Bovaird’s Back For More With Silverswords
Having led the men’s basketball team to back-to-back NCAA DII tournament appearances in two seasons, Chaminade head coach Eric Bovaird was undoubtedly a hot prospect for any school looking to jump-start their program.
With that in mind, the administration here moved to get a contract extension that will keep him at Chaminade through the end of the 2016-17 season,
“I’m excited to know that I’ll be at Chaminade for at least three more seasons,” Bovaird said. “I believe the school and athletics are taking positive steps forward to ensure its success for the future, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. Hopefully, we can continue the rich tradition of men’s basketball and continue to make our Silversword ohana proud!”
Bovaird has a 49-38 record in his three years here, including a 48-27 mark versus NCAA DII opponents. The ‘Swords recently finished 19-13 and captured the school’s first-ever PacWest tournament championship en route to reaching the NCAA West Regional again. Bovaird is the first coach in the school’s proud history to earn to back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances. Among its noteworthy wins was upsetting Big 12’s Texas at the EA Sports Maui Invitational in November of 2012.
Said Chaminade athletics director Bill Villa: “During Eric’s time here, he’s done a fantastic job of leading our team to competitive success. His teams also have performed well in the classroom, and they participate in community service projects throughout the year. His entire body of work here has been outstanding, and I am very happy Eric has agreed to a two-year contract extension.”
Bovaird’s team this year was thought to be in “rebuilding” mode and perhaps a year away from being a PacWest contender. It lost four starters, including PacWest Player of the Year De’Andre Haskins. “To finish 19-13, win the conference championship and make the NCAA tournament again, it’s a great year,” Bovaird said. “We had two starting seniors (Rhys Murphy and Christopher Varidel) who were hurt most of the year, so we needed some guys to step up, and that’s exactly what they did.”
The ‘Swords expect to return 12 players from this year’s squad, easily making them the PacWest favorite for 2014-15. “If we can find the right recruits to mesh with this already good team, I think we can be tough to beat.” On that note, Bovaird recently signed David Ware, a 6-foot-3 guard from Everett Community College in Washington, where he averaged 15.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this past season.
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