Elizabethtown College Athletics

Bob Schlosser built a men's basketball program defined by success and class, on and off the court, in his nearly three-decade run as head coach at Elizabethtown College. Schlosser called it a career following the 2016-17 season, retiring as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 27-year record of 364-322.

Schlosser, who captured career win No. 350 with a victory over Juniata Dec. 3, 2014 is considered a master of the flex offense by his peers within the basketball world. He's guided E-town to the postseason 15 times, including a stretch of 11 consecutive seasons from 1995-96 to 2005-06 and a 2002 national runner-up finish.

Elizabethtown claimed three Commonwealth Conference championships, appeared in three NCAA tournaments and reached the 2002 NCAA Division III National Championship game between 2001-04, undoubtedly the program's most successful stretch of seasons.

Faced with one of his youngest teams in recent memory, Schlosser's 2011-12 Blue Jays grew up as the season progressed. Four freshmen were called into duty, a rarity for the veteran head coach, who is a one of the few around that still fields a junior varsity team. The Jays finished with eight wins and a 6-6 mark at home. Growth from the squad was exhibited in 13 games decided by 10 points or less.

Elizabethtown won 16 games for a second straight season in 2010-11. The dynamic scoring duo of then-seniors Keith Fogel ’11 and Joe Flanagan ’11 increased the team's collective efforts. Both players scored their 1,000th career point during the season, becoming the 31st and 32nd players in school history to do so. Schlosser mentored 11 of the school’s 32 1,000-point scorers.

A storied scholastic coach at Allentown Central Catholic in his early coaching days, Schlosser was hired as Elizabethtown College's 11th men's basketball coach in May of 1990. From 1981 through the conclusion of the 1989-90 season, he led the Vikings to a nine-year record of 204-73.

All of the hard work put in by Schlosser and his ACC teams paid off in 1984 and 1986 when the school won PIAA Class AAA State Championships. The Vikes were also runners-up in 1989.

Schlosser was inducted into the Lehigh Valley High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Carbon County Hall of Fame in 2016.

Schlosser made an impact on the men's basketball team almost immediately after his hiring. He won 24 games in his first two seasons, before a 19-win season and trip to the NCAA DIII Tournament in 1992-93, his third season. Schlosser was named MAC Northwest Section Coach of the Year following the 92-93 season, the program's most successful campaign in nearly 30 years.

He was named MAC Commonwealth League Coach of the Year in 1998-99 after leading the Blue Jays to a second-place league finish in the regular season and a victory in the first round of the MAC Playoffs. The Commonwealth Conference honored Schlosser as its Coach of the Year in 2000-01 after the Blue Jays went 20-6, and again in 2001-02 when Elizabethtown won a program record 29 games (29-3) during its run to the national championship game.

Including the Blue Jays' participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Conference Championships, Schlosser coached E-town in 32 postseason games over the past two decades. From 2002-04, he guided E-town to an unprecedented three NCAA Division III tournaments in a row, and three straight Commonwealth Conference titles.

Schlosser was a true teacher of the game throughout his coaching career, lecturing and speaking at various camps and clinics in addition to holding his annual Bob Schlosser Basketball Camp during the summer. He and wife, Susan, who reside in Elizabethtown, have three sons: Sam, Ben and Will. Ben was an assistant coach with his father for seven seasons (2010-17) at E-town and Will graduated from Elizabethtown College in May, 2015.