Jason O'Connell
Jason O’Connell begins his eleventh season as Cairn University's Head Men’s Basketball coach in 2024-p25 and has led Cairn to its most successful run in program history over the past five seasons.
O’Connell has transformed the men’s basketball program from three wins during his first year in 2014-2015 to 18 wins and a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship in 2019-2020, which also included Cairn's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Coach O’Connell was also named the CSAC Coach of the Year in the 2018-2019 campaign when his team captured the CSAC Regular Season Championship and finished as the conference Runner-Up. Altogether, O'Connell has led the Highlanders to four-straight appearances in the CSAC Championship game, a feat only two coaches at Cairn have accomplished (Kevin Jackson - Women's Tennis). In 2023-24, O'Connell became the third winningest coach in Cairn Men's Basketball history with a 14-13 record and United East postseason appearance.
O’Connell was also recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and was awarded a spot on the 2019 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team, representing 30 of the most outstanding men’s college basketball coaches under the age of 30. O'Connell is a two-time CSAC Coach of the Year (2018-19, 2022-23).
O’Connell’s teams have continued to succeed on both the court and in the classroom. On the court, his teams were awarded the CSAC 3-D Award (Discover, Develop, Dedicate) for three consecutive seasons from 2016-2019. During the 2019-2020 season, his team ranked in the top 25 in the nation in several statistical categories including rebounding margin (#4 in DIII), offensive rebounds (#6 in DIII), defensive rebounds (#15 in DIII), and points per game (#15 in DIII). In the classroom, the men’s basketball program has had an overall team GPA of 3.0+ from 2015 through 2022 under O’Connell.
Jason and his wife Kristina currently reside in Langhorne, PA with their son Elijah. O’Connell was also recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and was awarded a spot on the 2019 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team, representing 30 of the most outstanding men’s college basketball coaches under the age of 30. O'Connell is a two-time CSAC Coach of the Year (2018-19, 2022-23).
Stuart Pradia
After several years spent resurrecting the Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball program, Stuart Pradia’s team emerged as a genuine New Jersey Athletic Conference contender in 2023-24.
Pradia, who is entering his sixth season as the Rutgers-Camden head coach, guided the Scarlet Raptors to a 13-12 record last season, marking the most wins and first winning record for the Scarlet Raptors since a 14-12 season in 2014-15. The Raptors’ 8-10 NJAC record was their best conference mark since another 8-10 season in 2014-15, and the team was in contention for a NJAC playoff berth until the final day of the regular season.
Along the way, Rutgers-Camden fashioned a host of highlights, beginning with an opening-day win over Hunter College, which marked the team’s first season-opening win since 2014. On November 29, the Scarlet Raptors defeated Stockton for their first win over the Ospreys since Feb. 13, 2008. They added another win against Stockton later in the year, marking only the third time they ever swept the season series against the Ospreys. It was the first time since the 1980-81 season.
A 112-78 win over Penn State-Berks on Jan. 3 produced the sixth-highest Rutgers-Camden scoring output ever and helped the Scarlet Raptors earn their first three-game winning streak since November 10-23, 2018. With a win over Ramapo in their next game, the Scarlet Raptors posted their first four-game winning streak since Nov. 18-Dec. 3, 2006.
On Jan. 13, a win against William Paterson was the program’s first overtime victory since a 92-90 win against Arcadia on November 19, 2014.
Those highlights led to many individual honors, as Pradia saw sophomore Cameron Downs earn NJAC Second Team recognition and capture a pair of NJAC Player of the Week awards. Freshman Keion Elliott earned the NJAC Rookie of the Week on Dec. 18 and a trio of Raptors were cited for their work in the classroom, with Gavin Henry, Sean Jules and Jordan Trusty-Smith capturing NJAC Academic Honorable Mention.
During the 2022-23 campaign, the young Scarlet Raptors introduced one of the brightest young talents in the NJAC, with Downs being named the NJAC Rookie of the Year, capturing NJAC Honorable Mention and earning three conference Rookie of the Week honors. Pradia’s fourth team also featured a pair of NJAC academic honorees in Henry and Jaymes Savage.
Inheriting a team that posted a 2-23 record the year before he arrived, Pradia led Rutgers-Camden to a 7-18 mark during the 2019-20 campaign, the Scarlet Raptors’ best season since that 14-12 in 2014-15. It was only the third time since the 2002-03 season (8-17) that the Scarlet Raptors had won as many as seven games.
In the New Jersey Athletic Conference, meanwhile, Pradia’s first team posted a 4-14 record. It was only the fourth time since 1988-89 (another 4-14 NJAC season) that the Scarlet Raptors had won as many as four conference games. In the four seasons prior to Pradia’s arrival, Rutgers-Camden had posted a combined 7-65 NJAC record.
Pradia’s first season featured several milestones, including a game at Princeton University on January 26, marking the first time Rutgers-Camden played a Division I opponent since a trip to Elon University on Nov. 16, 2011. In terms of conference play, Rutgers-Camden posted its first win at Montclair State University since Jan. 28, 2004, and its first win over Rowan University since Dec. 2, 2015.
Individually, Pradia saw Isaac Destin cap his brilliant career as a member of the program’s 1,000-point club while earning NJAC First Team recognition. Destin led the NJAC in rebounding and finished second in scoring. A first-year transfer to Rutgers-Camden, meanwhile, had his own stellar season as Arian Azemi finished second in the NJAC in assists and led the conference in steals, while setting a single-season Rutgers-Camden record with 81. Both Destin and Azemi earned NJAC Player of the Week honors during the season.
With the graduation of Destin from his first team, Pradia set about another rebuilding project. With the 2020-21 season shortened and disrupted by COVID-19, Pradia’s team finished with a 0-9 record, losing in the NJAC playoffs to eventual champion New Jersey City University. Despite that record, however, the Scarlet Raptors managed to become the only team in the NJAC to play every one of its scheduled games, as pandemic protocols forced at least one cancelation by all other teams. The Scarlet Raptors also saw freshman Henry earn NJAC Rookie of the Week honors on Feb. 22.
Since that 0-9 Covid season, the Scarlet Raptors have improved their record for three straight years, capped by the breakthrough 2023-24 season. Pradia and the Scarlet Raptors are looking for even bigger things in 2024-25, including the addition of another 1,000-point scorer, as Downs enters the season needing only 204 points to reach the milestone.
Tirelessly building his basketball resume for the past two decades, Pradia’s basketball journey has taken him all over the United States. He was a basketball coach at a pair of NJAC schools before being hired as the Raptors’ head coach.
“Camden was a draw for me very early on,” said Pradia, who served as a coach at NJAC opponent Kean University prior to earning the Rutgers-Camden job. “I knew the program had the potential to be competitive and, given time, a special place. Combine a degree from a prestigious institution with an area with rich basketball tradition in both New Jersey and Philadelphia and it really is a winning combination.”
As an accomplished athlete, Pradia played his scholastic basketball in Houston before taking his talents to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He dished out 203 assists from 2002-04, a total that ranks 19th on the program’s career list. During the 2003-04 campaign, he posted 119 assists for the Judges, tying for 16th among the program’s single-season marks.
Graduating from Brandeis in 2005 with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and double minor in Business and Legal Studies, Pradia’s first foray in coaching came during the 2006-07 season as an Assistant Coach at Washington and Lee University. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Washington College, securing a Master’s Degree in History in 2009.
Continuing to build upon his basketball IQ and acumen, Pradia spent the next three seasons at Gettysburg College before an NBA opportunity brought him back to his hometown Houston Rockets. During the 2012-13 campaign, Pradia served as the Basketball Operations Assistant for the Rockets. He was responsible for a myriad of tasks, from assisting players with on-court skill workouts, to producing statistical analysis reports and compiling college and international player evaluations in advance of the NBA draft.
During the 2013-14 season, Pradia served as the Director of Basketball Operations and an Assistant Coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League before spending the next two years as a Game Review and Global Strategy analyst with the NBA. During his second season in that position, he also was introduced to the NJAC, serving the first of his two seasons as an Assistant Coach at Montclair State University.
Pradia spent the 2017-18 season assisting at Millersville University before returning to the NJAC as Associate Head Coach at Kean University.
Pradia, whose goal is to mold Rutgers-Camden into one of the many premier programs in the NJAC, summons all his experiences and leadership to chart his team on a path to success. “I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity and look forward to the work that lies ahead.”After several years spent resurrecting the Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball program, Stuart Pradia’s team emerged as a genuine New Jersey Athletic Conference contender in 2023-24.
Dan Burke
Dan Burke begins his 10th year as the head coach of the Wilmington University men’s basketball program in 2023-24. Burke was hired in June 2014 and began his collegiate head coaching career with the Wildcats in the 2014-15 season.
In his first season with the Wildcats, Burke led the team to the most wins in its NCAA era, advancing all the way to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship game for the first time in program history. It was also only the second time in program history the team reached the CACC Tournament. The team defeated the North Division’s top seed, Dominican, with a last second shot in the CACC Quarterfinal before upsetting South Division third seed Holy Family. The run came to an end against South Division No. 2 Philadelphia on its home court in the CACC Championship.
Since then, Burke has helped lead the Wildcats back to the CACC Tournament in all by one year as the head coach, including five straight seasons (minus the COVID-19 pandemic season in which the Wildcats did not participate), including earning the first ever postseason home game in 2016-17 with a 14-5 CACC mark, finsihing second the South Division.
Burke took over the Wildcats after successful assistant coaching stints at Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foe Chestnut Hill College and at Camden County College.
Most recently, Burke helped lead Camden County College to a 20-8 record last season, taking the team to the NJCAA Region XIX semifinal game. Camden County College was ranked as high as 11th in the country during the 2013-14 season.
Prior to his season at Camden County College, Burke spent four seasons on the bench at Chestnut Hill, playing against the Wildcats. He coached under current Griffin head coach Jesse Balcer in all four seasons, helping the Griffins to the CACC Tournament Semifinals in the 2010-11 season.
During his time at Chestnut Hill, Burke assisted in the development of four 1,000-point scorers while also helping a pair of student-athletes continue their basketball careers at the professional level.
Before heading into his current coaching career, Burke played four years at Chestnut Hill under Balcer. He was named a team captain as a senior and was awarded the Presidential Leadership Award in 2008, given to five graduating students based on leadership and contributions to the college community.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.