GENE CROSS IS THE NEW ROCKET COACH

April 11, 2008 – Gene Cross was announced today as the seventeenth head coach in University of Toledo men’s basketball history.

Before introducing Cross, Toledo AD Mike O’Brien spoke about developing a program at UT and not just a team. “A program that gets the right type of student-athlete that excels in the classroom, has players that make the right social decisions, that attracts basketball talent and competes for championships and the post-season, a program that has a coach who is thought of as one of the best in the league, is disciplined on and off the court and has facilities that attract top student athletes.”

O’Brien said that there is no doubt that Cross was the perfect fit for the UT program. “Gene believes, as we all do, in the term student-athlete and graduating our players. All of his accomplishments clearly made Gene our number one choice.”

The thirty-six year old Cross comes to Toledo from Notre Dame where he spent the past two seasons helping the Irish compile 49 victories. He has also been an assistant at Illinois-Chicago, DePaul and Virginia.

A native of Chicago, he played his prep basketball at Rich Central High School and then played four seasons at the University of Illinois for head coach Lou Henson. He earned a degree in history at Illinois and a master’s degree in sport management at Ohio State while also coaching at Columbus Marion-Franklin High School.

Cross, who has agreed to a five-year deal, said that he was excited to be at Toledo, and gave a list of words that described how he felt, including “thrilled”.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be here as the head coach at Toledo,” he said. “When I talk about program it centers around a few things. Standards, setting goals, having direction towards those goals, discipline, making hard choices to achieve standards, toughness, determination, integrity, compassion and having an awareness of other people and how they feel that leads to cohesion within the team.

“I want to build upon the traditions here that coach Joplin has established, winning 203 games. Coach Bob Nichols with 376 wins and being the all-time winningest coach in MAC history. That’s an outstanding accomplishment and I’m humbled to be in a position that he held.”

Cross said that his first priority as head coach will be academics and academic excellence. He wants his players to have as their number one priority at Toledo to be receiving a degree. And he also wants his players to interact with the campus and community so that they learn how to manage themselves in society.

He also said that his job is to take the basketball program to another level. “That means NCAA Tournaments and wins, a sold-out Savage Hall and having excited fans.”

THE GENE CROSS FILE

Assistant Coaching Experience

2007-08 Assistant Coach Notre Dame 25-8/14-4 NCAA Tournament - 2nd Round
2006-07 Assistant Coach Notre Dame 24-8/11-5 NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2005-06 Assistant Coach Virginia 15-15/7-9 NIT - 1st Round
2004-05 Assistant Coach DePaul 20-11/10-6 NIT - 2nd Round
2003-04 Assistant Coach DePaul 22-10/12-4 NCAA Tournament- 2nd Round
2002-03 Assistant Coach DePaul 16-13/8-8
2001-02 Assistant Coach Illinois-Chicago 20-14/8-8 NCAA Tournament- 1st Round
2000-01 Assistant Coach Illinois-Chicago 11-17/5-9
1999-2000 Assistant Coach Illinois-Chicago 11-20/5-9
1998-99 Assistant Coach Illinois-Chicago 7-21/2-12
1997-98 Assistant Coach Illinois-Chicago 22-6/12-2 NCAA Tournament- 1st Round

Other Coaching Experience

Assistant Coach/Head Freshman Coach, Marion-Franklin (OH) High School (1995-96)

Playing Experience
University of Illinois (1990-94)
Letterwinner: 1992-93 and 1993-94
NCAA Tournament: 1992-93 and 1993-94

Personal Information

Born Dec. 20, 1971 in Chicago, IL