Dick Whitmore enters his 39th year as head coach at Colby in the 2009-10 academic year after becoming the 52nd coach in NCAA basketball history to reach 600 career wins last year. He has a career record of 607-322 as head coach at Colby. Whitmore ranks fifth in career wins among all active Division III coaches and is seventh in career victories for all Division III coaches.

A 1965 graduate of Bowdoin, Whitmore has accumulated 30 winning seasons and his Colby teams have reached the post-season 26 times. Honored as Coach of the Year in Maine six times over four decades (1973, 1975, 1981, 1995, 1997, 2001), Whitmore was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was in the inaugural class of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Whitmore also is co-director of the Pine Tree Basketball Clinic for younger players, held on the Colby campus each summer.

Assistant Coaches

Dana Doran, Assistant Coach Dana Doran enters his third season as assistant coach with the Colby men's basketball team. Doran had been the varsity basketball coach from 2003 to 2006 at Gardiner Area High School.

Doran was a graduate assistant for head coach Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut for the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. The 1997 team went to the NIT Final Four and the 1998 squad played in the NCAA Tournament.

Doran played basketball at Lafayette College from 1992 to 1996 and was a captain his senior season. He made the Patriot League Academic Honor Team. Doran later got a master's degree from the University of Connecticut.

Doran took over a Gardiner squad that had gone 19-89 over the previous six years. He led the squad to a 31-28 record in his three years and was named the Kennebec Journal Varsity Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 2005. Gardiner's 15 wins after the 2006 season were the most for the program since 1969.

John "Swisher" Mitchell, Assistant Coach John will return for his 43rd year on the staff and will continue to add a special dimension with his wide range of knowledge and expertise. One of the most astute coaches around, "Swisher's" dedication, love of the team and coaching wisdom over the course of a season is an integral and meaningful part of the team's success. Whether it is a humorous comment to relax and inspire a player, direct input in game situations or the evaluation of performance, the results are always positive and the effect often dramatic.

A legend in Maine basketball, "Swisher" was a major cog in the historic 1944 Waterville High School New England Championship team. Following a brilliant career at the University of Rhode Island, John has been in coaching for more than fifty years and has the respect of everyone connected with the game. Along with Dick Whitmore, Mitchell was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Everywhere Colby travels, the first question asked is "Where is the Swisher?" We are delighted that he remains a major force in the program as John and his wife, Prinella, are at the heart of our success.