Colin Tabb will begin his 11th season as the head coach of the Western New England men's basketball team in 2025-2026. Tabb's Golden Bears came away with their most historic season in 2024-25, winning the conference title for the first time in the Tabb tenure and advancing to the NCAA Tournament, where the Golden Bears would win their first-ever tournament game in program history while advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 Round overall.
Tabb coached the Golden Bears to a 23-7 overall record, matching a program record for victories in a season. WNE would win the outright Conference of New England regular season, taking the top seed in the tournament, and would take down Roger Williams University in the CNE Semifinals and Suffolk University in the CNE Championship game to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championships. There, the Golden Bears would continue their season after defeating Hamilton College 83-73, becoming the first team from Western New England men's basketball to win an NCAA Tournament game. The Golden Bears would go on to defeat Montclair State University in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before bowing out in the Sweet 16 round of the tournament to eventual champion Trinity College (Conn.). WNE's historic season was led by graduate student Tim Restall (Tolland, Conn.), who picked up 484 points during the season, averaging over 16 per game. Restall was joined by fellow graduate student Brian Geitner (Tolland, Conn.), who scored 387 points, including a team-high 53 triples for the season. Five total Golden Bears ended the season averaging at least ten points per game, including junior Cody Palazzesi (Somers, Conn.), junior Luka Vlajkovic (Melrose, Mass.), and senior Jake Harrison (South Boston, Mass.).
Following the end of the historic season, the Golden Bears saw multiple postseason awards come their way. WNE entered the D3hoops.com Top-25 Rankings for the first time in program history, sitting at number 22 to end the year. At the conference level, Tabb was named CNE Coach of the Year while Restall, Harrison, and Geitner picked up honors on the all-conference teams. Restall was honored on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Team as well as the D3hoops.com All-Region First Team. Tabb was then named D3hoops.com Region 2 Coach of the Year. The Golden Bears also saw excellence in the classroom under the close watch of their head coach, seeing nine from WNE men's basketball earn honors on the NABC Honors Court Team. As a squad, Western New England men's basketball was also recognized by the NABC, receiving the Team Excellence Award.
Tabb's leadership helped put together a 19-8 record in 2023-2024, playing one of the most challenging schedules in NCAA DIII. The Golden Bears finished conference play with 12 wins and four losses while rounding out the campaign in the CCC semifinals. Under the leadership of Tabb, Jake Harrison was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-CCC, while Gavin Greene (All-CCC Second Team), and Tim Restall (All-CCC Third Team) were honored.
Tabb coached four Golden Bears to All-CCC honors at the season's conclusion in 2022-2023 while also coaching sophomore Jake Harrison to CCC Player of the Year, D3hoops.com All-Region 2 First Team, and NABC All-American Second Team. Western New England's 21 wins on the season were the most under Tabb's tenure and the most since the 2006-2007 season.
During the 2022 season, Tabb coached the Golden Bears to 13 wins and a trip to the CCC semifinal game, where the Golden Bears held tight with 20-6 Salve Regina University before falling late in the game as the #6 seed in the tournament. The Golden Bears would upset the third-seeded Roger Williams University Hawks in the quarterfinal round to get to the semifinals. Tabb coached prolific scorer Alex Sikorski to 1,510 points in his career, a number that ranks seventh all-time in Western New England men's basketball history. Sikorski was named to the All-CCC Third Team during the 2022 campaign under the guidance of Tabb. WNE led the CCC in offensive rebounds per game and was third in total rebounds per game during the regular season.
The Golden Bears improved yet again last season, as Western New England had 15 wins, the highest total under Tabb. Tabb led the Golden Bears to a 15-11 record and a third-place finish in CCC play, marking this as the first time since the 2007-08 season that Western New England had hosted a playoff game. During their record breaking campaign, the Golden Bears had four All-CCC honors; Alex Sikorski (1st team), Mike McGuire (2nd team), Tim Reilly (3rd team), & Zachary Tavitian (3rd team). Sikorski was also named to the prestigious CoSIDA Academic All-District team, and McGuire led all of NCAA Division III in assist/turnover ratio with 4.86.
The Golden Bears continued to improve last season, as Western New England posted its highest win total in almost a decade. Tabb led the Golden Bears to a .500 record and a fifth-place finish in CCC play, representing the program's best league showing since the 2009-10 campaign. Western New England accomplished another milestone by defeating Endicott College on the road in the opening round of the CCC Tournament, giving the Golden Bears their first postseason victory since 2007-08. Tabb's squad then held a 19-point first half lead over No. 15 ranked Nichols College in the CCC semifinals, before the Bison staged a late comeback. Senior Mikey Pettway (1st team) & junior Mike McGuire (3rd team) both earned All-CCC honors, while Pettway broke the program's all-time assist record.
Western New England posted a five-win improvement in 2017-18, which was highlighted by a 100-94 victory over No. 21 Nichols College in Dudley on January 6th and a 101-83 triumph over Gordon College in Springfield on January 18th. The Golden Bears topped the 90-point mark on eight occasions and ranked third in the CCC with just 12.3 turnovers per game. Junior guard Mikey Pettway, who earned All-CCC second team honors, reached the 1,000-point milestone, while freshman forward Zach Tavitian made an immediate impact en route to CCC Rookie of the Year recognition.
Tabb led the Golden Bears to a CCC Tournament appearance in his first campaign in 2015-16. The following season, senior guard Mike Gelineau became the program's 22nd 1000-point scorer and Pettway earned All-CCC accolades.
Tabb, a former All-America player at fellow NCAA Division III institution Trinity College, took over as head coach at Western New England on August 18, 2015. He replaced Dr. Mike Theulen, Director of Athletics at WNE, who coached the Golden Bears during two stints from 2005-08 and 2012-15.
"I am extremely excited and humbled to be joining the Western New England University community as the head men's basketball coach," Tabb said. "If you look at the coaches and success that the program has enjoyed over the years, it is a great honor to try and carry on that tradition. I'd like to the thank Dr. Theulen, (Senior Associate Athletics Director) Joe Sassi, (Vice President of Student Affairs) Dean (Dr. Jeanne) Hart-Steffes, and the entire search committee for this opportunity."
"We are extremely pleased and excited by the addition of Colin Tabb to our Athletic Family. Colin has an undeniable record of excellence in basketball and, because of his local knowledge of this area, will be a great advocate for our men's basketball program, our Athletic Family, and our University," added Theulen. "I thank Joe Sassi, David Proulx, and the rest of our selection committee for their excellent work. This search process was very competitive and the committee's thoroughness was exemplary. Colin is the right person for this job and we look forward to a bright future for the men's basketball program.
Tabb is no stranger to Western New England as his uncle, Gerry Martin, coached the Golden Bears football team for 14 years from 1991 to 2004 as the longest-tenured coach in that program's history. Tabb's father, John, graduated from Western New England.
Tabb comes to Western New England from the business world as he served as the president and owner of the popular BasketBull, LLC, since 2003. BasketBull is a basketball event-management company, an official licensee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, that develops, promotes, organizes and operates grassroots events, camps, tournaments, clinics and skills academies throughout the Northeast. His responsibilities included managing staff of five employees on a daily basis and up to 75 weekend employees during an event; planning, generating and forecasting yearly budgets; implementing training for staffing on various aspects of event management, marketing/sales, scheduling, and customer service programs; meeting with city officials and political stakeholders about the economic impact that the company provides the region; and overseeing all compliance pertaining to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In addition, Tabb was the boys' basketball coach this past season at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn. The prestigious boarding school is a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council and Founders League. He was responsible for coordinating practice plans, scouting reports and game preparation for the team; supervising two team managers and assistant coach; recruiting; and representing the program at faculty-related functions.
In WNE, Tabb makes a return to Division III coaching at the college level. Previously, he served as an assistant on the men's basketball coaching staffs at Brandeis University (2005-08) and Rhode Island College (2003-04) for four seasons. At Brandeis, he was involved with recruiting, scouting, player development, fundraising, travel, budgeting, strength & conditioning and campus events. He helped the Judges to their most successful period ever, including an overall team record of 57-24 in three seasons (43-13 in final two years) and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2007 (Second Round) and 2008 (Elite 8) after not making the national postseason in the previous 30 years. At RIC, he tended to many of the responsibilities that he also saw at Brandeis.
"Having played and coached for successful Division III teams in New England, I feel Western New England has all the makings to be a highly-successful basketball program. The University offers strong academic programs, a beautiful campus, impressive athletic facilities and tremendous support--all of which are vital to potential student-athletes," stated Tabb. "I have full confidence that we can be a consistent winner here, and it's a dream of mine to lead this program."
Tabb starred for the Trinity Bantams based in Hartford, Conn., from 1999-2002, leading the program to a 51-20 overall record, 2002 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship appearance and a pair of New England Small School Athletic Conference tournament runner-up finishes. His best season came during his 2001-02 senior campaign when he poured in a school record 619 points on the way to becoming the program's first player selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America First Team. That season he also was named an Eastern College Athletic Conference All-Star for the second time, winning ECAC New England Player of the Year; the NESCAC Player of the Year; two-time first-team All-NESCAC; and Trinity College's McCook Award recipient for most outstanding senior athlete. The two-time team captain left as the school's sixth-leading all-time scorer with 1,367 points. Tabb was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2015.
Before deciding to continue his education and basketball career at Trinity College, Tabb was a three-time Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic League all-state first team selection from 1995 to 1997 at Somers (Conn.) High School. He captained Somers during his junior and senior years.
After he graduated from Trinity College in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in political science, Tabb played two years of professional basketball for Dart Killester in Dublin, Ireland, a member of the Irish SuperLeague Division, and for Brandt-Hagen, in Hagen, Germany, a member of the German Division I Bundesliga, which is the nation's premier division and considered one of the top leagues in Europe.
| Season |
Won |
Lost |
Pct. |
Conf. W-L/Place/News |
| 2015-16 |
8 |
18 |
.308 |
6-12 / 8th |
| 2016-17 |
6 |
19 |
.240 |
4-14 / 9th |
| 2017-18 |
11 |
15 |
.423 |
7-11 / 8th |
| 2018-19 |
12 |
15 |
.444 |
8-8 / 5th |
| 2019-20 |
15 |
11 |
.577 |
10-6 / 3rd
|
| 2020-21 |
1 |
3 |
.250 |
0-0 (Shortened season due to COVID-19 Pandemic).
|
| 2021-22 |
13 |
14 |
.481 |
9-9 / 6th | 1 1,000 point scorer, 1 All-CCC Team Recipient
|
| 2022-23 |
21 |
7 |
.750 |
14-4 / 2nd | CCC Coach of the Year, 4 All-CCC Honors, 1 D3hoops.com All Region Team recipient, 1 NABC All-American |
| 2023-24 |
19 |
8 |
.704 |
12-4/2nd | 3 All-CCC Honors, 1 CCC Major Award WInner, 1 D3hops.com All Region Team recipient |
| Totals |
106 |
111 |
.488 |
70-68 (.507) | CCC Championship Game 2022-2023 |
