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On June 21, Rutgers-Camden athletic director Jeff Dean named former Camden
High School and University of Pittsburgh star Bill Culbertson to the
position of head men's basketball coach. With his hiring, Culbertson
becomes the 12th head coach in the 57-year history of the Scarlet Raptor
men's basketball program.
A former scholastic superstar who also served four seasons as a
Rutgers-Camden assistant coach, Culbertson replaces Jim Flynn, who
resigned in May after five years as the Rutgers-Camden head coach.
”We are extremely excited about having Bill on board in the capacity as
a head coach,” said Rutgers-Camden Athletic Director Jeff Dean. “He
brings tremendous experience and knowledge to our university. We’re
looking for some exciting things out of the program. He understands the
type of academic setting we’re in and desires to build a competitive
program, but at the same time see that the student-athletes receive a
quality education and graduate.”
Culbertson joined the Rutgers-Camden coaching staff for the 1998-99
season, the first season under Flynn. He spent four years on Flynn’s
staff, leaving after the 2001-02 season due to time constraints with his
job. At that time, Culbertson was working as a Social Service Manager and
a Substance Abuse Counselor with the Volunteers of America in Camden.
Since March he has served as a lab technician with Golder and Associates,
an engineering company in Cherry Hill.
”I enjoyed the time I spent here as assistant,” Culbertson said. “I
learned a lot. I met some good people at Rutgers. I thought it would be an
ideal situation, should I get the chance to coach here. My job wasn’t
allowing the time to be a coach, and work there at the same time. I had to
put things in place in order to continue my coaching career.”
With his change of jobs and the open position, Culbertson returns to the
Raptors after a year away from the program. He inherits a team which has
gone 34-88 in the last five seasons, including 8-17 during the 2002-03
campaign. That span, however, is the most successful period in the last
decade of the program and included a 14-11 mark during the 2001-02 season,
the best record at Rutgers-Camden since the 1983-84 team also went 14-11.
”It’s a great opportunity,” Culbertson said. “I’m a hometown
guy. I’m hoping to be able to get some of the best players from the
South Jersey area. It will be an ideal situation to pull some of those
players in. We will play an exciting type of ball.”
During Culbertson’s last season as an
assistant coach, the Raptors produced the school’s best record in the
competitive New Jersey Athletic Conference (8-10) since the 1987-88 team
also went 8-10. This past season Rutgers-Camden went 3-15 in the NJAC.
”I want to come in and hopefully have our team have an impact on the
league,” Culbertson said. “We have to do a lot of hard work
immediately. I like hard work and effort. I believe players must
understand that the harder you work and the more effort you give, the
better opportunity you have to win.
”I believe in practicing game situations because it makes it easier to
make the transition from practice to games. I want to bring good guys to
the team, guys who are going to foster a positive attitude. You have to
have good attitudes and camaraderie among your players.”
Culbertson knows plenty about hard work and effort on the basketball
court, both as a player and as a coach. He led Camden High School to state
titles in 1978 and 1979. A two-time All-South Jersey player,
he earned All-American honors in 1979, finishing his career with
1,537 points. His scholastic prowess was noted in 2000 when he was named
as a member of the Courier Post newspaper's All-Century
basketball team.
Culbertson played one year at the University of South Alabama, helping his
team reach the second round of the NCAA tournament. He transferred to the
University of Pittsburgh, and led the Panthers to the NIT quarterfinals as
a senior (1983-84).
After graduating from Pitt in 1984 with a degree in communications,
Culbertson played three years of professional basketball. He spent one
season with Banko Roma, a traveling team in Italy, then played for the
Argentinean club Emilio Metre in 1986 and 1987.
Culbertson’s long and glorious basketball career was recognized on Feb.
16, 2000, when the Albert Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey inducted
him into the South Jersey Hall of Fame.
Culbertson, who lives in Pennsauken with his wife Kettisa and son Joshua
(age 8), has an extensive coaching resume to supplement his impressive
playing experiences. He coached and officiated for years in Camden's
recreation leagues. He also has been a substitute teacher and tennis coach
at Camden High School, in addition to his basketball coaching experience
at Rutgers-Camden.
”The name Bill Culbertson is a recognizable name in the community of
South Jersey basketball,” Dean said. “He’s been involved in
basketball at the local high school level and in summer leagues. That will
aid him tremendously in recruiting, and in continuing to put the Rutgers
University name in the forefront as he goes about that recruiting.”
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