2009 Outright Little Three Champions (1st since 1996)

Mike Maker is entering his second year as the head coach of the Ephs. In his first campaign Maker led Williams (17-9) to its first outright Little Three title since 1996 when the Ephs closed out the 2008-09 regular season with an 89-78 win over Amherst on the road.

Maker’s first meeting with the Williams team members came at Logan Airport in Boston as the team assembled for a summer trip to Italy that had been scheduled prior to his hiring. The Italian trip afforded Maker a chance to get to see the returning players compete (first years are prohibited from foreign travel by NCAA rules), implement his system and get to know his players in a relaxed atmosphere.

Maker’s impact on his first Eph squad was dramatic as the players quickly gravitated to his player-centered approach that is high on teaching. Several key members of the 2008-09 Ephs made only token appearances the year before.

The 2008-09 Ephs were hampered by the loss to injuries of returning junior center Joe Geoghegan who was limited to just 11 games and 267 minutes of action.

Maker came to Williams from a year as an assistant coach at Creighton University that saw the Bluejays record 20 wins overall and 10 conference wins for the 10th straight year, a feat matched only by Kansas and Stanford.

Prior to joining Dana Altman's staff at Creighton, Maker spent two years at West Virginia (2005-07) as an assistant to John Beilein and three years at Samford University (2002-05). His longest tenure was an 11-year run as an associate coach at Dartmouth (1991-2002).

At West Virginia Maker assisted Beilein in implementing the Two Guard Offense, a derivative of the Princeton Offense and helped the Mountaineers win the 2007 NIT and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

While Maker was coaching at Samford under Jimmy Tillette, the Bulldogs ranked second nationally in 3-point field goals and seventh in field goal percentage in 2004-05 and they also ran a version of the Princeton Offense.

During his years at Dartmouth, Maker helped The Big Green snap Penn's 34-game home court win streak, one year after breaking Penn's 48-game conference win streak. 

Maker coached for one year at Hartnell College where he was the head coach of the women's team (1990-91).

Maker played his first two years of college basketball at Hartnell, where he earned an associate of arts degree in general education. He then transferred to California Baptist, graduating in 1988 with a B.S. in physical education. Maker earned a master's in education at Azuza Pacific in 1990.

Maker also played at California Baptist, serving as captain at both schools both years. He was also an Academic All-American at California Baptist.