Fang Mitchell

Fang Mitchell (born February 8, 1948)

Teams coached: Coppin State Eagles
Coppin State record: 429-417 (.507)
Overall record^: 429-417 (.507)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  4  (1990, 1993, 1997, 2008)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  0
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  2  (1991, 1995)
• MEAC Regular Season Champion:  10  (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004)
• MEAC Tournament Champion:  4  (1990, 1993, 1997, 2008)

Awards:

• MEAC Coach of the Year:  6  (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2004)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1986-2014	Coppin State
1978-1986	Gloucester CC

Fang Mitchell Facts

• Ronald L. Mitchell
• Born February 8, 1948
• Hometown: Camden, New Jersey
• Alma Mater: Thomas Edison State College (BA, 1984)
• Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Mitchell attended Woodrow Wilson HS (NJ) and went on to play basketball at Gloucester County College (NJ) for two seasons
  • Work in the private sector through college and for several years after, including some time running athletic clothing stores in NJ
• Returned to Gloucester CC in 1979 to become the Roadrunners’ head basketball coach, a position he held for eight seasons
  • Went 227-46 during that time and appeared in the NJCAA National Tournament four times
  • Assisted Temple head coach John Chaney with basketball camps during his time at Gloucester and also earned a bachelor’s degree from Thomas Edison State in Trenton in 1984
• Left to take over as the head coach at Coppin State in Baltimore in 1986, where he would coach the Eagles for 28 years
  • Won 429 games during his tenure at CSU, claiming ten MEAC titles along the way (including a run of seven straight from 1993-99)
  • Honored as the MEAC Coach of the Year six times, more than any other coach (tied with Don Corbett for the most)
  • Reached the NCAA Tournament four times by way of four MEAC Tournament Championships
    • The 1997 CSU squad became the third-ever #15 season to upset a 2-seed in the first round, defeating South Carolina 78-65 in Pittsburgh
  • After winning a share of the 2004 MEAC title, his teams failed to reach the same levels of success as they had in the 1990s
    • Mitchell was let go by the University in 2014, following a ninth sub-.500 in the previous ten years
  • In October 2021, the school celebrated “Fang Day” and re-named the court at Physical Education Complex Arena in his honor

Fang Mitchell Coaching Tree

• Bruiser Flint (Drexel, UMass)
• Eric Skeeters (Delaware State)
• Larry Stewart (Coppin State)

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only