Newbauer hired as Florida Gators women’s basketball coach

Special report on the Florida Gators women’s basketball team:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Cameron Newbauer will be the 10th head coach of the University of Florida women’s basketball program, Athletics Director Scott Stricklin announced Monday.

Newbauer (38), spent the previous four seasons as head coach at Belmont University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Under Newbauer, the Bruins reached the postseason three times, including NCAA Tournament berths the last two seasons.

Belmont won 35 of its last 36 games against Ohio Valley Conference opponents – a run that included league tournament games – and sported an overall 25-game win streak entering the 2017 NCAA Tournament before its 73-70 first-round loss at Kentucky.

The Bruins were 51-15 overall and 29-3 in OVC action over the last two years, winning the OVC regular-season championship last year and the league’s tournament title the last two seasons. Newbauer, who compiled a 79-50 record at BU, was named the 2016-17 OVC Coach of the Year.

The Fort Wayne, Indiana, native has been a women’s basketball assistant coach at Louisville and Georgia and a men’s assistant at Siena College, while also working as a director of basketball operations for Georgia’s men’s team and at Siena.

Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin
On what he saw in Cameron Newbauer
“Cameron Newbauer brings energy, vision and an incredible work ethic to the University of Florida. In addition to developing well-coached teams, he’s a hard-charger when it comes to recruiting and fan engagement. He’s coached in our league with Georgia and coached in the Final Four with Louisville. As a head coach, Cameron’s built the Belmont program and led them to back-to-back NCAA berths. I share his confidence that he can build Florida women’s basketball into a conference and national contender, and look forward to Cameron, Sarah and their family joining the Gators.”

Quoting Coach Cameron Newbauer
On the attraction of the University of Florida
“It’s the University of Florida. That’s the excitement for me. A national brand. One of the most revered athletic programs in the nation.

“It’s an incredible challenge. That’s why I love it and want to embrace it. The Southeastern Conference is the best conference in the nation. All sports, let alone women’s basketball. It’s an absolute dream come true for me. I’ve worked and been blessed and fortunate to have opportunities come my way. This opportunity is going to take a lot of hard work and diligence, but it’s one I’m proud to have in front of me.”

On his goals for the Gators
“I know what we’d like to become; we want to be a tough, hard-working group that really cares for each other.

“We’re going to have fun. I want people to get to know us. We will welcome the community and want them to help build a tremendous environment.”

Belmont Highlights Under Newbauer

*         The 2016-17 Bruins won the OVC regular-season title for the first time in program history and captured the OVC Tournament championship for the second consecutive year.

*         Newbauer was recognized by his peers as the 2016-17 OVC Coach of the Year, the first Bruin coach to earn the honor.

*         Following the 2015-16 season, Darby Maggard was named the program’s first OVC Freshman of the Year, while Sally McCabe was honored as the team’s inaugural recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. McCabe repeated the honor following the 2016-17 campaign, as she ranked among the nation’s top 15 for blocked shots while becoming just the second player in league history to win the top defensive honor twice.

*         During 2015-16, BU ranked in the top 50 nationally in 16 statistical categories, including 12th in assists per game and three-point field goal percentage, 14th in rebound margin, 27th in scoring offense and 30th in scoring margin.

Individual Belmont Honors Under Newbauer

*         First Team All-OVC: 4 Bruins, 7 honors

*         OVC All-Newcomer Team: 3

*         OVC Freshman of the Year: 1

*         OVC Defensive Player of the Year: 1 Bruin, 2 honors

Belmont Women’s Basketball Team GPA

*         2014-15: 3.501 – No. 15 Nationally

*         2015-16: 3:591 – No. 6 Nationally

*         2016-17: TBA

Belmont Postseason

*         2016 NCAA, No. 13 seed – Lost vs. Michigan State, 74-60

*         2017 NCAA, No. 13 seed – Lost at Kentucky, 73-70

Bruins off the Court

*         The Bruins participated in a series of service projects every month throughout the academic calendar.

*         In August of 2015, Newbauer and Belmont Assistant Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator Betty Wiseman, partnered with Brentwood Baptist Church and took the 2015-16 team to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over the 10 days, BU spoke with and shared their love of basketball with impoverished children in several favelas (Brazilian slums).

National Championship Game!

*         In the year prior to becoming an NCAA Division I head coach, Newbauer joined head coach Jeff Walz at the University of Louisville as an assistant coach for the 2012-13 season and the Cardinal’s magical NCAA run.

*         Louisville compiled a 29-9 record, earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and marched into the national championship game after knocking off Middle Tennessee State, Purdue, California, Tennessee and the No. 1 overall seed Baylor.

Newbauer with the Georgia Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs

*         He had a few different runs at the University of Georgia, most recently five years as an assistant coach under Hall of Famer Andy Landers from 2007-12. In this role, Newbauer helped secure back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes, with the 2008 group ranked in the top five, followed by the top-10-ranked 2009 class.

*         He joined Landers after spending the previous two seasons (2005-07) serving as the director of basketball operations (DOBO) for the UG men’s team.

*         Prior to being a DOBO, Newbauer was a graduate manager for the men’s program during the 2003-04 season.

Between Georgia Jobs

*         Newbauer was an assistant coach with Siena College’s men’s team for the 2004-05 campaign under head coach Rob Lanier, who would later become an assistant coach (2007-10) under Billy Donovan at the University of Florida and currently is the associate head coach at the University of Tennessee.

*          Newbauer also served the role of DOBO from 2001-03.

Education Path

*         Newbauer played one season of basketball at Madonna College in Livonia, Michigan, before transferring to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in his hometown.

Belmont Year-by-Year Under Newbauer

Year

Overall

OVC

OVC Finish

Home

Away

Neutral

Postseason

2013-14

14-18

10-6

1st-East

8-4

5-10

1-4

WNIT First Round

2014-15

14-17

11-7

T-4th

6-6

7-9

1-2

none

2015-16

24-9

13-3

2nd

13-0

8-8

3-1

NCAA First Round

2016-17

27-6

16-0

1st

14-1

13-4

0-1

NCAA First Round

Totals

79-50

50-16

1 title

41-11

33-31

5-8

2 NCAA berths

Newbauer’s College Coaching Timeline

*         March 28, 2017 – Present: University of Florida [Head Coach]

*         May 2013 – March 2017: Belmont University [Head Coach]

*         2012-13: University of Louisville [Assistant Coach]

*         2007-12: University of Georgia [Assistant Coach]

*         2005-07: University of Georgia, Men’s Basketball [Director of Basketball Operations]

*         2004-05: Siena College, Men’s Basketball [Assistant Coach]

*         2003-04: University of Georgia, Men’s Basketball [Graduate Manager]

*         2001-03: Siena College, Men’s Basketball [Director of Basketball Operations]

Additional Coaching Experience

*         2003: USA Basketball – U.S. Junior National Team at the 2003 Junior World Championships, Greece [Administrative Assistant/Manager]

Education

*         Bachelor’s: IUPU Fort Wayne, ’01 [Elementary Education]

*         Master’s: University of Georgia, ’09 [Recreation and Leisure Studies]

Personal

*         Born: June 12, 1978, in Fort Wayne, Indiana

*         Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana

*         Family: married the former Sarah Millender in May of 2011 on the University of Georgia’s Herty Field; two young girls, Chloe and Millie

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.