Brian Chapman begins his 10th season as the William Paterson men's basketball head coach during the 2024-25 season.
In 2018-19, Chapman guided the Pioneers to a 16-10 record, including an 88-72 win over nationally-ranked New Jersey City Nov. 28. Two of his charges received all-New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) honors, junior guard Sean Smith (first team) and sophomore guard Domenic Mignone (honorable mention).
In the 2017-18 campaign, after going 14-11 in the regular season and securing the sixth-seed in the NJAC Tournament, Chapman guided William Paterson to an 81-78 first-round upset of third-seeded New Jersey City University. Four days later, the Pioneers would stun second-seeded The College of New Jersey 95-86 to advance to championship game, where they would fall to eventual Final Four participant, Ramapo College.
Chapman took over as the acting head coach for the final 22 games of the 2015-16 campaign, securing a bid to the NJAC Tournament.
Chapman worked as a WP assistant coach for 20 seasons (1995-2015), playing a vital role in helping to build William Paterson into a regional and national power during his time in Wayne. With his help, the Pioneers recorded nine 20-win seasons, made nine NCAA Division III Tournament appearances (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2015), won six NJAC championships (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012), made two trips to the Division III Final Four (1999 and 2001) and secured a spot in the 2001 national championship game.
On the 1999 and 2001 Final Four teams, as well as the 2001-02 NJAC championship squad, Chapman worked with the talented group of Chris Lauer, all-league pick Mufeed Thomas and all-district honoree and 1,000-point scorer Ray Ortiz. He helped fine-tune the skills of two-time all-American Luis Martinez (2006, 2007), who eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier while helping to lead the Pioneers to the 2006 Elite Eight. Joining Martinez on that roster were a number of other standouts, including Jason Cameron, Samir Sanu, and 1,000-point scorer and all-NJAC selection Joey Spiegel.
Chapman also helped tutor the 2008 and 2010 NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, 2010 NJAC Player of the Year and second-team all-American Abdoulaye Ouedraogo. Most recently, Lance Brown was the 2012 NJAC Player of the Year and a second-team all-American.
A number of Chapman’s former charges have joined the coaching ranks, including Mike Gawronski at Brick Twp. High School and Rory Caswell at Toms River High School North.
Also the academic coordinator for the Pioneers’ athletic department, Chapman earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ramapo College in 1986. He and his wife Shannon have two daughters, Bailey and Molly.
Chapman’s WP Coaching Highlights
- Five NJAC Tournament berths
- One NJAC Tournament Championship appearance (2017-18)
- One ECAC Tournament Final appearance (2021-22)
- One All-District performer
- Two All-Region selection
- Four All-Metro Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Team recipients
- Twelve all-NJAC honorees
- One All-ECAC Team recipient
- One academic all-district selection
- Ten on the Academic All-NJAC Team