Tweet

Success is not a given. Only through hard-work and dedication, will success come. In his eighth season at Virginia Tech, Seth Greenberg has set the Hokies onto a course of winning and competing at the highest level.

Since joining the Hokies, Greenberg has established himself as not only a builder of programs, but as a coach who has an eye on the ultimate goal.

Greenberg has a career record of 383-293, in 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach and a 170-123 record in nine seasons at Virginia Tech.  Since coming to Blacksburg, Greenberg’s Hokies have three wins over No. 1 ranked teams, including, most recently, a 64-60 victory over top-ranked Duke on Feb. 26, 2011 in Cassell Coliseum.

In the 2006-07 season, the Hokies engineered a historic sweep over North Carolina, including a 94-88 win over the Tar Heels in Cassell Coliseum when UNC was the top-ranked team in the country. Couple that victory against North Carolina with a 69-67 overtime win at No. 5 Duke the week before, the Hokies spent time atop the ACC standings for the first time ever. During the 2008-09 season, the win at No. 1 Wake Forest and an 80-77 win at No. 12 Clemson were added to the list. This past season, home wins over a pair of No. 23 teams, Miami and Wake Forest, continued the run of top 25 victories.

With Greenberg’s win at Campbell on Nov. 23, 2009, he passed Chuck Noe into second place on the all-time wins list at Virginia Tech with 110 victories. Only Charlie Moir, with 213 victories, has more wins at Tech than Greenberg.

In his time at Virginia Tech, Greenberg is 3-3 against top-ranked teams, with all three losses coming on final possessions. Tech has made five consecutive post-season appearances and six in Greenberg’s eight years in Blacksburg.

The Hokies moved into the new $21 million practice facility in August 2009. This building brings Virginia Tech basketball the “WOW Factor!” that it needs to compete among the elite in college basketball and is the culmination of a vision that Greenberg has for the university and its basketball program.

In the past few years, Greenberg has received two awards that not only speak to his success on the court, but his works off the court as well. In September 2009, Greenberg was presented with the inaugural Al LoBalbo Award by his alma mater, Fairleigh Dickinson University. And in April, Greenberg was inducted into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

On March 11, 2008, Greenberg added another honor, as he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2008 Coach of the Year. This marked the second time in four years that Greenberg earned the honor.

In the 2006-07 season, the Hokies defeated four nationally ranked teams and had a 3-0 record against teams ranked in the top-five. And as the 2010-11 season unfolds, Greenberg has the Hokies poised for even loftier achievements.

On April 3, 2003, the Hokies introduced Greenberg as their 27th head coach. A proven program builder, an admired and innovative tactician and an experienced recruiter, Greenberg took over the reigns of a Tech program that has made tremendous strides in his first six seasons in Blacksburg.

Greenberg earned his first major honor at Virginia Tech in 2005, being named the ACC Coach of the Year by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. He was the fourth Hokie honored by the group for the team’s play during the Hokies’ inaugural ACC season. The Richmond Times-Dispatch named Greenberg the Coach of the Year in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The aggressive, up-tempo style that Greenberg installed in his first season with the Hokies has seen dividends and has brought a renewed sense of excitement to Cassell Coliseum, as well as to the “Hokie Nation.”   Perhaps the biggest influences seen in the program have been the work ethic and attention to details that Greenberg and his staff have instilled. And when speaking of hard work, the principle begins at the top, with Greenberg himself. Long hours of watching film, instructing players and developing the program, along with tirelessly working to promote the program and university while being involved in the community, have made Greenberg a popular face on the Blacksburg campus and in the “Hokie Nation.”

Greenberg came to Virginia Tech from the University of South Florida, where he served as head coach for seven seasons. At USF, Greenberg had a record of 108-100. Prior to USF, Greenberg was the head coach at Long Beach State University, where his overall record was 105-70.

During his time at Long Beach State and USF, Greenberg’s teams posted impressive records against major conference opponents. During his Long Beach State tenure there were wins over four nationally-ranked teams, including a 64-49 victory against then-No. 1 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in 1992-93. At South Florida, his teams were 2-0 against Ohio State, had two wins over Texas and won at Pittsburgh during the Panthers’ run to the Sweet 16 in the 2001-02 season. The Bulls defeated eventual Final Four team Wisconsin in the 1999-2000 season.

A 1978 graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson, Greenberg was a four-year letter winner under head coach Al LoBalbo. His father, the late Ralph Greenberg, played at Long Island University under coaching legend Clair Bee, one of college basketball’s all-time winningest coaches.

Greenberg began his coaching career as an assistant at Columbia in 1978. He moved to Pittsburgh two years later, where he made two trips to the NCAA Tournament in three years with the Panthers. He spent the 1983-84 season at Virginia, helping the Cavs reach the Final Four before moving on to Miami as an assistant under future Virginia Tech head coach Bill Foster. At Miami, he helped revive a program that had been dormant for a number of years.

Greenberg first went to Long Beach State as associate head coach under Joe Harrington. Greenberg replaced him three years later when Harrington accepted the head coaching position at Colorado. In his six seasons at LBSU, Greenberg led the 49ers to two NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT appearance. He led LBSU to two Big West Conference championships and one Big West regular-season title. While Greenberg was at LBSU, the 49ers defeated four nationally ranked teams. Greenberg also tutored future NBA players Bryon Russell, Lucious Harris and Juaquin Hawkins.

In the summer of 2004, Greenberg received a lofty honor when he was inducted into the Five Star Basketball Camp’s Hall of Fame. The honor, shared by some of the greatest coaches like Rick Pitino and Hubie Brown, was bestowed for the many years that Greenberg has been a part of the nation’s top summer basketball camp as an instructor and guest speaker.

Greenberg has always been involved in charitable organizations and causes. In September of 2009, he was the winning head coach in the inaugural “Chairmen of the Boards” 3-on-3 charity basketball tournament to benefit Tuesday’s Children in New York City. This group is the premiere non-profit organization serving the needs of the 9/11 community, providing a wide-range of programming from mentoring, to advocacy for children, to next-step life skills and leadership training for 9/11 families and rescue and recovery workers.

When confronted by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Greenberg knew he had to get involved. He served as the chairman of the organizing committee of AllCoachesCare.com, a major on-line sports auction that raised money for Habitat for Humanity and its efforts in helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast area. Working tirelessly, Greenberg helped the group acquire goods and services for the auction and also spent countless hours speaking on television and radio and to media members getting the word out about the auction.

This past season, Greenberg took on a leadership role with “Shots from the Heart,” an event that helped the American Heart Association raise money to fight heart disease. The event featured selected head coaches and assistant coaches in a bracketed free throw shooting contest.

Greenberg and his wife, Karen, are the parents of three daughters: Paige, 23, Ella, 20, and Jacqueline, 17. Paige graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2010 and Ella will be a junior cheerleader for the Hokies in the fall of 2011. Greenberg is active in a number of organizations and causes, including the Great American Teach-in, the American Heart Association, Coaches vs. Cancer and the Boys and Girls Club.