Kevin Eckert Hometown: Berea, Ohio Position: Assistant Coach Experience: Six seasons Alma Mater: Ohio, '96

Curt Miller, right, hugs Casey McDowell as assistant coach Kevin Eckert hugs Jill Lause as they leave the game in the closing minutes of a 74-61 loss to UCLA in an NCAA first round basketball tournament game, Sunday, March 19, 2006, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

With the completion of the 2007-08 season, assistant coach Kevin Eckert and the Bowling Green State University staff have etched their names as the most successful coaching staff in program history.

En route to completing their fifth consecutive 20-plus win season, the latest Falcon squad amassed a 26-8 overall record while becoming the first to complete a four-peat as the regular season champions. Not a bad track record for the current scouting coordinator.

Eckert, a six season veteran of the program who also works with the Falcons' wing players, saw starting guards Lindsey Goldsberry and Lauren Prochaska rank in the top ten in conference three point field goal percentage standings. The pair also found homes in the top 11 in the three point field goals made category during the 2007-08 season. Shooting guard Whitney Taylor would also lead the league in conference only percentage after setting the school record for trey's made in a solo outing in that same season.

"Kevin is a veteran assistant that brings never-ending enthusiasm to the program," said head coach Curt Miller. "He has impacted the program with his work ethic and ability to motivate and challenge the players."

In the last four seasons alone he has helped the Falcons to as many Mid-American Conference regular-season titles becoming the first women's basketball team to accomplish the four-peat. Mix in the Falcons' three MAC Tournament Championships, an additional trio of visits to the NCAA Tournament and a bid to the post season WNIT and it is apparent he, along side Miller and the staff, has found a recipe for success.

Record breaking success to be exact.

On Feb. 23, 2008 in an 81-66 come-from-behind decision at Miami's Millett Hall, the Falcons won their 145th game during the Miller-era to become the most dominate staff in the programs' history. By the end of the season, Eckert and the Falcons' staff would go down in history as the winningest coaches in BG women's basketball lore. Though he joined the staff one year into their stint, Eckert was on hand for 141 of the Falcons 150 total wins. With Eckert on the bench, BGSU is 141-49 all-time.

Together, Miller, Eckert and the staff have become one of the longest tenured groups in the conference.

That record breaking success also includes the epic 2006-07 season, which saw the Falcons reach heights never before achieved by a MAC team. The Falcons went 31-4 overall and 15-1 in MAC regular-season action, winning the league's seasonal and tourney titles before winning a pair of NCAA Tournament games to advance to the round of 16.

BGSU was listed in the national rankings in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll for nearly the entire season, reaching a school- and league-best ranking of 15th in the final AP listing.

The 2005-06 team set records for wins (since broken) by going 28-3 overall. The Falcons posted a perfect 16-0 league record, and added three more wins in the conference tournament. BGSU has an overall record of 124-60 and a MAC ledger of 66-30 in the last six years. Over the last four seasons, the Falcons are 103-25 overall and 55-9 in MAC regular-season play.

Kevin Eckert talks to Carin Horne before the Falcons' 2005 NCAA Tournament game vs. Kansas State

In 2004-05, the staff guided the Falcons, picked to finish third in the West Division, to the league's best overall record, a MAC regular-season championship and the top seed for the Kraft MAC Tournament. In the league tourney in Cleveland, the Brown and Orange downed Miami, Eastern Michigan and Kent State to capture the school's first conference tourney crown and NCAA Championships bid in over a decade. In the NCAAs, the Falcons led nationally-ranked Kansas State at the half before succumbing, 70-60. In each of the last three seasons, four of the Falcons' five starters have earned all-conference honors.

The success of the last three years came on the heels of a magical 2003-04 campaign, when the Falcon coaching staff orchestrated one of the top turnarounds in the nation. BGSU, picked to finish sixth in the MAC West, tied for second (just a game out of first), finishing 21-10 overall. That marked a nine-win improvement over the prior season, tying for 11th in the country in that category.

In conference play, the staff guided the Brown and Orange to an 11-5 ledger, a complete reversal of the prior year's league record (5-11). In 2003-04, the Falcons finished with a winning record -- both overall and in MAC action -- for the first time in six years. BGSU, six games better than the previous season in conference play, was the only MAC team to improve by more than three games over the 2002-03 season.

In '02-03, Eckert's first season in town, the Brown and Orange went 12-16 overall. After posting the most successful non-conference season in over a decade, that edition of the Falcons -- in BGSU's first season in the MAC's West Division -- amassed a 5-11 league ledger that included a win over the division's co-champion.

Upon his arrival in Bowling Green, Eckert was certainly no stranger to the MAC or to the state of Ohio. A native of Berea, Ohio, he spent six years on MAC coaching staffs prior to joining the Falcons.

Eckert came to the BGSU program after spending four seasons on Cheryl Dozier's staff at the University at Buffalo. While with the Bulls, Eckert worked primarily with developing UB's post players, and also served as that staff's recruiting coordinator.

Eckert's tenure at UB coincided with the Bulls' first four seasons as a MAC member. The team posted a 61-51 overall record during that time, going 18-11 in 1999-2000 and 19-9 the following year. In that 2000-01 campaign, the Bulls went 10-6 in MAC play to tie for second in the East Division.

Prior to heading to UB, Eckert served as a graduate assistant for two seasons on the men's basketball staff at Ohio University. While with the Bobcats, Eckert's responsibilities included on-campus and phone recruiting, scouting, film exchange, summer camps, strength training and conditioning, on-the-floor teaching and player academics. While an undergraduate at Ohio, Eckert served as a varsity assistant and the junior high head coach for the boys' basketball teams at Federal Hocking High School. Both teams won the Tri-Valley Conference championship, and Eckert received an award for outstanding ethics and sportsmanship in coaching.

A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Ohio, he received his bachelor's degree in physical education with an emphasis in sports science and coaching philosophy in 1996. He earned a master's degree in athletic administration in 1998.

"Kevin is an excellent recruiter, and continues to raise the level of player looking at and committing to BGSU," said Miller. "He believes in the vision of the program, and came to BG to help restore the outstanding tradition of success.

"I look forward to working with Kevin for years to come."