John Sanow closed out his 15th season at the helm of the Bloomsburg University men’s basketball program in 2021-22. In his first 15 seasons with the Huskies, he has guided the program to a record of 171-232 and is second all-time in career wins in school history.
Over the last 10 seasons, the Huskies have made the PSAC tournament six times and earned a share of the PSAC Eastern Division regular season championship in 2011-12.
Last season, Bloomsburg went 5-21 overall and finished with a conference record of 4-18. Senior guard Justin Anderson led the team's scoring as he averaged 18.7 points per game during a season that saw him make the PSAC All-Conference First Team at the end of the season. Senior Travis Elmore also averaged double figures with 11.1 points per game. Jake Nelson nearly averaged a double-double with his team-leading 9.2 rebounds per game and 8.8 points per game.
Prior to the 2020-21 season being canceled due to COVID-19, the Huskies went 11-17 overall and 8-14 against conference opponents during the 2019-20 season. The squad won its final two games of the season at home against Shippensburg and Kutztown to close out the year. The team was led offensively by three players that averaged over 10 points per game. Leading the way was Anderson with 17.1 points and close behind was Ky Mauras with 16.9 points per game. Max Wagner averaged 15.6 points and Elmore put up 9.6 points per game.
In 2018-19, the Huskies finished 7-19 overall and 3-17 in conference play. Elmore highlighted the Huskies season with his breakout season. During his freshman season, Elmore averaged 15.7 points per game and 7.4 rebounds in his debut season with the Huskies.
The Huskies made their third-straight trip to the PSAC tournament in 2017-18 after going 11-11 in the PSAC and 15-12 overall. Bloomsburg fell to Kutztown University in the opening round of the tournament. Redshirt senior Christian Mortellite was named to the All-PSAC East First Team for the third year in a row after leading the Huskies with 20.5 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game. Mortellite led the conference in free throw shooting with a 89.7% clip from the charity stripe and was second in the league in three-pointers per game (3.22).
In 2016-17, the Huskies made the playoffs for the second year in a row only to bow out after an 84-77 setback to West Chester, at home, in the opening round of the tournament.
The highlight of the 2016-17 campaign was the play of Christian Mortellite. The sharpshooter was named to the All-PSAC Eastern Division First Team for the second year in a row after leading the country in three-pointers made per game (4.07). He was also honored as an NABC Second Team All-District - the first Husky to be recognized by the NABC since Dontahe Jordan in 2011-12. He led the Huskies in scoring (22.7), becoming the first Huskies' player since Tom Barlow, who averaged 20.3 points per game during the 2002-03 season, to average at least 20 points per game in a single campaign. Mortellite broke the single-season school record for points with 613 last year which broke the previous record of 600 set by Mike Ellzy during the 1996-97 season. He also shattered the school-record for most threes made in a season (110) and three-point attempts in a season (255).
In 2015-16, the Huskies returned to the PSAC playoffs after a one-year hiatus. Bloomsburg finished 17-10 overall and won 10 of its last 12 regular season games before suffering an 80-78 loss at Shippensburg in the opening round of the conference playoffs. The 17 victories marked the second-highest single-season total under Sanow's tutelage while the team's 15-7 mark in the PSAC East tied for the best conference mark with Sanow at the helm. Mortellite was an All-PSAC East First Team honoree.
Sanow helped guide the Huskies to three straight PSAC postseason appearances from 2012 to 2014 - the longest streak for the school since an eight-year run from 1995 to 2002. The Huskies earned the third seed from the Eastern Division in the 2013-14 PSAC playoffs and picked up a first round victory over Kutztown, ultimately finishing the season at 16-12 overall and 10-6 in conference play. It was Bloomsburg's first postseason win since the 2002 playoffs. Following the season, Dontahe Jordan was named First Team All-PSAC East while fellow senior Lorenzo Christmas earned a spot on the Second Team. Both players finished their careers with more than 1,000 points with Christmas owning the school's all-time record for made three-pointers and Jordan became one of only five players in BU history to reach both 1,000 points and 700 rebounds. He also coached Alssene Saintilus, who signed a contract to play professionally in Italy following the 2014-15 season.
Overall, Sanow has more than 25 years of experience with previous coaching stops at the University of Vermont along with Division II schools Gannon University and Pitt-Johnstown. He also spent 11 years as an assistant coach at Division I St. Francis of Pennsylvania.
Sanow was named PSAC East Coach of the Year in 2011-12 after leading the Huskies to 19 victories. That season, Sanow produced one of the best men’s basketball seasons at Bloomsburg in recent memory. He led the Huskies to a 19-9 record, their best showing in 11 years, and a share of the PSAC Eastern crown. The Huskies also made a trip to the PSAC playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons and hosted their first home playoff game since the 1998-99 season. Sanow coached the PSAC Eastern Player of the Year in Dontahe Jordan, who also earned NABC All-District First Team honors and Daktronics Atlantic Region Second Team honors, as well as the PSAC Eastern Defensive Athlete of the Year in Larry Webster, who would later go on to play in the NFL with the Detroit Lions.
Sanow’s players also reached career milestones in the 2011-12 season. Both Trevon Johnson and Webster scored their 1,000th career points under Sanow’s tutelage. They were the first Bloomsburg players to reach the 1,000 point plateau in five years. In addition, Webster cemented his place among Bloomsburg greats by ending his career as Bloomsburg’s all-time shot blocker with 175 career rejections.
In 2010-11, the Huskies narrowly missed out on reaching the PSAC playoffs losing out on the final game of the year. The Huskies seven PSAC Eastern Division wins were the most for the team since the 2000-01 season. Sanow also coached the PSAC Eastern Division Rookie of the Year in Dontahe Jordan. During the season Jordan was named the PSAC East Rookie of the Week seven times.
In 2009-10, the Huskies just missed out on the PSAC playoffs after dropping its final game of the season. Among the 12 wins for the Huskies was a 12-point victory over seventh-ranked Kutztown. Bloomsburg also lost several close games suffering four defeats in overtime.
In his first season with the Huskies in 2006-07, Sanow guided the Huskies to a mark of 13-14, an improvement of seven wins from the previous season and the first time since 2001-02 that the team reached double figures in wins. Sanow won his first six games as coach and had the team nationally ranked for the first time in several years. He also closed out the season winning four of the final five games and just missed out on a berth in the PSAC playoffs. Also, the eight wins the Huskies recorded at the Nelson Field House were the most since the team won 10 in 2000-01.
A native of Windber, Pa., who is well connected in basketball in the East, Sanow is a 1987 graduate of Indiana (Pa.) University. After transferring from Clarion University in 1984, he led IUP in scoring and was an All-PSAC First Team selection in 1986. He also set numerous three-point shooting records for the Indians.
At Vermont in 2005-06, he was part of a new coaching staff that led the least-experienced team in the nation in D-I (no seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen) to the America East Championship game for the fourth straight season. The sixth-seeded Catamounts (13-17, 7-9 America East) topped #3 Boston University and #2 Binghamton before falling at top-seeded Albany in the title game.
While at St. Francis (Pa.), he was an integral part of the Red Flash winning the 1991 Northeast Conference title and a trip to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. In 1992, he also was an assistant coach for the Panama Men’s Olympic Team in its attempt to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. While at St. Francis, he coached Mike Iuzzolino, who went on to play for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
Last Updated 4/15/20
