Wheeling, W. Va. - The 2025-2026 season was a historic year for the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team, with the Cardinals putting together their best season since the 2017-18 campaign. Following the conclusion of the NCAA DII National Tournament, WV MetroNews honored the top coaches in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) with the release of their annual Joe Retton MEC Coaches of the Year. Wheeling University Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Richardson was named the recipient of the Men's Basketball award, leading the Cardinals to a nine win improvement and the #3 seed in the MEC Men's Basketball Tournament.
"It is a tremendous honor to receive the Joe Retton Coach of the Year Award," said Richardson. "This award is a direct reflection of the efforts of our entire program, not one individual. Our players and assistant coaches put in a tremendous amount of time to be successful and I am happy to share this with them. Personally, the fact that this is named after Coach Retton is extremely meaningful. I was blessed to get to know him early in my coaching career, and his impact on coaching, particularly in the state of West Virginia, is beyond measure. Thank you to MetroNews for this honor."
In his sixth season as Head Coach of the Cardinals, Richardson led the Cardinals to a 19-9 record overall, including a 14-6 record in MEC play. It was a nine-win improvement from a season ago, and marked the highest win total for the team since the 2017-18 season. Under Richardson's watch, the Cardinals finished as one of the top defensive teams in the conference, allowing an average of 82.7 points per game to tie for fourth. They balanced that with a steady offensive attack, averaging 85.9 points per game to rank fifth in the conference, while putting together a 3.2 margin. Since the 2022-2023 season, Richardson has had the Cardinals on a steady path of improvement, with the team improving their overall win total for the fourth straight season, while the Cardinals have finished with double digit wins in four of Richardson's six years at the helm.
The Joe Retton MEC Coach of the Year Award added on to an already eventful award season for Richardson, who was named the MEC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career earlier this season. He was the second Wheeling Men's Basketball coach to win the award, joining former Cardinal Head Coach Danny Sancomb in winning the honor. Over his six seasons leading the Cardinals, Richardson has amassed a record of 62-100 overall, including a 43-77 mark in MEC play. His 62 career wins makes him the sixth winningest coach in program history, putting him just 12 wins shy of Jim O'Brien to jump into the top five. Under his watch, the Cardinals have made the MEC Men's Basketball Tournament six times, earning a first round bye in two of those six appearances.
The Joe Retton MEC Coach of the Year award was named after Coach Joe Retton, who served as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Fairmont State from 1964-1981. During his time with the Fighting Falcons, Retton had a career record of 478-94, taking home 12 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) regular season titles as well as eight WVIAC Tournament Championships. He was a six-time WVIAC and NAIA District 28 Coach of the Year and added two NAIA Coach of the Year Awards in 1969 and 1976. He was inducted as a member of the West Virgini Sports Writers Hall of Fame Class of 1988, recognizing all he has given to the sport of basketball. The awards were chosen by MEC media members, and Richardson will be presented with a traveling trophy commemorating the honor. Glenville State Head Women's Basketball Coach Emily Stoller received the award for the MEC Women's Head Basketball Coaches.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team continues their off-season push as they prepare to come back even stronger in 2026-2027.
