Connecticut College Men's Basketball

Tim Sweeney enters his seventh season as head men's basketball coach at Connecticut College in 2025-26. Sweeney, who was hired in June 2019, has been the catalyst in the complete transformation of the Conn College program. Over the last four years, the Camels have defeated every NESCAC rival and amassed a cumulative record of 22-17 in league play. Conn has also qualified for the NESCAC postseason in all four seasons, the longest stretch in the history of the program.   The 2024-25 campaign saw the Camels continue their ascent into the echelon of consistent NESCAC contenders. In spite of losing two critical team members to season-ending injuries, the squad clawed its way to a 5-5 league finish, good for fifth place and a fourth-straight NESCAC postseason appearance. In December Conn won the USJ Christmas Tournament, besting a field of perennial NCAA programs that included Saint Joseph’s, Farmingdale State and Western Connecticut State. Later in the season, the Camels won at Williams for the first time since 2000, completing a sweep of the Middlebury/Williams road trip for the first time in school history. Following the season, junior Elias Espinosa was named to the All-NESCAC First Team. It marked the fifth time under Sweeney’s watch that a player earned All-NESCAC accolades, as well as the first back-to-back first team honors for the Camels since 2002.  The 2023-24 season was a historic ride for the Camels. Conn came within a possession of finishing atop the NESCAC standings, falling in a nail-biter at Williams on the final day of the regular season. The Camels posted an 8-2 mark in NESCAC play—their best league record since 1999—and added 10 victories in non-conference action. The 18 wins were the program’s most since 2001, and Conn fell just shy of earning an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.  Sweeney’s first recruiting class at Conn played a major role in turning the program around. The class of 2024 went a combined 17-12 in conference play in the three full seasons following the pandemic. David Murray, the 2024 NESCAC Player of the Year and an NABC All-America First Team selection, signed a scholarship with Division I Merrimack University for his graduate year of eligibility. Ben Rice also signed to play at Division II Johnson University, and Jarron Flynn signed with Springfield College and was the team’s leading scorer in 2024-25.  In 2022-23 the Camels posted an overall record of 14-11, their first winning season since 2017 and highest win total since 2008. Sweeney guided Conn to a 5-5 record in NESCAC play that included a victory over No. 7 Middlebury, and the Camels qualified for the NESCAC Championship for the second straight season. In 2021-22, Conn posted its best conference showing since 2005, which culminated in its first home playoff game in 20 years.  Prior to joining the Camels, Sweeney was the head coach at Hobart College. He piloted the Statesmen to an 84-48 overall ledger in five seasons at the helm and led the team to the championship game of the Liberty League Tournament twice in his final three seasons. The 2017-18 season was his most successful, as the Statesmen registered their best winning percentage in the 108-season in the history of the program (.808) by finishing with a 21-5 record. The team broke into the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll at No. 19, its highest ever ranking, and also won a school-record 15 consecutive games during the hot stretch, which led to the Statesmen winning the conference's regular season title and only their seventh in program history. Sweeney has a deep basketball coaching background that began as an assistant at the University of Rochester, where he lettered as a point guard and led the Yellow Jackets to the Division III Final Four in 2002. As an assistant coach, the University of Rochester took an additional step forward by advancing to the national championship game in 2005. Sweeney then became an assistant coach at Davidson College from 2006-08 under legendary mentor Bob McKillop, where he also worked directly with Stephen Curry in his first two years as a Wildcat that included a magical run to the Elite Eight in 2008. After spending a year as an assistant coach at Bucknell, a perennial contender in the Patriot League, Sweeney moved on to work as an assistant at Elon University from 2009-13 and was promoted to associate head coach after playing a large role in the program's first Division I postseason appearance in 2012-13. As the recruiting coordinator at Elon, he helped the Phoenix sign and develop 11 All-Southern Conference selections and six 1,000-point scorers. The program also posted its best two-year record in program history with 39 wins before Sweeney would leave to take over at Hobart beginning in August of 2014. A native of Dumont, New Jersey, Sweeney graduated cum laude from Rochester in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in political science. The four-year starting point guard earned All-UAA honors four times as well as three UAA All-Academic awards. He served as a team captain during his junior and senior seasons, guiding the program to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, and the 2001-02 squad most notably finished the year with a 24-6 mark and advanced to the NCAA semifinals. In 2005, as an assistant at Rochester, the team finished second in the nation, falling in the national championship game. A member of the NABC, Sweeney recently completed his master’s degree in Administration from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester in 2020. He currently resides in Waterford with his wife, Lisa, and son, Henry.  

Josh Arruda joins the Connecticut College men's basketball staff as an assistant coach for 2026-27 season. Arruda comes to New London following coaching stints at Campbell University and Marymount University. He is also the owner and founder of Arruda's Basketball Club, a youth basketball program in Arlington, Va. Arruda joined the Campbell staff in May 2025 as the Director of Camps, Analytics & Video Coordinator, where he ran film operations and aided in all facets of scouting for the Division I program. The Camels finished the 2025-26 season with 16 wins and advanced to the semifinals of the Coastal Athletic Association Championship. Arruda spent the previous three years at Division III Marymount, serving as assistant coach during the 2024-25 season and graduate assistant the two years prior. He helped the Saints to back-to-back Atlantic East Championship titles and a pair of NCAA appearances. Across his three seasons at Marymount, the program posted an overall record of 53-30 that included a 29-7 mark in league play. A native of Morrisville, Pa., Arruda was a four-year member of the men's basketball program at McDaniel College. He was a two-year starter for the Green Terror and played in 67 games over three seasons, notching a career-high 15 points against Penn College in his final season.  Arruda graduated from McDaniel with degrees in business administration and accounting/economics. He earned his MBA with a concentration in hospitality and innovation from Marymount in 2024.