and being dismissed. Matthews convinced administration to give Small another chance if he upped his grades, which he did.  

The 1995-96 team Small was a part of was also inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, one of three men’s hoops teams inducted. The others are the 1986-87 team and the 2008-09 team.

Santini Lancioni, who also played for Matthews and is in the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, said playing at Stockton was an “amazing experience.” Lancioni, Class of 2012 at Stockton, was a 2009 NABC First Team All-American and 2009 NJAC Player of the Year as well as a two-time NABC All-District First Team and two-time NJAC First Team honoree (2009-10).

Lancioni ranks third in Stockton history in assists and fifth in three-pointers and scored 1,030 points in his career. He was the starting point guard on the 2008-09 squad that reached the NCAA championship game and set a school record with 30 victories. Lancioni was named Stockton Male Athlete of the Year in 2010.

“I had a big ego coming into college as I felt I was a NCAA Division I point guard,” Lancioni explained. “My freshman and sophomore year, I was quickly humbled and was the backup point guard. Junior year I was given the opportunity to run the team and I think the gratitude I had gave me that laser focus I needed to lead us to the national championship.

“…Our experience in Salem, Virginia for the NCAA Final Four …was the big stage and it solidified all the hard work we put in, and Coach Matthews deserved it. Stockton exceeded all my expectations. I think the biggest difference was the culture. Winning certainly helps and we were a tight group.”

Matthews was just the 16th coach in Division III to reach 600 wins. He coached Stockton to the Final Four in 1987 and 2009, and that latter team finished as the national runner up. Matthews, inducted into the Stockton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017, won 20 or more games 18 times, captured nine NJAC championships and was NJAC Coach of the Year nine times.

As far as that state-record 603 wins, he knows records don’t last forever. “I’m on the verge of being passed,” Matthews said on Dec. 20. “Mark Corino at Caldwell University has 602 wins right now. They had games cancelled. I’ve been following it.” With Matthews in attendance, Corino broke the record with Caldwell's 61-55 victory over Holy Family on January 8.

Matthews knew in 2016 it was time to step away, and needing hip and knee replacements played a role. 

Scott Bittner, who served as assistant/associate coach for 10 seasons, took over as head coach once Matthews retired. He has led the 2021-22 squad to a 13-3 record and a tie for first place in the NJAC as of January 20.

“It is an honor to coach men’s basketball here at Stockton,” said Bittner. “Coach Matthews built a great program and given the chance to work under and with him and then to be given the reins myself of a program that has already been established, I feel deeply grateful for the position that I am in.

“I would attribute the continued success at Stockton to the effort Coach Matthews put into recruiting and the fact that he showed me that blueprint. The players win the games and the better your players are, the better you look as a coach. Another important factor is we haven’t been afraid to hold players accountable for not meeting the standards of the program.”

Lancioni resides in South Jersey and is married with a 6-month old daughter. He owns a real estate investing firm, and property management and construction companies, he said. “Without Stockton, I wouldn’t have the success I do today,” Lancioni said. “The accountability, hard work and culture I used at Stockton is really the same strategy I use to run my business and lead my team.”