CAMDEN—Rutgers University-Camden Director of Athletics Jeff Dean annonced on June 3 that Jason Curbison has been named the institution’s new head men’s basketball coach. Curbison will be the 12th head coach in the history of the Scarlet Raptors’ men’s basketball program.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said Curbison, who spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Penn State University-Abington. “It’s a good chance to be able to turn the program around.”
Rutgers-Camden has posted a 6-19 mark for four consecutive seasons. The Scarlet Raptors have had only one winning season since the 1983-84 campaign. That winning season came in 2001-02 when Rutgers-Camden posted a 14-11 record and featured the NJAC Player of the Year in Brian Turner.
“We’ll try to change the culture and bring some new energy and enthusiasm to the program,” said Curbison, who has yet to decide on his coaching staff. “We want to work hard as a staff and work hard as a team to change the culture and get us to the next level.”
Dean is confident that Curbison is the man to accomplish that task.
“We are extremely excited about the future of Rutgers-Camden basketball under the direction of Jason Curbison,” Dean said. “He brings a lot to the table. We feel he has the talent, the enthusiasm and the drive to usher in a new era in Rutgers-Camden basketball.”
Curbison comes to Rutgers-Camden after a two-year stint at Penn State-Abington, where the Nittany Lions were in the middle of the transition to NCAA Division III status. In his first year, they were a member of the Penn State University Athletics Conference (PSUAC) and in the midst of the exploratory phase of moving to Division III. The team posted a 6-19 record overall and a 6-11 conference mark, including an Elite Eight appearance in the PSUAC playoffs.
Last season, Curbison led the Nittany Lions to a 6-20 mark during their provisional year, including a quarterfinal berth in the North Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.
A graduate of Pennsylvania’s Phil-Mont Christian Academy, Curbison played two years of basketball at Manor Junior College. He finished his collegiate career at Millersville University, graduating in 2000 with a BA in Psychology. He minored in Athletic Coaching.
Curbison started his coaching career as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Goldey-Beacom College during the 2002-03 season. He spent the next five seasons (2003-08) as an assistant coach at Rowan University, where he gained vast knowledge in the workings of the NJAC.
Curbison helped the Profs qualify for post-season play in four of the five years he coached at the Glassboro school. His numerous responsibilities included being responsible for in-game defensive plays and he helped Rowan rank among the top 25 nationally in field goal percentage defense for three of those five seasons.
His success at Rowan helped Curbison land the Penn State-Abington job. Now he’s come full circle and returned to the NJAC wars at Rutgers-Camden.
“It’s a great opportunity to be back in the NJAC,” Curbison said. “This is a well-known and very competitive conference. Rutgers-Camden has a great opportunity to be a part of that and take advantage of its location. I think we can be very competitive in the NJAC.”