Long-time basketball coaches Mike Neer and Joyce Wong celebrated milestone wins on the same night.

Wins send Rochester into record books

On that night, both the men's and women's basketball teams achieved impressive milestones to launch the 1997-98 season. The men's team registered its 1,000th win in a game against Cazenovia College, while the women defeated SUNY College at Cortland to earn the 300th career victory for head coach Joyce Wong.

The win capped a 19-year Rochester career for Wong, who has earned 249 of her 300 victories with the Yellowjackets. A former Brooklyn College coach, Wong came to Rochester in 1978, drawn by dual coaching and administration opportunities. In addition to coaching, she serves as associate director of athletics.

Much has changed in women's basketball during the past two decades. "The competition is tougher, and the women's game is faster and more physical than ever before," Wong says. "The quality of women's basketball in the States will continue to get better and better."

Wong has enjoyed some stand-out moments during her coaching career. The team made four bids to the national championship regional tournament, played in six state championship Final Fours and won the state title in 1984-85. That year and the year before, Wong was declared Regional Coach of the Year by numerous publications and associations.

The men's game also has changed markedly since the the team's first win, a 22-to-9 routing of Hobart College in 1901. Head coach Mike Neer is only the third coach to preside over the team since 1931, leading his team to more than 300 of the 1,000 victories since his arrival in 1976.

A mere 28 of more than 325 Division III schools with basketball programs have achieved 1,000 wins, placing Rochester in "pretty select company," Neer says. "It is a good indicator of consistent winning."

Highlights include a five-overtime victory over Union College, which was the longest Division III game in NCAA history, and an impressive three-year run in the NCAA tournament at the start of this decade. Rochester won the Division III National Championship in 1990, reached the quarterfinals in 1991, and played in the championship game in 1992.

Among Rochester's former opponents are such Division I powerhouses as Syracuse, Ohio State, and the University of North Carolina.

Stories about legends of the game who have crossed the Palestra court still circulate today. Before his Indiana University days, Bobby Knight ranted and raved on the Palestra sidelines as his Army team edged Rochester. Current Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski played in the Palestra with Army and then sat alongside Knight as an assistant coach years later. Even the Boston Celtics and their legendary forward Larry Bird practiced here on occasion.

The Yellowjackets continue their history-making ways this weekend during the Chase Scholarship Tournament. They'll host the second-round games (women Thursday, men Friday) and third- and first-place games (men and women Saturday) at the Palestra.

For more information, call x5-5955 or check on-line at www.rochester.edu/student-srvcs/sports.