May 29, 2008

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Eric Bridgeland, who polished his coaching resume by winning three consecutive Northwest Conference titles earlier this decade, is the new men's basketball coach at Whitman College.

Bridgeland replaces Skip Molitor, who left the coaching ranks this spring after 33 years to become an assistant athletic director at Whitman. Bridgeland, 37, coached most recently at NCAA Division I Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

"Eric is one of the top young coaches on the West Coast, and we are thrilled to have him join our staff," Whitman athletic director Dean Snider says. "He has a tremendous track record of success. His recruiting and coaching abilities, along with his work ethic and sense of professionalism and integrity, are unsurpassed."

Whitman, a charter member of the nine-school, 84-year-old Northwest Conference (NWC), is affiliated nationally with NCAA Division III.

Bridgeland, a native of Rockford, Ill., coached at the University of Puget Sound, an NWC member, from 2001 through 2006. In his final three seasons, Puget Sound posted a 44-4 conference record while winning three consecutive titles and capping each season by advancing to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16. He was twice named NWC Coach of the Year, and his 87.3 winning percentage (69-10) over those three seasons was the second-highest among 400-plus Division III schools.

After the 2005-06 season, Bridgeland took a position as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Pepperdine. His 2007 recruiting class received a No. 18 NCAA Div. I national ranking (Hoopscooponline.com), and his 2008 class earned a "Top 3" ranking for all mid-major basketball programs (CBSsportsline).

When Pepperdine head coach Vance Walberg resigned due to health reasons in January 2008, Bridgeland took over as the interim coach, leading the Waves to a 5-9 record down the stretch despite a depleted roster that featured just six scholarship players, including five freshmen.

Pepperdine's late-season wins included two victories each over arch-rival Loyola Marymount and the University of Portland, plus the team's first West Coast Conference (WCC) playoff win in three years. One practice after the coaching change, Bridgeland led Pepperdine to a near upset (79-74) of St. Mary's, which held a Top 25 national ranking earlier in the season. Under Bridgeland, the Waves also took eventual WCC champion San Diego to the wire twice, losing by three and four points.